Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale season 2 episode 1 ending explained: Is Ryan dead?

Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale, season 2 episode 1, picks up its plot from where it left off in season 1. The town of Sanctuary, which was once a safe space for witches, has now turned into a nightmare after the deaths of humans, who have left the witches to live in fear of prosecution. The manhunt after witches was led by Abigail, who lost her son for his own wrongdoings, and Harper was at fault, but now the mother-daughter duo is back.

So, the city where both witches and humans shared a life together has been devastated, and Sarah Fenn and her daughter Harper try to navigate life amidst this. The episode opens with Sarah helping Harper with her magic spells, as they lift the stones into the air. But Harper, who likes to play with her powers as she wants, is reminded by Sarah to follow the process, as it could act as a handbrake when things go wrong.

Soon after, at Stoneacre, Agatha arrives with a new rule for the witches. However, Harper and Sarah quickly hide the fact that Harper has magic powers, and Sarah brushes off the topic by saying ‘’she was showing her own powers.’’ Agatha, without suspecting much, reveals that Parliament has asked three green witches to work together to germinate the fields. But when so many witches gather in one place, even a baseless complaint from a troublemaker could put them at risk of prosecution. This new rule could create many problems in the witcher world.

Meanwhile, the entire town is protesting against witches, especially after Sarah and Harper are set free by DCI Maggie, as they were not found guilty of the murder. However, the tension does not stop there. There is another murder in Season 2, and this time, it is Ryan.

Sarah tries to find peace at the moot, whereas Maggie struggles to prove her decisions in Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale, season 2, episode 1

As the locals turn against witches, we see Maggie being constantly booed by people outside the court. Soon after, she attends a jury hearing where she has to explain her actions from Season 1 and justify why she protected Sarah and Harper from prosecution. However, she is opposed by a human anti-witch MP (Angela), and it is obvious that whatever the lawyer says, the jury supports her. Still, Maggie wants to keep Sanctuary united, while other humans in positions of power have begun to believe that humans and witches should no longer coexist.

While Maggie is managing all this, Sarah also faces hostility at the Moot, where no witch welcomes her. Everyone blames her for turning their peaceful lives upside down. During the council meeting, Sarah asks only for a peaceful life and not to be treated like an ‘outsider,’ as she has already suffered enough from the events of Season 1.

Soon after, we see Harper wanting to go on her own wanderings, but Sarah stops her and goes to Sanctuary instead. To her surprise, she sees Angela and Bridgette together. Angela may have her own personal motive for connecting with Bridgette under the guise of running a book club, but Bridgette is not yet able to see through her intentions. Both Sarah and Bridgette are unsure whether they can trust Angela, but for now, no one trusts Sarah either, as her position in the town is still weak.

After this, Maggie learns that her assistant, Ryan, has been killed, and once again, the blame could fall on the witches. Ryan’s family has given the case to Maggie for now, and she is determined to find the real murderer. It is also revealed that Ryan was secretly investigating Bittershore, a water body where dead animals were found. It could be the result of witchcraft or some other kind of magic, and perhaps he was murdered to hide the truth.

Who is Lachlan? 

While Sarah is with Maggie, who is grieving over Ryan’s death, a stranger comes to meet Harper. Later, it is revealed that he is her father. Agatha knows him and allows him to meet Harper. The two quickly bond, go for a car ride, and talk about witch stories.

Meanwhile, Agatha gets angry with Harper when she goes to see the farming work and ends up ruining the crops by touching the ground. Harper and Sarah are already facing problems, and this mistake exacerbates them. This is why Harper agrees to go on a car ride with Lachlan.

When Sarah and Maggie look deeper into Ryan’s case, they realize that a witch killed him. What consequences this will bring in the upcoming episodes remains to be seen. The person who killed Ryan is now after Harper, as Sarah receives a package containing a lock of Harper’s hair from her client's files. After seeing this, Sarah wants to solve Ryan’s murder as soon as possible, as the threat is now to her daughter. It could also be linked to the witchcraft flashbacks shown in the middle scenes, where we do not see who performs the spell. The recent death may be connected to this, as Sarah senses that a divine spell caused his death.

By the end, when Sarah returns, she tells Harper the truth: Lachlan is her father.