While we wait for The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 2, which is set to arrive on Netflix in April 2019, Sabrina Spellman has returned for a holiday special, "A Midwinter's Tale," that sets the stage for what's to come. The season 1 finale saw Sabrina finally pushed to sign her name in the book of the beast, thereby committing herself to obey when the Dark Lord calls her, but also giving her the power to save her home town of Greendale from a massacre.
Now, Sabrina faces the continued struggle between the mortal and magical sides of her life, while the cunning Mother of Demons (in disguise as Sabrina's teacher, Ms. Wardwell) continues to sabotage her from behind the scenes. In "A Midwinter's Tale," much of the ongoing drama is set aside for a standalone story about a demonic Santa Claus, Sabrina's efforts to contact her dead mother, and the Spellman mortuary falling under siege by a naughty pack of impish child spirits.
Related: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Season 1's Ending Explained
Here's what happens in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's holiday special, and how it sets up things to come in season 2.
- This Page: Sabrina's Friends and Family
- Page 2: Baby Letitia's Fate, and Potential New Villains For Season 2
Sabrina Is Still Attending Two High Schools
While The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 1 finale heavily implied that Sabrina would be leaving her mortal school and friends behind and attending the Academy of Unseen Arts full-time, "A Midwinter's Tale" somewhat backtracks from this. Despite her new hair color, it seems like not much has actually changed for Sabrina after signing her name in the book of the beast. She's still at her mortal high school, and is still friends with Susie and Roz. Presumably this means that, even after signing her name, Sabrina's original deal with Father Blackwood - to be able to live with one foot in the mortal world and one in the magical world - still stands. Unfortunately, there is one mortal relationship that Sabrina couldn't repair.
Sabrina & Harvey Really Are Broken Up
Sabrina and her mortal beau Harvey Kinkle were sweethearts for much of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 1, but Harvey broke things off after Sabrina's magical meddling led to his brother, Tommy, being resurrected without a soul, and Harvey being forced to kill him all over again. In "A Midwinter's Tale," Sabrina tries to use magic to heal the broken romance between herself and Harvey - first gifting him a set of enchanted pencils whose tips never wear down, and then brewing some enchanted eggnog that cures Harvey's father of his alcoholism. However, while Harvey thanks Sabrina for helping his father, he then pleads with her never to use magic to try to help him again. It looks like the formerly happy couple won't be brought back together easily in season 2.
Sabrina Frees Her Mother From Limbo
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina got pretty dark in its first season, and one of its darkest moments was when Sabrina tried to retrieve the soul of Harvey's brother, Tommy, from Limbo - only for poor Tommy to get eaten by a supernatural monster that feasts on lost souls. While in Limbo, Sabrina was reunited with her mortal mother, and was understandably distressed to find out that her mother had been stuck in Limbo for all those years. In "A Midwinter's Tale," Sabrina manages to summon her mother's spirit from Limbo, and Diana Spellman is finally able to move on when she sees that her daughter has people in her life to love and protect her. This doesn't really set up season 2, but it does close a chapter from season 1 - allowing Sabrina to move on.
Page 2: Baby Letitia's Fate, and Potential New Villains For Season 2
Baby Letitia Is Getting A New Home
At the end of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 1, Father Blackwood's wife gave birth to twins - a girl and a boy, with the girl being born first. Fearful that Father Blackwood would kill his daughter in order to secure his son's status as heir, Aunt Zelda told Blackwood that his first child was stillborn, and spirited Baby Letitia away to be raised as the Spellman mortuary. In "A Midwinter's Tale" it at first seems like this plan is going well, with Zelda delighting in parenting baby Letitia, but when the Yule Log fire is put out by the scheming Ms. Wardwell, baby Letitia is soon thrown into peril. The Yule Lads (a group of impish trickster spirits) invade the house and kidnap Letitia, putting her inside the oven and nearly causing her to be cooked alive.
Zelda and Hilda call on the Yule Lads' mother, a witch called Gryla who collects orphaned children, to come and take her pack of brats away. Unfortunately, Gryla discovers baby Letitia and tries to stake a claim to her. With help from her mother's spirit, Sabrina successfully tricks Gryla into taking a teddy bear instead of the baby, but Zelda is left shaken by nearly losing the baby. She decides that Letitia will be sent away to be raised by a Spellman relative, Desmelda. Letitia is still at the Spellman mortuary in the holiday special's final scene, but barring a change of heart from Zelda, the baby will likely be absent in season 2.
Related: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Confirms Riverdale Shared Universe
New Villains Emerge From the Mines
Just when it seems like all the restless spirits have been soothed and the Spellmans can finally relax for a quiet Christmas Eve, "A Midwinter's Tale" cuts to a final scene at the Greendale mines. In this ending, three demons - resembling the Three Wise Men carrying gifts - emerge from the mines and begin slowly walking towards the town. While this might seem like an obvious set-up for the new villains of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 2, it's also possible (given that these demons seem to be rather generic Christmas-themed visitors), that this scene is merely intended as a fun stinger for the holiday special - a reminder that things are never truly quiet in the town of Greendale.
If this is intended as set-up for season 2, the arrival of new demons might herald the next stage of the Dark Lord's plan to recruit Sabrina to his side. However, he'll still have a fight on his hands, as star Kiernan Shipka has said that Sabrina signing the book wasn't a moment of resignation, but rather an acceptance of her power - power that she intends to use to pursue her own agenda of defeating the Dark Lord.