THE NEXUS: NOW YOU SEE IT; NOW YOU WON'T

[Scott]

Not since Season 5's "The Importance of Being Phoebe" does mention of the NEXUS return to Charmed. Introduced during Season 1's "Is There a Woogy in the House" when Phoebe, the only Charmed One to have been born in the manor, takes in the spiritual Nexus, the Nexus remained in limbo until Cole tried to take in the Nexus in order to determine whether the sisters could vanquish him this way. They could not, as Cole was kicked out of the Nexus. In Season 7, Zankou goes after the Nexus not once but twice. In "Scry Hard", (Episode 151), Zankou takes aim at the Nexus in order to acquire its fantastic power and to deny its use by the sisters (though they never use it, but merely prevent its acquisition by the Underworld). Then, in Season 7 "Something Wicca This Way Goes", Zankou makes his final, fatal assault on the Nexus. The sisters use the Suxen spell to destroy the Nexus and Zankou.

[Scott]

A debate ensued with respect to the logic of Zankou's actions. Some viewed Zankou as having acted precipitously and perhaps even stupidly. Vandergraafk took the following position:

But, that's the fatal flaw in all demons. True, Zankou had a truly great idea. He had pushed the sisters to the point where Paige was resigned to her imminent demise. But, Zankou allowed his buttons to be pushed and lost sight of the main goal. His advisor recognized this, but being the demon he was - arrogrant and all that - he ignored wise counsel and pursued his obsession with the sisters at the expense of winning control of the Nexus. He's a demon, whaddya expect?

Besides, why should Zankou have viewed the Charmed Ones as a threat? He had taken their powers. Unfortunately, he did not know about the SUXEN spell. Yes, the Charmed Ones had been stripped of their active powers, but they still had the power of 3 and their ability to incant. The grand flaw in Zankou's design!

A critic shot back:

Except that if he had stuck with his own instinct of focusing on taking all the CO's powers and killing them before trying to take in the Nexus, then he probably would have won. His advisor told him to ignore the Charmed Ones and keep taking in the Nexus. Zankou did the right thing by ignoring his advisor until the fairy of contrived endings showed up...

Of course he couldn't know about the Suxen spell, but he knew dam well about the "I am light I am one too strong to fight" aka the Woogy B Gone spell that the Charmed Ones already used just hours earlier to knock the nexus out of him, so honestly what is the point of that? Paige still had her powers and they had the BoS and he decides to take in the nexus when the Charmed Ones are standing right there with the book.... How could anyone be so stupid as to think that could end well if best case scenario is they chant it out of him before he can so much as move to attack them leaving him vulnerable for a few seconds? Just awful, awful character assassination.

To which vandergraafk replied:

Well, I just had to rewatch "Something Wicca" after this discussion. Yes, Zankou allows the witches to be present when he takes in the Nexus for the second time. And, yes, that may seem reckless. However, Zankou already has two of their powers. Paige's power will not really be useful. What's she going to do, throw a stake at him, a stake that Zankou can easily deflect. Second, Zankou has already seen the astrally projected images of the Charmed Ones. Baffled at first, he must surely have understood what happened. Perhaps he recognized that these were only astrally projected entities, not the real witches. How could they be a threat to him? After all, in Magic School they could merely run from him or throw objects at him (Paige's book toss). What does in Zankou is hubris, not stupidity.

[Scott]

The debate continued:

Except that Zankou DOES see the Charmed Ones as a threat


Quote:ZANKOU: You don't know them like I do. You can't take them head-on. It
doesn't work. That's how demons die ... but not this demon, not this time.



Fine that's before he has Piper & Phoebe's powers, though Piper's combustion couldn't kill him, and it's not like shewould even think to try and freeze him when she couldn't even think to freeze a crazy guy with a gun and a potion that would kill her husband...

And I repeat he already knew the Charmed Ones could pull the nexus/woogy/shadow right out of him with a spell (and he seemed to be in pain when it happened), so why does he take it in when all three are still conscious and right there. Why does he gloat that he has taken in the power and is now unstoppable as they chant (and the spell doesn't even seem to effect him till about the third line)... It is absolutely incredibly stupid!

And continued:

In SWTWG the scene right after it comes back from the commercials after the credits, Zankou immediately takes in the Shadow only to have it yanked right out of him as he correctly guesses that the Charmed Ones cast it out of him with a spell.

I had actually forgotten about Scry Hard and the events regarding the Shadow in it. With the Shadow first killing some demons, and then retreating on its own because "Good must still be present in the manor". And then the second time for the Shadow to first head towards Zankou AND THEN towards the Charmed Ones (before winding up in Leo.) More proof that Zankou summoning the Shadow with the Charmed Ones standing there with their book was a just plain stupid idea...

