Post by vandergraafk on Jan 2, 2007 12:27:32 GMT -5
This important and exciting episode poses many, many challenges to Charmedverse. The fate of Chris is the most obvious issue left unresolved at the conclusion of this two-part episode. Other questions concern the vanquish of Gideon, the ability of Gideon to murder Chris by magic, and, of course, the largest question of all: the balance in the multiverse. Whether these two episodes sufficiently or adequately resolve all of the outstanding issues is debatable. Still, it is well worth discussing.
Let's start with the most obvious question: is Chris dead? There are some who have written in the Charmedcafe who believe that Chris, in fact, did not die. Somehow, in their view, the future was so changed that Chris does not have to time travel to save Wyatt. Or, the argument is made that even though he appears to have died, the fact that his body vanished indicates that the future changed in some unknown way to have sufficiently averted his death. I find neither of these positions satisfactory.
Chris clearly dies in the episode. Stabbed by a magically endowed athame that Gideon hoped to use to break the protective bubble about Wyatt, Chris cannot be healed by Leo. Gideon's magic is simply too powerful. As the task force led by Inspector Sheridan and Inspector Morris arrive to arrest Chris, Chris breathes his final breaths. Mysteriously, the body disappears.
Let's assume for the moment that Gideon indeed has the power to place such a powerful spell on an athame such that it can kill a whitelighter/witch (Chris), penetrate a powerful protective bubble (Wyatt) and perhaps kill baby Wyatt (though this is not Gideon's intention). The spell cast by Gideon seems simple enough:
Since Chris does die, we must conclude that it was a powerful spell indeed!
Still, to then assert that the death of Chris does not spell his demise seems terribly difficult to accept. First, whatever the Charmed Ones can and cannot accomplish with respect to the Demonic Underworld, they are powerless to prevent a demon from freeing the Titans in order for this hapless demon to become ruler of the Underworld. Going back in time poses too many problems for the Charmed Ones. Changing that single event would lead to an incredible string of consequences that may not converge in the saccharine world depicted to lay in the future for the Charmed Ones in Forever Charmed. It would be much easier to go back in time and to save Chris just before he is stabbed in order to send him into the future. The immediate present would not be changed significantly. Leo would still be angry at Gideon for kidnapping his son Wyatt! Placing Chris in his now modified future would avoid his presence changing the immediate future and the experiences that the sisters go through over the next two years.
Suppose, though, that the Elders somehow intervened and rescued Chris before his final breath was drawn. Although Leo alone was unable to heal Chris, perhaps a committee of the most powerful Elders could manage to undo Gideon's magic. Once rescued, the Elders could then send him back to his own, now modified, time.
This speculation, though highly plausible, lacks direct evidence in the series. No attempt was ever made to explain Chris's fate. At best, the fact that his body disappeared suggests that something on the order of what has been proposed did indeed take place.
Let's start with the most obvious question: is Chris dead? There are some who have written in the Charmedcafe who believe that Chris, in fact, did not die. Somehow, in their view, the future was so changed that Chris does not have to time travel to save Wyatt. Or, the argument is made that even though he appears to have died, the fact that his body vanished indicates that the future changed in some unknown way to have sufficiently averted his death. I find neither of these positions satisfactory.
Chris clearly dies in the episode. Stabbed by a magically endowed athame that Gideon hoped to use to break the protective bubble about Wyatt, Chris cannot be healed by Leo. Gideon's magic is simply too powerful. As the task force led by Inspector Sheridan and Inspector Morris arrive to arrest Chris, Chris breathes his final breaths. Mysteriously, the body disappears.
Let's assume for the moment that Gideon indeed has the power to place such a powerful spell on an athame such that it can kill a whitelighter/witch (Chris), penetrate a powerful protective bubble (Wyatt) and perhaps kill baby Wyatt (though this is not Gideon's intention). The spell cast by Gideon seems simple enough:
Wanton power in this blade yield
Penetrate this force shield.
Penetrate this force shield.
Since Chris does die, we must conclude that it was a powerful spell indeed!
Still, to then assert that the death of Chris does not spell his demise seems terribly difficult to accept. First, whatever the Charmed Ones can and cannot accomplish with respect to the Demonic Underworld, they are powerless to prevent a demon from freeing the Titans in order for this hapless demon to become ruler of the Underworld. Going back in time poses too many problems for the Charmed Ones. Changing that single event would lead to an incredible string of consequences that may not converge in the saccharine world depicted to lay in the future for the Charmed Ones in Forever Charmed. It would be much easier to go back in time and to save Chris just before he is stabbed in order to send him into the future. The immediate present would not be changed significantly. Leo would still be angry at Gideon for kidnapping his son Wyatt! Placing Chris in his now modified future would avoid his presence changing the immediate future and the experiences that the sisters go through over the next two years.
Suppose, though, that the Elders somehow intervened and rescued Chris before his final breath was drawn. Although Leo alone was unable to heal Chris, perhaps a committee of the most powerful Elders could manage to undo Gideon's magic. Once rescued, the Elders could then send him back to his own, now modified, time.
This speculation, though highly plausible, lacks direct evidence in the series. No attempt was ever made to explain Chris's fate. At best, the fact that his body disappeared suggests that something on the order of what has been proposed did indeed take place.