Paige's Introduction: How Would It Have Happened If...?

[Deleted]

I thought it would be a fun idea for us all to think up a scenario in which a major event from Charmed was changed or erased, one which could’ve caused a potential problem to the introduction of Paige in Season Four, and they ways we think the issue could’ve been resolved/handled.


I’ll start us off and let’s see how many we can come up with!



Scenario 1: Leo left the show after ‘Love Hurts’


Hear me out, because this is really just a roundabout way of saying: What if Sam had never been introduced in ‘P3 H20’? But I’m trying to be more philosophical about it.

So, we all pretty much agree that the writers lucked out by introducing Sam into the plot of 'P3 H20', because of the importance it would play in introducing Paige in Season 4. However, in my opinion, ‘P3 H20’ felt more about Patty and Sam's affair and how it mirrored/highlighted the difficulties in Piper and Leo's relationship at the time. If Leo had not returned in Season 2, there would have been little cause to introduce Sam into the plot of Patty’s death, would there?


Sure, they still could’ve used it and Piper may have said: ‘Oh yeah, remember that Whitelighter I used to hook-up with last year, what ever happened to him? Luckily I have a hot neighbour to play with now’. It just wouldn’t have had the same emotional punch, and would’ve felt out-of-step with Piper’s budding relationship with Dan. It may have given the impression that Piper was still pining for Leo.


So, if events had panned out this way, ‘P3 H20’ would’ve likely just focused on the sisters finding out the truth about how their mother was killed, possibly by a completely different demon. There would’ve either been no Sam to speak of, or he would’ve been reduced to the role which he was initially thought to have (‘the crazy loner who lives in the lodge’). I doubt he and Patty would’ve had a big love affair, he would probably just have witnessed her death and been subsequently traumatised by it, hence the reason he never left the lake – to stop anyone else being killed.


In either case, he probably would not have been written into Season 4 as Paige’s father.



Solution:

Had Sam not have been included in ‘P3 H20’ at all, he may still have been introduced in the premiere of Season Four along with Paige. This would not have felt as believable but it might’ve worked out.


Otherwise, perhaps Paige would’ve had a completely random father (one-night stand?) or maybe Victor might’ve been her father as well. Had either of these been the case, the writers would’ve had to think of another reason why Patty would give her up. I mean, it took a very big suspension of reality to believe that Patty would give up her child in the first place, and simply because the Elders wouldn’t like it. What were they going to do? Execute them? Take Paige away? I hardly think so.


So in the cause of Paige having either Victor, or another mortal, as her father, they could maybe have had Paige being kidnapped as a child instead (a la Christy) or maybe Nicholas would have returned for her powers as well? Or maybe even a very mortal scenario where Patty had post-natal depression and couldn’t deal with four daughters alone?

[Melinda Halliwell]

Nov 22, 2015 18:43:53 GMT -5 @deano said:

Had either of these been the case, the writers would’ve had to think of another reason why Patty would give her up. I mean, it took a very big suspension of reality to believe that Patty would give up her child in the first place, and simply because the Elders wouldn’t like it. What were they going to do? Execute them? Take Paige away? I hardly think so.

A big reason why Patty might've given Paige up still had things been written differently I.E. the Elders knew about her originally was the whole power of three destiny prophecy thing Melinda predicted upon her death of there being three sisters only the most powerful witches on Earth which wouldn't happen if Paige stayed and wasn't given up for adoption because the other sisters powers wouldn't work probably and the power of three being inaccessible also.

[Deleted]

Nov 22, 2015 20:11:23 GMT -5 Melinda Halliwell said:

Nov 22, 2015 18:43:53 GMT -5 @deano said:

Had either of these been the case, the writers would’ve had to think of another reason why Patty would give her up. I mean, it took a very big suspension of reality to believe that Patty would give up her child in the first place, and simply because the Elders wouldn’t like it. What were they going to do? Execute them? Take Paige away? I hardly think so.

