The Librarians and the Cost of Education – Director: Courtney Rowe/Writer: Kate Rorick
This one starts with a victory party at Wexler University. The mascot (an otter) is very excited and heads over to Omega Theta House for a frat party, but a dimensional rift opens and a giant tentacle emerges and drags him through. So, a Lovecraft-themed episode, I guess.
The Librarians learn about the missing mascot and Jenkins warns them to be careful while at Wexler, since it was founded by a noted occultist (Josiah Wexler), who was into some pretty weird shit. Cassandra and Eve talk to Mindy, the head cheerleader, who’s pissed off that the mascot disappeared
right before the big game against Michigan (who everyone thinks they have a chance against!). She’s not too surprised though, as about 20% of Wexler students disappear mysteriously in the middle of the night (which Mindy assumes is normal for every university, along with other weird happenings). Jacob and Ezekiel talk to the mascot’s roommate, who says he was really serious about his role as 
mascot. He also mentions the frat party (for which you need a written invitation) and says there are rumours about weird rituals in the basement. Ezekiel steals the mascot’s invitation from his desk and Jacob nerds out when he discovers a famous architecture expert (Roger Bancroft) teaches at Wexler. Neither of them seem to notice the gargoyle perched on the windowsill. (Jenkins specifically warned them not to make eye contact with the gargoyles, a rule Ezekiel broke almost immediately.)
Cassandra and Ezekiel go to the frat house and run into a student (Lucy Lyons) outside, using a device to track magical energy. Lucy has built a
small particle accelerator and registered a power surge at the frat house right when the mascot disappeared, so she came to check it out. Cassandra and Ezekiel claim to be campus security and try to discourage Lucy, but they’re impressed by her determination (and her skill at tracking magic). They almost get turned away from the frat party, but Lucy gets them in. Jacob and Eve talk to Professor Bancroft, but as soon as they ask about the occult he gets all worked up, telling them magic isn’t real. At the frat house, Ezekiel is having fun stealing stuff (and notices 
the gargoyle seems to be “following” him), while Cassandra tries to discourage Lucy’s interest in magic. When she can’t, she decides to let Lucy help investigate the rumours of weird rituals in the basement. Things sound suspicious at first, but turn out to be just beer pong (though Cassandra does notice the walls are made of onyx, or something similar). Meanwhile, Jacob and Bancroft argue over the existence of magic and Bancroft asserts his intellectual superiority just as a rift opens and a tentacle grabs him and pulls him in.
At the Annex, Jenkins tells them the tentacle monster is probably Lovecraftian and mentions that Wexler was the model for Miskatonic University (although I think Miskatonic was actually modelled on an Ivy
League college, possibly Brown). Cassandra suggests that someone must have summoned the monster and that the mascot and Bancroft must’ve been targeted specifically. Jacob goes to Bancroft’s class to check through his papers and ends up taking over the class. He uses the original plans for the university and has the students figure out which buildings have non-standard foundations. The five they come up with are arranged in a circle, which Jacob figures is acting 
as a summoning circle. He lets the others know and they split up to check out all the buildings, with Lucy tagging along (over Eve’s objections). While at the Science Building, Lucy shows Cassandra her particle accelerator, which she says she built with some new equations she came up with and the results exceeded her expectations. Cassandra quickly figures out that the radius for the accelerator is much bigger than Lucy thought, putting the entire university and surrounding population at risk.
Lucy unknowingly used magic to build the accelerator in a compressed pocket of space, which activated the summoning circle built into the
university’s architecture. Jenkins and Eve argue over whether the Library should be hiding magic away or helping people deal with it. Jenkins says they can de-power the accelerator but they can’t close the summoning circle until they know what creature was summoned. While talking to Jacob, Jenkins figures out that the monster 
attacks people who are arrogant and prideful, so he thinks it’s probably a Hybristic, a creature that’s attracted by big displays of ego, which it feeds off. At the lab, they’re having trouble shutting down the accelerator and Lucy comes up with an idea she’s sure will work. Cassandra warns her that it’s too dangerous, but Lucy’s ego is running wild and she’s sure she’s right. That summons the monster, which drags her through a dimensional rift.
Cassandra wants to open the rift and go in to rescue Lucy, but the others argue against that, especially since there’s a pep rally at the university which would attract the monster to devour all the untrammelled ego on
display. But Cassandra won’t be swayed, saying that doing what’s best and doing what’s right aren’t always compatible. She convinces the others and they come up with a plan. Using Ezekiel’s massive ego to distract the Hybristic will give Cassandra the right frequency to open her own rift and go after Lucy, while Eve stays in the lab to push the accelerator into the rift if everything goes to shit. The plan 
works and Ezekiel and Jacob are chased around campus by tentacles, while Cassandra opens a rift and goes to the other dimension. She finds Lucy (though the other two are already dead) and leads her towards the rift, but they’re chased by the Hybristic’s mate. Lucy gets through but Cassandra is grabbed. Before she gets devoured, she’s taken to a place between space and time where she meets three women (the Ladies of the Lake), who offer her a place with them studying magic and science. Cassandra is tempted but says she prefers to stay a Librarian, so they send her back through the rift, assuring her a place will always be open if she changes her mind. Eve pushes the
accelerator through the rift, destroying it and banishing the monster, but Ezekiel’s gargoyle (who he’s named Stumpy) has already sacrificed itself to save him. Lucy says she’ll continue studying magic, but not at Wexler. Jenkins warns Cassandra about the Ladies of the Lake, comparing the to Morgan Le Fay. He admits that the world is changing and they might need a better way to deal with magic, but says the Ladies are very ambitious and Cassandra needs to be careful. She points out that she chose to stay a Librarian and was happy to finally make her own choice about her life.
This is a really good episode, which introduces some new players (the Ladies of the Lake) who have taken an interest in Cassandra (and Lucy, since her research was funded the the “Lake Foundation”). Whether that 
interest will turn out to be benign or not remains to be seen. I also liked how we were led to believe someone summoned the monster, but the whole dimensional rift thing turned out to be accidental with the Hybristic then drawn to some massive egos. I’m not a huge Lovecraft fan, but I liked the elements mixed in here and it was cool to see Ezekiel’s ego come in handy for once. Stumpy’s sacrifice (and Ezekiel’s resulting sadness) was sweet and I like Lucy’s character. Her curiosity would make her a good Librarian (or even just occasional helper), but unfortunately I don’t think she ever appears again. The debate over how the Library should handle magic makes sense and will probably be an ongoing theme.
Favourite Quotes:
- “Prank, terrifying conundrum.” Cassandra’s reaction when Mindy characterizes the entire volleyball team’s disappearance as a prank.
- “Ooooh, then I’ll be on my guard!” Eve’s reaction to Jacob telling her what a great scholar Professor Bancroft is … an opinion he soon changes after meeting the professor.
- “Don’t talk that way in front of Stumpy, Jenkins.” Ezekiel defending his new gargoyle friend.