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I'm at death's door, and I'm knocking, without wanting to.
— Isaac to Mary Sibley[src]

Isaac Walton makes a living as a village handyman after being outcast as a fornicator, bearing the mark on his forehead. When Captain Alden returns to Salem, Isaac opens his eyes to the real threat of the witches fought in vain by Reverend Mather. Later, Isaac proclaims himself a night-watcher of Knocker's Hole, vowing revenge on Mercy Lewis and the other witches.

Isaac is a major character in Salem portrayed by Israeli-British actor Iddo Goldberg.

Character Description

"The town of Salem made an example of Isaac Walton for his indiscretions as a teenager, and he has to live with that reputation every day of his life as "Isaac the Fornicator". A lower class driver, Isaac is responsible for ridding the town of all waste. Handling Salem's dirty work has piqued Isaac's interest in the town’s witch hunts and he learns quickly that certain things cannot be unseen."

"Isaac takes it upon himself to attempt to clean up Knockers Hole and take revenge against Mercy. He’s the voice of reason and uses his power and control over the people for good."

Early Life

As a young man, Isaac was discovered kissing Abigail Cook. For this, as well as for the crimes of seeing Abigail naked and "self-pollution", he was sentenced by George Sibley to a day and night in the stocks, flogging, and to be branded with an "F" on the forehead. After this, his mother disowned him, forcing him to leave the family home and sold him into servitude. In an unspecified period, probably after the arrival of Cotton Mather, he was given the task of bringing the corpses of the executed to a mass grave in the woods. While doing so he discovers something strange in the woods and shares it with John Alden, prompting the latter to suspend his disbelief in witches and stay in Salem.

Personality

Despite being branded as a fornicator and outcasted by the Puritans, including his own family, Isaac has retained his good and kind disposition. He is a trusted and devoted friend who would do anything for his childhood friend, Mary Sibley without question her intentions. Isaac is also a faithful lover, who cherishes the memory of Abigail, his first love banished from town for their premarital affair. Isaac has also sworn to avenge the death of his beloved Dollie, and has taken the orphaned Dorcas under his wing. Increase Mather describes Isaac with a childlike mind and behaviors that mimic those of the people he's in contact.

Physical Appearance

Isaac Walton is a handsome, gaunt-faced and pale-skinned man with dark hair that he wears long at the front to cover the scar burnt into his skin by Mary Sibley's husband seven years ago: an "F", marking him as a fornicator. He is often seen self-consciously rearranging his hair to ensure the scar is covered, even though all the townspeople know about it and continue to look down on him regardless.

Throughout The Salem series

SEASON ONE

Isaac discovers the return of John Alden and reveals it to Mary. The following evening, the tavern, warns Alden and to convince him of the real existence of witches in the forest leads him to spy on them during the Sabbath.[2] Isaac been spelled by the witches and attacks the prostitutes at The Divining Rod, he is arrested. When the magistrate Hale decides to hang Isaac for witchcraft John defends Isaac and attacks the militiamen trying to prevent them from taking him to the gallows.[3] Isaac has to bring George Sibley out of town but they have an accident and the young man returns to Salem. Then John tells him to leave George in the woods to avenge the wrongs suffered.[4] Isaac is harassed by Increase Mather who wants to use the simpleton to accuse Mary of witchcraft, but the man defends his friend against the witch-hunter.[5] Isaac witness John's trial and later that night convinces Mary to save him.[6] Mary entrusts to Isaac the task to throw the Malum in the Witches' hollow shaft, but the young man becomes a victim of the cursed object's spell and his face is covered in blood. Agonizing, Isaac seems dying.[7]

