The looming mystery across each episode of Talamasca: The Secret Order has been about locating the mysterious 752. Named for the year the Talamasca was founded, 752 A.D., this supposed book had all the accumulated knowledge of the entire Talamasca library contained in it, as a sort of backup. A backup that became necessary when the library in the Talamasca motherhouse in Amsterdam burned to the ground in 1972. All of our main characters have been on a wild goose chase throughout the series, trying to locate this book, which many don’t even believe exists. But in episode six, we learn the truth about Talamasca‘s 752 and what it is… Or should we say who it is.
In the finale, “The 752,” Helen (Elizabeth McGovern) finally learns the truth about her long-missing twin sister, Emma, whom she was separated from as a child. A retired Talamasca agent she tracks down tells her how her sister had an extraordinary gift from an early age. Emma had a photographic memory unlike any the order had ever seen. She could remember the weather on any day of her life, or how many bricks a building she passed by had years after doing so. And she could read the contents of any book and remember it verbatim — forever. So the Talamasca turned Emma into a special project… we might know it as the 752.
For a decade as a young child, Emma read every book in the Talamasca library, memorizing its contents. She became a living repository of a thousand years of the Talamasca’s research. With elements within the order believing that there were higher-ups in the organization seeking to use the Talamasca’s knowledge for evil purposes, they torched the entire library. Emma, now called Doris (Céline Buckens), became the Talmasca’s new living version of the library, “the 752.” Someone who the order could use forever.
But as a mere human being, that knowledge could be lost if she died. So when she was a young woman in 1985, the Talamasca, led by a mysterious man called Houseman, conscripted a very ordinary vampire into turning Doris, so their living library would remain immortal. But since a vampire with weak blood turned Doris, she couldn’t read minds, or “freeze time,” or any of the powers we’ve seen characters like Lestat, Louis, and Armand exhibit in Interview with the Vampire. The Talamasca did this purposefully, so she’d be easier to control and the 752 would be in their hands without issue. For a time, Doris escapes the Talamasca, but she returns into the fray when her close friend Kevas is murdered in the quest for the 752 and ends up entangled with Guy. Eventually, Doris and Guy Anatole (Nicholas Denton) are able to abscond out of England, leaving the 752 free from those who would pursue her for their own ends (at least for now).
Is there a precedent for something like Talamasca‘s 752 in Anne Rice’s novels? Well, not so much. In fact, the date of the Talamasca’s founding in Rice’s novels isn’t even the same year. And their library never burned down. The Talamasca in Rice’s world is mysterious, but ultimately less interested in power or control. This probably has something to do with two of their founders being actual ghosts. They are, quite literally, above that kind of thing. But so far, the series hasn’t given us that much backstory on this version of the Talamasca’s origins.
However, in AMC’s Interview with the Vampire and Talamasca series, we learn that the Talamasca actually edited and changed information in Daniel Molloy’s published book of his interview with the undead Louis. With characters like Raglan James up to no good and dealing in black market vampire blood trade and, of course, Talamasca agents like Houseman willing to literally create vampires for their own ends, we know this Talamasca is a little more nefarious, willing to do covert things to advance its own agenda. So while Talamasca‘s 752 doesn’t really gel with Rice’s depiction of the order, it tracks with the AMC version we’ve already been introduced to. If Talamasca: The Secret Order returns for a second season, we’re sure to learn more. And we’ll see how much the AMC version stays true to Rice’s backstory for the secret order, or goes its own way.
Talamasca: The Secret Order episodes one through six are available now on AMC+