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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 7, 2006 18:44:10 GMT -5
Paige is a half-breed, as Piper chided her in Charmed Again, Part 2. But what a half-breed. She has both whitelighter abilities and witch powers. As time moved on and she became more experienced as both a witch and whitelighter, Paige's abilities and powers progressed quite rapidly. Below is an analysis of these abilities and powers as it relates to her status as both a whitelighter and a Charmed One. Comparisons to Prue are inevitable and unavoidable. Paige herself always compared herself (unfavorably) to Prue, at least during her first two years as a whitelighter/witch. Some of the dialogue is adapted from a discussion that appeared in the Charmed Cafe. Participants included Xenith, Elder, whitelightertony, triad and vandergraafk.
Before explaining Paige's powers as a witch and her abilities as a whitelighter, a little background is necessary to fully understand how this debate got started. A query by me set the ball in motion.
All in all, I am rather confused, especially since baby Wyatt had powers from the womb. And, young Piper and young Prue (in That 70s Episode) also had access to their powers presumably from birth on. So why wouldn't Paige?
It might be argued that the Elders knew that the three Ps were going to be the Charmed Ones (highly doubtful, if you ask me), so maybe they allowed Prue and Piper to have their powers before Phoebe is even conceived. Or, maybe the Warren witches had powers that developed automatically. If the latter is true, then, why didn't Paige's powers manifest themselves from birth onward. Surely, she would have blurted out at some time for some object to be brought near to her. I mean: in Something Wicca, Prue merely has to think about the cream for it too be slid towards her without having to deliberately move the cream towards her!
There is no evidence to suggest that Paige's powers were ever bound by Patty or Sam or even Grams. (But maybe they did, for that's the only explanation I can come up with that will explain the absence of powers for adolescent Paige.)
Whitelightertony took up my challenge and arrived at the explanation I had made only parenthetically.
"And, young Piper and young Prue (in That 70s Episode) also had access to their powers presumably from birth on. So why wouldn't Paige?" (Quoting vandergraafk)
Because Paige wasn't born until after the incident with Nicholas. I'm sure that Grams was with Patty when Paige was born, and Grams bound baby Paige's powers before Paige had even turned a day old (to protect Paige from Nicholas, as well).
Triad, however, did not share our view:
Because Paige wasn't born until after the incident with Nicholas. I'm sure that Grams was with Patty when Paige was born, and Grams bound baby Paige's powers before Paige had even turned a day old (to protect Paige from Nicholas, as well).
Prue and Piper probably began manifesting their powers on their own (years before Phoebe was even conceived)...whether or not Phoebe would be born wouldn't prevent Prue from having telekinesis or Piper from having temporal stasis. Phoebe's birth is only significant to Prue and Piper because it's what made the three of them into The Power of Three.
They probably did manifest once Paige was born, but Grams bound Paige's powers right before Sam and Patty brought baby Paige to Sister Agnes.
When her surrogate parents adopted her, Paige's powers would have had to have been bound already.
Quote:There is no evidence to suggest that Paige's powers were ever bound by Patty or Sam or even Grams. (But maybe they did, for that's the only explanation I can come up with that will explain the absence of powers for adolescent Paige.)
Why wouldn't they? It should be a safe assumption. Prue's, Piper's, and Phoebe's powers were bound to protect them from Nicholas. Why wouldn't Grams and Patty want to similarly protect Paige from the threat of Nicholas?
i still don't like the idea of Paige's powers being bound by Patty and Grams. Explain the incident of her parent's car crash. Paige orbed out of the darn thing. If Prue, Piper, and Phoebe could not display their powers while they were bound, I doubt that Paige could break through with her powers, since technically she is the youngest out of the bunch. But then again that is only for her "witch" powers.
Remember day when the blonds took over? Paige's power to orb was not taken. So it must mean that her orb power is directly from her White lighter side and not necessarily from her witch-side, maybe because of different properties
Also, remember Phoebe also displayed powers from the womb. The Premonition of the sisters coming back in time, and to complete the Kill Nick spell.
Whitelightertony responded first:
i still don't like the idea of Paige's powers being bound by Patty and Grams. Explain the incident of her parent's car crash. Paige orbed out of the darn thing. If Prue, Piper, and Phoebe could not display their powers while they were bound, I doubt that Paige could break through with her powers, since technically she is the youngest out of the bunch. But then again that is only for her "witch" powers.
Remember day when the blonds took over? Paige's power to orb was not taken. So it must mean that her orb power is directly from her White lighter side and not necessarily from her witch-side, maybe because of different properties.
Well, it's possible that Grams and Patty could only have bound Paige's ability to manifest witch powers.
And we saw that fear was the emotion that initially triggered Paige's ability to orb, even before she became Charmed. So, given what we saw of Paige's youth (how she was a headstrong individual), she probably didn't get scared very often. The exceptions being her spontaneous orbing in the back of her parents' car when they had their car accident, and when she and Shane were attacked by Shax on the rooftop.
It's possible that when Paige was a little girl, there were a few other occasions where she got scared and orbed, but no one else was around. Of course, Paige might have been so young at the time that she didn't realize what had just happened (that she'd orbed in place).
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 7, 2006 19:02:44 GMT -5
The discussion went on. When vandergraafk finally responded, his comments ultimately drew a query from Elder regarding Paige's powers as a witch. However, whitelightertony responded first and disagreed with some of my comments. In order then are my analysis, whitelightertony's comment, my pointed disagreement with whitelightertony's position and finally Elder's query.
Whitelightertony: thank you for examining each part of my comment. I'm glad that you came to the same conclusion as I did, namely, that Grams must have bound Paige's powers at birth, especially since she would be adopted by a non-magical family who would not have the first idea what any child with powers was all about. I just hope you got the gist of my argument, namely, that the Elders were hardly involved in any of this.
In other words, triad, it's the only conclusion that makes sense. As for Paige's orbing ability, it was established in Charmed Again, Part 1 and in A Paige from the Past, that Paige had the ability to orb. She unwittingly employed this when confronted with an extremely fear-inducing situation. Afterwards, she would have had no way to explain what had happened and may simply have repressed the memory out of guilt over her adopted parents' death.
Now, unfortunately, the series writers screwed this whole notion completely up in A Witch in Time and Centennial Charmed. Paige cannot possibly have her whitelighter powers (to orb and to hear the Elders, etc.) by anyone casting a How To Dispossess a Witch spell. Paige ought to have been able to orb from the fireball thrown by Baccara. For dramatic effect, however, the writers chose a silly solution (wiping out both Paige and Phoebe).
In Centennial Charmed, Paige knows she cannot orb objects to her (witch power of teleportation). Yet, she surely must still be able to orb. She tries to sneeze because in her mind she has associated sneezing and instinctual orbing. Her forced sneeze does not, however, lead to an orb. She erroneously concluded that she cannot orb, when, in fact, she never ever tries to deliberately orb in this otherwise fine episode.