Vandergraafk thought that perhaps the critic had confused "Scry Hard" and "Something Wicca":

I think we got our signals crossed. You are obviously referring to the first time Zankou went after the Nexus. Of course, neither he nor the sisters were aware of the Suxen spell. And, it is a bit odd that Zankou, learning to his dismay that he could not absorb the shadow the first time, concluded (correctly) that one of the sisters (Piper) must still be in the manor. Then, he enlists their help to harness the Nexus as the price for releasing Piper. It is a bit of a puzzler. I'll have to watch it again. (This is Episode 151 "Scry Hard", not Episode 156 "Something Wicca".)

Or, maybe not:

In SWTWG the scene right after it comes back from the commercials after the credits, Zankou immediately takes in the Shadow only to have it yanked right out of him as he correctly guesses that the Charmed Ones cast it out of him with a spell.

I had actually forgotten about Scry Hard and the events regarding the Shadow in it. With the Shadow first killing some demons, and then retreating on its own because "Good must still be present in the manor". And then the second time for the Shadow to first head towards Zankou AND THEN towards the Charmed Ones (before winding up in Leo.) More proof that Zankou summoning the Shadow with the Charmed Ones standing there with their book was a just plain stupid idea...

For the moment, the bottom line seems to be:

Yes, we definitely need to consider both Scry Hard and Something Wicca. It is a bit puzzling. Perhaps Zankou did not understand why the Shadow had entered Leo. He believes in SWTWG that since the Shadow has been inside him, it knows him. And, since Leo is not around, it won't look for Leo. But, then, it had been inside Phoebe (a long, long time ago), why not remember her?

[Scott]

It should also be noted that during Season 6 mention was made of the NEXUS during the episode "Witchstock". The green slime demon that has engulfed the manor interrupts its attack on Chris, Leo and Grams to feed off of the NEXUS. No mention is made as to how this is done. Perhaps the slime could simply ooze beneath the concrete. In every other episode, either an earthquate (Season 1) or digging up the concrete floor (Zankou and Cole) was required to access the NEXUS!

[vandergraafk]

Xenith, in the Charmedones.com forum, described the ever changing NEXUS by examining each of the episodes in which it appears:

Is there a Woogy - Lights begin appearing as soon as Phoebe says the first line. The more she reads the more lights that engulf the shadow until it is chased back into the floor. The floor reseals itself.

Importance - No lights. Wind comes out of the hole and sucks in Cole, the Shadow, and then the rest of the demons in the house including those upstairs. The floor seals itself.

Scry Hard - No lights, no wind. The shadow simply leaves Leo's whole body as a large wispy smoke and heads back to the hole. (I can't recall if floor seals.) Not to mention the fact that 2 lines were omitted from the spell.

SWTWG - No lights, no wind. Zankou doubles over in pain, the shadow is pulled out of Zankou in a tight stream from his face only. The shadow returns to the ground without taking any of the other numerous demons in the house with it. I don't think the ground seals.

[Scott]

To which Xenith added:

I also vaguely recall Past Hippie Grams mentioning wanting to tap into the nexus to do ... something?

Seriously nothing about the nexus or theories about it has ever really made a lick of sense from it making the Charmed Ones stronger (they also didn't seem to be weakened when it was gone), to making people more susceptible to evil, to being able to destroy it?

(Seriously unless the spell destroyed or moved the bay, hotsprings, park, twin peaks, or gold mine then the house is still sitting equidistant from the 5 spiritual elements in the middle of the pentagram , so shouldn't the most that should be possible is temporarily dispersing the built up spiritual energy...)

Not to mention how in the world did the poor woogyman even become nothing more than a power source with no will of its own? And was it actually a demon that happened to tap into the nexus or just the nexus's power taking on its own form ala the demonic residue in house call? (Should I even mention how confusing it is for Abraxas to have revived it when technically it shouldn't have been dead?)

[Scott]

And vandergraafk concluded:

All good questions, I might add! Their resolution is related to and perhaps inextricably tied to a convincing explanation regarding the overall nature of the Charmed Ones' abilities: their Warren lineage, as evidenced by the tutelage provided by Grams, their manor sitting astride a spiritual nexus equidistant from 5 spiritual elements, powers endowed to them by the Elders, the magic emanating from or associated with Magic School, or simply the Charmed legacy. At one time or another, any and all of these sources have been called upon to explain the unique status of the Charmed Ones. But, how they all related is anyone's guess.

[Scott]

In "Is There a Woogy in the House", Professional Whittlesea states that the manor was a major point of interest because it lies at a spiritual nexus. Later, Josh, her graduate student, explained that the spiritual nexus is a sort of battleground for good and evil. In the wrong hands, it could be the source of undeniable evil; in good hands, the source of undeniable good.

