What to do when faced with the inevitability of your own demise?

Find a loophole, of course! In The Librarians Season 3 Episode 4, Eve Baird discovered that she had a supernatural hit out on her and unsurprisingly did not sit around and wait for her impending doom.

Really, though, the moral of this story should be "Listen to Jenkins."

Seriously, though, you would think that the Librarians, knowing full well that Jenkins is a centuries-old immortal being, would pay more attention to him.

Of course, had they done that, there really wouldn't have been much of an episode, now would there?

What will happen to the swim team? After all, they did cheat on their tests, and Tyson admitted as much in front of the principal.

While they might not face direct consequences (presumably, the Librarians confiscated all the magic goggles), they will have problems if they use their inflated scores to get into schools that would be otherwise outside their abilities.

And what if real representatives from the school board showed up to investigate?

Reality can be such a downer.

On a more amusing tangent: when "Nina the Cleaning Lady" was outed as the Oracle of Delphi, she immediately switched out her over-the-top Hispanic accent for, oddly enough, an English accent (rather than a Greek accent).

This made me think of a comment from Leverage:

Sophie Devereaux: You really can't tell? Americans! Every accent sounds the same to you!

The scene where Ezekiel, Jake, and Tyson crossed the room with the Greek letters on the floor was extremely reminiscent of a similar test in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (though stepping on the wrong tile there only dumped you into a pit of death, rather than striking you with lightning).

Portions of the episode also inspired fond memories of Warehouse 13, which had a scene where the heroes were confronted with several doors (only one of which did not lead to certain death).

This episode of The Librarians was, happily, chock full of hilarious quotes. Jake Stone was particularly on fire here, with lines like this little gem:

Coincidence is datin' two girls at the same time and then findin' out they're sisters. [sotto voce] Bad idea!

Jake

• Permalink: Coincidence is datin' two girls at the same time and then findin' out they're sisters. [sotto...

Ezekiel also got in some excellent shots of his own, and Eve showed remarkable wit (especially with that gag about getting ambushed by an Olive Garden).

For some of the notable quotes from this episode, be sure to check out our Librarians quotes page.

While I pegged "Nina" as being suspicious fairly quickly, I enjoyed the twist about them being inside the prophecy cube the whole time.

The simple matter of averting the prophecy (chucking the cube out the Back Door) put me in mind of another Greek legend, Alexander and the Gordian Knot – instead of unraveling the incredibly complicated knot, he just took out his sword and cut it.

On an arc note, this is only the latest instance in which Eve's life has been threatened or her death has been foretold/destined/prophesied.

At this point, I have to wonder if Dean Devlin and Company aren't just pulling our collective leg with this whole thing.

If one of the main cast members is destined to perish this season (as has been heavily hinted), it would almost be anticlimactic if it turned out to be her.

The death of a thousand Librarians would not equal *this* Guardian!

Oracle of Delphi

• Permalink: The death of a thousand Librarians would not equal *this* Guardian!

While I am personally not fond of the idea of destiny (it diminishes the relevance of free will), "And the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy" did a good job of demonstrating how apparently knowing your destiny can cause significant problems.

Also, seeing pieces of a picture can cause you to make incorrect assumptions as to the whole of the picture, as when Eve and Ezekiel and Jake made to attack each other in the weapons room.

Another highlight of the episode was the expression on Jake's face when Ezekiel failed at picking up heavy weaponry.

I am curious as to whether this apparently self-contained episode will eventually connect thematically with the Apep arc by the end of the season, aside from the whole secret Pyramid in a pyramid in Las Vegas frame of the story.

A few final thoughts before I turn the discussion over to you:

• The Library protecting the Guardians is not exactly an unusual or unexpected concept. After all, the Library does have a genius loci in the form of Ray, whom our heroes met in The Librarians Season 2 Episode 5.
• This does beg the question, however, how the Library knew that Eve would need the mirror. Then again, it sort of does exist outside of our reality, so...
• The Reaper was significantly less intimidating in broad daylight than in gloom.
• Why did the Oracle set out to kill Eve Baird in particular? I got the impression that it was due to the magical "weight" of Eve's destiny.
• It's always fun to see Jenkins out of the Annex and in the field.
• The scene in Australia towards the end of the episode was quite possibly some of the most painfully obvious green screening I have ever seen on television.

If you haven't already, be sure to watch The Librarians online!

And tune in for The Librarians Season 3 Episode 5, "And the Tears of a Clown," at 8/7c on Sunday, December 18, 2016 on TNT.

So, what did you think of "And the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy"?

Do you hate time travel or prophecies more? Did you approve of their loophole abuse?