Guardians - What’s the Point?

[Andrew]

Seriously, what is it that they DO, exactly? Yeah, I know, they supposedly protect mortal criminals in exchange for souls, or something, but… How? I realize they were just a plot device to get the Charmed Ones involved in the action of the sole episode they appeared in, and the ones we saw were killed before they could really do anything, but I never really understood how they were “guarding” those criminals.

Like, what would they do if the cops just shot the killer they were inhabiting? Because if it’s a successful serial killer, and one who the guardian has theoretically (somehow) helped avoid arrest before - possibly by killing the arresting officers? - they obviously would if he or she didn’t immediately surrender. Could the guardian keep them from dying?

[BriannaWarren2.0]

I think it was something the show runners created to have a villain in the episode however I am not entirely sure why they would create something once and not use again, I mean there could have been several instances where they could use them, Bane comes to mind, maybe he uses the Guardians to protect him. 

[rebooted]

I would have preferred guardians to whitelighters. Them along with muses and maybe a less sexualised/bimbo versions of the nymphs would have been so much better. Esp if they weren't romantics or unseen most of the time.

[Patrick]

I actually created a Charmed RP character with a guardian and found that they are actually pretty useful in the demon world.

1. Evil Activity Control. The judge in The Honeymoon's Over clearly had control over the guardians. So, I would imagine the police and city governments are infiltrated by demons that use or control guardians to keep track of all the criminals in the city. So, if the side of evil needed 5 five innocent deaths in one night, it could be EASILY done by having five different guardians whispering into their hosts' mind/ear.

2. Human/Demon Relationship. I see guardians as parasites, and the relationship they have with their criminal to model after the Mutualistic Relationship as seen in biology between two different organisms. One benefits from the other. The guardian could probably whisper warnings in the human's mind, like "Beware, a witch just walked into the club," or "Someone's watching you," and other useful things like orders. I could also see the guardians protecting their criminals from some magics, like telepathy, empathy, or illusions. I would imagine it going something like this:

Criminal: Starts to see flames block his exit way.
Guardian(in head): IT's AN ILLUSION. THE FLAMES AREN'T REAL

Anyways, I actually like the guardians and it's a shame they didn't really capitalize on them in the show.

[Sandra]

Nov 22, 2021 2:01:32 GMT -5 rebooted said:

I would have preferred guardians to whitelighters. Them along with muses and maybe a less sexualised/bimbo versions of the nymphs would have been so much better. Esp if they weren't romantics or unseen most of the time.

Me too. Especially because that's what Whitelighters acted like when they were unseen most of the time. Leo was unseen until he got caught. Witches were never meant to know about them.

Then in S7, we had Guardian Angels. They were beings each assigned to guide a human and protect them from danger. They whisper warnings to their charges when they are at risk.

Guardian Angels felt more like what Whitelighters were meant to be in S1. Being unseen. I wish they took the concept of Guardian Angels from 'Someone to Witch Over Me' and used Whitelighters like that. Just naming them Guardians.

Sometimes It made sense to not always explain everything. Did we really even need to see and know all there is about Elders, The Source, the Underworld and the Heavens. The story primary is centered on earth. I found all that just getting in the of what really mattered. Keep some mystery. Leave The Elders in the Heavens and The Source in the Underworld where they belong.