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"Hell Hath Enlarged Itself"
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Mercy Lewis

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“ As long as I must dwell in Hell,
I might as well rule it. 		”
— Mercy Lewis

Mercy Lewis is the daughter of Reverend Lewis, plagued by Spectral attacks and exploited by Cotton Mather to discover the secret identities of the witches. Mercy is actually under the control of Mary Sibley, who uses Mercy to point out chosen victims for sacrifice. Tired of being exploited, Mercy turn to witchcraft as a means to take revenge for the wrongs suffered and proclaims herself the protector of the outcasts. Mercy's thirst for revenge and a desire for power lead her to clash with other powerful witches in her path, resulting in a fatal outcome.

Mercy is a major character portrayed by actress Elise Eberle.

Character Description[]

"Mercy Lewis was a girl with strange afflictions done by an unknown tormentor, who is later revealed to be none other than Mary Sibley. She later becomes a witch and swears to get revenge on Mary for all she has done."[3]

"Mercy has found her calling running the brothel and starts an unlikely partnership with someone in Salem which turns into a love affair."[4]

Early Life[]

Mercy is the daughter of the Reverend Lewis, forced to a strict education as it relates to the Puritan thought. At some point around 1692, she is chosen by Mary Sibley as host of her familiar and forced to feed the evil creature on behalf of the witches.

Personality[]

Mercy is an unassuming girl with a friendly, trusting disposition that also allows other characters to take advantage of her; she trusts Mary Sibley, which enables the latter to plant a familiar in the form of a black snake inside her body; she trusts her father and the priest each time they minister to her, even when her father takes a knife to slice her belly; and she accepts a private audience with Mary even after having discovered she is the one tormenting her.

Mercy also appears to be a naturally kind person who is visibly pained by the role she unwillingly plays in Mary's plan to turn Salem residents against each other, and at one point fights off Sibley's spell at a great physical strain to herself rather than accuse another innocent of witchcraft.

The torments endured radicalized Mercy into a sadistic and vengeful witch. Her obsession for revenge, as well as the belief that the world owes something to her, are the trigger for her bitterness and malice.

Physical Appearance[]

Clearly once a well-rounded teenage girl with plump rosy cheeks and golden hair, Mercy Lewis could very well have been the picture-perfect "village belle" if not for the scars she now bears from her prolonged torment at the hands of witches. Her hair was cut short as symptoms of her possession worsened, and her body has grown weaker both because of the toll possession and harboring a familiar has taken on her and also because of her confinement under the orders of her well-meaning but occasionally misguided family and priest. At the peak of her torture, her skin develops an unhealthy pallor.

In retaliation to her challenge to Mary Sibley, Mercy and her outcast followers were shot and burned alive. Mercy, however, survived, albeit with painful and extensive burns all over her body. Following her partnership with Countess Von Marburg, Mercy regains her beauty, even regrowing her hair in short curls, by draining and bathing in a girl's blood to wash her burns. However, Mercy later angers the Countess Marburg, who undoes some of the healing magic, leaving Mercy with red eyes and burns on her skin.

Throughout The Salem Series[]

SEASON ONE

Living with torment, Mercy is afflicted with a familiar of an unknown tormentor later to be revealed as Mary Sibley. She forces the familiar, which is a black rat snake, out of her body twice and informs Mary that she knows who she is and will speak if the torment does not end. Meanwhile, sometime later, Mercy makes a deal with Mary which rebounds and is later voided to make a new one. Mary refuses, and Mercy informs her that she wants to be a witch like Mary, in which Mary does so. After developing a coven of five girls, Mercy swears to protect them at all costs. She becomes sworn enemies with Increase Mather and becomes enraged when four out of the five girls are killed by his hands. Mercy speaks out against Tituba by telling Increase and Cotton Mather that she saw Tituba feeding a large familiar on her neck, in which Tituba is arrested for witchcraft. From there on, Mercy hides in the woods from Mary and quickly develops her power of being able to control Tituba's familiar against George Sibley who is rendered speechless and void of all physical movement due to Mary's spell. In the Season One finale, Mercy swears that she will enact revenge on Mary for all she has done and lied about.

SEASON TWO


Still living in the woods, Mercy, and her army is out for revenge as Mercy lures men to the woods to use magic against them to have complete control of them so they could do her bidding. After going to the elders to dethrone Mary Sibley from being the Witch Queen, whilst refusing to do so, Mercy takes action and makes sure that the Elders are stopped. She declares war on Mary, Tituba, and others in Salem.

SEASON THREE
Alice and Mercy playing cat's cradle

"Are you familiar with Cat's Cradle?"

