The Magicians Season 6 Cancelled : Here's Why

The Magicians season 6 is officially a no-go. Here's why the quirky sci-fi/fantasy series won't be coming back to Syfy (or anywhere else).

The Syfy's The Magicians has been cancelled, disappointing fans greatly - here's why there won't be a Magicians season 6. The season 5 finale turned out to also be the series finale. So, sorry to say, season 6 will not be happening. Initially a series of novels by Lev Grossman, Sera Gamble and John McNamara adapted the books for television with Grossman on board as a consultant. Beginning its run in 2016, each season was comprised of thirteen episodes.

The Magicians began as the story of Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) and his friends, students at Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy, the top college for the study of magic. The show was known not only for the magical world called Fillory, but also for its self-referential humor and general quirkiness. However, it was not without controversy. For example, The Magicians season 1 included in its season finale the brutal rape of Julia Wicker (Stella Maeve) by a trickster god. That rape resulted in Julia's powers becoming ever so much stronger. It also turned off many people.

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Controversies or not, the bulk of fans stuck by The Magicians, but now Syfy is not. In a statement, Syfy thanked the creators, cast, writers, directors, and crew for "five fantastic seasons." The network also thanked fans for their support, noting, "Because of you, magic will be in our hearts forever." The statement did not give a reason why, but Sera Gamble and John McNamara have addressed the cancellation via TV Insider. McNamara spoke about the network's financial concerns (show costs vs. the revenue it brought in). Gamble expounded by saying, "We had a sense going into this season that Syfy, in particular as our first platform, was kind of hitting the point of 'the cup is full and there's no more room.'"

There were talks to try and give The Magicians season 6 life at other outlets, including NBC Universal. McNamara recalled that none of the discussions led to anything that suited the project financially or creatively. Reluctantly, they accepted that The Magicians season 5, episode 13, "Fillory and Further," would be the show's last. It was written in anticipation of that being the case.

In a show with so many possibilities, The Magicians season 6 could've gone anywhere. In that same interview, Gamble described the world was "so real that I'm not going to lie, we could go off and tell lots of stories about these characters." And in fact, The Magicians season 6 was mapped out, but no details were revealed. So rather than leaving any open storylines, they took great care to wrap The Magicians in a succinct and satisfying way.

The group had come to terms with the season 4 death of Quentin, and Fillory was responsibly destroyed. But then recreated with a bit of each friend becoming a piece of the magical world. A world built from The Magicians' very selves is one that would have been ripe for exploration and undoubtedly filled with dark and interesting storylines. After all, wouldn't you be a little frightened by a land brought to life by your very soul?