Quentin Coldwater arrives at Brakebills University, a school dedicated to training Magicians. There, he and fellow students Alice, Penny, Margo and Eliot hone their skills, test their mettle and form new (and often times, problematic) relationships, all while facing a dangerous and deadly threat from a magical world. Meanwhile, Quentin's friend Julia - rejected from Brakebills - pursues magic on her own down a dark, often dangerous, path.

Magic is dying. With our characters transported to the magical kingdom of Fillory - and named Kings and Queens of the land to boot - can they save magic? Oh, and there's still the Beast to deal with, don't forget. Meanwhile, Julia is on a no-holds-barred revenge quest against the evil God that attacked her.

Magic is Gone. Penny has a death sentence, Alice is being hunted, and the Fillorian royalty is in all sorts of jeopardy. Despite these and other more personal concerns, the loss of magic compels everyone on a "unified quest" that will take them across worlds and to the high seas to restore magic.

Season 4 picks up directly after the cliffhanger, in which the quest to restore magic has been successful, but it's now strictly rationed between the Neitherworld librarians. Also, Dean Fogg has successfully saved the lives of his erstwhile Brakebills magic students with a spell that acts as a witness protection program. Although Alice hasn't been affected, she's in a jail cell, while Quentin, Julia, Kady, Margo, Penny, and Josh have been given new identities on Earth, but they've also forgotten their real ones. For all they know, they are their alter egos — even the guy known as DJ Hansel. Such extreme measures were necessary to protect them from a merciless shape-shifting creature known only as the Monster, who wants to exact revenge for their attempt on its life.

Last season, magic was saved, but at a terrible cost: the life of Quentin Coldwater, who died heroically to save his friends- and the world. Now, Julia, Alice, Eliot, Margo, Penny and their friends (and frenemies) must to learn to navigate a world without him.