Quentin Coldwater
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Quentin Coldwater |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Relationships: | |
| Fandom: | The Magicians |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Quentin Coldwater is a character in the TV series The Magicians, which is based on the series of novels of the same name by Lev Grossman.
Canon
Quentin is 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. He enrolls at Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy to be trained as a magician.
After his graduation from Brakebills, Penny brings him evidence of travel between worlds and he travels to Fillory. He returns to Earth, then returns to Fillory to become King of Fillory He is ejected from Fillory and returns multiple times.
Quentin is bisexual. His canon love interests are Alice Quinn and Eliot Waugh.
He was killed off in the season 4 finale.
Response to Season 4
Quentin Coldwater's death sparked immediate controversy following the Season 4 Finale. Fans objected to the show killing off a character who has struggled with mental illness, and to killing of a queer character, contributing to the Bury Your Gays trope. Fans organized the #PeopleLikeMe letter writing campaign to "to let SyFy know Quentin's story, like ours, shouldn't end in tragedy". Petitions were also created on sites like change.org to Bring Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) Back To The Magicians.
Thank Q, a fanworks auction with proceeds going to The Trevor Project, that was organized in the aftermath of the finale. The people behind the fan-run fundraiser point out that; "Understandably, the fans for whom Quentin was crucial representation are devastated by this decision, and in the aftermath, we wanted to help channel that heartbreak into giving back to our community and celebrating our fandom."
There was a surge in Magicians fanworks following the finale. Since the finale airdate, there have been over 150 Magicians fanworks updated on Ao3 that include the tag fix-it.[1] Some fans have also expressed their unhappiness with the finale through vids, like yelling at a plant (aka yelling at the writers of the magicians) by theprincessandthepie.
A list of reactions in fandom and in the mainstream media was compiled by messier51: One Week Later: A Season 4 The Magicians Finale Reading List (originally posted April 24, 2019 & updated). Examples of reactions:
Meta
- Alice Quinn’s Grand Unified Theory of Magic by messier51 (April 19, 2019)
- On the Magicians season finale by sholio, (Apr 20, 2019) discussing a lot of thinky thoughts about storytelling and how we engage with fictional characters, with reference to fandom discourse on Tumblr at the time.
- Thanks, I hate it - The Magicians S4 Finale and Magicians Season 4—It Just Gets Worse The More You Think About it by lierdumoa (April 19 & 21, 2019)
- This is tied for the worst thing about the Magicians finale to me— by giddygeek (April 2019)
- The Magicians S4 Finale Aired Five Days Ago And I'm Still Mad As Hell by cleolinda, (Apr 22, 2019), discussing the reaction to the season 4 finale, media portrayals of suicide, as well as the suicidal ideation.
- an extraordinary uncertainty of judgement (The Magicians 4x13) by templemarker (April 23, 2019)
- On mourning, transformative works, and audience manipulation by greywash (May 6, 2019)
- You know, I don’t think, in my 20+ years of fandom, that I’ve ever seen a fandom have such an intense rollercoaster experience as The Magicians has just had in the last few months. by three--rings (May 12, 2019)
On top of writing in traditional fandom spaces, a lot of fans published meta essays on medium.com under their Wallet Names, in an effort to reach an audience outside of fandom, perhaps TPTB themselves:
- On Fannishness, Intersectionality, & a Whole Other Grab-bag of Entitled Millennial Bullshit by greywash, medium.com, April 19, 2019. Subhead: An open letter to Sera Gamble, John McNamara, Henry Alonso Myers, and the rest of the creative team for SyFy’s The Magicians.