Ancestors of the Charmed Ones acquired the site after the house previously occupying the land was destroyed in the earthquake of 1906. Since then, the spot where the spiritual nexus is located has been guarded by the Warren witches. Indeed, the Charmed Ones suspect that control over this location was the prime reason for building the manor on this spot.

With the knowledge gleaned from Josh, the Charmed Ones sans Phoebe who is now possessed by the shadow and is no longer a witch, set out to learn more. Equidistant from the five basal elements - earth, water, fire, wood and metal -- the manor, they discover, is at the center of a pentagram. No wonder the underworld and the Charmed Ones will battle over this spot throughout the seasons. In "The Importance of Being Phoebe", Cole acquires the deed to the house and orders his minions to dig up the basement to free the shadow. Zankou later has his minions search for the nexus in Season 7's "Scry Hard" and "Something Wiccan That Way Goes". Though the underworld comes close, it never ever gains undisputed control of the Nexus. As a last ditch manoevre, the Charmed Ones are forced to destroy the Nexus by invoking the Suxen spell in order to stop Zankou from achieving full demonic control.

[vandergraafk]

This dialogue occurred much earlier. I am now less than satisfied with the discussion. If the NEXUS is neither good nor evil, then the Shadow demon cannot be one and the same with the NEXUS. What prevents the Shadow demon from materializing in these later episodes? Is this but another example of a concept that was broached in Season 1, but altered later without any attempt ever being made to explain the inconsistency?

However, careful attention should be paid to Xenith's last comment. It captures the exact frustration that I am now experiencing.

[elder]

Sorry if this is in the wrong spot, but...
You guys and girls are talking about the nexus as if it's that misty shadow type thingy.
I always thought the Nexus was just the center of power and the shadow was something totally seperate.
If the Nexus is neither good nor evil (as stated by Zankou), then the shadow couldn't be the nexus since it was represented as evil in nature.

Anyway, the whole idea of eliminating the Nexus using the "banish the Suxen" spell is absurd since the only way to get rid of the nexus was to move the home somewhere else (and even then you're not getting rid of the nexus, you're just moving the home but the spot is still there as being equidistant from the five elements...and that's the nexus).

[vandergraafk]

Elder, I think your point about how to banish the SUXEN spell is quite well taken. Indeed, short of removing not the Manor, but one or more of the five spiritual elements, the spiritual NEXUS will remain where it is. Now, perhaps the SUXEN spell really deals with the Shadow thingy.

I hope my attempt to differentiate between the Shadow (demon) and the NEXUS made sense. And, again: you are correct. The NEXUS and the Shadow demon are not the same. That's why I supposed the existence of a Shadow witch, an entity locked in eternal struggle for control of the NEXUS.

As these entities carry out their struggle below the earth's surface, they each seek ways to influence control over the NEXUS above the surface. Since Evil apparently understands the NEXUS better than Good - those who have something in their possession do not always appreciate its full value - and Good is in control, both the Shadow demon and actual demons try to gain control over the NEXUS. Phoebe is most vulnerable to this struggle since she was born in the Manor. Her essence depends in part on who controls the NEXUS.

[elder]

vandergraafk said:

, short of removing not the Manor, but one or more of the five spiritual elements, the spiritual NEXUS will remain where it is.

Let's get ready for the ultimate question of absurdity...(drum roll, please) ;D

We have mentioned that earth, fire, metal, water, and wood are the elements used in the show as the spiritual powerhouses.
Now, if that is indeed true, then is it possible to have one of these sronger than the other due to more of it available?
What happens if I go to the San Francisco Bay and grab a bucket of water? Does the water element lose some of it's kick? What if I go to that forest and cut down a tree? Does the wood element slide down a bit?

Seems to me like every place on this planet is equidistant from earth since earth is found all over the place on this planet!
Yet things like wood...The whole planet is not made up of trees, so does that mean trees are stronger--to offset the more abundant earth--or what?


(I challenge anybody to devise a more absurd--but legitimate--question than that!)

[vandergraafk]

Well, Elder, I guess two comments are in order. First, I have no answer to your question regarding the relative strengths of each of the five elements of the "Chinese" version of the spiritual NEXUS. The second comment is more pertinent in that three of the five elements cited as pentagonal points in San Francisco with the Manor in the center, are, in a word, wrong. Kenwood Park and Potrero Hot Springs, two of the elements, don't even exist. The third Twin Peaks, the alleged highest point, exists, but is not the highest point in San Francisco. That honor belongs to Mount Davidson. Now, do we even wish to mention that the Manor cannot even be found in San Francisco, but is located in Echo Park? Oh well!