| “ | It was no accident, neither a ghost. It was the first eldritch terror that killed us. Darkness. A crushing darkness. A suffocating darkness. A consuming darkness. [...] The darkness is gathering. The darkness is rising. It will spread everywhere. It will blanket everything. There is no reasoning with it. There is no stopping it. In the beginning, all was darkness. At the end, there will only be darkness. Darkness, darkness, darkness. Today, this day, the sun will set and never rise again. | ” |
— Victims of the Darkness
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"Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Eldritch Dark" is the first episode of the fourth part of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and the twenty-ninth episode of the series overall.[1] It is also the season premiere.
Synopsis[]
As an all-consuming darkness trickles into town, Sabrina grapples with feeling like the odd witch out — and makes a risky plan for a whirlwind trip.
Plot[]
Blackwood notes the arrival of the Eldritch Terrors
Following his departure from the Church of Night and his releasing of the Eldritch Terrors, Father Blackwood has formed a new church: The Pilgrims of the Night Church. While transcribing his gospel, suddenly, a candle, the only source of a light in the room, goes out, and Blackwood realizes that the first of the Eldritch Terrors is finally upon them.
A group of miners exit the Greendale mines, consuming any and ally source of light in their path. They come across a homeless man and strangle the life from him before putting out the fire he was using to keep warm.
Ambrose tells Sabrina that their aunts are gone
Sabrina comes downstairs and asks Ambrose about their aunts. He informs her that Zelda is at the Academy and that Hilda is at Cerberus Books. She then asks him to accompany her to the movies, but Ambrose turns her down. He asks about her mortal friends, who already intend to go but on a double date, which Sabrina doesn’t wish to intrude on. Ambrose then leaves, as he would rather be alone. Sabrina looks to Salem, who assures her that he’d never leave her.
Sabrina meets her friends at school
Sabrina joins Harvey, Roz, Theo, and Robin in the library. Harvey tells them how a homeless guy died outside the mines last night. Roz then changes the subject to Baxter High and its lack of sex education classes. She points out that at Riverdale High, they have condoms in the bathroom. Which is why WICCA is circulating a petition and collecting signatures. Sabrina mentions how it’s been a while since the last Fright Club meeting, to which Theo reasons that Greendale has been relatively normal as of late. Harvey and Roz have been busy making their own music in the down time. The lights in the library then mysteriously start to flicker, though Sabrina is the only to take notice.
Ambrose spots a miner
On his way to the Academy, Ambrose crosses paths with a miner, who is smashing the railroad lights. Ambrose pulls out his hand and orders the miner to desist.
Billy approaches Sabrina at her locker and asks her to consider going out with Carl, who watches awkwardly from his locker just a few feet away. Billy explains that Carl is shy and inexperienced. Sabrina instructs Billy to tell Carl that if he wants to ask her out then he’ll have to do it himself. Sabrina then passes by Ms. Wardwell, whose memories of the Spellmans being witches are starting to resurface.
The coven honors Hecate
The Order of Hecate gathers at the Academy, where Zelda burns sage and dedicates the Academy to the worship of the triple goddess Hecate. To further honor their Dark Mother, each year they will name a Maiden, Mother, and Crone to embody and exalt Hecate’s three forms. The crone is the keeper of mysteries and arcane wisdom, so Zelda nominated herself. Moving on to the Mother, who can create life and withstand the terrible pain of childbirth, Zelda chooses Hilda. Lastly, Zelda must select the Maiden, which represents curiosity, pursuit of knowledge, and boundless potential. Rather than picking Sabrina, Zelda shockingly chooses Prudence. Melvin approaches Sabrina after the ceremony. Given that Nick and Prudence have started to hang out more, Melvin asks Sabrina out on a date, which she declines.
Sabrina tells Ambrose about her plan to go to Hell
Sabrina finds Ambrose in the library and tells him about her plan to visit Sabrina Morningstar in Hell. Sabrina has been thinking about her a lot lately. Ambrose explains to his cousin that the fact that two Sabrinas are existing simultaneously is already world jeopardizing, any time the two of them come into contact could precipitate a cataclysm. An alternate timeline could blink into existence and that timeline could attempt to dominate their own, which could result in a crisis that would snuff both timelines out of existence. With that said, Ambrose tells Sabrina to put to bed any curiosities she has about Sabrina Morningstar, as they can never come into contact.