Whitelightertony replied:
Now, unfortunately, the series writers screwed this whole notion completely up in A Witch in Time and Centennial Charmed. Paige cannot possibly have her whitelighter powers (to orb and to hear the Elders, etc.) by anyone casting a How To Dispossess a Witch spell. Paige ought to have been able to orb from the fireball thrown by Baccara. For dramatic effect, however, the writers chose a silly solution (wiping out both Paige and Phoebe).
Well, the only other time the Dispossession Spell had been used was by Tuatha...and Paige wasn't around back then. So it's possible that a Dispossession Spell strips a witch of ALL her/his powers, even it they aren't "pure witch powers."
Quote:In Centennial Charmed, Paige knows she cannot orb objects to her (witch power of teleportation). Yet, she surely must still be able to orb. She tries to sneeze because in her mind she has associated sneezing and instinctual orbing. Her forced sneeze does not, however, lead to an orb. She erroneously concluded that she cannot orb, when, in fact, she never ever tries to deliberately orb in this otherwise fine episode.
Paige's powers didn't work in that alternate reality because she wasn't supposed to exist. Alternate Paige had been killed by Shax in that timeline. *Our* Paige was only there by accident, in a reality created by the Avatars. So she wasn't able to use any powers in that reality until acquiring them through The Power of Three being reconstituted.
vandergraafk retorted:
Sorry, I vehemently disagree on both counts. The Dispossession Spell used by Tuwatha and Baccara was identical. Whitelighter powers cannot be stripped by a spell dispossessing a witch. Paige is both whitelighter and witch. She can lose the latter, but never the former. Orbing into another plane of existence does not strip her of her inherent whitelighter power. She did not have her witch powers until joined with her sisters (again) under the chandelier.
Elder then queried:
What exactly was Paige's witch power anyway?
Wasn't orbing herself the same as Prue's astral projection. I always thought orbing anything was a whitelighter power alone.
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 7, 2006 19:06:00 GMT -5
With the previous discussion in my mind, we finally arrive at the main event, namely, what are Paige's powers? My first attempt went thusly:
No, orbing is uniquely a whitelighter power. A Paige from the Past clearly demonstrates this, as well as does Charmed Again, Part 1. Intense fear causes Paige to instinctively orb out from a dangerous scene, whether it be a car crash or a concussion blast from Shax. Now, her witch power is teleportation, not telekinesis. Telekinesis, the ability to move things at a distance with one's mind or wave of the hand or wink of the eye, was not something Paige was able to do. She was able to move things at a distance by causing them to dematerialize and change to a different location. Orbing is the phrase given for that. In other words, her whitelighter power altered the power of telekinesis prophesied for the third sister by causing it to manifest itself as teleportation.
Thus, when Paige loses her witch powers, the only ability she should lose is her ability to teleport objects. She always retains her ability to orb unless her wings are clipped. They never were. The spell to disempower a witch can only take away her power to teleport.
Now, Paige may not have had time to react to an energy ball thrown at close range in A Witch in Time. Yet, she still saw what happened to Phoebe. Her adrenaline should already have been pumping. It's just inconsistent writing.
In Centennial Charmed, Paige erroneously concludes that she cannot orb since she assumed that when she sneezed she would orb. She had been doing this throughout the episode up to that point. However, this sneeze was voluntary, not involuntary. Hence, her instinctual fear did not kick in. After failing to orb by inducing a sneeze, Paige never again even tried to orb because she had come to the wrong conclusion, namely, that she could not orb in this alternate universe.
Xenith responded and made an excellent observation:
I dunno I think Paige has to have an element of TK to her power. I mean otherwise how does she call for an stationary object and send it hurtling towards someone else? Isn't teleportation the breaking down and transport of an object, thus there really shouldn't be that kind of great new momentum happening without an hint of TK?
Xenith's commentary led me to engage in a more thorough analysis of Paige's powers. Here, then, is my final (preliminary) comment:
I don't have a problem accepting this at all. Perhaps the telekinetic portion of her witch power is a natural progression of her teleportation of objects. In other words, as a novice witch she had limited ability to move objects. The most natural way for her to do this was to teleport objects. Later, as she became more versed and experienced, Paige could have begun to telekinetically move things while orbing them. This would provide the momentum that you are curious about. Great question!
Xenith, I am glad you brought this up because in trying to define Paige's witch power(s) at least initially it is important to draw a clear distinction between teleportation and telekinesis. However, you are quite correct in noting (without specific citation, but the examples are many) that Paige later develops the ability to redirect objects launched towards her, move objects from one distant location to another (towards a demon perhaps) while imparting momentum to the object being moved, etc. Certainly, you are correct in noting that the imparting of momentum to a stationary object or redirecting momentum in a different direction requires more than the whitelighter power to orb. Some level of telekinetic power is necessary. Hence, I am grateful for your comments.
Now, let's consider her whitelighter ability. If you think about her whitelighter ability to orb, at first it was merely instinctual. She could orb out and back just momentarily. I don't think she had the ability to move herself over space. I know, I know: in A Paige from the Past, she orbs herself out of the car and away from the crash. Or does she?
At this level of her ability, she orbs as the impending crash looms. She dematerializes to another plane (as all whitelighters do) as the car's momentum carries it forward to the point of impact with the other vehicle. When she orbs back into our plane of existence after momentarily orbing into another plane, she is in the place where she was before, but now finds herself in the street. The car has moved on, crashed and is now burning.
Later, of course, in Season 4 Paige learns to orb between rooms (in The Three Faces of Phoebe). No longer does she orb in stasis (in the same place). She has learned to use the plane through which whitelighters orb to move from one place to another in the real plane of existence. This ability expands exponentially when she becomes the cosmic taxi. The final stages of whitelighter development include: hearing the Elder jingle, having charges and developing a healing power which she demonstrates from Seasons 5 through 8.
As for her witch powers, perhaps she too will be able to astral project on command as did Prue, since astral projection was a natural extension of telekinesis. However, I am bothered by the fact that Leo was able to teach Paige, Piper and Phoebe (although she already had this ability in Sympathy for the Demon) in some way. Whether this learned method carried the full punch of Prue's ability to astral project, I don't know. But, I would hope that Paige would have this in her quiver at some point.
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 8, 2006 19:05:28 GMT -5
If anybody thought that was the last word or even close to it, boy were they ever wrong! Within a day of this posting on the Charmed Cafe, a flood of comments burst forth. Whitelightertony and ljones were the first to get involved. Here is the round by round set of commentaries. In the next post I will include my own reply.
