Back in April, we were blown away by the shocking season finale of Syfy’s The Magicians. With the fate of almost every character up in the air, we’ve been dying to know where we’ll find them once season two returns in 2017. While the cast and the creators of the show didn’t divulge too much when we caught up with them at Comic-Con this year, we did get some very important teases regarding what’s on the way. In addition to centaurs (which clearly everyone was excited about), we’ll be seeing a lot more Fillory in the second season. The cast–Summer Bishil (Margo), Hale Appleman (Eliot), Rick Worthy (Dean Fogg), Stella Maeve (Julia), Arjun Gupta (Penny), Jade Tailor (Kady), Olivia Taylor Dudley (Alice), Jason Ralph, and creators Sera Gamble, John McNamara, and the author behind the books series upon which the show is based, Lev Gossman–were on hand to discuss.

One of the actors we were most excited to chat with was Hale Appleman.  With Eliot’s  fate permanently bound to Fillory (thanks to an agreement that led to an arranged marriage), he’s in for a major shift in priorities.

“I think that Elliot, sort of at the end of season one, was really struggling and spiraling down a dark path, and was essentially ready to die before he was saved.” Appleman explained about his character. “He is recognizing, perhaps on some level, that there is a greater purpose to life, and there are more important things to live for, and fight for.” He added. “ I think that perhaps these elements are important in terms of the evolution of his character.”

As for Dean Fogg, he’s tired of everything that’s been going on. “He wants the problem to go away as quickly as possible,” shared Worthy. “We’ve been through this 39 times. This is the last loop, Jane is dead and he’s frustrated. There has to be a solution at some point.”

Like his co-star, Gupta said his character won’t necessarily be looking for revenge. Rather, he explained that “it’s always been about survival” first for Penny. The same can be said for the rest of the cast. They’ve all got more important things on their mind, and don’t have time to get caught up in revenge plots, or romance–even though we’re sure they totally will. When asked whether Alice and Quentin had a chance, Dudley elaborated, “Relationships are not necessarily at the front of what they’re dealing with.”

As for the rest of the characters, there’s still a lot we (and they, for filming purposes) don’t know. While the series is based on Lev Grossman’s popular book series, the showrunners have done a lot to shake thing up.

“Its really fascinating watching these guys riff like crazy on the stuff in the books.” said Grossman. “A lot of the plot points in the books do make their way onto the screen but often are turned around with a different meaning. It’s amazing to me both how much the spirit of the books gets up there on screen, and also the crazy stuff these guys think of to do; they take it to places that I never would have thought to take it.”

“I didn’t really think of the whole Julia plot line until the second book. They took it right out of the second book and ran it in parallel with Quentin’s story in the first book, which is a great thing to see. I would have done that if I had thought of it. It took a whole book to figure out what Julia had been doing. To see those storylines run against each other, they actually balance and play off each other in interesting ways,“Grossman added.

With possibilities up in the air, one thing is for certain: we’re going to see A LOT more of Fillory, as most agreed that it’s “an important character in the show.” The massive setting, which is ripe for story possibilities, will serve as the backdrop for the group’s continued battles with the beast and Reynard. Both characters remain a threat to the show’s characters.

Probably one of our favorite reveals from our time with the group is that centaurs are coming to the show. Seeing as they appear in the books, it’s not that big of a shock, but that didn’t change the fact that it’s all everyone could talk about. On top of that, Dudley really wants her character Alice to get a chance ride a unicorn in the show; she’s apparently asked about it several times. The writers also joked about wanting to put elves in the show. It might sound silly, but we’d be all for it.

When we saw how many actors were on the list for Comic-Con, we knew it meant they’d be alive for the time being. As gamble pointed out, they’ll be alive, but different. “You’ll see all of our beautiful cast, but we can’t promise that they will be in the same form that they were in season one because things went very bad for them.”

You could say that again. We can’t wait to see more about the highly anticipated show once it returns next year. Will you be watching? Let us know in the comments!

Image: Syfy