Mambo Marie and Zelda kiss
Mambo Marie and Zelda celebrate her being chosen as the Crone to represent their coven. Zelda wonders if Mambo truly sees her as a crone. Mambo Marie replies by kissing Zelda and insisting that she does not.
Agatha knocks on Ms. Wardwell’s door, posing as a congregant named Sister Julia. She claims that they’ve only just raised their Church, the Pilgrims of the Night Church, and she’s going door-to-door spreading the good word. She asks Ms. Wardwell if she truly knows fear and offers her comfort at the church.
Sabrina returns home and shares her concerns with Aunt Hilda; how her friends have moved on without her. Hilda asks about the Fright Club, to which Sabrina replies that they don’t have a reason to hang out anymore. Hilda suggests that Sabrina give the Fright Club a good, scary reason to reunite.
Bloody Mary appears to Billy
Billy and Carl are in the boys restroom discussing the manner in which Billy tried to set Carl up with Sabrina. After Carl exits, blood starts to run from the faucets. Billy looks up and sees a young lady with a bleeding heart hanging from her neck and a thorn crown wrapped around her head. He screams in fear and races out the bathroom. Unbeknownst to him, this is merely the work of Sabrina and a glamoured Salem. Billy bumps into Harvey and Roz while fleeing the school and tells them about his ghost sighting.
Harvey, Roz, and Theo inform Sabrina of Billy’s ghostly encounter with who Sabrina claims is Bloody Mary. Sabrina says that she’s a vengeful spirit who often appears when amateurs practice divination. She goes on to explain that in order to destroy Bloody Mary, they’ll have to summon her spirit at midnight, stand in front of a mirror, invoke her name three times, smash all the mirrors so that she can’t escape, and then Sabrina can banish her.
Mary attends the Pilgrims of the Night Church
Ms. Wardwell decides to attend service at the Pilgrims of the Night Church, where Blackwood warns them that a great and terrible darkness is coming. He tells them that not even the light will be able to shield them from the eternal darkness. He warns them to embrace the darkness when it comes. Only then will they be saved.
The witching hour is upon them. Sabrina, Harvey, Roz, and Theo gather in the boys restroom at school and invoke Bloody Mary’s name three times. She appears and they smash every mirror in the bathroom with hammers. The Fright Club chases her into the library, where Sabrina banishes her. Sabrina warns them that ghosts often manifest in a pack and that more will likely come. Theo replies that they’ll be ready should the time arise.
Sabrina makes her way home, where she comes across a miner in her front yard. He consumes the light that shines on the Spellman Mortuary sign before disappearing.
Hilda confronts the Darkness
Hilda brings Zelda something to eat and mentions that she made extra for Mambo Marie, who Hilda noticed has been spending quite a bit of time with Zelda as of late. The sisters then get word of a terrible darkness in the dormitory. Hilda stays behind while Zelda goes to investigate. She finds a miner standing in the center of the room. She demands that it reveal itself, as the Academy is sealed against malevolence. The miner says that Zelda presents strength so that no one sees how weak she truly is. He goes on to say that Mambo Marie is only using her to get to power and that Sabrina hates her, using Zelda’s own insecurities against her. Hilda intervenes with a candle stand in hand, providing the only source of light in the dormitory. She refers to him as a bully and removes his mask, only to find darkness behind the mask. The being then dematerializes, leaving behind its clothes and pickaxe.
The following day, the Spellmans discuss the spectral miner that invaded the Academy. Zelda suspects it was merely someone who perished in the mines and is back to cause trouble, though she notes that the miner projected her own thoughts and fears back at her, as if it could read her mind. Sabrina adds that the miner she saw made the mortuary sign burn out, whereas the one Ambrose saw by the train tracks at the Academy was swinging a pickaxe at lampposts. The phone rings suddenly rings. Hilda reveals that they have three bodies coming in from the coroner’s office. Each having died from mysterious circumstances.
