Coven Academy has wrapped its first season with a twist that changes everything: Miss Graves, the beloved teacher, is not who she appears to be. The YA supernatural drama, now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu, ends with a reveal that sends shockwaves through the show’s central mystery. Briar’s mother is dead, and the woman who taught her at Crescent Veil has been hiding a secret.
The Shape-Shifter Behind the Murder
The final episodes of Coven Academy, titled “After the Ashes,” resolve the question of who killed Briar’s mother, Mary. Mary was killed on a night out in New Orleans, and for a long time viewers were pointed toward Emma/Miss Graves as the culprit. That theory was wrong.
The actual killer was William Bixton, played by Tahmoh Penikett. William is a former Coven Academy classmate of Mary, Emma, and Tamora, with a dangerous affinity for dark magic. He shape-shifted into Miss Graves’ body to commit the murder, and later into Peter/Mr. Cole for most of the series. The real Mr. Cole was trapped in William’s basement, stripped of his powers, while William exploited Jake — whom he revealed is actually his son — by teaching him dark magic.
Mary’s Secret Past
The reveal that Briar’s mother was killed by William Bixton is devastating, but it is only half of the story. The bigger twist comes at the very end of the finale, when Miss Graves speaks with the late Mary. Briar, Sasha, and Tegan finally connect the dots about what Miss Graves has been hiding.
Miss Graves confirms that Briar is her birth child. She explains that she needs to know why she gave Briar up, telling Mary, “She deserves to know the truth.”
Mary objects. “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,” she says.
Miss Graves insists that Briar deserves to know the truth. The scene lands with the weight of a revelation that has been building across the entire season.
The Chemistry Between Weissman and Thiessen
Malina Pauli Weissman, who plays Briar, spoke to DECIDER about the reveal. She recalled how “fun” it was to be with Tiffani Thiessen on set, noting that Thiessen “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,” Weissman said. “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.”
Jake vs. Ollie
The season also follows the romantic triangle between Jake, Briar, and Ollie. Jake and Ollie are initially at odds over Briar, with Jake worried about Ollie’s vampiric nature. Jake exposes that Ollie has drunk human blood using Tamora’s scrying mirror, and warns Ollie to stay away from Briar.
The tension grows as Ollie is forced-fed human blood by Teese, and his thirst for blood only increases. In Episode 18, “Winter Solstice,” Ollie tells Briar they must stay away from each other, urging her to “uninvite” him from her room so he can’t enter anymore.
The Big Picture
The ending resolves several threads at once:
- The identity of Briar’s mother
- The killer of Mary
- The fate of Mr. Cole
- The nature of William’s shape-shifting scheme
Each thread feeds into the others. Mary’s practice of dark magic with William led to her leaving the coven, and her death was a direct result of that history. The council was lied to by Emma, Tamora, and Mary, who claimed William had kidnapped Mary. That lie resulted in William being stripped of his powers, and the coven never heard from him again.
William killed Tamora and Mary for revenge, and he has Miss Graves next on his list. He traps her in his basement with Mr. Cole, who risks his life to let her escape back to Crescent Veil, where she warns Briar, Sasha, and Tegan about William.
On the night of their covening, vampires infiltrate the school looking for Jake after he wronged Alexander. William allowed them in as a diversion, planning to threaten Briar and force her to recite a spell from her mother’s grimoire. The plan fails, and Briar defeats William with the help of Jake, Sasha, Tegan, and Miss Graves.
What This Means for Season 2
The ending sets up a major conflict for any potential second season. Briar now knows the truth about Miss Graves, and the show has established that the secret must remain hidden to protect Briar. The tension between Briar and Miss Graves will likely dominate any future storyline, especially as Briar processes the information that Mary “left because of secrets and William.”
The vampire plotline with Ollie and Teese is also unresolved. Ollie’s thirst for blood continues to grow, and his relationship with Briar remains strained.
The finale also leaves open the question of what happens to William. The show has defeated him, but the nature of his shape-shifting ability raises the possibility that he could return.
Our View
The reveal is a clever twist that pays off in the finale. It reframes the entire season, turning Miss Graves from a mentor into a villain and then into a parent. The chemistry between Weissman and Thiessen made the reveal land harder, because the actors had built trust between their characters that the story then tore apart.
The ending is messy, but it is also satisfying. It answers the biggest question in the show while leaving enough open to justify a second season. The show has done what it set out to do: take a group of young witches and warlocks through a supernatural journey that tests their loyalties and forces them to face the darkness in their own lives.
The final moments, with Miss Graves speaking with Mary and Briar piecing together the truth, are some of the strongest character work in the season. Weissman’s performance carries the weight of the reveal, and Thiessen’s delivery of her lines about the truth being bigger than them makes the stakes clear.
The show has delivered a solid first season with a twist that will keep fans talking. The question of who Briar ends up with remains open, but the season has made it clear that the road to that answer will be full of secrets, lies, and magic.
Source material: “Who is Briar’s Mother? The ‘Coven Academy’ Cast Opens Up About That Bombshell Ending,” Decider.
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