Cortland Mayfair (TV series)

This article is about Cortland Mayfair from the AMC adaptation. You may be looking for Cortland Mayfair from the series of novels.

Cortland Mayfair is a main character on the AMC gothic horror drama, Mayfair Witches. He is portrayed by Harry Hamlin.

Cortland is the current reigning patriarch of the Mayfair clan with a voracious appetite for more money, more power and more life.

Biography[]

Cortland hosts a party, where he has three young men brought before him. He selects Patrick and says that he has a job for him, the job being for him to dance to Deirdre, who has just arrived at the party. But first, Cortland greets her. So many times has he wanted to get her out of the First Street house with his sisters, but it would only make more trouble between her and her aunts. Cortland then gives Deirdre a drink before noticing the necklace around her neck, revealing that it belonged to her mother, who Cortland claims was full of life and mischief. Deirdre has her doubts that her mother killed herself by jumping off a balcony, an incident Cortland himself remains uncertain about. They are then approached by Patrick, who has come to ask her to dance.^[1]

MW-SE1-E02-Promo-The-Dark-Place-29-Cortland-Deirdre — Cortland embraces Deirdre

Cortland is in disbelief when Deirdre arrives at his home. He embraces her after so many years apart and leads Deirdre upstairs to get cleaned up. When she returns in a dress that belonged to his daughter, Deirdre recalls that when she was a child, he used to buy her dresses every birthday, and every year, no matter where she hid them, Carlotta would find those dresses and slice them up with kitchen shears. Deirdre then reveals that her daughter is alive. Carlotta hid her away all these years. Cortland offers his home to Deirdre and her child, but first, Deirdre has to find her, performing a spell to link her and Lasher, leading them to Rowan's location.^[2]

Cortland arrives at the hotel just as they're taking Deirdre's body away. He then goes into the restroom, where he is visited by Lasher, who is distraught over Deirdre's death. But now his time has come. The 13th witch, Cortland exclaims. Rowan is admittedly different from the others, somehow closed to him, but Cortland is certain Lasher will find a way in. He then heads up to Rowan's room and goes through her luggage.^[3]

Deirdre's funeral[]

MW-SE1-E04-Promo-Curioser-and-Curioser-11-Cortland-Rowan — Cortland tells Rowan tales about Lasher

Cortland attends Deirdre's funeral, where he tucks a handkerchief into Deirdre's collar before snipping off a lock of her hair. Afterward, he invites himself, as well as many others, to Carlotta's reception at the house. There, he comes across an old smoking pipe while searching for the necklace. He then heads on to the balcony, followed closely by Rowan. He tells her about his father and how right after he died, his sisters kicked Cortland out of the house even though the house legally belonged to Deirdre, meaning it now belongs to Rowan. And when she's ready, he will assist her with the paperwork, as he's sure Rowan is overwhelmed with her abundance of gifts, referring to Lasher, who Cortland explains is an extension of herself. When Carlotta interrupts and gifts Rowan Deirdre's rosary for protection, a fight erupts between Cortland and Carlotta, with Cortland claiming that she mistreated Deirdre, though Carlotta argues she took care of her. Before leaving, Cortland gives Rowan his card to contact him when she's ready.^[4]

Fulfilling the prophecy[]

MW-SE1-E06-Promo-Transference-13-Rowan-Cortland — Cortland tells Rowan about the transference spell

Cortland receives a visit from Rowan, who wants nothing to do with the First Street House or Lasher, but he believes she just needs time to settle into her new role and become acquainted with Lasher. When Rowan notices Cortland's trembling hand, she uses her ability and discovers that he has ALS, which he hasn't told anyone about. Similar to how Cortland would want to be rid of ASL, is how Rowan feels about Lasher. While he can't be gotten rid of, Cortland informs her of a transfer spell that was used once before with his father and offers to gather more information from his cousin Dolly Jean, who reveals that she found something in Cortland's father's diary. For this to work, however, the family is also going to need Deirdre's blessing. Fortunately, Cortland took a lock of hair at the funeral.^[5]

Cortland arrives with Alonso at the First Street House in hopes that he can track down Tessa, who has been taken by witch hunters. After discovering her location as well as the fact that Rowan is pregnant, Cortland urges her to call on Lasher. She doesn't seek to and asks Cortland to release her. When he refuses, she uses her ability to inflict pain. After she's left, Cortland calls Albrecht to inform him about Rowan's pregnancy and instruct him to handle this situation immediately.^[6]

MW-SE1-E08-Promo-What-Rough-Beast-20-Cortland — Cortland refuses to tell Jojo anything