SEASON TWO

Miraculously survived the opening of Malum, Isaac is the first victim to be infected by Witch Pox. Found in the thick of the woods by Dr. Wainwright, Isaac is in poor condition and is transported to Salem by the doctor, to be cured in the makeshift town's hospital. With the body battered by buboes, Isaac responds well to treatment and Wainwright takes some vials of his blood to prepare a kind of vaccine, as Isaac as the first infected survivor, he may be the key to cure the plague. However, Isaac is kidnapped by Dollie and Reverend Lewis, acting on the orders of Mercy Lewis, magically survived the flames of the pyre. At Lewis house, Isaac is made subject to certain cannibalistic rituals and Mercy wants to use him as a means to get revenge against Mary Sibley, her nemesis. Poor Isaac, at this time, developed a strong friendship with Dollie and love blossoms between the two. The girl, then, helps him to escape from the clutches of Mercy but the two are captured by soldiers working for the Countess Von Marburg. Dollie is killed by Mercy and the Countess, who use her blood to give back Mercy her beauty and health. Isaac, however, is imprisoned in a cage on the ship's hold and is freed later by Mary Sibley. Isaac, then, goes in search of Dollie and when he finds her dead, despair, weeping over the body of the young woman. During a sermon given by the magistrate Hathorne, Isaac breaks into the church carrying Dollie's corpse and accuses the city of hypocrisy and curses them, insulting them. For this behavior, Isaac is pilloried for blasphemy but was released after a few days and Hathorne restores a semblance of social status, freeing him from the title of "fornicator", replacing it with that of "truth-teller". Some women give Isaac some clean clothes and a loaf. Once free, Isaac goes on the trail of Mercy, seeking revenge for his beloved Dollie. He also manages to save a little girl from the witch, disfigured once again and with her body covered with burns, giving the glimpse that Isaac now wants to protect the city from the witches. In the final scenes, Isaac is shown while he cries on the grave of Dollie.


SEASON THREE
To Be Added



Relationships

Main Article: Isaac and Mary

I promise you, though a grim future awaits the people of Salem, I will protect you from any further pain. I swear to you.
— Mary to Isaac in Cat and Mouse
Salem-Promo-Still-S1E13-14-Isaac and Mary
Mary and Isaac are childhood friends and both are firstborns in the new world. During the events of 1685 Mary witnessed his punishment for fornicating with his lover Abigail Cooke and after she became a witch and married George she took pity on him when no other would. Mary has shown to have a lot of affection for Isaac and went to great lengths to save him from Magistrate Hale. But despite this she has manipulated him on many occasions to benefit her own agenda causing her to vow to protect him from any further harm after he was injured due to her intervention. After she saves John from being hanged, she tries to save Isaac from the Grand Rite by sending him away from Salem but gives him one last task, to place the Malum in the witches tree but unbeknown to her he has been infected by the plague it contains.

Main Article: John and Isaac

You're too late. I thought you were gonna save us, but maybe we just don't deserve saving.
— Isaac to Alden in Our Own Private America
Normal salem0107-2345

Isaac and Alden watching witches burning at the stake

Both are first born son's in the new world they were both raised in Salem, Massachusetts but it is unknown in how much contact they had before the events of 1685. John with the rest of Salem witnessed the branding of Isaac by George Sibley but was the only one that tried to prevent it but was later sent to join the militia. Seven years later when John returns his arrival is witnessed upon by Isaac who later informs Mary of his return. Isaac tries to convince John that witches are real and takes him into the woods where they spy on their Sabbath and they both become allies but when Isaac is later captured and spelled by the witches leading to his arrest it is only John who tries to save him. Isaac turns to John following George Sibley's injuries after the carriage crashes, but John tells him to leave him there and keep quiet as he deserves nothing from either of them. Isaac considers John to be one of his only friends.

Main Article: Isaac and Cotton

Half of Salem takes you for a fool, the rest dismiss you as a pervert. Am I mad to think I saw something in you? Something of a man. Just the sort Salem needs to fight the Devil.
— Mather to Isaac in In Vain
Salem-Promo-Still-S1E03-46-Cotton and Isaac Jail

Cotton and Isaac in jail

Not much is known about their past history but it is presumed they first met when Cotton came to Salem on Mary Sibley's behest to oversee the witch trials. In the course of events, they become friends and allies in the fight against witches, both stifled by the despotism of Increase Mather. When Cotton is deprived of all his possessions from his father and John Alden is accused of Witchcraft, Isaac reminds Cotton the value of friendship spurring him not to give up.

