Post by vandergraafk on Dec 5, 2006 18:37:49 GMT -5
There may well have been internal and external reasons for the revelation that Magic School existed. From the outside, we can speculate that the popularity of the Harry Potter series and its depiction of a magical school had something to do with its appearance in Charmed. Whether an homage or a blatant rip-off really doesn't matter. Magic School became an oftentimes integral part of Charmedverse.
For reasons purely emanating from the development of Charmed, some solution had to be found to protect Wyatt, a magical child with exorbitant powers, from the various demons determined to corrupt this child, steal this child away, or simply turn this child evil. Why not create a magical place, one protected from demonic intervention, where not only would Wyatt be safe from demon attack, but also he would be schooled in the finer points of magic? That many other magical children found their way to this school - while others, notably ones whom the Charmed Ones encountered prior to the advent of Magic School, did not - is a side issue and underscores the difficulty of maintaining continuity in a TV serial that is subject to the pressures of the marketplace. What becomes troublesome for Charmedverse is what one makes out of Magic School once it has been called into existence. Therein hangs the problem.
During Season 6 and especially during Season 7, Magic School was depicted as a place where magic could be taught. Not only were magical children learning to control and respect their own powers, but they also appeared to be able to learn other powers. Worse: supplementary characters such as the librarian Miss Donovan were shown learning how to astral project. At its very essence, the teaching of powers seemed to undermine the special status that the Charmed Ones enjoyed. If powers can be taught, why await the birth of three magical witches, sisters by birth, who would be the most powerful witches of all time? On the surface, then, the usage of Magic School in Charmed as a place where magic could be taught seems contradictory to the premise of the show itself.
During Season 8, with the demise of Magic School and its temporary takeover by transient demons and the spiritualized TRIAD, the threat posed by the teaching of powers seemed to fade into memory. However, in Forever Charmed, when Leo is shown teaching a class on teleportation, the seeming contradiction reared its ugly head again. Matthew, apparently a magical being attending Magic School, volunteers to orb a book from one place to himself. Are powers being taught again?
Clearly, it seemed so. In fact, powers probably are being taught to any magical being of a given capacity who happens to be attending Magic School regardless of whether those powers are related to the child's underlying magical power.
Initially, Matthew seemed like a classic example of this. However, the recent publication of The Power of Three Volume 2 has explained this incident at least. Matthew is the first grandson of Leo and Piper, we are told. He is presumably the son of Wyatt and his unknown wife. Although he could also be the first child of Chris and Bianca, a couple, whom we also learn, make the leap into matrimony. Thus, Matthew, whether the son of Chris or Wyatt, is half-whitelighter. His telekinesis will manifest itself as teleportation. So, this incident can be considered resolved. But not the cases of the other students in that very same classroom.
For reasons purely emanating from the development of Charmed, some solution had to be found to protect Wyatt, a magical child with exorbitant powers, from the various demons determined to corrupt this child, steal this child away, or simply turn this child evil. Why not create a magical place, one protected from demonic intervention, where not only would Wyatt be safe from demon attack, but also he would be schooled in the finer points of magic? That many other magical children found their way to this school - while others, notably ones whom the Charmed Ones encountered prior to the advent of Magic School, did not - is a side issue and underscores the difficulty of maintaining continuity in a TV serial that is subject to the pressures of the marketplace. What becomes troublesome for Charmedverse is what one makes out of Magic School once it has been called into existence. Therein hangs the problem.
During Season 6 and especially during Season 7, Magic School was depicted as a place where magic could be taught. Not only were magical children learning to control and respect their own powers, but they also appeared to be able to learn other powers. Worse: supplementary characters such as the librarian Miss Donovan were shown learning how to astral project. At its very essence, the teaching of powers seemed to undermine the special status that the Charmed Ones enjoyed. If powers can be taught, why await the birth of three magical witches, sisters by birth, who would be the most powerful witches of all time? On the surface, then, the usage of Magic School in Charmed as a place where magic could be taught seems contradictory to the premise of the show itself.
During Season 8, with the demise of Magic School and its temporary takeover by transient demons and the spiritualized TRIAD, the threat posed by the teaching of powers seemed to fade into memory. However, in Forever Charmed, when Leo is shown teaching a class on teleportation, the seeming contradiction reared its ugly head again. Matthew, apparently a magical being attending Magic School, volunteers to orb a book from one place to himself. Are powers being taught again?
Clearly, it seemed so. In fact, powers probably are being taught to any magical being of a given capacity who happens to be attending Magic School regardless of whether those powers are related to the child's underlying magical power.
Initially, Matthew seemed like a classic example of this. However, the recent publication of The Power of Three Volume 2 has explained this incident at least. Matthew is the first grandson of Leo and Piper, we are told. He is presumably the son of Wyatt and his unknown wife. Although he could also be the first child of Chris and Bianca, a couple, whom we also learn, make the leap into matrimony. Thus, Matthew, whether the son of Chris or Wyatt, is half-whitelighter. His telekinesis will manifest itself as teleportation. So, this incident can be considered resolved. But not the cases of the other students in that very same classroom.