Losing Powers

[peytonmarie]

Why? Because I'm obsessive, that's why.

I just want to see what fun we can have picking these apart and coming up with in-world explanations as to why characters lost their powers in certain circumstances but not in others.

>> COMIC SERIES SPOILER ALERT. SKIP NO.7 <<

1. When the sisters travel back in time, they see themselves as children with powers. They theorize that only one set of sisters can have powers at any one point in time.

A perfectly straightforward theory, until...

2. First the chimps and then Dr. Williamson obtain the sisters' powers. Each power exists in and is being used by three separate entities all at once.

This also sets the precedent that their powers are a physical part of them since they were transmitted via blood, not magic. Which makes sense in the following scenarios:

3. When they took control of their future bodies, they were able to access the strength to which their powers had grown over the years.

4. When Phoebe and Paige switched bodies, their powers didn't switch with them. (Paige used levitation. Once. Poorly.)

However...

5. Ghosts, like Grams, can use the powers they had in life.

6. When Phoebe switched bodies with her past self, P. Russell retained her fire-throwing power in Phoebe's body.

7. After taking over the body of Patience, Prue retained her powers.

Now, back to time travel:

8. When the sisters travel hundreds of years into the past, they theorize that they don't have their powers because they don't exist yet. This makes sense only if their powers are mystical and not physically part of them.

I read a theory that they lose their powers because the source of that power, Melinda Warren, wasn't born yet. However...

9. Chris worries about losing his powers once he arrives in the past and Bianca assures him the specific spell will prevent that. This implies he would lose his powers if not for the spell.

So why would Chris lose his powers? The point in time he traveled to was after the source of his power was born but before his own past self possessed his powers.

[peytonmarie]

I just figured out no. 4. Paige wished to know what it was like to be Phoebe. So naturally, that included having her powers.

[Elle Em]

You bring up good points.

One thing I did wonder about was how Dr. Williams acquired their powers through their blood. It was a good thing none of the sisters decided to donate blood after receiving their powers but before this episode when they knew what it would do. None of them ever outright mentioned it or wondered aloud to the others about it, so it wasn't clear if it was just something they understood or whether it was just lucky none of them ever did it.

Their powers always seemed more mystical to me anyway. Nothing about the sisters being magical changed them into anything other than human beings, so it makes sense that their powers would instead be more of a spiritual kind of thing rather than physical. If their powers were in their blood, would they be less human? Witches themselves are just humans with powers, not their own separate species, so the blood thing makes even less sense.

[Esmeralda]

Mar 30, 2019 11:04:39 GMT -5 Elle Em said:

You bring up good points.

One thing I did wonder about was how Dr. Williams acquired their powers through their blood. It was a good thing none of the sisters decided to donate blood after receiving their powers but before this episode when they knew what it would do. None of them ever outright mentioned it or wondered aloud to the others about it, so it wasn't clear if it was just something they understood or whether it was just lucky none of them ever did it.

Their powers always seemed more mystical to me anyway. Nothing about the sisters being magical changed them into anything other than human beings, so it makes sense that their powers would instead be more of a spiritual kind of thing rather than physical. If their powers were in their blood, would they be less human? Witches themselves are just humans with powers, not their own separate species, so the blood thing makes even less sense.

Can't agree with you, Elle Em. If their powers were mystical, then there would be no reason to have witchlighters. Of course I think witches getting whitelighter powers while they're still alive is one of the more stupid things that the show did, done just to make the show "new and fresh" (the worst possible reason to change something), but there you have it. The only way something like that would work (especially if the Elders truly didn't know anything about Paige) is if it was through the blood via the sperm.

I personally hate it - I hate whenever magic is explained by science (like why Piper's power to freeze time was suddenly the power to freeze molecules so she could suddenly accelerate molecules until they exploded - she *never* combusted anything - it had nothing to do with fire); for me it takes away from the mystical part of the show which was part of what made it so good, but there you go...

As for #9. I think when Chris thought that when he went back his mother would already be pregnant with him so he wouldn't have powers - the fetus would, like Fetus Phoebe helping to cast the spell in 'That Seventies Episode' or Fetus Phoebe giving Patty a few premonitions - his plan to turn Leo into an Elder wouldn't make much sense otherwise. Obviously he miscalculated when the Titan Massacre happened. But that's okay - he always was a bit of a screw-up.

As for the rest, I'll let someone else tackle them.