Penny23 is elected Acting Dean of Brakebills and that prompts Julia and him to attempt to summon Dean Fogg. What they get is more problems. Alice meets new Botany Professor Hamish Bax. Back in FIllory, High King Margo's attempts to engage with the fairies don't initially pan out as the Dark King's forces come looking for Gold.

Penny and Plum travel, not only through space, but time. The not-dead Dark King uses Eliot's body to reassure a long lost love he's not been forgotten. Margo enlists the inept Gordy the Vet to rid Plover of the Tongue Twister curse. Alice and Kady use a Poison room spellbook to consider creating a new Moon.