The Librarians and the Apple of Discord – Director: Marc Roskin/Writers: Paul Guyot, Geoffrey Thorne
This one starts near Mount Fuji in Japan, with a young couple lost in the woods. An earthquake shakes things up, but it’s soon accompanied by torrential rain and something huge coming up through the ground. This isn’t an isolated incident, as the Librarians get info about mysterious
earthquakes all over the East, which Jenkins says are caused by something magical. There’s evidence of magic-induced quakes going back centuries and the Librarians are pretty worried … except Ezekiel, who’s more concerned about the pizza he ordered. Someone comes through the “back door” and it turns out to be Flynn Carsen, who informs them the earthquakes are being caused by dragons.
Flynn tells them that Dragons get very upset when something is taken from 
them and he figures someone (possibly a Western dragon) stole something from the Eastern Dragons, prompting their earth-shaking anger. Flynn tells Eve he’s there to meet the Eastern Dragon representative (the aptly-named Mr. Drake), but Eve tries to let him know that she and the others have been doing pretty well on their own and don’t appreciate him coming back and giving orders like nothing’s changed. They’re interrupted when Drake shows up and Ezekiel answers the
door, making him the Library’s official Arbiter (much to Flynn’s consternation). Drake wants an Intercession, which Ezekiel grants (against Flynn’s advice) and Drake tells them someone stole a valuable pearl from thee Eastern dragons and if it’s not returned there will be war. Flynn and Eve do manage to get Ezekiel to choose Jenkins as his official Counsel.
Flynn figures that if the Western Dragons stole the pearl, they’ll be hiding it 
in their old stronghold in the catacombs under Rome. Drake presents Ezekiel with his (rather long) list of grievances, which means Ezekiel won’t be available to steal back the pearl from the dragons. The others go to the Vatican and find the secret passage into the catacombs (thanks to some teamwork from Jacob and Cassandra). They find three pearls in a chamber guarded by a sound-activated trap. Jacob gets the right pearl, but it makes his eyes go red and he leaves the others behind to go to a nearby museum. Back at the Annex, Ezekiel isn’t doing too well as Arbiter and things get worse when a bunch of
people show up representing various factions (Djinn, Fae, Iron Kingdom), claiming someone called a Conclave there. Jenkins explains to Ezekiel that a Conclave is like a United Nations for supernatural beings, where they can air (and hopefully solve) their problems. Jenkins isn’t happy about Ezekiel being Arbiter because of his thieving ways, but Ezekiel reminds him the Library chose him (and the others) for a reason.
In Rome, Flynn, Eve, and Cassandra find a dragon, who tells them the Western Dragons didn’t steal anything from their Eastern counterparts, which means someone else is trying to cause trouble. Speaking of which, 
Jacob tries to steal some paintings that he thinks are underappreciated, but when the others show up to stop him he drops the pearl (which breaks open to reveal a golden apple) and goes back to normal. Eve tells the guards it’s a NATO exercise and Cassandra picks up the apple, which turns her eyes black and makes her act very violent. She takes off and the others are delayed by the cops. After changing to a somewhat more revealing outfit, Cassandra runs into Lamia. Back at the Annex, Dulaque shows up and asks to be recognized, which pisses Jenkins off so much that he leaves.
Dulaque admits he’s the one who called the Conclave because he wants a vote on turning control of the Library over to him. In Rome, Flynn realizes
the Apple of Discord was inside the pearl and it magnified Jacob’s worst quality (his feeling that his knowledge makes him better than other people) and is now doing the same to Cassandra. Cassandra’s worst quality seems to be anger and she unleashes it on Lamia, using math to kick the shit out of her by targeting her weak points. Cassandra decides to overload a power plant to cause some real havoc. At the Annex, Jenkins is ready to leave and Ezekiel gives him shit for not making a choice to stay and fight. Jenkins says he’s made plenty of 
choices in the past that all turned out badly, and since nothing ever really changes, why choose anyway. Ezekiel points out that Jenkins himself has changed. Jenkins comes back in time to block the vote, using procedural bullshit to slow things down. In Rome, the others stop Cassandra (by making her wonder what the last digit of Euler’s number is), but when Flynn and Eve jointly grab the Apple, it affects both of them.
Flynn is afflicted with pride and Eve with envy and they start fighting over the Apple. Lamia interrupts them and Flynn ends up with the Apple. At the
Annex, Dulaque outmaneuvers Jenkins and Ezekiel and calls for a no-confidence vote against him (and the Library). Flynn interrupts them and is ready to join them in shutting down the Library and taking over the world. Jenkins distracts him long enough for Ezekiel to pickpocket the Apple, which turns Flynn normal. He makes an impassioned plea to save the Library (since its existence benefits them all) and the Conclave agrees. (The Apple doesn’t affect Ezekiel since he’s 
already the worst version of himself.) Drake is ready to argue until Ezekiel points out that he’s probably the one who stole the pearl in the first place, since he benefits and had access. Jenkins confronts Dulaque and accuses him of setting everything up, which Dulaque doesn’t deny. There’s obviously some history (at least a thousand ears, according to Jenkins) between these two. Eve officially transfers to the Library and she and Flynn say farewell (with another kiss) before he leaves again.
This is a pretty good episode that dips into Greek myth to bring out some of the worst aspects of he Librarians. Flynn’s big flaw is his pride, Eve’s is
envy (wanting to belong to the Library), Cassandra’s is wrath (because she only gets to think not act), and Jacob’s is his greed brought on by his sense of superior taste). It was cool to see representatives of various supernatural factions; besides the ones at the Conclave, we got mentions of Wold Newton, Arsene Lupin, the World Crime League (from Buckaroo Banzai), and the Organization Too 
Secret to Know (the O2STK from Middleman). The connection between Dulaque and Jenkins is interesting and we get a clue to Dulaque’s identity when he’s referred to as the Son of Ban, which sounds like an Arthurian reference. I’m not sure about the romance between Flynn and Eve … it seems a bit forced to me (especially since he got involved with all his previous Guardians in the movies). But they aren’t spending a lot of time together anyway, so it doesn’t distract too much from the story.
Favourite Quotes:
- “Okay, so he’s a dragon in a man costume?” Cassandra trying to get a handle on Drake.
- “Smarter to be lucky than lucky to be smart.” Ezekiel telling Jenkins his philosophy of life.
- “Are you ill?” Dulaque wondering why Flynn is acting so weird.