Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa introduces the pagan gods to Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Much of the show focuses on religious beliefs such as the Dark Lord and now the pagans. 

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While watching Part 3 of Sabrina, viewers can find some Easter egg. Aguirre-Sacasa also directs CW’s Riverdale, and you may catch some actors and mentions of Riverdale. Nathalie Boltt, who played Penelope Blossom in Riverdale, did a cameo in the first episode of Part 3 of Sabrina. That didn’t take long. 

If you are a fan of Riverdale, then you’ll be able to find the rest of the Easter eggs. If not, no need to worry, let’s talk about Sabrina. 

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Part 3.

Recap

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The end of Part 2 of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina left viewers with many cliffhangers:

• Father Blackwood has poisoned the coven because he refuses to bow down to Sabrina as the queen of Hell.
• Zelda and Hilda are left with the remaining of the coven after curing them of poison. 
• Prudence and Ambrose go on a mission to find Father Blackwood. 
• After Nick trapped Lucifer inside him, Lilith takes him to Hell as the new Queen of Hell. 
• Sabrina tells her mortal friends they should go back to Hell to save Nick.

Summary

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Sabrina takes her friends, Harvey, Roz, and Theo to Hell to save Nick. Lilith will allow Sabrina to take Nick back if she crowns Lilith as the queen of Hell because the infernal Kings refuse to accept her as queen. Plot twist: Sabrina takes the crown instead and makes Lilith her regent. The infernal court of Hell does not believe Sabrina is capable of being queen because she is a child and lives on earth. 

A new rival arrives, the self-declared Prince of Hell Caliban, and challenges Sabrina on a quest for the Unholy Regalia. This quest is to collect three relics that have been lost for centuries and bring them back to Hell. Sabrina, yet again, finds herself in another adventure, not to stop the apocalypse, but to keep her throne as queen.

Commentary

Part 3 infuses Greek mythology

Lucifer warns Sabrina that “the old ones are coming.” We soon find out that the new circus in town is, in fact, the pagans. The pagans use the circus as a cover to find a virgin to revive the Green Man. The Green Man is the oldest of the pagan gods and symbolizes rebirth. The Pagans want to resurrect him to create a new life on earth. The pagan leader Pan, like in Greek mythology, is a satyr and a leader to his flock. However, the Greek mythology of Pan does not make him evil like he is portrayed in Sabrina. 

Another pagan in the circus is Circe. In Homer’s The Odyssey in Greek mythology, Circe turns people to animals if she was offended. When Harvey tries to retrieve Circe, she turns his friends, the football players, into pigs, much like how Circe, the character in The Odyssey, turned Odysseus’s men into pigs.

In Sabrina, the snake charmer portrays as Medusa the Greek gorgon. Medusa turned Roz and Dorcas to stone. Showrunner Aguirre-Sacasa and writers also portray Medusa similarly to her Greek mythology literary inspiration.

Riverdale Easter eggs

Penelope Blossom is not the only Blossom mentioned in Part 3. When searching for the Herald’s Crown, Ambrose finds out that Benjamin Blossom came to Riverdale to hide the crown. As Ambrose and Sabrina enter Riverdale, they past a sign that says “Murder Capital of the World,” a common nickname for the town and “JJ wuz here” references Jughead Jones. 

Hilda, who has mutated to a spider woman thanks to Circe, asks Dr. Cee to go to Riverdale that has “the juiciest hamburgers and thickest milkshakes.” That restaurant is Pop’s Chock’Lit Shoppe. While Dr. Cee was away, a southside serpent enters the Cerebus Books and Hilda has a little snack.

Zelda’s discovery of a new idol

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In the first season of Sabrina, Zelda is fully devoted to the Dark Lord, despite Sabrina constantly defying him. In season two, Zelda wants to be more involved in The Academy of Unseen Arts and marries Father Blackwood for more power. However, Father Blackwood is a misogynist priest who made Zelda as a housemaid servant. After Blackwood poisoned the coven, Zelda finds herself in charge of the coven. 

Uncomfortable praying to the Dark Lord, Zelda puts her faith in Lilith and encourages the coven to do the same. However, when Lilith looked for sanctuary with the coven, Zelda denied her access. Zelda realizes that Lilith is a “wild card” and their praises to her has not helped them gain strength. 

Hilda, who is transformed, asks Zelda to kill her to be resurrected back to normal. While Zelda waits for Hilda, Ms. Wardwell comes to the Spellman’s and shoots Zelda. Zelda, on the verge of death, ends up in limbo and her brother Edward’s spirit helps her find the answers she was looking for. As Zelda sees the three moons of her past and future, she has a revelation that their new worship should be Hecate, the Greek goddess of magic and witchcraft (also known as the triple goddess). The three stages of the moon that Zelda seen in the afterlife represents the tri-fold of the triple goddess: maiden, mother, and crone.

Conclusion

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If you like Greek mythology, Riverdale, and want to learn about other religions such as Paganism, this season of Sabrina will not disappoint. I liked how well showrunner Aguirre-Sacasa put this season together. Although the loose ends were tied up, more loose ends in the Part 3 finale begging for more. There’s a lot to this show, if you liked the last season, you would love this season too. 

Which part of the series did you like best? Let us know on Twitter @geekgalsco or in the comments below.

Featured image credit: Netflix