Post by Scott on Nov 27, 2006 13:49:18 GMT -5
In Charmed and Dangerous, we say goodbye to the Source. Supposedly, he is vanquished at the end of this fast-paced, pyrotechnically pleasing episode. However, how exactly did the sisters accomplish this and was it really a vanquish?
At the beginning of the episode, we see a vision of one possible outcome of the showdown between the Source and the sisters. In this scenario, the Source is trapped inside a crystal cage and unwittingly launches a fireball that is repulsed by the cage barrier. He is hit with his own fireball and presumably is weakened enough so that the sisters may invoke the Source vanquishing spell that Phoebe has worked out. Presumably the spell will work since the Seer has indicated that her visions are more accurate than the Oracle's were.
Yet, we never see the sisters chant the Source vanquishing spell at the beginning of the episode. We perhaps do not see this for dramatic reasons. Phoebe has yet to proclaim to Piper that she has nailed down the Source vanquishing spell by tapping into the entire Warren line of magical power. We probably should assume that the spell was chanted for otherwise we are left at a loss to explain how the Source could be vanquished by a his own fireball repulsed by the crystal cage.
The vision of his own demise prompts the Source to seek even more power. Desperate, the Source breaks an agreement that has been in effect for at least 3,500 years dating back to a time when good and evil united to banish the Hollow, a power that consumes all magic. Possessor of the Hollow, the Source infects first the demonic guardian of the Hollow to steal one of the sisters' powers (Piper's), then a darklighter to kill the sisters' whitelighter and steal another power.
As the Source extracts each power from the Hollow, the Seer warns him that he, too, will become infected and eventually become consumed with the need to acquire all magical powers. The Seer has seen a vision of a world devoid of magic and of life.
To stop the Source, the Seer calls upon Cole to use the Hollow to steal the Source's power and save the sisters from their own demise. A reluctant Cole agrees only after receiving the assurance from the Seer that no harm would come to Cole. Thus, it is Cole who leaps in front of the fireball launched by the Source in the direction of the helpless sisters. Infected by the Hollow, Cole absorbs this power of the Source and launches fireballs at the Source. The sisters chant the Source vanquishing spell and he explodes in a nuclear blast. Or did he?
Just what does the Hollow manage to extract from a magical creature when it consumes that being's power? Does the Hollow consume all power or only the power that was being used at the moment magic was consumed? If Piper's example is prescient, then she not only lost her ability to accelerate molecular motion (when she attempted to blast the demonic guardian of the Hollow), but also her ability to decelerate molecular motion as evidenced by her inability to prevent the glass pitcher from shattering. Should we then conclude that the Hollow extracts all powers from whatever magical being it encounters?
If the answer is yes, then we are presented with a conundrum. When the Source launches his fireball at the sisters and it is absorbed by Cole, then the Source must lose all of his powers, including those stolen from the sisters, when the Hollow consumes the fireball. How then does the Source manage to resist the first several fireballs that Cole now launches at the Source. Without powers, the Source should have been incinerated upon the first strike. The sisters would never have had the opportunity to invoke the Source vanquishing spell. He would already have been vanquished by the time they had a chance to compose themselves. Yet, we see the resulting nuclear blast after the spell is chanted. How can this be?
If the answer is no, then we are at a loss to explain - at least on the surface - how Piper can lose her power to accelerate molecular motion, as well as her power to decelerate motion. Unless, of course, the argument is made that the Hollow can consume only related powers. That is, the power to accelerate and decelerate molecular motion is essentially one power. The power to freeze things and the power to blow them up are two sides of the same coin. Losing one side of the coin meant losing the other side as well.
Had Prue ever engaged the Hollow and had her power consumed, she, too, would have discovered that not only did she lose the power to move things with her mind, but also she lost the power to astral project, that power being an extension of her power to move objects with her mind.
Phoebe, on the other hand, if she had retained her ability to levitate, as well as to have premonitions, might have lost only her power to levitate, this being her only active power. She would have retained her ability to have premonitions.
Now, what exactly does Paige lose when she encounters the Hollow in the guise of a darklighter? Clearly, she loses her ability to move objects with her mind since she tried - without success - to orb the darklighter bow out of his hands and into hers. Did she, though, lose her ability to orb? The answer would seem to be no. Her capacity to move objects is certainly mediated by her ability to orb. Unlike Prue who could move objects with the whisk of a hand or the wink of an eye (telekinesis), Paige must orb the object to another location (teleportation). Since we know from Charmed Again Part 2 that Paige only received this power when she joined hands with her sisters under the chandelier, it must be separate and distinct from her whitelighter ability to orb. Thus, the conclusion seems apparent that Paige retained her ability to orb, even if she never attempted to orb after losing her power to move objects by teleportation.
(This same lack of understanding between Paige's essence as a whitelighter and the powers associated with it and her status as a Charmed One and the powers resulting from that undermines a key component of A Witch in Time in Season 5 when Paige fails to orb out of the path of an energy ball. Since the witches have been deprived of their powers by spell, Paige's powers as a whitelighter should not have been affected. Instinctually, she should have been able to orb to safety. Alas, the same mistake occurred in Charmed and Dangerous at least implicitly.)
