THE SHADOW DEMON

[vandergraafk]

Introduced in Season 1's Is There a Woogy in the House, the Shadow Man is released when an earthquake creates a crack in the basement floor concrete. A gas man is called because the sisters notice a strange smell emanating from the cellar. The gas man arrives and quickly concludes that it is not a gas leak. Nevertheless, he ventures into the cellar and becomes possessed by the Shadow demon.

After returning to the kitchen for the second time from the basement, the gas man, no longer possessed by the Shadow demon, but adversely affected nonetheless, attacks Piper who is desperately preparing a dinner party for Buckland's Auction House. Phoebe, who by now has become possessed by the Shadow demon, comes to Piper's rescue by conjuring a baseball bat to club the gas man on the head.

The Shadow demon's purpose in possessing Phoebe was not, of course, to rescue Piper or Prue. Rather, Phoebe was to be turned evil step by step. The first step was to eliminate the gas man. The next steps will culminate in the eviction of the remaining sisters from the Manor until ultimately Evil in the guise of Phoebe controls the Manor which safeguards the NEXUS.

Yet, the Shadow demon never returns to Charmedverse even when later demons - Cole and Zankou - attempted to take in the NEXUS. The Shadow demon was not vanquished, but only banished once again beneath the surface of the basement. At any other time, when the basement floor was breached, the Shadow demon should have been able to make an appearance, but never again did.

Thus, the question remains concerning the relationship between the Shadow demon and the NEXUS. There was never a vanquishing spell in the Book of Shadows. So, why didn't the Shadow demon remain a threat to the Charmed Ones.

[vandergraafk]

For the moment, let's consider a different approach. Suppose that the NEXUS and the Shadow Demon are part of the same essence. How then are we to explain why the Shadow Demon may sometimes emerge and at other times the neutral NEXUS can be summoned via spell? To answer this question, it may help to add another component to our discussion of the NEXUS, as well as to consider those presently controlling the Manor. What's missing when looking only at the Shadow Demon and the NEXUS is that there may very well be a third entity: a Shadow Witch, if you will. The Shadow Demon and the Shadow Witch may be locked in internal struggle. As long as the basement floor remains sealed, these two neutralize each other but remain in eternal struggle. The NEXUS, then, is nothing more than the tremendous power that each - the Shadow Demon and the Shadow Witch - possess. As long as they remain locked in eternal struggle, the NEXUS, the place where this struggle is carried out, will remain a neutral entity, but not a completely neutral entity.

Those who control the Manor play an important role in determining how this great power is harnessed. Though they need to directly access the NEXUS itself, the mere possession of the Manor confers power unto those in control. This power does not manifest itself in the usual demonic or witchlike forms. It is not a lightning bolt that can be thrown or an energy ball that can be released. It does not boost the ability to move objects. Rather, the power itself is spiritual in essence. In a way, it gives a confidence boost to those possessing the Manor.

For the Charmed Ones, this spiritual power manifests itself in the confidence that each of the sisters has when faced with great danger. Even when things look bad, they still fight on. In Charmed and Dangerous, after Piper lost her powers, she resolved to fight on using potions and spells to vanquish the Source. Perhaps the spiritual NEXUS played a small role in this.

Cole and Zankou both try to take in the NEXUS in order to gain the spiritual boost that possession of the NEXUS imbues. Their hope is that evil will spread throughout the city, the region and the world because of the self-assurance that possession of the NEXUS entails.

In neither case, however, does the Shadow Demon emerge. Why not? Simply put, there was no need for the Shadow Demon to emerge. Evil had possession of the Manor. The Shadow Demon only purpose in emerging is to alter possession of the Manor. The Shadow Witch did not emerge since the Charmed Ones were still able to contest possession of the Manor. Had they failed, the Shadow Witch would have tried to escape from the NEXUS in order to alter possession of the Manor.

Such an opportunity is only presented when the seal containing the NEXUS is breached. An earthquake cracking open the basement floor is one example of an opportunity for the entity in contrast to the possessors of the Manor to escape in order to turn possession of the Manor from one side to the other. As long as the sisters (GOOD) controlled the Manor, only the Shadow Demon would try to escape. Had Cole or Zankou (EVIL) succeeded in controlling the Manor, then at an appropriate moment, when the opportunity presented itself, a Shadow Witch would have emerged.

Now, it may be asserted that both Cole and Zankou had to take in the NEXUS in order to gain its spiritual confidence boost. True, but the sisters never fully understood the NEXUS in any event. Had they truly been aware of its great spiritual power and perhaps the truly awesome confidence boost taking in the NEXUS entails, then maybe they would have tried to take it in as well.

One reason the Charmed Ones never attempted this was because their encounter with the NEXUS was extremely negative. They had to deal with the Shadow Demon attempting to turn possession of the Manor via Phoebe from Good to Evil. For the Charmed sisters, the NEXUS was something not to be tampered with. Better yet, it needed to be contained forever. Evil simply understood the NEXUS better.