Ljones was the first to reply and reiterated a comment she had made much, much earlier, a comment that had caused me to revise my initial understanding of Paige's powers. She wrote:
The show called it telekinetic orbing or orbing telekinesis. Some crappy description that the writers thought up in "Charmed Again". But Leo and Chris both have telekinetic abilties without having to resort to orbing.
In my opinion, the writers should have described Paige's ability as teleportation. Because that is what she does . . . teleports herself, other beings, and objects.
Whitelightertony did not address ljones's comment, but focused instead on my lengthy comment. He wrote:
Whitelighter powers cannot be stripped by a spell dispossessing a witch.
How do we know that? When Tuatha used the spell originally, she used it on Prue, Piper, and Phoebe...none of whom had any whitelighter powers. So "That Ole Black Magic" didn't necessarily cover the full scope of potential for the Dispossession Spell, since there are hypothetical scenarios where you could try to disempower a witch who also possesses non-witch powers.
The second time it was used on the series, by Bacarra, Paige was included in the mix. So the spell could have disenchanted a witch of all her powers she possesses (including those from whitelighter heritage) even if they weren't innate "witch powers." All a person needs is SOME witch heritage in their blood for the spell to work against them.
Quote:Paige is both whitelighter and witch. She can lose the latter, but never the former.[/b]
Then how do you explain the Stillman sisters casting their anti-orbing spell against Paige? Or The Hollow absorbing both Paige's telekinetic and orbing abilities? Or Bianca absorbing Chris's powers, including his whitelighter powers?
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 8, 2006 19:06:00 GMT -5
Well, technically it is not fear, but intense fear which triggers the instinctive reaction to orb. Now, as for all of these individual comments: In Paigespeak, "I can't orb" could either mean that Paige can't move any object by teleportation or she can't orb outof a given situaton. It is clear from the hudding of her shoulders and the shake of her head that Paige, in A Witch in Time, in trying to orb out. She can't and proclaims, "I can't orb." Unfortunately, this incident merely proves how wrong the writers got it. Such writer mistakes are regrettably frequent in the universe of Charmed. There are countless instances when the writers screw up basic concepts from one season to the next or even within one season. Worse: compare Season 1, when the writers were trying out concepts, to later seasons, when some of these concepts were slightly or even substantially altered. Of course, with a constantly changing stable of writers and the pressures of network TV such errors are bound to happen. The point is: Paige should not have lost her ability to orb. It's not a witch power. And the dispossession spell only applies to witch powers. Thus, it is moot to argue that when Tuatha cast the spell Paige wasn't around. Therefore, we don't know the limitations of the spell. No, we do: the spell is "How to Disempower a Witch", not a whitelighter. And, as Leo said in Secrets and Guys: whitelighters are not witches. I'll ignore the comments about Centennial Charmed since they can neither be proven nor rejected. I can only restate that it makes more sense to assume she had her power to orb, but erroneously concluded that she no longer had it for the reasons I indicated. To argue that she was in fright-inducing situations later, situations that might have caused her to orb instinctively, I can only say that she could count on Leo to rescue her from Darryl. She didn't need to orb! Let me try a different tack, however. In Secrets and Guys, Max Franklin describes his power as psychokinesis. He indicates that this means the ability to move things without seeing them. As a definition, I'll accept that. However, look again at Episode 1. In Something Wiccan, Prue turns away from Roger and causes his pen to explode. That is psychokinetic! While storming out of Roger's office and marching down the hallway, Prue twists her hands and causes Roger's tie to nearly choke him. That must be psychokinesis. In other words, Prue's power of telekinesis actually contains a fair amount of psychokinesis. Max, on the other hand, is not as powerful as Prue and cannot move things with his eyes or a wave of the hand. Paige never developed this ability later; but, as Xenith pointed out, she must have some telekinetic ability. Otherwise, deflecting objects or reversing the direction of a moving object require her to change the object's momentum. This cannot be done by orbing alone. It requires another component. Telekinesis certainly qualifies as that component. As for telekinesis versus teleportation: ljones is more than correct on this one. Not only should Paige's witch power be referred to as teleportation (with an aspect of telekinesis included), Bacarra said as much when in incanted in Latin - teleportare - when taking the athame out of Piper's hand during the double your pleasure attack that led to the loss of the Book of Shadows. Now, whitelightertony is quite correct when he notes that in Siren Song, Leo and Piper indeed switch powers in order that each may truly feel what the other is experiencing. Did Fetus Wyatt cause this to happen; did the Elders? I don't know, and I really don't need to know. What I do know is that the "How to Disempower a Witch" spell was NOT USED. If anything, it was the power switching spell in Love Hurts. Again, though, what does this prove: NOTHING. Leo is not a half-breed. Paige is. The only "powers" that Leo can give up in a power switch are his whitelighter powers. Duh! Unfortunately, in Season 1, the writers sought to wow us with a whitelighter's magical ability in Secrets and Guys. First, Leo is able to make Phoebe's tea warm again. Hmmm? Second, Leo is able to "conjure" water out of nothing to fill Phoebe's glass while waiting to confess to Piper that he has to leave, yada, yada, yada. On the surface, this seems a phenomenal mess. Let me turn to the "official" guide to Charmed where it describes whitelighter abilities in order to gain some insight. ABILITIES 1) Are always in contact with (within 'hearing' of) their charge. 2) Orb through the Neutral Plane to transport themselves or others from one earthly or mystical location to another. 3) Power to heal, with exceptions. 4) Possess a power that enhances the power of suggestion, which allows memories to be erased. 5) Automatically fluent in the language of their charges and the Whitelighter 'clackety-clack' languag. 6) Glamour 7) Telekinesis 8) Hear the Elder's Global Alerts regarding impending threats. 9) Have an automatic connection to a new charge. 10) Can hear charges even when they call on a subliminal level, without knowing. 11) Can sense an Innocent's pain. Ljones has already indicated above that the writers can't even correctly describe a whitelighter's power. They cannot move things telekinetically. They can move them by orbing an object from one location to another (teleportation). So, does any of this help explain Leo's actions in Secrets and Guys. Well, the second one, the "conjuring" of water can easily be explained. Leo teleported (orbed) the water from a nearby pitcher into Phoebe's glass. (Yes, I know that none of those blue, shiny thingys appeared -- and I am quoting Phoebe from Charmed Again, Part 1!). Still, in Secrets and Guys, the writers had not fixed on these blue, shiny thingys as the symbol of orbing. It was still evolving and changed ever so slightly in Love Hurts. The first ability is much harder to explain since it is not included in the list. Either the compilers of the official companion to Charmed hadn't bothered to watch each episode a gazillion times or it is something that was tried and abandoned in Season 1 (as were some other things). It can be explained if you examine Love Hurts. One of a darklighter's abilities is to suck the life force out of both mortals and witches by placing his cold, cold hand on the other person. (Prue uses this trick to vanquish Alex after casting the power switching spell.) One could argue that a whitelighter's ability to heal derives from the conduction of heat from a whitelighter's hand to the injured person. Of course, it is not just heat. Just as it is not cold that kills when a darklighter touches someone. Rather, it is the intense love or hate that accompanies the heat and cold that heals or kills. Thus, it is only when Piper and later Paige confess their love do their abilities as whitelighters manifest themselves. (For Piper, this lasted only as long as the power switching spell was in effect in Love Hurts.) As for powers being "taught", yes, whitelightertony, we are all aware that powers, especially the power to astral project, can be taught. For gosh sakes, Ms. Donovan, the librarian, learned how to do it. Still, there are perhaps many purists among us who don't like this at all. The principal reason is that it undermines the supremacy of the Charmed Ones among witches. If powers can be taught and learned, then what makes the Charmed Ones so special. It was a contradiction that began with the advent of Magic School and culminated in the moronic ultimate battle fantasy where the ultimate power is Billie and Christy, not the Charmed Ones! They (the writers) did it; many of us don't like it! As for Paige losing her power to orb in The Power of Three Blondes, I am grateful to whitelightertony for pointing this out. When the Stillman sisters stole the witches' powers, they erroneously concluded that this would include Paige's ability to orb. It did not. The point is: it took ANOTHER SPELL to obtain a whitelighter's power. If you will, call this the "How to Disempower a Whitelighter" spell. The spell the Stillman sisters used is as follows: IDENTITY SPELL Blinking faces, blank ho-hum
We are they, and they are no one.
