WHY THE CHARMED ONES?

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Why should there arrive just before the end of the second millenium three sisters who would become the most powerful witches of all time? Were they needed to combat a strong uptick in Evil? Was there a growing threat that could only be fought back with three extremely powerful witches?

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In the series opener, we are introduced to three sisters, who collectively comprise the Power of Three. They are the most powerful witches of all time. Their coming has been heralded for centuries. Now, with the return of Phoebe to the manor, the Halliwell sisters can finally embrace the legacy that they were bound to inherit. But why?

The answer to this question is neither obvious nor apparent. One possible answer is that the world stood in time of great need. Lest these prophesied witches come forth, the world would succumb to a powerful demonic onslaught. Nowhere, however, do we have any evidence that such is the case. The demons and warlocks we first encounter are all rather tame. Jeremy, a pedestrian warlock by all appearances, has been killing a few witches of late in order to move up the demonic food chain. The prospect of acquiring Charmed powers causes him to pursue Piper romantically in order to catch her unaware of his true purpose. This almost succeeds; but like nearly every warlock and demon he underestminates the Charmed Ones.

Rex and Hannah, too, are by no means scary creatures. True, they've assumed the identities of recently decesased individuals in order to take over a struggling auction house. But, they are not about to unleash great terror upon the world, not even when they conjure Matthew Tate from the past. No, their only real purpose is to disarm and vanquish the Charmed Ones at the behest of the Source, a character with no virtually nothing about until much later.

Of course, there is another less obvious answer as to why the Charmed Ones, and it involves a bit of time travel and employs the well-tried notion of self-fulfilling prophecy. With the expansion of Europe into the New World, many Europeans brought along their own unique cultural practices. Indeed, many immigrants sought refuge in the New World in order to practice their beliiefs. The Puritans and Pilgrims were only a few among many. Witches, too, came along, one of whom was Charlotte, mother of Melinda Warren and the woman responsible for the flourishing of witchcraft in the New World. Indirectly, of course. Charlotte gave birth to Melinda who in turn gave birth to Prudence. We suspect that Charlotte did not enjoy a long life, given that she was attacked by dark forces during childbirth. She must have lived long enough, however, to teach her daughter that three powerful witches would arise one day, the most powerful witches of all time, who would go back through time and ensure the birth of Melinda, the survival of good witchcraft in the New World, and make possible the continuation of the Warren line of witches. Ironically, the Charmed Ones prophecy is the direct result of their own assistance as mid-wives in the creation of their own ancestral chain in the New World. That Melinda Warren ascribed the triple-sided nature of her own powers to each of the Charmed Ones was a flight of fancy perhaps, as none of the Charmed Ones demonstrated their non-existent powers in the past. Melinda could only suppose that these powers would be maintained and grow in strength over time so that one day her progreny could return and complete the time loop.

Yet, there is paradox here indeed. The Charmed Ones arrived as foretold and do indeed assist in the birth of Melinda Warren, as told in All Halliwell's Eve. Their presence, though, threatens to upset the careful balance between good and evil. Indeed, as Leo noted after their vanquish of the Source, the Charmed Ones had set back evil for decades. Good appeared to be winning.

Of course, the vanquish of the Source merely unleashed the effoets of even more demons to eliminate the Charmed Ones. Other demonic forces, such as the TRIAD, had always been suspicious of the Source's ability to deal with the Charmed Ones. As a result, they recruited Belthazor to destroy the witches directly. He failed and seemingly put an end to the threat posed by the TRIAD by killing its three most visible representations. But, as ever in Charmedverse, killing a demon is not the same as vanquishing one. Nor is a vanquish ever truly a vanquish. They come back! Indeed, all along the TRIAD have maintained a Plan B for the case where Belthazor fails and all other demons prove worthless in their ability to take out the Charmed Ones. This culminates in an Ultimate Battle where the TRIAD are eventually vanquished. But, for how loong?

Yes, the Charmed Ones do manage to tilt the balance between Good and Evil decisively in Good's favor. The bias will persist as long as the Charmed Ones live. Worse, from the standpoint of evil, their offspring will prove to be many and most powerful. Wyatt, alone, has the ability to destroy any demonic threat. Whether his own self-aggrandizement can be contained may depend on what happens to his parents, aunts and uncles. It may depend on the vigiliance of his own rival sibling: Chris. Or, it may depend on successful monitoring by the Elders or the Elders' bosses. Suffice it to say: the legacy of the Charmed Ones is a vastly different world, one where evil is everywhere on the run and held in tight check by the Charmed Ones. In this world, there is no need for an Avatar experiment in totalitarian mind-control. The Charmed Ones will pave the way for the triumph of Good. Ultimately, then, the Charmed Ones are the Messiah, one whose mission goes beyond protecting the Innocent to embrace a new world order, one where thoughtful, well-meaning individuals can live their lives free of interference from societal demons seeking to thwart their every move. It will not be utopia. There will still be challenges such as global warming, nasty neighbors and status-seeking social climbers. But the ability to solve such life-threatening issues is enhanced by the removal of demonic characters seeking to exploit tensions and problems for their own personal gain.

Marx's vision of a proletariat poised to take into its hands the revolutionarry project of social democracy is made possible by a select vanguard: the Charmed Ones and their progeny. There's no need to fear a Lenin, Stalin or Mao Tse-Tung. The Charmed Ones protect the innocent and avoid personal gain. If they do cross the line, well there's always the Elders to interfere or the Tribunal can clip their wings. Long live the Charmed Ones!