A big reason why Patty might've given Paige up still had things been written differently I.E. the Elders knew about her originally was the whole power of three destiny prophecy thing Melinda predicted upon her death of there being three sisters only the most powerful witches on Earth which wouldn't happen if Paige stayed and wasn't given up for adoption because the other sisters powers wouldn't work probably and the power of three being inaccessible also.

Then Patty should've realised that she had not given birth to the Charmed Ones - just four daughters - as this would've been the case had they not had to write Paige in when Shannen left. 

That's the only big glitch in writing Paige into the show - because as soon as she was born as the fourth daughter, the Power of Three would be null and void surely? 

[West]

Paige would of turned out to be born before Prue then. A child Patty had before meeting Victor, I can easily see them pulling that, if there is no Sam.

But what if she was a child both Patty and Victor had before Prue, kidnapped as a child instead (a la Christy).

I can see those situations happening.

I'll have to ponder further on other ideas, on how it could of happened if they made her born after Phoebe.

[adzpower]

Scenario: Phoebe never met Cole, he was not sent by The Source to infiltrate the sisters.

In The Honeymoon's Over Cole wasn't present at the club where that girl had been killed, Prue and Phoebe never met him and thus the entire next few seasons change. No Cole means Phoebe never lied about vanquishing him, they never dealt with The Brotherhood, Phoebe didn't go into the underworld to save him so the sisters had access to the power of three to vanquish Shax, Prue didn't die, Paige was never discovered, Phoebe never became queen of evil, she then didn't turn selfish and whiney because she hadn't been wronged in love.
Thus Phoebe as a character is completely saved and she lived a single life happily ever after with Prue and Piper and had no desire to have brats.

[Melinda Halliwell]

Scenario: Phoebe dies instead of Prue so no Cole/Source storyline or Phoebe baby storyline including daddy quest later on meaning the youngest Halliwell is the same loveable person we know and adore who cares about people to plus there's no whining from the other sisters about wanting normal lives so the focus of the show is still sisters who are witches that happen to vanquish evil and save innocents on a regular basis.

Solution regarding Paige: Something I wrote before about introducing her differently in season 3 where the sisters save her from a demon and become friends. She visits P3 regularly but neither of them know she's really their sister.

Paige lives in her loft and is training to be a social worker whilst searching for her birth mother.

The Charmed Ones powers go wonky as there's 4 of them when there should only be 3 which the Elders know about and try and break up that doesn't work because of them bonding and so forth.

Cole goes after Paige as the Source suspects something about her and pretty much plays out how he did season 3 falling in love with Phoebe.

Then in the season finale the sisters find out Paige is their sister Phoebe dies then the new Charmed Ones armed with Paige vanquish the Source and Shax season 4 having met a year already and so have the family bond enough to the active power of three and destroy them when they do then.

[sol]

I thought of a Storygirl's fanfic where Melinda from Morality Bites timeline and Wyatt and Chris from the new future-timeline met


Piper and Phoebe never met Paige's funeral, Piper hunts down obsessively demons followed by the unenthusiastic Phoebe and Cole, the famous line two witches and a half demon instead of the Power of Three

Running away from another attack of the Source's killers, Cole takes everyone into a different timeline, where Patty gave up the magic, moved away from her mother and lived happily married with Victor and their only child Paige who knows nothing of magic

Cole Piper and Phoebe's intrusion upsets the quiet life of Bennet's, Patty and Victor are killed, Paige runs away with her sisters or, even better, after discovering that the girls are threatened by the Source, Patty and Victor reluctantly advise Paige to follow her sisters to form the Power of Three again

[Deleted]

Nov 22, 2015 22:47:22 GMT -5 West said:

Paige would of turned out to be born before Prue then. A child Patty had before meeting Victor, I can easily see them pulling that, if there is no Sam.