Grant to us the Power of Three
And turn them into nobody. As I will argue in the next post, the Power of Three does not include a whitelighter's ability to orb! Disempowering a witch or three sister witches, which is after all what the Power of Three depends on, disempowers witch powers, not whitelighter abilities. Calling for a witch's powers likewise cannot bring forth a whitelighter's abilities. It just won't work, as the Power of Three Blondes demonstrates. Paige will NEVER EVER lose her whitelighter abilities UNLESS a disempowering spell for whitelighters is incanted or the Elders decide to clip her wings. When I wrote NEVER earlier, I was using it in the context of the "How to Disempower a Witch" spell. (I guess I will have to revisit the Power of Three Blondes to see if the orb stealing spell was ever shown spoken in the episode!) |
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 9, 2006 0:39:35 GMT -5
Nothing is ever quite resolved in Charmedverse. Elder came back with yet another query:
vandergraafk wrote:
Paige will NEVER EVER lose her whitelighter abilities UNLESS a disempowering spell for whitelighters is incanted or the Elders decide to clip her wings.
Elder opined:
Is it possible to clip the wings of a half-whitelighter.
If clipping the wings of a whitelighter is for punishment, then Chris/Wyatt/Paige should not have a problem since they still can cast spells and have their "witchy" powers gotten from their moms.
Strpping Paige of her orbing power doesn't do much since (in season six at least) she had big Chris to orb around with.
I dunno. Doesn't seem like much of a punishment if you take something away from Paige that Chris also has (and they are in the same home/family. Call for one and they show up!).
But on the other hand it seems kind of unfair for the elders to clip the wings of a whitelighter since they (whitelighters) are the ones that chose to become such an entity.
To which I responded with the following:
Elder, I agree. Stripping a half-whitelighter of her power is probably not much of a punishment. However, I was discussing the circumstances under which a whitelighter or half-whitelighter might lose his or her abilities as a whitelighter.
I would like to clarify my comments about The Power of Three Blondes since I've now had a chance to view this episode again. A truly hilarious episode, The Power of Three Blondes truly demonstrates how comedic Charmed could be. Whether it's the ditzy blonde image or just their totally clueless demeanor, the sleazy Stillman sisters are a riot. There's no need for a laugh track here. The laughs practically fly off the shelf.
Still, this episode is fraught with all kinds of problems. The Identity Spell that the sisters cast is not enough to steal the Charmed Ones' powers. For that, the Stillman sisters will need the Book of Shadows. But how can they, mere warlocks, obtain access to the book. Stealing the Charmed Ones' identities should not have been sufficient. The book should have remained off limits to all but Chris in the event of confusion as to the true identity of the Charmed Ones. As long as they did not possess the Charmed Ones' powers, the Stillman sisters were still evil and could not have touched the book.
In the event, the Stillman sisters do gain access to the Book of Shadows and use the "To Call a Witch's Powers" spell to steal the Charmed Ones' powers. However, the Stillman sisters realize, to their chagrin, that Paige has retained her ability to orb since that is a whitelighter power, not a witch's power. Later, and off screen, an anti-orbing spell will take care of Paige's ability to orb. Yet, it is unclear whether that spell is sufficient to disempower a whitelighter. It probably is not!
Now, whether one chooses to believe the Stillman sisters' description of the problem, that is, the spell only took Paige's powers as a witch, not her powers as a whitelighter, I leave up to the fan. Certainly, there are the usual problems with character omniscience, but I think these are beside the point. In terms of the overall logic of Charmed, the Stillman sisters get it right. The spell they used could not strip Paige of her whitelighter power.
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 9, 2006 12:07:05 GMT -5
Finally, there remains the issue of Bianca and Chris in Chris Crossed. It is certainly true that Bianca endeavors to take away Chris witch powers in order to compel him to return to the future where he supposedly will make peace with Wyatt - under duress, of course. Bianca, a seasoned Phoenix Coven assasin, has the ability to reach into Chris's body and implant a virus that eats away (rather quickly) at Chris's witch powers. He can still orb. However, as Bianca cautions him, orbing - or using his whitelighter ability - will only weaken him further and perhaps kill him. That's a very powerful virus indeed.
Let us assume that only Phoenix Coven assasins possess the ability to spread such a virus. Such assasins would be a great threat to any magical being. Does the virus only consume witch powers? Or, does it consume all magical powers? I don't know whether we have enough information from Chris Crossed to answer this question adequately. Certainly, Chris gives in to Bianca's demands. He allows her to strip his powers (as a witch, at least) since we know he does not have any witch power when he returns to the future. Whether he retained any whitelighter abilities is unclear since he makes no attempt to use them in the future. And, if he did, resortng to whitelighter abilities (orbing) wold be quite useless anyway. Future Wyatt has much too much power to find out where Chris would orb to, ferret him out and finish off his defiant brother. Or, Wyatt could also use a variation of the anti-orbing spell used by the Stillman sisters to suppress Chris's ability to orb. In either event, Chris has almost no chance for success. He must get his witch powers back. Indeed, that is what happens!
Based on the above analysis, please let me restate my conclusion regarding Paige and all whitelighter/witches.
Paige will NEVER EVER lose her whitelighter abilities UNLESS a disempowering spell for whitelighters is incanted, the Elders decide to clip her wings, an anti-orbing spell is invoked, or a Phoenix Coven witch infects her with a deadly virus to strip Paige of her witch powers.
