Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Another week, another pulse-pounding, attention-grabbing international thrill-ride arrives on Netflix! You definitely never heard of Siempre Bruja (or Always a Witch) before this weekend, but now you’re so obsessed with it that you’re scouring Google for deep dirt on the show’s many mysteries. Of all of Always a Witch’s “WTF” moments, there’s one that rises above all the rest: who in the heck is Lucien?
The answer to that question is complicated and doled out bit by bit over the course of the series. We know from the jump that Lucien is a powerful evil, one that Carmen (Angely Gaviria) will eventually have to face. But there’s a whole lot more to Lucien on Always a Witch than it initially seems…
So, who is Lucien on Always a Witch?
Lucien is an ancient evil that’s at war with an immortal wizard named Aldemar (Luis Fernando Hoyos). Aldemar is the seemingly kindly wizard that tasks Carmen with a mission that plucks her from the 17th century and drops her in present day Cartagena. Carmen has to get a mystical necklace to a witch named Ninibe (Veronica Orozco), a necklace that will play a major part in the battle between Lucien and Aldemar. Looming over Carmen’s head the entire time is the threat of Lucien, the bad guy who’s still active in the 21st century. Nowadays he’s referred to as the Fire Killer because of his ability to instantly turn a witch to ash.
Okay, seriously–who is Lucien on Siempre Bruja?
Hey, ease up! His identity is kept secret for a reason and to just jump right to that without a SPOILER WARNING would be irresponsible! Consider this your spoiler warning, then, so we can really talk about Lucien’s whole thing. Episode 4 (“Stolen Shadow, Witch Forgotten”) introduces a new character named Professor Esteban (Sebastian Eslava). He takes over Ninibe’s class after she disappears, and immediately takes an interest in Carmen. That makes Esteban suspect numero uno in the great “who is Lucien?” mystery. Turns out that Esteban is Lucien, although Lucien may not be as evil as he seems.
Carmen confronts Esteban about his dual identity in Episode 7, appropriately titled “Lucien.” It’s then that the assumed bad guy does the villain thing where he calls everything Carmen believes into question. According to Lucien it’s actually his father Aldemar that’s the bad guy! Wow, that’s a real Empire Strikes Back level switcheroo. Whether or not Lucien is telling the truth, that’s something I won’t spoil here. You gotta watch Always a Witch!
Sidenote: If you’re looking for more info on Siempre Bruja, I gotta recommend Siempre Bruja’s Spanish language Wikipedia page (thanks, Google Translate!).
Who plays Professor Esteban on Always a Witch?
Sebastian Eslava pulls double duty as Esteban and Lucien on Always a Witch. The 33-year-old Colombian actor is a big name in South America, having won awards for his role in the hit drama series The Girl (which you can stream on Netflix under the name La Niña). And keeping things in the Netflix family, Eslava also played Nicolas Rodriguez in five episodes of the acclaimed drama Narcos.