Main Article: Isaac and Dollie

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Quotes

Isaac: "Isaac the fornicator. Hide your wives, hide your daughters, hell, hide your sheep!"
In Vain
___________________
Isaac (to John Alden): "You're too late. I thought you were gonna save us, but maybe we just don't deserve savin'."
Our Own Private America
____________________
Isaac: "Oh this ain't right. This ain't right. Any fool can feel that, even this fool."
All Fall Down
______________________
Mr. Hathorne: "What is there to say about our founder, George Sibley?"
Isaac: "How about that George Sibley was a son of a bitch?"
Isaac: "Do?! What did George Sibley do? Besides sear the flesh of my face for the unforgivable crime of love? Well, for one thing, he sent John Alden off to die just so he could steal his girl."
Isaac: "Hypocrite! Hypocrite. You're all fornicators. Screwing each other every day of the week, including the Sabbath! I swear if Jesus Christ walked the streets of Salem, he wouldn't find a man worth saving."
Isaac: "Go on, then! Hang me! Hang me! Done died on those stocks years ago."
Isaac: "You all, so busy looking for where the evil came from. You brought it with you. Still, you look all'round for who could have done it. Must be the Indians, or the French Or the witches Or even my Dollie. Blame it on my Dollie. She had angel eyes. Couldn't see my scars Just my soul And loved it. Angel's eyes. Risked her life to save mine. Angel's eyes. And I'll remember them until my dying day. I promise you. But who will remember the lot of you when you're ashes? They say God sees every sparrow that falls. But he don't see you. Not no more! He forgot all about you. Salem is the dust he shook from his feet when he turned around and walked away, and he ain't never coming back!"
On Earth as in Hell
_______________________

Name

  • Isaac: From the Hebrew name יִצְחָק (Yitzchaq) which meant "he laughs". Isaac in the Old Testament is the son of Abraham. As an English Christian name, Isaac was occasionally used during the Middle Ages, though it was more common among Jews. It became more widespread after the Protestant Reformation.
  • Walton: From any of several villages in England, from Old English wald "wood", wall "wall", or wælla "stream, spring" and ton "town".

Appearances


Gallery

Season One

Season Two

Season Three

Trivia

  • Isaac is a fictional character invented for the show, unlike other based on the real Salem Witch Trials.
  • Although he's one of the main characters, Isaac Walton appears in only nine out of thirteen episodes during the first season. He appears in twelve of the thirteen episodes of the second season, but often for very short scenes.
  • Isaac Walton was supposed to die in the earlier episodes of the first season. The brilliant interpretation of Iddo Goldberg has prolonged life and storyline of the character.
  • "Isaac Walton: the voice of reason" is the description released on the official Instagram account with the photoshoot for the third season.

References

  1. In "Black Sunday", Isaac was dragged away by an angry crowd after Anne expressed her disappointment about Isaac's uselessness to her agenda. Moreover, he wasn't with Dorcas at the meetinghouse during Anne Hale's speech, supporting the theory of Isaac's death.
  2. Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & Richard Shepard (director). April 20, 2014. "The Vow". Salem. Season 1. Episode 1. WGN.
  3. Elizabeth Sarnoff, Tricia Small (writer) & Alex Zakrzewski (director). May 4, 2014, 2014. "In Vain". Salem. Season 1. Episode 3. WGN.
  4. Jon Harmon Feldman (writer) & Alex Zakrzewski (director). June 8, 2014. "Departures". Salem. Season 1. Episode 8. WGN.
  5. Elizabeth Sarnoff & Tricia Small (writer) & David Grossman (director). June 15, 2014. "Children, Be Afraid". Salem. Season 1. Episode 9. WGN.
  6. Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & Bill Johnson (director). July 6, 2014. "Ashes, Ashes". Salem. Season 1. Episode 12. WGN.
  7. Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & David Von Ancken (director). July 13, 2014. "All Fall Down". Salem. Season 1. Episode 13. WGN.

See Also

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