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 10, 2006 12:36:33 GMT -5
Of course, there was feedback:
Whitelightertony provided these two posts in the Charmed Cafe:
But how can they, mere warlocks, obtain access to the book. Stealing the Charmed Ones' identities should not have been sufficient. The book should have remained off limits to all but Chris in the event of confusion as to the true identity of the Charmed Ones. As long as they did not possess the Charmed Ones' powers, the Stillman sisters were still evil and could not have touched the book.
It's simple: the Stillmans swapped their evil own identities with the Charmed Ones' good identities. So basically, The Book of Shadows recognized Piper, Phoebe, and Paige as evil, whereas it accepted the Stillman sisters as good.
Quote:Now, whether one chooses to believe the Stillman sisters' description of the problem, that is, the spell only took Paige's powers as a witch, not her powers as a whitelighter, I leave up to the fan. Certainly, there are the usual problems with character omniscience, but I think these are beside the point. In terms of the overall logic of Charmed, the Stillman sisters get it right. The spell they used could not strip Paige of her whitelighter power.
Except that the spell they used WASN'T the same as the spell that Tuatha and the Bacarras used. The Stillmans' "Identity-Swapping Spell" only referred to The Power of Three, which includes their witch powers...The Power of Three can still exist in absence of Paige's whitelighter powers. Therefore, when their identities were swapped, the only powers Paige lost were her telekinetic abilities, since they came from The Power of Three. By contrast, the Dispossession Spell covered the dispossession of ALL powers, and it wasn't incanted by the Stillman Sisters.
It wasn't until after the Stillmans realized that Paige could still orb did they understand that they needed to counteract Paige's whitelighter abilities in addition to the swapping of identities. They had created a strange paradox: turning Paige into an essentially "evil" creature (or at least, a creature recognized by everyone else as "evil") who still possessed full "good" whitelighter abilities (kind of
To argue that she was in fright-inducing situations later, situations that might have caused her to orb instinctively, I can only say that she could count on Leo to rescue her from Darryl. She didn't need to orb!
Paige may not have NEEDED to orb (with Leo there to transport her away)...but if she truly still possessed the active ability to orb (as you believe she did) then she would have done so instincitvely if she was actually frightened. If your supposition is true, then at the very least, Paige should have orbed in place when Alternate Darryl took her by surprise.
Quote:Still, there are perhaps many purists among us who don't like this at all. The principal reason is that it undermines the supremacy of the Charmed Ones among witches. If powers can be taught and learned, then what makes the Charmed Ones so special. It was a contradiction that began with the advent of Magic School and culminated in the moronic ultimate battle fantasy where the ultimate power is Billie and Christy, not the Charmed Ones! They (the writers) did it; many of us don't like it!
Well, remember: Prue's astral projection naturally grew out of her telekinesis. No one needed to "teach" it to her. It's unlikely that Miss Winterbourne, Miss Donovan, or anyone else who had astral projection "taught" to them also had telekinesis "taught" to them. Therefore, Prue's Charmed abilities (telekinesis along with astral projection) WERE unique (compared to other magical creatures) in that they were more innate and naturally-occurring (and undoubtedly MUCH stronger, with the potential to be longer-lasting and more sustainable) than any of the "acquired" (and presumably weaker) displays of astral projection we've seen.
Elder altered the flow of the debate by commenting on the "How to Disempower a Witch" spell.
Another technicality issues ensues.
I haven't rewatched the episodes, but if the spell used by Bacara in "A witch in time" is the same one used by Tuatha in "That old black magic" we have a bit of a problem.
Wasn't the spell used by Tuatha asking for a fresh human heart to work? If so, Bacara got his heart from a witch...and technically, witches are not truly human since they possses the magical ability. Tuatha got her heart from a regular guy.
I know that's reaching pretty far, but it is a difference no matter how people look at it.
vandergraafk responded as follows:
Elder, I have previously given that some thought. I noted, as did you, the seeming discrepancy. Hoiwever, I resolved this simply by recognizing that wiches are humans, too. They bleed and can die as humans do. True, they possess a magical essence that sets them aparts from mere mortals, but they are still human. Thus, I don't see this as a problem.
As for whitelightertony's comments, let me just say that Paige is not frightened when she first encounters Bouncer Darryl. She recognizes him, of course. When he responds with puzzled indifference, if not apparent hostility, Paiges grabs a frying pan to smack him over the head. When he points the gun at her, she dashes out of harm's way. When semi-somersaulting down the driveway as Darryl dashes out onto the driveway and then takes what seems like an inordinate amount of time to aim his pistol and squeeze the trigger, Paige calls plaintively for Leo. Her fright, if you will, never escalates to the point where her orbing instinct kicks in.
Of course, you are right with respect to the spell the Stillman sisters use to steal the Charmed Ones' witch powers. As I indicated above, the Stillmans use the "To Call a Witch's Powers" spell and not the "How to Disempower a Witch" spell to obtain these powers. As must surely become obvious by now, a witch's powers do not include orbing. Otherwise, the Stillman spell would have been successful. By extension, disempowering a witch means to take away a witch's powers. Explain to me how , in essence, this spell differs from the previous.
We might start with the ingredients. Disempowering a witch requires a human or mortal heart, while calling for a witch's powers does not. Disempowering a witch, because it packs more powerful contents, might be accessible to any warlock or demon. Calling for a witch's powers may require the caller to be a witch, or at lesat seem to be a witch.
With respect to the latter, the Identity spell the Stillman sisters cast was sufficient to alter all existing documents to indicate that the Stillmans - and not the Charmed Ones - were the true Halliwells/Matthews. It should only have confused the Book of Shadows since the book protects itself from evil and surely must be able to sense those who seek to touch it. Isn't that the point of Death Becomes Them when the sisters, emotionally distraught over perceived failures, lose their confidence and cannot lay claim to the Book of Shadows? The Book, at a minimum, should have protected itself by remaining neutral and allowing only Chris to access it.
In the Seven Year Witch, Drake is able finally to gain access to the Book but only in a way the Book will allow itself to be accessed. Drake is still a demon with demonic powers. If he uses those powers, he will forfeit them to the sorcerer. Yet, the book allows him to touch it. Confused writers or clever Book? I'll opt for the latter especially since the Book does not given Drake unlimted access to its pages. It defaults automatically to the entry that Leo had made for his sons. In short, the Stillman sisters never should have been able to touch the book, let alone peruse its pages, access its spells and marvel at the two-bit entry describing the Stillman sisters as petty grifters.
And finally, on Prue's astral projection ability. Yes, many of us have argued that perhaps version was more powerful since it was a natural extension of her telekinetic power. It seems to make sense. But what does that mean specifically?