- I am Quentin Coldwater by Chris (April 21, 2019)
- My History of Trauma and How a TV Show Cracked the Lid by nicole (April 22, 2019)
- Reading the Room: The Magicians, BTS, and the Emotional Responsibility of Creating Popular Culture by Heidi Samuelson (April 22, 2019)
- it is better to speak remembering we were not meant to survive by c. (April 23, 2019)
- Find Me in Fillory by Danielle Whitney (April 23, 2019)
- An Unwanted Destination: Crossing the Line and Ending Up in “Your Audience No Longer Trusts You” Territory. by Ashtyn Steele (April 23, 2019)
- Minor Mendings: What I learned from Quentin Coldwater by Tatyana Beck (April 24, 2019)
- “Magic comes from pain”-about the finale and more by itsmelori forever (April 26, 2019)
- numb, from feeling nothing. numb, from feeling too much. by nasti (April 26, 2019)
In the Media
- The Magicians Writers Knew That Shocking Death Would Upset Fans. Here’s Why They Did It Anyway. by Kathryn VanArendonk for Vulture.com (April 17, 2019)
- ‘The Magicians’ Creators Explain That Game-Changing Season 4 Finale Death by Emma Dibdin for hollywoodreporter.com (April 17, 2019)
- The Magicians Discussion: The Season 4 Finale Changes the Show Forever(archived link) article by Syfy contributors Jessica Toomer and Alyssa Fikse, Apr 18, 2019. The article was taken offline a week after it was published.
- ‘The Magicians’ Finale Broke My Heart, and I’m Not Sure I Can Go Back by Anna Menta at Decider.com (April 18, 2019)
- Processing Our Feelings About That Devastating Magicians Season Finale by Jessica Mason for themarysue.com (April 18, 2019)
- The Magicians' Season Finale Missed the Mark on a Huge Mental Health Issue by Amanda Prahl in Popsugar (April 19, 2019)
- The Magicians Fans Are Really Upset About What Happened to Quentin by Raffy Ermac at pride.com (April 19, 2020)
- The Magicians’ Season Finale Was an Unforgivable Mistake by Sadie Collins at hercampus.com (April 19, 2019)
- The Magicians’ season 4 finale was frustrating and maybe irresponsible. I kinda loved it. by Emily VanDerWerff for vox.com (April 21, 2019)
- The Magicians Season 4 Finale Infuriates Fanbase by Alexx Aplin at phenixxgaming.com (April 22, 2019)
- Queerness and Death in the Magicians, another article that was taken off the Syfy site, two hours after it had been posted.[2] The original author, S.E. Fleenor also republished their article on a different site, with a different title; 'The Magicians' Season 4 Finale Is a Master's Class in How NOT to Treat Queer Characters. (April 24 & 25, 2019)
- The Magicians: Quentin’s Journey is About Bravery, Not Heroism by Katey Stoetzel at theyoungfolks.com (April 24, 2019)
- LGBT Fans Cry Foul At Magicians’ Death Scene by Devin Randall at instinctmagazine.com (April 25, 2019)
- Why the Emotional Fallout of The Magicians Season 4 Stuck With Me So Long by Allyson Johnson at themarysue.com (July 10, 2019) archived version (As noted by messier51: **Note that archived version is the original; updated article no longer states that “Jason Ralph reportedly asked to leave”.)
Fandom
Pairings
- Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh or "Queliot" is the most popular pairing for the character and the dominant pairing in this fandom.
- Quentin Coldwater/Alice Quinn
- Quentin Coldwater/Margo Hanson/Eliot Waugh
Tropes
- sub!Quentin
- virgin!Quentin (?)
- bi!Quentin: see the BISEXUALITY:THE MUSICAL collection ([1])
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Meta
- Bisexuality:The Musical by greywash (Feb 24th, 2019), a reflexion and call to action about the canon and fandom's attitudes to Quentin as a bisexual man.
- the magicians - god this show by seperis (March 16, 2019), about the foreshadowing->addressing pattern visible in Quentin's sexual identity and mental health issues.
Fanfic
- Fillory Rules by frankie_31: an AU where Quentin grew up feral in Fillory. (Quentin/Eliot, rated Teen.)
- Five Conversations Not With You by Page161of180: Set in season 4, 5 conversations Quentin has about his path to save Eliot (or not). (Quentin/Eliot, not rated.)
- an ever-fixèd mark by greywash: a season 4 Quentin/Monster!Eliot story (Explicit.)
- All Seems So Simple by achray: a series of conversation Quentin has had over the years about his bisexuality. (Quentin/OMC, Quentin/Eliot, Explicit). Part of the BISEXUALITY:THE MUSICAL collection ([2])
Podfic
- memory serves (podfic) by templemarker, a podfic of templemarker's own story, Quentin/Eliot, Mature.)
- (PODFIC) Rolling in the Deep by echomoon, a podfic of echomoon's own story, Quentin/Eliot, watersports kink, Mature.)
Archives & Fannish Links
- Quentin Coldwater works on Ao3