But what if she was a child both Patty and Victor had before Prue, kidnapped as a child instead (a la Christy).

I can see those situations happening.

I'll have to ponder further on other ideas, on how it could of happened if they made her born after Phoebe.

Now there's an interesting thought. Perhaps teenage Patty could've had a secret love child in the 'free 60s' whilst her parents were busy being hippies? Also, it would be interesting to see the sisters adapt to a new 'big' sister. 

[Deleted]

Nov 23, 2015 4:33:46 GMT -5 adzpower said:

Scenario: Phoebe never met Cole, he was not sent by The Source to infiltrate the sisters.

In The Honeymoon's Over Cole wasn't present at the club where that girl had been killed, Prue and Phoebe never met him and thus the entire next few seasons change. No Cole means Phoebe never lied about vanquishing him, they never dealt with The Brotherhood, Phoebe didn't go into the underworld to save him so the sisters had access to the power of three to vanquish Shax, Prue didn't die, Paige was never discovered, Phoebe never became queen of evil, she then didn't turn selfish and whiney because she hadn't been wronged in love.
Thus Phoebe as a character is completely saved and she lived a single life happily ever after with Prue and Piper and had no desire to have brats.

Woah! Don't I wish? Great job! I never realised just how important Cole was in Prue's death, but it's so true when you stop and think about it. Phoebe's preoccupation caused Prue's death. 

Plus, it would be interesting to see how the Source would come into the girls' lives without Cole.

[Deleted]

Nov 23, 2015 5:31:27 GMT -5 Melinda Halliwell said:

Scenario: Phoebe dies instead of Prue so no Cole/Source storyline or Phoebe baby storyline including daddy quest later on meaning the youngest Halliwell is the same loveable person we know and adore who cares about people to plus there's no whining from the other sisters about wanting normal lives so the focus of the show is still sisters who are witches that happen to vanquish evil and save innocents on a regular basis.

Solution regarding Paige: Something I wrote before about introducing her differently in season 3 where the sisters save her from a demon and become friends. She visits P3 regularly but neither of them know she's really their sister.

Paige lives in her loft and is training to be a social worker whilst searching for her birth mother.

The Charmed Ones powers go wonky as there's 4 of them when there should only be 3 which the Elders know about and try and break up that doesn't work because of them bonding and so forth.

Cole goes after Paige as the Source suspects something about her and pretty much plays out how he did season 3 falling in love with Phoebe.

Then in the season finale the sisters find out Paige is their sister Phoebe dies then the new Charmed Ones armed with Paige vanquish the Source and Shax season 4 having met a year already and so have the family bond enough to the active power of three and destroy them when they do then.

I like how never all of us agree that Phoebe's horrible personality post Season 2/3 could've been easily rectified   I too really like the idea of the sisters knowing Paige before the death of one of the originals, that way the loss would be felt by her as well. 

[erikamarie]

My favorite sisters are, in the order: Piper, Phoebe, Prue, Paige
Paige unfortunately never was a well-defined characters: troubled teenager but wise twentysomething, she wishes to become a super witch then she wishes a life away from magic, absolutely uncertain about the work - artist? social worker? aspiring cop? teacher?- she is unconvincing as living Whitelighter also

My favorite scenario, consequently, looks alike the original season four

Leo is back in time to save both Prue and Piper
Cole and Phoebe escape the attempted of murder by the Source's guards, hiding out in the Underworld to avoid to putting the sisters at risk
Prue and Piper live alone, in secret contact with Phoebe, looking for a solution
Cole and Phoebe discover that the Source wants to evoke the Void
The Charmed One bring back together and destroy the Source
Cole absorbs the Source's powers, he thinks that they can help to bring order in the Underworld, to save his father's soul and live safely with Phoebe

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely: Cole starts to change and only Prue realizes it

At this point, two scenarios'ld could open:
1- Phoebe can't be able to believe her sister,she trusts Cole, she becomes pregnant and,she too corrupted by power, she agrees to share the fate of Cole
2-Prue chooses to investigate without telling Phoebe, moves closer to Cole to understand what is happening, too much close, the triangle'll take a lot of problems between the two sisters but will help to give a jolt to Phobe
In both cases, Cole becomes completelyand for his choice the Source, I always hated the image of puppet-Cole, manipulated by the Seer

[erikamarie]

I had to stop, I finished my lunch break

If Paige's presence is mandatory, I see two ways.