As we saw in several episodes, Prue worked very hard to create an active clone who was equal to herself in all respects. Her initial astral projections were limited to walking and talking. Later manifestations enabled to kick box and use her telekinetic powers (Ms. Hellfire). Phoebe, when she casts an astral projection spell to confront Barbas and lure him to the crystal cage trap in the Manor, walks and talks, but gives no evidence that she can get premonitions or levitate. Of course, she doesn't try to either, but let's assume she can't. Ms. Donovan, when trapped by the Sorcerer, can certainly stand and talk, but she doesn't seem to do much else. Perhaps that is what the difference is. And just maybe, Magic School or the teaching of magical powers will not undermine the special status of the Charmed Ones. The problem is we just don't know that the learned method won't completely embrace the types of skills that Prue ultimately demonstrated. Perhaps that's the most chilling aspect of the homage given to Prue by the Charmed Ones when they express gratitude for Prue teaching Leo the ropes about astral projection. Which ropes exactly? Did that include how to clone oneself completely? Scary thought!
Finally, I must vehemently disagree with your analysis of the effect of the Identity Spell. There is no indication at all that the spell made the sisters evil. And, no, Paige was not caught in some sort of limbo between evil self and goodly goody whitelighter that somehow required an anti-orbing spell to disentangle the confusion. The Identity Spell only stole the Charmed Ones' identities. It did not make them evil!
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Post by vandergraafk on Dec 12, 2006 13:14:55 GMT -5
More comments from whitelightertony:
When he points the gun at her, she dashes out of harm's way. When semi-somersaulting down the driveway as Darryl dashes out onto the driveway and then takes what seems like an inordinate amount of time to aim his pistol and squeeze the trigger, Paige calls plaintively for Leo. Her fright, if you will, never escalates to the point where her orbing instinct kicks in.
Which leads me to believe that her orbing power was dormant. If someone points a gun at me, my heart is going to jump. That alone should have been enough to trigger a stationary orbing reaction in Paige . . . ASSUMING that her ability to orb was actually active (which I don’t believe it was).
Quote:In short, the Stillman sisters never should have been able to touch the book, let alone peruse its pages, access its spells and marvel at the two-bit entry describing the Stillman sisters as petty grifters.
The point is that the Stillman sisters transferred the Charmed Ones’ “good” energy to themselves, sort of cloaking themselves in it the way Bacarra did in “A Witch in Time.” They were able to touch and access the book because they tricked it. When the magical swap was made, the Charmed Ones had the Stillmans’ “evil” energy involuntarily transferred onto them, which is why The Book of Shadows repelled them.
Quote:Finally, I must vehemently disagree with your analysis of the effect of the Identity Spell. There is no indication at all that the spell made the sisters evil. And, no, Paige was not caught in some sort of limbo between evil self and goodly goody whitelighter that somehow required an anti-orbing spell to disentangle the confusion. The Identity Spell only stole the Charmed Ones' identities. It did not make them evil!
That’s not what I was trying to say. Of course the Identity Swapping Spell didn’t “turn” the Halliwells evil. They clearly still knew who they were, as did we, the viewers.
The spell did, however, cause the rest of the universe to sense them as either non-Halliwells or “evil.” So, before the Stillmans cast the anti-orbing spell on Paige, to all magical creatures under the impression that the Charmed Ones were “evil,” Paige would have appeared to be an “evil” creature who simultaneously possessed whitelighter abilities, which would appear on its face to be something of a paradox. Of course, at face-value, the Halliwells and the Stillmans could all pass for mere mortals when interacting non-magically with “the mortal world.” But if Chris was initially fooled into thinking that his own mother and aunts were different people, any other magical creature who could sense evil would have mistaken the Charmed Ones for evil beings during that episode.
My reply was as follows:
You are reading way, way too much into the Identity Spell. Even if I accept your energy transfer hypothesis, how would this allow the Stillman sisters to gain access to the complete Book of Shadows. After all, future Baccara brought back knowledge with him that allowed present Baccara to touch the book ONLY by mixing Halliwell blood with a secret potion. The Stillmans neither knew of the secret recipe nor were they able to steal any Halliwell blood. I simply cannot accept your huge leap of belief.
I am really, really leery of using the word "evil" - even in quotation marks - when discussing identity theft. Okay, so the Charmed Ones don't turn evil. But, then why even good suggest energy transfer to fix a problem that the writers simply screwed up? And, if "good" energy was transferred from the Charmed Ones, was "bad" energy transferred away from the Stillman sisters? So does that make the Charmed Ones appear "evil"? But, where, exactly where in the episode is there even the slightest hint that the Charmed Ones have caught a "bad" energy bug that made them appear "evil"?
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Post by vandergraafk on Aug 28, 2007 11:39:51 GMT -5
After a comment by Ms. Foxfire that was broached in the Charmed Cafe and rendered briefly here, vandergraafk engaged in this lengthy response: "Now, I'll take a look at Paige. I always thought her powers were teleportation. I thought "orbing" was just a fancy term for it because it was done whitelighter style. I never realized her abilities actually were telekinetic.." Ms. Foxfire went on to note: "I still don't understand why the writers would go to such extent as to give Paige all these cool powers and then give Piper the power to vanquish a demon without spells." I must contest the assertion that Paige was given "all of these cool powers". I have been wrestling with the notion of Paige's powers for a while, ever since I broached the ostensible error in A Witch in Time where Paige is stripped of all her powers by a witch disempowering spell. As you probably are aware, I have really tried hard to separate Paige's whitelighter and witchy powers. It's not easy, but can be done. What I find, however, is that Paige, although blessed with the third sister's ability to move things with her mind, actually made little use of her witchy powers and relied more and more upon her whitelighter abilities. It is no accident that she is referred to as the "cosmic taxi". I suppose now - after the events of Payback's a Witch - she's become the in-house healer. In sum, Paige has the power of telekinesis. Theoretically, she should also acquire the ability to astral project. She does, but only because the script called for it in Something Wiccan. And, all three sisters used this ability. Nevertheless, here is my detailed listing of Paige's abilities: whitelighter and witchy. WHITELIGHTER POWERS 1) The ability to orb an objection from one location to another location. {Charmed Again Part 2] 2) The ability to orb herself from one location to another location. [The Three Faces of Phoebe] 3) The ability to orb others from one location to another. [The Three Faces of Phoebe] 4) The ability to sense a blood-relative. [Sam I Am] 5) The ability to sense a charge. [Freaky Phoebe] 6) The ability to boost another whitelighter's healing power. {Charmed Again Part 2 and Charmed and Dangerous] 7) The ability to heal an innocent from demonic attack. [Payback's a Witch] WITCH POWERS 1) The ability to impart momentum to an object being orbed. [Charmed Again Part 2] 2) The ability to deflect incoming objects. 3) The ability to redirect an object and impart momentum in the opposite direction. (anytime she redirected an energy ball) 4) The ability to astral project [Something Wiccan] 5) The ability to throw an object while astrally projected. [Something Wiccan] COMMENTARY That's it. This list clearly demonstrates the preponderance of whitelighter powers. However, some commentary is required. Paige's ability to throw a book, for example, while astrally projected pales in comparison to Prue's alter ego which was able to engage in martial arts [Ms. Hellfire] while astrally projected. Given time, Paige might have developed this ability. Piper and Phoebe might learn to walk and talk while astrally projected [Something Wiccan (Piper) and Sympathy for the Demon (Phoebe)], but neither should be able to impart momentum to objects while astrally projected. That ability should remain a telekinetic or psychokinetic ability. Paige rarely attempts to astral project with good reason. As astral projection requires the witch to remain motionless and extremely vulnerable while astrally projected, it remains in all respects inferior to orbing. Why astrally project when Paige can simply orb from one spot to another. The only downside is the necessity to orb through the astral plane. Things can go wrong as the event of Centennial Charmed demonstrated. Finally, it should be noted that Paige is part pacifist, as are all whitelighters. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Paige is oftentimes the most reluctant witch to engage in combat. She may wish to have the physical prowess of Phoebe (Enter the Demon) or to blow up things like Piper, but she will prefer to remain in the background most times unless she risks her life to protect others [Charmed and Dangerous/Soul Survivor]]. |
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Post by vandergraafk on Aug 29, 2007 14:32:50 GMT -5
Ms. Foxfire, writing in the Charmed Cafe, noted that my initial observation that Prue had never managed to reverse the momentum of an incoming object was not true. In Ms. Hellfire, Prue indeed slowed down, halted and reverse the momentum of incoming bullets much to the chagrin of the would-be assassin, victim of her own lethal spray of fire.
