The Magicians

The Magicians is an American fantasy television series that aired on Syfy and is based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Lev Grossman. Michael London, Janice Williams, John McNamara, and Sera Gamble serve as executive producers. A 13-episode order was placed for the first season in May 2015, and the series premiered on December 16, 2015, as a special preview. In January 2019, Syfy renewed the series for a fifth and final season, which ran from January 15 to April 1, 2020. In the show, students at a secretive school of magic find that the magical world is more dangerous than they realized. Premise Quentin Coldwater enrolls at Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy to be trained as a magician, where he discovers that the magical world from his favorite childhood book is real and poses a danger to humanity. Meanwhile, the life of his childhood friend Julia is derailed when she is denied entry, and she searches for magic elsewhere outside of the school. Cast and characters Main Jason Ralph as Quentin Coldwater (seasons 1–4), a graduate student. He enrolls at Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy to be trained as a magician. A lifelong fan of the Fillory and Further series, he discovers that they are in fact based in truth and pose a danger to his world. Ralph also portrays Quentin Coldwater from an alternate timeline, the same timeline as Penny-23. Within this timeline, he takes on the persona of the Beast. Stella Maeve as Julia Wicker, Quentin's childhood friend, an Ivy League student who is not admitted to Brakebills, and is recruited by hedge witches, largely self-taught magicians who have to piece together spells. Maeve also portrays the sister of the Monster at the End of the World, inhabiting Julia's body, in season 4. Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice Quinn, a naturally gifted magician whose parents are magicians and who comes from a neglected home life. Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh, a student at Brakebills and senior to Quentin, with whom he is close friends. He is a heavy drinker. He and Margo are inseparable. Appleman also portrays the Monster at the End of the World inhabiting Eliot's body in season 4. Arjun Gupta as William "Penny" Adiyodi, Quentin's roommate and peer. He is a talented magician who is a telepath and "traveler", someone who can travel between worlds.