Mercy has recovered from the disappointment of having been rejected by the Countess and Sebastian and began an activity as mistress of a brothel in Knocker's Hole, a safe place for all "frightened birds" as she was. Through the window of her room, she's spying John Alden and Isaac Walton talking on the street, while one of the young prostitutes is implementing a drain on her arm so that Mercy can wash her own burned arm with freshly spilled blood. Shortly after Mercy receives in her boudoir the unfortunate Alice, an outcast abused by his uncle and decides to help her. Picked up a string from one of her caskets, Mercy invites Alice to play Cat's Cradle. In reality, it is a spell that breaks from afar all of Alice's uncle bones before magically knock him out from a window of his dilapidated apartment. Mercy at this point provides protection to Alice in exchange for some personal favors. (After the Fall)

Mercy was visited by Magistrate Hathorne, who had come to claim his right to a part of the brothel's revenue as agreed with the previous owner. The woman was not at all excited about this and, with cunning deception, drugged the drink served to the magistrate with a powerful poison that soon led him to be covered with painful festering pustules, a disease known as Canker blossom. (The Heart Is A Devil)

When the magistrate pleaded to be saved from certain death that was quickly destroying his body, Mercy Lewis offered an antidote in return for his services, and for sexual favors that were soon consumed once the man was cured with a few drops of a tonic contained in a vial, pour directly on his tongue by the witch, who then invited the man into her bed. (The Reckoning)

Mercy was willing to use the man for her own personal gain, by leveraging his influential social position among the selectmen of Salem to re-establish her name in society. The two continued to have a sexual relationship, enlivened by erotic games that would be judged sinful by Puritan morality. Mercy, meanwhile, made sure to discredit Mr Putnam in the eyes of the citizens of Salem and Knocker's Hole, highlighting Magistrate Hathorne thanks to rumours spread by her henchmen. (Night's Black Agents)

The relationship between the two deepened following the assassination attempt against Mercy by her former henchmen, freed from her witchcraft by Isaac Walton. At the bedside of the woman, Hathorne, in fact, refused to take the antidote that would have totally cured him of canker-blossom, preferring to remain in the company of his beloved. (The Commonwealth of Hell)

When Alice Land and other prostitutes offered their blood to treat Mercy, Hathorne offered to wash away excess blood and the two began to plan their ascent as the undisputed lords of Salem. (Wednesday's Child)

Mercy received a visit from Anne Hale at the Bird's Nest, but the madame said she was busy and that she would have visited the young wife of the Reverend when she would have considered appropriate. Knocking at Hale's Cottage's door at night, Mercy spoke with Anne about their Initiation into witchcraft, and their different way of looking at life, before being presented to a young woman that Mercy immediately recognized as a victim of a spell, demonstrating to be capable of sensing. After she complimented Anne for stealing a child from a mother's womb, and be darker than she cares to reveal, Mercy agreed to take care of the woman, accepting her as one of her "lost birds". (The Man Who Was Thursday)

Hathorne Mercy Wedding 02

Mercy and Hathorne getting married

Mercy and Hathorne's union was sealed by a marriage officiated by Reverend Cotton Mather at the Bird's Nest, with clients and prostitutes as witnesses. Mercy, however, made the mistake of trusting Anne Hale about her intentions to remain a widow soon, giving to understand that she was not really in love with Hathorne or, at least, was more interested in getting social prestige in spite of the means of getting it. (Friday's Knights)

Happiness resulted from the marriage was quickly extinguished by the problems caused by Isaac Walton, who was urging the unfortunate citizens of Knocker's Hole to turn against Hathorne and his wife. The abduction of Dorcas, and later of Isaac himself, was the straw that broke the camel. (Saturday Mourning)

Hathorne & mercy 310

Mercy and Hathorne's last lovely moment

Hounded in the brothel by the mob, the two were killed by Anne Hale hand, who revealed to Hathorne the real intentions of his wife about widowhood, and how his opinion was irrelevant because he was a man. At that point, Mercy confessed that those were her initial plans, but over time she really fell in love with Hathorne and for this reason, both were killed by the witch during her ascent to "Queen of the Night". While choking, Mercy and Hathorne looked at each other until life left their bodies. (Black Sunday)


Powers and Abilities[]

Mercy is a powerful witch of the Essex Hive, having quickly grown in power by herself, though she still remains inferior to the naturally more powerful witches of the Essex Hive, such as Mary Sibley or Anne Hale.