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Post by vandergraafk on Oct 16, 2007 19:31:44 GMT -5
A quite different line of reasoning opened up in the Charmed Cafe concerning a hypothetical. Suppose Prue had not been the one to die at the end of All Hell Breaks Loose. Or, suppose Phoebe had turned evil and the only way to reconstitute the Charmed Ones was to recruit half-sister Paige? Paige, then, cannot have fixed powers from the womb. Whatever her witchy powers are are dependent on how fate evolves. Should Prue die, she will inherit the telekinetic power. Should Piper die, she should have the ability to accelerate/decelerate particles. Should Phoebe die, she should already know that she will have a precognitive ability.
First, Ms. Foxfire gets us started by reminding us what was said in Charmed Again Part II:
"Because they said in "Charmed Again" that the third power was telekinesis and therefore Paige would have that ability. Remember, the original Power of Three "prophecy" is that the Charmed Ones would each receive one of the powers of Melinda Warren (freezing, premonition and telekinesis). If Phoebe died, why would Paige get TK? Would the three powers be telekinesis, freezing... and orbikinesis."
Overlooking the obvious non-sequitor "orbikinesis", I must note that this posting was in response to drewsgal who had negatively commented on a previous posting by Ms. Foxfire. So, let's see Ms. Foxfire's original posting, as well as the disagreement put forth by drewsgal:
Ms. Foxfire noted that:
"But Paige got her magical abilities because Prue was dead. They had to reconstitute the Charmed Ones. If Phoebe had died, Paige would get premonitions. So that clearly goes to show that the death of a sister causing a power shift. So why wouldn't the rebirth of a sister cause another one?
After all, the power of telekinesis is rightfully Prue's and I think she'd get it and leave Paige with nothing. I mean, if they hadn't set up the idea of each sister having one power and then the death of a sister (or any witch for that matter) results in a loss of power."
In retort, drewsgal wondered:
"Where does it say that Paige would get premonitions if Phoebe died?
Not really, they are both totally different powers. Both TK but different kinds. Therefore it wouldn't make a different if Prue returned with her TK type, leaving Paige with that crappy Orbing TK."
Here, then, is my commentary from the Charmed Cafe in response to causal commentary regarding Paige's powers:
"Well, this brings up an interesting question. How is it that Paige, unaware of her siblings and uncertain that she would ever become a "Charmed One", be assigned any powers in advance? Suppose Piper had died, would Paige then have received the power to accelerate/decelerate particles? Had Phoebe died, would Paige have received precognitive powers? Indeed, the only powers she would have, would be whitelighter powers. Thus, it is entirely understandable that Paige would have the ability to orb from Sam's genetic endowment. And, we do know that Paige had this ability (A Paige from the Past). Still, we cannot say for certain what other witchy powers actually would be or are at any time before her ascension to Charmed status.
In a way, this is reminiscent of Schroedinger's cat. For those of you not familar with quantum mechanics, Schroedinger's cat is placed inside a box. Whether it is alive or dead cannot be known in advance. Opening the box decides the cat's fate. Under one set of circumstances, the cat lives. Under another, it is dead.
Paige's powers, then, cannot be foreordained - or known in advance. She is born and awaits power assignment. If all the Charmed Ones survive, she never receives a power. If one dies, she receives that power in order to reconstitute the power of three.
Yet, none of this was true of the original P3. When born, the children had a power from the beginning. Thus, little Prue had a well-developed telekinetic ability by the time of the events in That 70s Episode. So, too, did little Piper. Indeed, both Prue and Piper marveled at their younger selves. We know additionally that Phoebe will have precognitive abilities from the womb. But, for Paige we cannot know this.
This seems strange, perhaps as strange as quantum mechanics seemed to Einstein who never ever could accept the "action at a distance" that the thought experiment involving Schroedinger's cat invariably entails. (Imagine a box with dimensions several light years in length, width and height. Imagine, too, an equally large cat inside this box. For the mere opening of the box to consitute the assignation of value would require action across vast distances and violate the speed of light.)
So, how does Paige "know" which sister has died and what powers she will receive? Piper and Phoebe will suspect that she will receive the power to move things with her mind because of the prophecy. But, this is merely an educated guess, one that cannot explain exactly how Paige's vessel (her body) knows to receive these powers? Are they transmitted through the air as happened in Ordinary Witches? Is there a genetic marker that senses which power is to be activated? Does Paige actually have the ability to possess all three powers, though not each simultaneously?"
Nothing like Einstein, Schroedinger and Quantum Mechanics to impinge upon Charmedverse!
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Post by Reality Bites on Nov 9, 2007 12:06:56 GMT -5
Here's a thought.
Noticing (an) ongoing debate of whether Paige was a teleporter or telekinetic, it would have been interesting for the writers to strip Paige of her whitelighter powers temporarily in order to resolve the issue once and for all. In the past Paige has been robbed of her witch powers and left with only her whitelighter powers (season 6's "The Power of Three Blondes"). Why not the reverse?