Rosalind confronts Sabrina about Bloody Mary
Roz confronts Sabrina about their ghostly encounter with Bloody Mary. She knows that Sabrina and Salem faked the whole encounter. She could see past the glamour with her cunning and asks Sabrina what her reason was. Sabrina explains that she was scared of losing them and the Fright Club. It feels as though there’s been a distance between them, which Roz can feel as well. Contrary to Sabrina, Roz feels as if it was them and Sabrina’s mortal life that got left behind. However, she assures Sabrina that they’ll always be friends.
Ambrose and Salem come to a realization
Ambrose and Salem examine the three cadavers. The first victim’s bones were crushed to powder. The second victim died from carbon monoxide poisoning, and the last one seemingly starved to death. Salem reminds Ambrose of the Kinkle Mines disaster of 1949 — a cave-in, where some of the miners were crushed by rocks, others from poisonous fumes, and the remaining from starvation. And they all died gruesome deaths in the dark.
Nicholas, Sabrina, and Ambrose discover that the Darkness is in Greendale
Sabrina finds Ambrose and Nick in the library discussing necromancy. Sabrina reminds them of the Tommy Kinkle incident. Nick assures her that it will be nothing like that, they’re only delving into short term resurrection. One minute at the most. So, the three of them return to the morgue and temporarily resurrect the three dead men. They reveal that they were killed by the first Eldritch Terror, otherwise known as The Darkness. They warn the witches that a never-ending darkness will consume them all. Ambrose recalls Father Blackwood mentioning the Eldritch Terrors and his plan to release them. They have to find the source. Nick recalls the miners' sightings and suspects that they’re merely avatars of the Darkness, meaning the source is in the mines.
Ambrose and Sabrina see the Darkness
Nick watches over Sabrina and Ambrose while they astral project to the cave where the 1949 disaster took place. There, they find the miners standing around a pool of darkness. Sabrina can literally feel the hopelessness, despair, and loneliness. Sabrina and Ambrose return to their bodies to find that Prudence has joined them. If they are indeed facing an Eldritch Terror, then that would mean her father is near. The lights in the mortuary then flicker out completely.
The entire Greendale is left in the dark. Roz notices the lights go out while in the refrigerator. Harvey on the other hand in in his garage when his dad enters and accuses him of blowing the fuse. Robin then enters through Theo’s window and suggests calling Sabrina in case the outage is supernaturally related.
Sabrina volunteers to go into the Darkness
Sabrina reports back to Nick, Prudence, and Ambrose that the entire town is without light. This would mean that Greendale will be without light by sundown, allowing the Darkness to escape the mines and take over Greendale as well as the world. Ambrose says that they can’t allow the Darkness to escape Greendale. Prudence assures them that she will get Zelda and Mambo Marie to help. As for the miners, Nick agrees to work alongside the Fright Club to keep them at bay. Regarding the Darkness itself, they’ll need great power to generate from within the heart of the Darkness. Sabrina volunteers. As a Morningstar, she can generate light. Ambrose fears that her power isn’t enough. So, Sabrina proposes seeking help from Sabrina Morningstar. Ambrose warns her to keep contact to a minimum, be as quick as possible, and not to allow anyone to see the two of them together.
Morningstar and Spellman discuss the absolute darkness
Sabrina Morningstar and Caliban dance together in a Hell themed prom, where they are cheered on by the demons of Hell. Once Sabrina Morningstar is alone, Sabrina Spellman approaches disguised as the Demonic Minion and greets her with a hug. Lilith watches from above, questioning their interaction. Morningstar explains that every night is prom night in Hell and that she loves ruling over the Nine Circles. Spellman points out Morningstar’s embrace with Caliban, who she insists is sorry for his past actions. Spellman then informs Morningstar of the absolute darkness that’s going to consume the world if they don’t stop it with their light.
Nick finds Roz and Harvey in the garage and informs them that a plague of darkness is threatening Greendale. The Darkness is manifesting as a horde of spectral minors, who they have to keep busy while Sabrina destroys the source of the Darkness.
