1685

1685
General Information
Episode	The Vow
Location	Salem, Massachusetts
Date	September, 21st 1685
Participants	Isaac Walton George Sibley Abigail Cooke John Alden Mary Sibley Magistrate Hale Tituba
Description	The punishment of Isaac & Mary becoming a witch

“	On this glorious day, our brave boys muster to face the devil's shock troops French and Indian savages massing in the woods right outside our doors. And what are you going off to defend? Not Sodom, but Salem. We cannot expect God to be on our side if we tolerate abominations or those who commit them.	”
	— George Sibley in The Vow

The year 1685 is the prologue to the episode The Vow, positioned exactly seven years before the actual years in which the story takes place.

Throughout the Salem series

The town of Salem.

On the morning of September, 21st 1685, the townsfolk of Salem gather in the commons as Isaac and his lover Abigail who have been arrested and placed in the stocks are forced to confess their sins of self pollution by George Sibley and Isaac is branded with an iron rod, the letter F burned into his forehead as Abigail weeps besides him. Mary and the Magistrate stand helplessly in the crowd as the young John Alden steps forward and defends Isaac against his assailant but he is warned by George that the memory of his late father will only protect him for so long and as John leaves he shares a shy glance with Mary. That evening Mary is seen walking through the streets of Salem where she meets John in the graveyard and she chastised him for his reckless behavior. While John tells a disheartened Mary he is being sent to join the militia but vows he will return for her within a year, splitting a silver coin in half, giving one half to her, a token of his promise before they kiss passionately.

Tituba helps Mary sacrifice her unborn baby.

Several months later the young Mary is complaining of sickness to her devoted servant Tituba who tells her she will feel better once they are inside and they stumble into George, who tells her she will thank him one day for sending John away. That night the pair are in the woods but Mary seems to be having second thought in what she is about to do but Tituba reminds her that there is no place in Salem for the child she carries and George will punish her for carrying John Alden's baby. Once they are deeper into the woods Tituba gets Mary to lie down and rubs oil on her swollen belly and begins a dark ritual summoning a dark creature to them, while Mary pleads with her, but terrified of the repercussions of what will befall her she calls out into the night that this is what she wants and her swollen belly disappears. Mary weeps as Tituba comforts her, telling her all the world shall be hers in return.

Trivia

• Isaac Walton is the first main character to appear on the show.