Mercy-offered-to-the-devil-ep0106

Mercy's Pact with the Devil

Upon her initiation into witchcraft, she was taught several basic rituals by Mary Sibley, such as the one to enter a state of astral projection, which she showed considerable skill in, going so far as to be able to temporarily possess her target, who despite resisting was killed by Mercy. She was also able to craft a short-lasting illusion using a potion while playing a game with other girls. After betraying both Mary and Tituba, she rebelled against the Essex Hive, though her power continued growing naturally as she was quickly able to teleport, fleeing from Mary in this manner. She was also able to change the shapes of her fingers into animalistic nails, which she achieved through sheer will without any assistance. Mercy eventually learned how to levitate, using this either in fights or when she broke in to help her followers.

Unlike the previously seen use of familiars to control humans by forcing them to ingest the familiar, Mercy learned how to use her familiar bird to control men, by castrating them and sowing in the head of a bird in place of castration, showing skill in witchcraft as she possibly thought of this practice herself. Before this, she also assumed control over Tituba's familiar using her followers in a calculative move, forcing the familiar spider to seal George Sibley's mouth shut, which led to Tituba's arrest, along with Mercy's accusation.

Mercy B

Mercy's Practice of Blooming

Mercy was also aware that consuming a dying man's flesh would bind their spirit to her will in death, which is something she possibly learned from Mary. One of the most significant techniques she was taught in is the practice of Blooming, bathing in the blood which is a sophisticated practice used by powerful witches such as the Marburg bloodline. It was, in fact, the Countess Marburg who taught Mercy the art of blooming in the first place, healing her scars and regrowing her hair in the process. She also showed herself capable of invisibility, though whether it was achieved through a spell, ritual or potion remains unknown. Like other witches seen, Mercy has demonstrated a greater durability than human beings, easily surviving a knife in the chest. She also while horribly burned survived the fire that killed all of her followers.

Mercy was possibly one of the more powerful witches of the Essex Hive, growing quickly in power on her own and currently residing in Salem.

Relationships[]

Main article: Mary and Mercy
“ No! I didn’t wish for my friends to be killed! I promised them that they would be safe because you promised me, but you lied! You lied and now they are all dead! Everything that comes from your lips is a lie! ”
— Mercy to Mary in All Fall Down
Mary and Mercy image

Mercy & Mary

Not much unknown of their past history other than that it was Mercy's father that had wed Mary to George Sibley so it is presumed Mary knew or knew of Mercy before she placed her under her spell. Mercy was used to accuse those of witchcraft but after she was freed from the familiar within she was no longer under Mary's control so Mary turned the young girl into a Witch to prevent her from revealing what she was (The Red Rose and the Briar). Mercy soon developed a strong attachment to her as Mary took her under her wing, teaching her the craft. When Increase Mather arrived in Salem and became suspicious of Mary, Mercy accused Tituba of witchcraft to protect Mary but was later forced to go into hiding after Tituba revealed Mercy was now a witch herself. Together they tried to kill Increase but their plan failed (Cat And Mouse) and after the deaths of Mercy's friends who had been arrested and tortured by the senior Mather, Mercy vowed vengeance against Mary as she had promised she would protect them (Ashes Ashes).

Main article: Mercy and Tituba
7Salem6

Mercy and Tituba in the cemetery

The relationship between Mercy and Tituba was non-existent up until Mary turned Mercy into a witch (The Red Rose and the Briar). At times their relationship was antagonistic due to Tituba's possessiveness of Mary and their relationship finally came to a breaking point when Mercy cast a spell to gain control of Tituba's familiar to silence George Sibley to protect Mary from Increase Mather. She later accused Tituba of witchcraft leading to her arrest and torture. Tituba enacted her revenge on the girl by telling Increase that Mercy was now a witch, forcing Mercy to go into hiding.

Main article: Mercy and Dollie
“ You were too good for me, always, until you saw my dark gift the power to send people to death with just the point of my finger. And you took Isaac. You betrayed me. ”
— Mercy arguing with Dollie
A relationship born when the two were children and deepened during adolescence when both begin to take their first steps in witchcraft. The two, however, have a different view of their feelings because Mercy accuses Dollie of having always mistreated her, feeling superior to her in both beauty and social status, and eventually killed her friend, declaring her a betrayer.

Main article: Countess and Mercy
“ Mercy: "You promised me. To be my mother, to make me one of you, that I might marry Sebastian and become a princess."
Countess: "Your wishful mind promised you all those things." 		”
— the two about their relationship
A relationship born as an exchange of favors and that is over to become yet another disappointment for the poor Mercy. Mercy looks at the Countess as a model to aspire to, the quintessence of the Witch while for Countess Von Marburg Mercy is only a rough Essex witch, nothing more than a means for her purposes.

