Coven Academy Season 1 has cast a spell on fans, who only want more of the new supernatural series.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Coven Academy, now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

The twisty new YA drama brings fans on a wild, witchy (and warlock-y?) ride, as viewers are introduced to Crescent Veil students Briar (Malina Pauli Weissman), Sasha (Jordan Leftwich), Tegan (Ora Duplass), Jake (Malachi Barton), and McKenna (Swayam Bhatia), as well as vampires like Ollie (Louis Thresher), Teese (Nathaniel Logan McIntyre), and Alexander (Brandon Tremblay), and Crescent Veil staff like Miss Emma Graves (Tiffani Theissen), Mr. Cole (Devon Sawa), and Agnes (BJ Harrison).

If you’re left with questions surrounding Briar’s mother’s death (and her true identity), where Briar’s heart lies, and who exactly is Mr. Cole, give DECIDER’s Coven Academy Ending Explained a read.

Coven Academy Ending Explained: Who Killed Briar’s Mom… and Who is Briar’s Mom?

By the time we reach Coven Academy Episode 21, “After the Ashes,” we’ve been taken in several different directions as to who killed Mary (Cecilia Grace Deacon), Briar’s mother. After Tegan uses her powers to take Briar and Sasha back to the night that Mary was killed, the three girl discover that Mary was actually killed on a night out in New Orleans, and are initially led to believe that Mary’s coven colleague, Emma/Miss Graves was the culprit. However, there’s much more to the story.

It turns out that the killer was actually William Bixton (Tahmoh Penikett)—a former Coven Academy classmate of Mary, Emma, and Tamora (Keegan Connor Tracy) with a dangerous affinity for dark magic—shape-shifted into Miss Graves’ body. How might we know that, you ask? Because Miss Graves is not the only person that William has shape-shifted into. In fact, he has been shape-shifted into Peter/Mr. Cole (Devon Sawa) for the majority of the series, while the real Mr. Cole is trapped in William’s basement, stripped of his powers. Meanwhile, the “Mr. Cole” at Crescent Veil is really William, exploiting Jake—who he reveals is actually his son—by teaching him dark magic.

In the episode titled “1998,” we learn that Mary was practicing dark magic with William while at Crescent Veil, though she puts a stop to it after finding out that William wants to poison the lay lines, ensuring that all magic being used by witches and warlocks is dark magic. Mary enlists Emma and Tamora to cast a spell on William. The three ultimately lied to the council in order to protect Mary, claiming that William had kidnapped her. This resulted in William being stripped of his powers, and the coven never heard from him again.

William killed Tamora and Mary for revenge, and has Miss Graves next on his list. He traps her in his basement with Mr. Cole, who risks his life to allow her the chance to escape back to Crescent Veil, where she warns Briar, Sasha, and Tegan about William. On the night of their covening, the three girls and the rest of their classmates are stunned when vampires infiltrate the school, looking for Jake (Malachi Barton) after he wronged Alexander (Brandon Tremblay). Though Crescent Veil is typically guarded from the threat of vampires, William allowed them in, creating a diversion for his plan to threaten Briar and force her to recite a spell from her mother’s grimoire. However, it doesn’t work, and with the help of Jake, Sasha, Tegan, and Miss Graves, Briar is able to defeat William.

In the very end of Coven Academy Episode 21, “After the Ashes,” we see Miss Graves speaking with the late Mary. Simultaneously, Briar is connecting the dots, as she reminds Sasha and Tegan that Miss Graves had originally told her that Mary left the coven because she was pregnant. After everything that went down with William, she knows that is not really the case, as Mary “left because of secrets and William.” Plus Briar, who says she’s “never seen a photo” of her mother pregnant with her, felt “some sort of connection” between her and Miss Graves when she grabbed her hand to cast the spell on William.

Miss Graves confirms just as much while speaking with Mary, explaining that Briar “needs to know why [she] gave her up.”

“She needs to know what happened. No more secrets, remember?” Miss Graves says.

Mary rebuts, “This is different. This is bigger than us, Emma. No one can ever know you’re Briar’s birth mother. If the truth ever got out, You wouldn’t be able to protect her.”

However, Miss Graves insists that Briar “deserves to know” the truth.

Weissman recalled how “fun” it was to be with Thiessen on set, highlighting that she ” brings so much joy and just good energy to set every single day.”

“But I think from the beginning, she always was plotting that she would end up being my mother. I think that was always in the back of her head, and in my head, weirdly,” she revealed. “I mean, it just makes sense. We look alike, and the energy that we just naturally had in our scenes was kind of… there was a magnet that kind of pulled us together. I think the distrust and going between trusting Miss Graves was really complicated for Briar and she didn’t really know how to feel about that. But yeah, I think Tiffani and I just have a natural chemistry that worked out.”

Who Does Briar End Up With in Coven Academy?

Jake and Ollie are initially at odds with each other; not only over both having interest in Briar, but also that Ollie is a fledgling vampire, and Jake is concerned about protecting Briar and his friends from him. After Jake exposes the fact that Ollie has in fact drank human blood with Tamora’s scrying mirror, he warns Ollie to stay away from Briar.

Though the two continue to get closer, with Briar even bringing Ollie to Witchgiving, Ollie is eventually force-fed human blood once again by Teese, and his thirst for blood only grows. In Coven Academy Episode 18, “Winter Solstice,” Ollie tells Briar that they must stay away from each other, and urges her to “uninvite” him from her room so that he can’t enter any longer (vampires must be invited in by a non-vampire). But that doesn’t mean we have seen the last of Ollie, as he ends up rescuing Jake after William traps him, and prevents the other vampires from getting to him when they return to Crescent Veil.

Jake admits to Briar that he was “wrong” about Ollie’s character, but he and Briar end up sharing a moment in Jake’s room, as Ollie spots them from the window. Briar and Jake nearly kiss, but they decide that they shouldn’t. When Briar returns to her room, she finds a rose, a sausage and mushroom pizza, and a note from Ollie, who wrote that “somehow, [he] will find the strength to be with [her], and keep [her] safe.”

“I want to try. I only hope that you do, too,” he added.

Weissman told DECIDER that she is “just as torn as” Briar is when it comes to matters of her character’s heart, and ultimately choosing between Ollie and Jake.

“So I can’t wait to see how she handles both of them. But yeah, I’m Team Briar,” she concluded.

Is Coven Academy Getting A Second Season?

As of the time of this story’s publication, Coven Academy has yet to be renewed for a second season. However, that doesn’t mean it won’t happen! The series just premiered last week, meaning there is still time for a decision to be made in fans’ favor. The series has garnered positive reception, with DECIDER contributor Joel Keller writing, “Though there are moments during the first few episodes of Coven Academy that felt a bit stiff or featured CGI that felt unfinished, the quick pace of the episodes and the chemistry among the leads keeps things fun and interesting.”

Sawa told DECIDER that his character’s budding relationship with Miss Graves in the series could be a great topic to tackle in a potential second season.

“If this is successful and we get a Season 2, I think we’re going to dive into that story a little bit more,” he shared. “We’re going to find out who Mr. Cole was, how he got there, his backstory, and hopefully get into some more sparks with Miss Graves.”

 If this is successful and we get a Season 2, I think we’re going to dive into that story a little bit more. We’re going to find out who Mr. Cole was, how he got there, his backstory, and hopefully get into some more sparks with Miss Graves.

Season 1 of Coven Academy is streaming now on Disney+ and Hulu.