At the beginning of the episode, we see a vision of one possible outcome of the showdown between the Source and the sisters. In this scenario, the Source is trapped inside a crystal cage and unwittingly launches a fireball that is repulsed by the cage barrier. He is hit with his own fireball and presumably is weakened enough so that the sisters may invoke the Source vanquishing spell that Phoebe has worked out. Presumably the spell will work since the Seer has indicated that her visions are more accurate than the Oracle's were.
Yet, we never see the sisters chant the Source vanquishing spell at the beginning of the episode. We perhaps do not see this for dramatic reasons. Phoebe has yet to proclaim to Piper that she has nailed down the Source vanquishing spell by tapping into the entire Warren line of magical power. We probably should assume that the spell was chanted for otherwise we are left at a loss to explain how the Source could be vanquished by a his own fireball repulsed by the crystal cage.
The vision of his own demise prompts the Source to seek even more power. Desperate, the Source breaks an agreement that has been in effect for at least 3,500 years dating back to a time when good and evil united to banish the Hollow, a power that consumes all magic. Possessor of the Hollow, the Source infects first the demonic guardian of the Hollow to steal one of the sisters' powers (Piper's), then a darklighter to kill the sisters' whitelighter and steal another power.
As the Source extracts each power from the Hollow, the Seer warns him that he, too, will become infected and eventually become consumed with the need to acquire all magical powers. The Seer has seen a vision of a world devoid of magic and of life.
To stop the Source, the Seer calls upon Cole to use the Hollow to steal the Source's power and save the sisters from their own demise. A reluctant Cole agrees only after receiving the assurance from the Seer that no harm would come to Cole. Thus, it is Cole who leaps in front of the fireball launched by the Source in the direction of the helpless sisters. Infected by the Hollow, Cole absorbs this power of the Source and launches fireballs at the Source. The sisters chant the Source vanquishing spell and he explodes in a nuclear blast. Or did he?
Just what does the Hollow manage to extract from a magical creature when it consumes that being's power? Does the Hollow consume all power or only the power that was being used at the moment magic was consumed? If Piper's example is prescient, then she not only lost her ability to accelerate molecular motion (when she attempted to blast the demonic guardian of the Hollow), but also her ability to decelerate molecular motion as evidenced by her inability to prevent the glass pitcher from shattering. Should we then conclude that the Hollow extracts all powers from whatever magical being it encounters?
If the answer is yes, then we are presented with a conundrum. When the Source launches his fireball at the sisters and it is absorbed by Cole, then the Source must lose all of his powers, including those stolen from the sisters, when the Hollow consumes the fireball. How then does the Source manage to resist the first several fireballs that Cole now launches at the Source. Without powers, the Source should have been incinerated upon the first strike. The sisters would never have had the opportunity to invoke the Source vanquishing spell. He would already have been vanquished by the time they had a chance to compose themselves. Yet, we see the resulting nuclear blast after the spell is chanted. How can this be?
If the answer is no, then we are at a loss to explain - at least on the surface - how Piper can lose her power to accelerate molecular motion, as well as her power to decelerate motion. Unless, of course, the argument is made that the Hollow can consume only related powers. That is, the power to accelerate and decelerate molecular motion is essentially one power. The power to freeze things and the power to blow them up are two sides of the same coin. Losing one side of the coin meant losing the other side as well.
Had Prue ever engaged the Hollow and had her power consumed, she, too, would have discovered that not only did she lose the power to move things with her mind, but also she lost the power to astral project, that power being an extension of her power to move objects with her mind.
Phoebe, on the other hand, if she had retained her ability to levitate, as well as to have premonitions, might have lost only her power to levitate, this being her only active power. She would have retained her ability to have premonitions.
Now, what exactly does Paige lose when she encounters the Hollow in the guise of a darklighter? Clearly, she loses her ability to move objects with her mind since she tried - without success - to orb the darklighter bow out of his hands and into hers. Did she, though, lose her ability to orb? The answer would seem to be no. Her capacity to move objects is certainly mediated by her ability to orb. Unlike Prue who could move objects with the whisk of a hand or the wink of an eye (telekinesis), Paige must orb the object to another location (teleportation). Since we know from Charmed Again Part 2 that Paige only received this power when she joined hands with her sisters under the chandelier, it must be separate and distinct from her whitelighter ability to orb. Thus, the conclusion seems apparent that Paige retained her ability to orb, even if she never attempted to orb after losing her power to move objects by teleportation.
(This same lack of understanding between Paige's essence as a whitelighter and the powers associated with it and her status as a Charmed One and the powers resulting from that undermines a key component of A Witch in Time in Season 5 when Paige fails to orb out of the path of an energy ball. Since the witches have been deprived of their powers by spell, Paige's powers as a whitelighter should not have been affected. Instinctually, she should have been able to orb to safety. Alas, the same mistake occurred in Charmed and Dangerous at least implicitly.)