-as west73 wrote, Paige'ld be the big sister of the Charmed Ones, maybe born from a Patty's relationship as a teenager or, more better, Patty and Victor's daughter,kidnapped by some crazy woman directly from the hospital
Penny might have erased the memory from the minds of the shocked parents to help them to overcome the grief

-as proposed by sol, Paige'ld come from a different timeline, I like the idea of Patty that runs away from Penny to prevent her from ruining her wedding

[universalcharmed]

As for as the power of three is concerned I want to point out:

Rather there was 4 or 7 sisters The power of three still would exist. Melinda simply had a premonition of 3 sisters from her bloodline defeating the Source of all Evil.

Each girl still would have been born with their individual powers even if they weren't charmed. P_rue still would have telekinesis, Paige Telekinetic orbing, Piper Molecular whatever and Phoebe Premonition. They still would have also developed more than one ability.

The Power of 3 is the collective power of 3 sisters. The more powerful the sisters the more powerful the power of 3. The power of 4 in theory would be superior to the power of 3. The Avatars power lies within the collective, same with the Elders, triad, etc. Meaning the more powerful the individuals within the collective the more powerful the collective.



So If Prue never died: The sisters would have been way more of a threat to the Source and way more powerful. Just as Melinda they would have developed 3 powers if not more. Especially if we take what Melinda said about each Generation be stronger than the last. If we associate that with each generation acquiring more abilities then by time Prue and Co generation came along they would posses around 10 powers each. 

The charmed ones would have easily won the final battle against the Ultimate power. 

[Elle Em]

I've never understood why Paige's existence would negate her sisters' ability to be the Charmed Ones. I don't know why the first three sisters couldn't be Charmed, and Paige and however many other kids just exist as powerful yet normal witches with no access to the Power of Three. If anything, Paige would develop quite the inferiority complex when compared to her ultra-magical older sisters, but I don't understand why her existence would affect the Power of Three.

I really do love Paige, but I thought the show was fine without her as long as the other three sisters exist. Although if she has to exist, here's my scenario:

Paige is the fourth daughter of Victor and Patty. No whitelighters in this universe. I would have the sisters all be closer in age and much younger when Paige is born so that it's believable that they don't remember her, even Prue.

Not long after Paige is born, she's kidnapped. Patty goes to save her and is killed this way rather than by the water demon. Penny is torn. She wants very much to save her youngest granddaughter, but she knows that if she leaves the older three, they'll be subject to attacks themselves. She also knows that the best way to prevent things like this from happening again, and possibly one day save Paige, is to raise the three older girls in the hopes that one day, they'll inherit the Power of Three and make the world a safer place for everyone.

Victor doesn't care about the Power of Three. He wants his daughter back. This leads to the two of them fighting like we saw Piper remembering as a young kid. Penny is insistent that her way is the only way, but Victor won't listen. Despite not having powers himself, he leaves his older daughters to rescue his youngest. Not having powers himself, he knows it could be years before he is able to rescue her, because he has to learn and study the demons or warlocks who took her. This explains why he's gone for so long. It's also too painful for him to return home without Paige, which is why he is gone from his older daughters' lives.

Penny decides that she doesn't want her granddaughters growing up with the painful knowledge of what happened to their parents and sister, so she hides it from them.