The coven gathers to help Sabrina
Prudence warns Zelda, Hilda, and Mambo Marie of the impending darkness. Zelda believes that the coven should be protecting itself, rather than Greendale, but Mambo Marie explains that this is the danger she’s been fearing, the same threat that brought her to Greendale. It will bring death to the entire world if they do nothing. And so, Zelda decides to gather the coven so they can perform a spell of containment. The Order of Hecate gather in the main room and joins hands as Zelda prays to Hecate and performs a containment spell to prevent the Darkness from leaving Greendale.
Mary is attacked by the Darkness
Ms. Wardwell is grading papers in her office when she is suddenly startled by the sound of shattering glass. She cracks her door and sees a miner breaking the hallway lights. He then proceeds to break down Ms. Wardwell’s door with a pickaxe. She recalls Blackwood mentioning that the light can’t save her and blows out her candle, which appears to appease the miner, who proceeds down the hallway.
Theo and Robin wait by the entrance of the mines with lanterns for the horde of miners to exit. They lead the miners to the Phantasmagoria carnival, allowing Ambrose and the two Sabrinas to sneak inside the cave.
Once the miners are far enough into the carnival, Nick shuts off the lights, allowing Harvey and Roz to lead them further with simple road flares. They drop the flares inside a tent and exit out the back. Once all the miners are inside, Nick leads the Fright Club in a spell to trap the miners inside with a barrier spell.
Spellman and Morningstar capture the Darkness
Ambrose warns the two Sabrinas that prolonged exposure to the Darkness is lethal — death by despair. Morningstar volunteers to go into the heart of the Darkness first. With her, she takes a transparent bulb and uses it to channel her Morningstar light. However, the Darkness projects her own insecurities against her, stating that she’s an unloved orphan. Sabrina Morningstar succumbs to the Darkness as her light fades. And so, Spellman joins her inside the heart of the Darkness and finds her crying on the ground. Morningstar admits that she hates ruling over Hell and that it’s a miserable existence. Spellman promises her that they are never alone and that they are forever loved. Motivated by love, the two Sabrinas invoke their Morningstar light. However, the Darkness overcomes them, turning their eyes black. Ambrose realizes that they’re not enough and alerts Prudence, who tells Zelda, Hilda, and Mambo Marie that they need to refocus their energies on Sabrina, who is in the heart of the Darkness. Sabrina Spellman and Morningstar can feel their coven lending their power. So, they pray to Hecate, who allows them to invoke their Morningstar power and trap the Darkness within the bulb. Ambrose is amazed that somehow the two of them managed to trap an Eldritch Terror.
Nick and the Fright Club look at the aftermath
A straggler miner approaches Nick and the Fright Club while they’re distracted and attempts to kill them, though they are saved by Sabrina after she manages to stop the Darkness, leaving nothing behind but the clothes and pickaxe the miners carried.
Agatha is sorry to hear that the Darkness failed. Faustus explains that the Darkness is merely the first of the Eldritch Terrors. There are eight total, each more harrowing than the last. And when the next one manifests, they will ensure that their enemies are dealt with.
Sabrina approaches Carl at his locker and asks him out on a date to the movies. He accepts and they agree to meet at the Paramount. Sabrina then goes to the Academy and asks Melvin on a date to the movies at a later time. She even suggests that they dress up.
Spellman and Morningstar dance togther
The two Sabrinas dance together in her room despite Ambrose’s warning of maintaining distance. Spellman hides in her closet as their aunties approach. Hilda is glad to hear that she’s feeling better. Zelda questions how she has a dance party by herself, to which Sabrina asks them to join her. Zelda isn’t interested and leaves but not before inquiring about Sabrina's red headband, as hers is typically black. Morningstar replies that she’s simply trying something new. After their aunties leave, Spellman exits her closet and explains that Melvin and Carl aren’t her boyfriends. She’s simply dating. The Sabrinas then declare their secret best friendship before resuming their dance party.
Cast[]
Starring[]
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Guest Starring[]
Co-Starring[]
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Trivia[]
- The episode title is a reference to The Darkness; one of the eight Eldritch Terrors.
- Additionally, it's the same name of the collected works of Clark Ashton Smith, author of Weird fiction.
Gallery[]
Promotional Images[]
Screencaps[]
