Take a look at footage from "The Magicians" Season 5, based on the novel of the same name by Lev Grossman, premieres January 15, 2020 on Syfy:
"...'Quentin Coldwater' is a high school student from Brooklyn who, along with best friends 'James' and 'Julia', attends an advanced school, the 'Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy', the only school for magic in North America, and is accepted as one of the twenty new students.
"Julia also takes the exam but fails. As per protocol, Julia's memory is wiped to prevent her from remembering magic's existence or the school itself.
"After beginning his studies at Brakebills, it soon becomes apparent to Quentin that magic is difficult and tedious to learn, as each spell must be varied in dozens of ways, depending on factors such as the phase of the moon and the closest body of water. The curriculum involves learning many old and lost languages, and innumerable hand positions. Despite this, Quentin and his classmates 'Penny' and 'Alice' are allowed to move up a year by compressing their first year of studies.
"Penny fails the special exam and stays behind, then later fistfights Quentin out of jealousy. One day during class, a bored Quentin tampers with a spell and an otherworldly horror referred to as 'The Beast' enters Brakebills. It eats a student before the rest of the faculty are able to drive it away.
"There, Quentin and Alice begin a relationship. During a summer vacation in Massachusetts, Quentin is confronted by Julia about the school. The memory erasure did not work correctly and she has become deranged and obsessed with learning magic. Quentin tells her the school's location, hoping she will have her memory properly erased.
"Upon graduation, Quentin and the other Physical Kids spend their days and nights in hedonistic pursuits. While still looking for a purpose, his erstwhile classmate 'Penny' arrives with news about travel between worlds: including a place called 'Fillory'.
"The group finds magical wonders in Fillory and meet The Beast, aka 'Martin Chatwin', the lost eldest child from the Fillory who has sacrificed his humanity in order to stay in the magical world forever.
"After a brutal fight, Alice sacrifices herself to kill Martin, Penny loses both of his hands and chooses to remain in the Neitherlands, a realm between the worlds, and a gravely injured Quentin is left in the care of a group of 'centaurs' while the others fear that he will never awaken from his coma.
"Upon awakening many months later, Quentin becomes depressed and disillusioned, especially when 'Jane', the youngest Chatwin, reveals herself to have been pulling the strings throughout her siblings' and Quentin's stories. By using a magical time-traveling device, she finally succeeded in killing Martin by leading Quentin and his friends to the confrontation.
"Back on Earth, Quentin takes a high-paying non-magical job where he spends his time playing video games. One day, Eliot and Janet show up with Julia, who has learned magic, to return as 'Kings' and 'Queens' to Fillory..."
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