The sisters still find Paige one day by saving her from a demon or warlock. I'd like for Victor to find her, rescue her, and raise her himself. In this reality, he never got back in contact with his older daughters, perhaps because Penny didn't let him, fearing he'd ruin their chances of being witches and doing good in the world one day. He raises Paige alone as a normal kid.

But they do find each other, and the sisters bond slowly. Prue doesn't want to trust her too quickly. She reasons that just because she's family doesn't mean they can trust her. Piper wants to give her her space when Paige is resistant to ideas of magic. Phoebe wants to bond with her immediately, but Paige is hesitant.

Over this season, they get to know each other, and the older sisters and Victor reconnect. It's hard on everyone, and a slow process. Eventually, the Source starts to come after them, and the stakes are higher than they've ever been. Paige, seeing the danger her sisters are in, starts to want to help. She's come to care for them and doesn't want them to be hurt or killed. The older ones are reluctant to involve such a new witch in such a dangerous situation, but agree to let her help. It's also an important time for Victor who has to realize that he can't protect Paige forever.

Eventually they do vanquish the Source, but it turns out that they couldn't have done it without all four of them playing a vital role. They had needed Paige all along, just as she had needed them. Afterwards, their biggest threat is gone, and their lives are much safer than before. They get the chance to give up their powers, but decide to keep them, with Victor's support after he's witnessed them saving an innocent. The show ends there with their family all together and all the girls still witches. Paige isn't a part of the Power of Three, but it works out anyway because she puts so much time into becoming a social worker. And with the Source vanquished, there isn't much need for it anymore anyway. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe can keep the Power of Three if they need it, but the show ends with the idea that after four long years, they'll be able to have more normal lives from now on.

[universalcharmed]

The 3 sisters in Melinda vision was always Piper, Phoebe and Paige not Prue. From an inverse stand point of view. Melinda premonition was 3 sisters defeating the source. Paige, Phoebe and Piper were the 3 that defeated the Source.

[Esmeralda]

Jul 12, 2017 21:39:53 GMT -5 universalcharmed said:

The 3 sisters in Melinda vision was always Piper, Phoebe and Paige not Prue. From an inverse stand point of view. Melinda premonition was 3 sisters defeating the source. Paige, Phoebe and Piper were the 3 that defeated the Source.

Totally false. Melinda recognized Prue, Piper and Phoebe. They're the Charmed Ones who she saw. She never saw Prue dead, so she wouldn't know anything about Paige.

And had Prue not been killed, the original Power of Three would've been able to vanquish the Source without calling on the Matriarchs. Unlike the second set, as Melinda Warren said, Prue, Piper and Phoebe were the most powerful witches the world had ever known. Piper, Phoebe and Paige were Charmed, but *not* the most powerful witches the world had ever known or they would not have needed the Hollow to get rid of Billie and Christy who with only two were the Ultimate Power - *not* Piper, Paige and Phoebe, while Prue, Piper and Phoebe would've been.

Unless you're talking about a different scenario. Then 'The Witch is Back' would've been done totally differently, and the sisters could've gone hunting for their half-sister way back in Season One. Paige wouldn't become Charmed until one of the others died (she'd only have her whitelighter powers - gaining a whitelighter version of one of her half-sisters powers when that sister died), but still able to be with her sisters. Who knows? Maybe Leo would've stayed gone after Season One and Paige would've become their magical taxicab/doctor instead. Piper falls for Dan and marries, has her halfway-normal life and doesn't whine as much. Since Paige has bonded with her half-sisters, it makes sense when they can get rid of Shax right away. Wyatt and Chris are never born or if they are, they're only witches like their mother. Yeah, I could like this scenario.

Now if we can just figure a way that this leads to also not introducing Cole so Phoebe doesn't get messed up, it would be perfect. Unless, of course, *PHOEBE* is the one who dies, not Prue, so Paige gets a whitelighter version of premonitions. Then when the Source powers possess Cole, he just goes all evil since Phoebe isn't there and the sisters vanquish him.