[vandergraafk]

As a point of clarification, in The Importance of Being Phoebe, Dex, Cole's demonic assistant, accidentally spills part of Cole's plan to the real Phoebe. Later, Cole tells the real Phoebe that his aim is to get the Nexus. After Phoebe has survived an attack by Kaia, who, posing as Phoebe, successfully persuaded Piper to suspend the real Phoebe's powers, the real Phoebe arrives back at the Manor with her powers restored. She now poses as Kaia posing as Phoebe in order to gain access to the Manor, now firmly in the hands of Cole and his henchmen. Before entering the Manor, Phoebe indicates to her sisters that Cole's aim is to take in the shadow.

Important for us to note is that Phoebe does not use the word demon after Shadow, though perhaps too much can be made of this. Certainly, Cole hopes that taking in the Nexus (or Shadow) will be sufficient to turn Phoebe evil. Phoebe certainly remembers her dalliance with the Shadow in Is There a Woogy in the House? Still, for Phoebe, the Shadow and the Nexus are one and the same.

Unfortunately, the Shadow, as taken in by Cole and later Zankou, does not resemble Season 1's Shadow demon. It now is a stream of black particles swirling in a vortex and entering the conjurer through the nostrils. Is this the form of the Shadow when summoned? Is the Shadow demon its form when escaping? Would there be a Shadow witch if Evil were firmly in control of the Manor and an opportunity for escape presented itself?

[vandergraafk]

So, what exactly does the "How to Banish a SEXUN" spell accomplish? Does it negate the spiritual energy within the NEXUS, thereby making it impossible for Good or Evil to tap into it? Does it end the battle between the Shadow Demon and the Shadow Witch by vanquishing both, along with Zankou? Was Zankou even vanquished, or did the shadow simply go back into the Earth taking along an unvanquished, but definitely weakened Zankou?

[Xenith]

Here's my theory on the SUXEN vanquish. Going back to "Is There A Woogy In the House" we are told that the Nexus is a gathering of magical energy from being equidistant from the 5 spiritual elements (water, wood, metal, fire, earth) as well as being the center of a Wiccan pentagram.

Saying the SUXEN spell likely had no effect on either of these facts. I sort of think someone would notice if the bay suddenly dried up, or if a forest suddenly burnt down, and such. So can you really destroy a spiritual energy like the Nexus?
I'd venture to say the answer is no. At most I'd think it would be possible to dissipate it, to seperate the combined energy buildup. So then why the explosion? About the only thing I could come up with is that the various energies had actually fused together in a way, and that the seperation of the various energies would then be more of a violent process, think something like nuclear fission though to a slightliy different scale... (Fortunately otherwise they may have wiped out the whole city if not state with that kind of energy build-up)

[Xenith]

(ugh I bumped the enter button. Wasn't done typing or ordering)

I'm not sure what I think the Woogy is? At first I did just accept him as a demon that was trapped in the basement by Grams, and fed off of the Nexus's power.

However watching re-runs and seeing House Call again has made me question if in fact the Woogy might not actually have been a creation of the gathering of so much spiritual energy at one place. I mean if the vanquishing of a bunch of demons over the course of a few years could leave enough energy to form those spirits, then why couldn't the gathering of a great power such as the Nexus over the course of centuries have brought about the creation of the woogy? Especially if you want to consider the possibility that previous Warrens have also lived there and been vanquishing demons to the point where some of that energy could have ver easily been mixed with that of the Nexus...

As for why it sometimes was the Woogy and othertimes the shadow I have a simple guess on that as well. How about when Phoebe "vanquished" the Woogy it actually did weaken/vanquish the conscious that the entity had developed. After "Is there a Woogy" I only recall seeing the woogy one more time, and that is when Abraxus undoes the spells they cast. From that point on the "Shadow" no longer seems to be able to control anyone is a pure power source.
Though given sufficient time (And possibly demonic vanquishes in the vicinity of the basement) the Woogy could very well have re-emerged.

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Anyways I think that the nexus explosion probably did take care of Zankou, and likely the woogy who would have either been destroyed by the explosion if it was an actual demon, or else if it was just an entity formed by the spiritual residue of the Nexus then it too should have been dissipated.

The nexus itself should return unless something happens to one of its points. The energy should slowly build back-up over the years, and if that happens then it is possible that a new woogy will form from the energy.

[vandergraafk]

What do you think of my idea about a Shadow witch? If, indeed, the NEXUS is a battleground for good and evil, as they fight to control the NEXUS, wouldn't it help to view an eternal struggle between the Shadow Demon and the Shadow Witch trapped inside the NEXUS. I'll admit my idea is completely influenced by the Star Trek episode in which matter and anti-matter were locked in a chamber struggling for domination in the universe. Since matter dominated the physical universe, anti-matter struggled to escape the chamber in order to reverse fortunes outside. Matter tried its best to contain anti-matter in this chamber.