Cortland goes searching for Rowan after learning that she went missing. He finds her lifeless body on the ground in the woods and takes her to the mausoleum, where she gives birth to her and Ciprien's child that has been embodied by Lasher. Cortland instructs Rowan to leave Lasher and go back to San Francisco. What he offers is power and a weight that one must be strong enough to wield, claiming that Rowan's not ready. Nevertheless, she grabs baby Lasher and tries to kill Cortland, but he's been gifted immortality by Lasher as a gift for helping fulfill the prophecy. When Cortland attempts to take Lasher away from Rowan, she solidifies him in stone, revealing that she knows what Cortland raped her mother and years later had her killed so that Rowan could fulfill the prophecy.^[7]

The dark place[]

Still encased in stone, Cortland is in some kind of mindscape, where he can hear Rowan talking to him but is unable to respond. He tries to escape but then the Mayfair witches of the past exact their wrath on him.^[8]

Still trapped in his dark place, Cortland finds himself face-to-face with his father. After preparing his father a plate of food like a servant would, Cortland stands at the edge of the table as his father ridicules him, calling him weak. Although, Julien admits that Cortland achieved his minimum of usefulness by bringing Lasher into the world. And now, the others will carry out the great work. Cortland pleads with his father to help, and so he slides the plate back down to Cortland and tells him to fetch him something else to eat. Julien has cleared the table, and so, Cortland grabs a large blade and cuts off his own arm, giving it to his father to eat. Fortunately for Cortland, Rowan awakens him in hopes of getting answers as to why Lasher wanted to be embodied, but she realizes that he doesn't know anything despite doing such horrific things in Lasher's name. Cortland explains that he had some time to think about his actions and claims that he was a pawn, similar to Rowan. He was raised by his tyrant of a father and modeled himself after him, but that doesn't excuse his actions. Rowan doesn't care how he does it, whether it be a wake or a party, but she instructs him to get the whole family to the house.^[9]

As instructed, Cortland invites the entire family to the First Street House at Rowan's behest so that they may all drink a spell of protection following the unnatural deaths of Gifford and Alicia. The family is looking forward to meeting Lasher, but Cortland advises Rowan against telling them the truth about the murders, as they will turn on her. Cortland then makes a secret call to the Talamasca, but Albrecht declines his call. As the family begin to pour in, Cortland tries to talk to Jojo but she is disgusted by him and then locked in his father's room by Rowan after learning that he left Evelyn Mayfair unprotected.^[10]

Reuniting with his father[]

Cortland tries to pick the lock and escape his father's room, but his father fortified the doors with one of his spells. Rowan eventually returns and asks him through the door about Albrecht and Lasher, unbeknownst to him, Moira is reading his mind for answers and reveals that Cortland doesn't know anything, as Julien was Albrecht's real partner. Rowan wants to speak with Julien, with Cortland revealing there is a way, but he will only tell them if they let him out of the room, which Rowan does reluctantly. He reveals that he spoke to his father while encased in stone, and they discussed great work to be carried out by others, but Cortland wasn't sure who. They later discover that Julien bound himself to his old Victrola.^[11]

When Rowan returns from the Victrola and says she was in a Scotland pub, Cortland reveals that the first Mayfairs came from Donnelaith. It's a mythic place, not on any map. While Cortland may have no memory of it, he has been there when he was a kid, Moira claims after reading his mind. His father most likely erased his memory of it, and so they devise a plan to restore the memory. Cortland takes a half dose of Thorazine in order to put him in a state so that Moira can read his mind, which leads him to recalling his journey to Scotland as well as the fact that he has a brother named Ian.^[12]

Cortland arrives in Kilbride, where he reunites with his brother Ian and discovers that not only was Ian jealous of him for a long time due to the fact that he got to be raised by their father, but also that their father has been lying to them. Julien told Cortland that Ian was doing important work for the family, while also telling Ian that Cortland was doing important work for the family as well. They question if it was just another one of his games.^[13]

Trapped in the Victrola[]

While en route to fix their car so they can leave, Cortland reveals to Ian that their father erased his memories of his time in Scotland and that Lasher gifted him with immortality. Unfortunately for Cortland, Ian uses this information against him, sharing it with Julien, who tricks Cortland into the victrola so that he can take possession of his body, leaving Cortland trapped inside.^[14]

Appearances[]

Season 1[]

Season 2[]

Trivia[]

Cortland is not a villain in the novels. He has a bigger role in the TV series, where he is still alive when Rowan visits New Orleans.
In The Witching Hour, Cortland is possessed by Lasher to father the last three generations of designees (much like it is implied with Patrick in the first episode) and he is killed by Carlotta when he tried to save Deirdre. Moreover, in the book, Cortland is given the task of derailing the Talamasca instead of working with them. He never wanted immortality or powers.
Cortland never hurt Evelyn in the books.