Main article: Mercy and Sebastian
“ The heart of a prince. I intend to marry Sebastian Marburg. The first time I saw him, I knew he was meant for me. And the Marburgs are royalty. I'll be a princess, even a real queen someday. ”
— Mercy to Mary regarding her daydreams about Sebastian
S02e12 151
The turbulent relationship between these two witches is based on sexual attraction to her and from disgust and jealousy by him. Sebastian is jealous of the relationship that Mercy has with his mother and when she tries to have sex with him, he taunts and insults her.

Main article: Mercy and Hathorne
Mercy and Magistrate Hathorne began a deviant role-play that resulted in a long term relationship, crowned with a marriage celebrated by Cotton Mather himself at the Bird's Nest.

Appearances[]


Memorable Quotes[]

Mercy Lewis: "Our deal no longer pleases me."
Mary Sibley: "Then I ask again. What do you want?"
Mercy Lewis: "I want to be just like you."
— Lies
__________________________
Tituba: "What did you do?"
Mercy Lewis: "What Mary told me to do."
Tituba: "She told you to frighten the woman, not slaughter her."
Mercy Lewis: "But she deserved it. We're tired. Tired of being beaten and used. We won't be used anymore. Any of us. We won't take it."
— Our Own Private America
____________________________
Mercy Lewis: " Let the little children come unto me, for the kingdom of the Devil belongs to them. Come, sit here, poor boy. Poor, sweet boy. Worked to death by your family. Every day of your life, making you unfit for burial in the churchyard so they dumped you here. Alice, died in childbirth, pregnant from your mother's brother. There! There, the baby! Smothered to hide the evidence. Let mother and child be together. I am your mother now. All of you! And you all are my children."
— Ashes, Ashes
__________________________
Mercy Lewis: "My father, the good Reverend Lewis, said that there is no Purgatory. No place for souls lost between Heaven and Hell, but he was wrong. Earth is Purgatory. We are the ghosts that haunt this land."
— Ashes, Ashes
__________________________
Mercy Lewis: "You see children, only by killing the Rose will the Queen of the Night really become the Queen of the Night. Little did that mighty Queen know that all her plans would be turned upside down. Yes, that wasn't really the true Queen of the Night who beheaded the Rose. That was me. I beheaded the Rose. Though Mary Sibley knows it not yet, I am the Queen of the Night. And she will pay for what she's done."
— All Fall Down
__________________________
Mercy Lewis: " Sometimes the best revenge is revenge."
Mercy Lewis (to Mary Sibley): " You alone know the truth. That I, and not you, beheaded the Samhain witch. But I'm not greedy. I'm perfectly content to rule alongside you. As your equal."
— Cry Havoc
___________________________
Mercy: "Nothing new under the sun. That which is done unto us must be done unto others. That is the way of the world. To everything, there is a season, a time to every purpose in hell. A time to reap, a time to sow. The season of the witch."
— Book of Shadows
___________________________

Gallery[]

Season One[]

Season Two[]

Season Three[]

Video[]

Trivia[]

  • She's based on the real Mercy Lewis who lived during the Salem Witch Trials.
  • In the real-life trials, Mercy was one of the afflicted girls which included Ann Putnam Jr, Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, and Betty Parris. She was 18 years of age during the trials.
  • Marcy Lewis's sexuality has been explored throughout the series. In "Lies", Mercy is intrigued by the kiss on the lips with Mary Sibley and in "Children, Be Afraid", Mercy flirts with Anne, twisting a lock of her hair with a lascivious voice. Mercy is later infatuated with Sebastian Von Marburg, but even more so with the prospect of becoming a real-life princess. Mercy later began a relationship with Magistrate Hathorne in which she has a dominant sexual role.
  • Mercy Lewis (Elise Eberle) and John Alden (Shane West) never had interactions on the screen after the events of the pilot episode; they also never had a dialogue together.
  • Season three promotional photoshoot posted on Salem official Instagram account describes her as: "Mercy Lewis: the lost witch."
  • During Ask Salem interview, Elise Eberle said that what she likes in portraying Mercy Lewis is the ability to impersonate a person with a wide range of contrasting emotions happening simultaneously, which she has compared to a "bipolar, almost schizophrenic girl." The toughest part for her was the preparation in the make-up room, which in her case also lasted two hours each time. Elise likes to play a witch and believes that the witch figure is a great symbol of female empowerment.

See Also[]

Characters
Main Characters

Recurring Characters

Deceased Characters
  1. ↑ In "The Vow", a woman with two children is seen outside Mercy's bedroom along with her father.
  2. ↑ By killing the former Samhain, Rose Browning, Mercy should be the de facto ruling Samhain instead of Mary but she was rejected due to her inexperience. Anne rightfully earn that title after killing Mercy and dethroning Mary.
  3. ↑ Mercy Lewis Official Description - Season 1 - WGN America
  4. ↑ Mercy Lewis Official Description - Season 1 - WGN America
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