PERFECT!

[adzpower]

Melinda recognised Prue though so I don't think she was referring to Paige. Its possible that Melinda's vision wasn not that clear and she couldn't see their faces, in which case it could well have been Paige. But this was before Paige was created so at the time she definitely referred to the original power of three.

Actually, wait, did Melinda ever mention having a vision of the girls defeating The Source? I only remember her referring to a vision in which she saw generations of more Warrens being born. In which case her vision may have been of that God awful ending scene from Forever Charmed in which thousands of sprogs descended on Halliwell manor.

[Esmeralda]

Jul 13, 2017 16:48:51 GMT -5 adzpower said:

Melinda recognised Prue though so I don't think she was referring to Paige. Its possible that Melinda's vision wasn not that clear and she couldn't see their faces, in which case it could well have been Paige. But this was before Paige was created so at the time she definitely referred to the original power of three.

Actually, wait, did Melinda ever mention having a vision of the girls defeating The Source? I only remember her referring to a vision in which she saw generations of more Warrens being born. In which case her vision may have been of that God awful ending scene from Forever Charmed in which thousands of sprogs descended on Halliwell manor.

Okay, you're talking the real Charmedverse, not a "what if" one, right?

Melinda seeing that long line and *not* seeing them defeating The Source is all the proof I need to know that defeating the Source was never the Charmed Ones' destiny - only protecting innocents. Yet another proof that S4-8 is an alternate-universe spin-off that has little to nothing to do with Charmed, except the name of the characters.

[magena]

Phoebe: I'm serious. She practiced powers. Three powers. She could move objects with her mind, see the future and stop time. Before Melinda was burned at the stake, she vowed that each generation of Warren witches would become stronger and stronger, culminating in the arrival of three sisters. Now, these sisters would be the most powerful witches the world has ever known. They're good witches and I think we're those sisters.





This is the basis of Charmed



Melinda Warren saw her boodline becoming more and more powerful until the birth of the three sisters which will be the culmination of her family and the more powerful witches tha world has ever known



She never spoke of a destiny linked to the defeat of the Source, Melinda spoke as a good witch, proud to be able to protect and help people



When she met the sisters, she saw in the future beautiful daughters - not powerful witches - and I think it means that the prophecy was fullfilled, the Waren bloodline'ld live in peace



She said: I see my dreams fulfilled, I think her dreams were about a serene and secure life



Prue, Piper and Phoebe were the expected sisters: they have no other duty then trying to be good witches

[Esmeralda]

Jul 14, 2017 5:34:27 GMT -5 magena said:

Phoebe: I'm serious. She practiced powers. Three powers. She could move objects with her mind, see the future and stop time. Before Melinda was burned at the stake, she vowed that each generation of Warren witches would become stronger and stronger, culminating in the arrival of three sisters. Now, these sisters would be the most powerful witches the world has ever known. They're good witches and I think we're those sisters.

This is the basis of Charmed

Melinda Warren saw her bloodline becoming more and more powerful until the birth of the three sisters which will be the culmination of her family and the more powerful witches the world has ever known

She never spoke of a destiny linked to the defeat of the Source, Melinda spoke as a good witch, proud to be able to protect and help people

When she met the sisters, she saw in the future beautiful daughters - not powerful witches - and I think it means that the prophecy was fulfilled, the Warren bloodline'ld live in peace

She said: I see my dreams fulfilled, I think her dreams were about a serene and secure life

Prue, Piper and Phoebe were the expected sisters: they have no other duty then trying to be good witches

And by good witches, this means protecting innocents, not defeating the Source.

In other threads we've discussed when Charmed jumped the shark. I now think it did it in 'Witch Way Now?' when the Charmed Ones were told that they had fulfilled their destiny by defeating the Source.

That was *never* their destiny - ESPECIALLY if the Source of All Evil was truly that - because if it truly was that, it would be something that could *never* be defeated.