Perhaps during any of the times when Paige struggled with her identity as a whitelighter she could have been temporarily stripped of those powers associated with her whitelighter half and left with only her witch power to "move things with her mind" (the end result probably being Paige's realization that she cannot live with just acknowledging only half of who she really is). Maybe then we would have discovered one or two things about Paige's witch power; a) she really is a teleporter and still transports objects via some form of Point A to Point B instantaneous method of travel sans the orbs or b) she exhibits her power in the same fashion as her oldest sister Prue during the first three seasons of Charmed.
Now that Charmed is over a Paige without her whitelighter powers, and whatever sole witch power she would have possessed, is mere speculation. But maybe there is some hint of evidence in any of the season 4+ episodes that may support an argument for supporting either option a or b. All one would have to do is look for it!
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Post by vandergraafk on Nov 13, 2007 19:57:32 GMT -5
To answer your challenge, let me redefine the terms of the issue. If Paige merely moves an object from a to b via orbs, then she will be unable to impart momentum to any object being moved. Prue's telekinetic power allowed her to impart momentum (send a resting object flying) and redirect a moving object away from its intended path. Prue was also able to combine both talents. That is, she was able to both re-direct an object and impart additional momentum to the object. Leo never does any of these things because he, as a whitelighter, does not have this ability. Paige, however, has demonstrated this ability. Thus, Paige has true telekinetic ability. Her whitelighter side, however, does affect the mode via which the ability is demonstrated. Whereas Prue is able to "wish" the coffee creamer to her, a feat that is accomplished as we see the creamer slide along the bar, Paige dematerializes an object, say, the candle in Charmed Again Part 2, via orbing and causes it to move through space.
Teleportation is a concept in need of definition. What we saw in Star Trek may have been called teleportation, but maybe that's not what it was or is. Teleportation, strictly speaking, might involve the moving of an object across space by the dematerialization of the object and reconstruction of the object elsewhere. Does this mean that the original object is dematerialized or that a copy is made of the original object the copy which is then sent through space (much like a fax copy)? In Charmed, the latter type of teleportation is called astral projection. Both Prue and Paige learn to do this. But, so then does everyone else apparently: Ms. Donovan, Duncan, Piper, Phoebe, and even the Magic School head custodian! The former type is called orbing and Paige, not Prue, is able to demonstrate this ability.
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Post by vandergraafk on Nov 21, 2007 17:14:18 GMT -5
Obviously, there is still a lot more to be said on this topic. In response to a posting by whitelightertony in the Charmed Cafe, vandergraafk offered this analysis: "Whitelightertony, I have no idea what transkinesis means, but it may not be the same as teleportation or even telekinetic orbing, whatever that means. Please answer a simple question when you decide which term to employ and see if that terms fits the action you wish to describe. Though the question can be phrased in various ways, the answers point to a clear choice: telekinesis or teleportation. Version 1 of the Question: Is the object moving across space or through space? Version 2 of the Question: Did the object experience a change in momentum whilst its position is changed? If the answer to the first question is "through space" or the second question is "yes", then we are talking about telekinesis. If the answer to the first question is "across space" or the second question is "no", then we are talking about teleportation. Explanation follows: TELEKINESIS: THE MOVEMENT OF AN OBJECT THROUGH SPACE BY IMPARTING MOMENTUM TO AN OBJECT AT REST OR CHANGING THE MOMENTUM OR DIRECTION OR BOTH OF A MOVING OBJECT. This can be accomplished by a flick of the arm (Cole in Sam I Am; Prue with the Grimlocks and, of course, in All Hell Breaks Loose), by a blink of the eye (Prue in many, many episodes) or by thought (Prue in Something Wiccan when she causes Roger's tie to strangle him). The latter is also given the name psychokinesis in order to describe Max Franklin's powers in Secrets and Guys. But clearly Prue has this ability already. Or, it can be accomplished by using orbs to actually move the object through space. When Paige re-directs an incoming object or causes an iron bar to be flung at attacking demons (in The Seven Year Witch), she is demonstrating that her orbing ability can be consistent with telekinesis. Implied in the imparting of momentum or a change in direction of a moving object or its momentum whilst moving is a change in velocity. In order to accomplish any of this work must be done. That is, kinetic energy must be transferred from the initiator to the object whose momentum is being altered. That's why "kinetic" is part of the description of this power. TELEPORTATION: THE MOVEMENT OF AN OBJECT ACROSS SPACE WITHOUT NECESSARILY CROSSING THROUGH THE ENTIRE SPACE INBETWEEN POSITION A (WHERE AN OBJECT WAS) AND POSITION B (WHERE AN OBJECT IS). My fax copy idea is only partially acceptable (to me) since there is something which does move across space, an electronic coding that is reproduced at the other end. The original remains at one position, a copy is generated at another. Yet, in Star Trek, where teleportation gots its cinematic debut, the idea arises that teleportation can occur without the necessary reproduction of a carbon copy. That is, one could somehow dematerialize matter and send this through space, but not across every bit of intervening space, and reconstitute the original matter at a distant location. This is what happens in Charmed, too. Yet, in Charmed, one gets the impression especially from Centennial Charmed, that when orbing occurs, it takes place through other planes of existence and not simply through the immediate geometric space. Clearly, Paige exhibits this power, too. Now, in this case, Paige does not give a resting object any momentum when she causes it to move from one stationary location to another. Hence, there is no need for her to work in a traditional way. Of course, for there to be equilibrium in the system, some amount of energy will have transferred from Paige to the movement across space - or planes of existence - without the object receiving any change in momentum. Perhaps this is why Leo notes to Paige that orbing burns up a lot of calories in The Three Faces of Phoebe. There is no reason to call something telekinetic orbing unless you wish to contrast Paige's modus for moving an object telekinetically by imparting momentum and/or changing the direction of an object in motion. Nor does there seem any reason to call something transkinesis, not that I have any idea what that term might mean. Now, none of this will matter to those who could not care less about precision in definitions. I do since it does help clarify things. Clarity also allows us to understand why Piper's "freeze" in Run Piper Run to the district attorney in free fall from an apartment many stories high makes absolutely no sense. At that rate of acceleration, we should have seen the attorney slow down rather than coming to a complete standstill instanteously. P.S. This is yet another reason why I reject the notion that Baccara stripped Paige of her whitelighter (teleportation) powers in A Witch in Time. Future Baccara already had the ability to teleport objects when he called for the athame containing a drip of Piper's blood to come to present Baccara. Remember he used the words teleportare! Clearly, witches or warlocks in the future can acquire a power of teleportation. Hence, it could be stripped in a spell. Paige's power of teleportation does not reside in her nature as a witch. It is part of her whitelighter inheritance and should not be removable when stripping a witch's powers." |
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