Stupid questions

[Elder]

In the first episode of Charmed, we have that lady that gets stabbed and apparently her powers were absorbed by Jeremy.

Is it the stabbing itself or did Jeremy have to wait for her to die to access her powers?
And if he did have to wait for the death, that could take a long time, eh?
Besides...where was her whitelighter when this was going on anyway?
;D

[Assassin Witch]

elder said:

In the first episode of Charmed, we have that lady that gets stabbed and apparently her powers were absorbed by Jeremy.

Is it the stabbing itself or did Jeremy have to wait for her to die to access her powers?
And if he did have to wait for the death, that could take a long time, eh?
Besides...where was her whitelighter when this was going on anyway?
;D

Does every witch have a whitelighter? It really doesn't seem that way.

I don't know how exactly he received her powers. It could have been through the athame he used. But, I don't thinik it would take a long time if he got her in the right place. *shrugs*

[dagg]

it was the athame that helped to allow him to absorb the powers.

and its pretty clear that not all witches have whitelighters around them at all times.

[Hansemand]

dagg said:

it was the athame that helped to allow him to absorb the powers.

and its pretty clear that not all witches have whitelighters around them at all times.

Yup, if you also watch the episode Witch Wars, then the same type of power absorbing knife is used.
Thats also how Phoebe ends up with all the powers of the demons at the end.

[vandergraafk]

Yes, it's definitely the athame. Witch Wars absolutely confirms this! But, why are these "stupid" questions? They are technical questions in nature that underlie much of what transpires in Charmedverse. Fortunately, this question can be resolved. Others are not so easy to answer.

[ljones]

Isn't the athame supposed to be a ceremonial tool . . . and not a weapon to be used for killing someone?

And why was Jeremy described as a warlock, even after he went into game face? Sounds like he was probably a demon.

[vandergraafk]

My guess is that Ms. Burge's research into witches had not progressed very far. She knew about warlocks, but really didn't have any idea what they were. Do we, for that matter? I mean I take it that a warlock is a good witch gone bad. Correct or incorrect?

Yes, his game face might suggest that he was a demon. Did the Charmed writing corps have any idea of the difference between the two at this juncture or were they just throwing things at the wall hoping that some might stick?

P.S. This posting was modified after ljones pointed out a crucial oversight on my part. See her posting below where she quotes the original posting. The word "not" is sometimes very, very important!

[Hansemand]

Its is a funny thing with witches on Charmed.
If a male witch goes bad, he is a warlock.
If a female witch goes bad, she becomes a wicked witch.
A female witch can be turned into a banshee by another banshee ans stays like this if she kills some one.

Last one does not apply though, if you study the actual myth of the banshee.
A banshee is not a killer, she does not turn witches into banshees and she only deals with the Celtic race of Ireland.
She only turns up to wail and cry if members of certain families is about to die.

What they did get right though on Charmed is how they look like

[Esmeralda]

During S1 & S2, the main villains were warlocks; witches who had gone bad (and who were mainly males in order to have a female vs male conflict). Phoebe pointed that out in that same first episode when she said that a bad witch is a warlock, a witch who tries to kill good witches in order to gain their powers. Demons didn't pop up until later, and then they were specific demons of something -- I think Barbas, The Demon of Fear, was the first one, but we also had The Demon of Illusion, etc. etc.

It wasn't until S3, when Kern took over, that all of the sudden demons became the main bad guys and were no longer the demon of anything, but simply demons. To try to compare the two doesn't make much sense, because Kern's ideas for the show and Burge's weren't the same--Kern would always take Burge's ideas and use them however they fit his episode, not caring how it was originally used. It's why I call him the Demon of Inconsistency and count *that* demon as the true Big Bad of Charmed.

Ditto for Elder's question. Based on what Phoebe read in the Book of Shadows, the athame was simply a way of killing the witch. As a warlock, Jeremy wouldn't actually gain the powers until the witch actually died--she'd have them until then. As for Witch Wars, those were demons, not warlocks. Perhaps the demons used the athame for accessing the powers, the way Piper was able to use Coop's ring, while in Heartbreak City, the ring was only used to direct and amplify Cupid's powers. Kern put more emphasis on the things; Burge did on the people.

[vandergraafk]

I believe you are quite correct, Esmeralda. I wonder whether it was the whole Tuatha business that messed up this distinction. Tuatha, as you may recall, was never depicted as a warlock. Rather, she was simply an evil witch.

It might be tempting to argue that she had been banished before fully becoming a warlock. However, given that there was only one person capable of vanquishing her, I suspect that this argument fails miserably. Now, whether she had stolen other powers to become that powerful, I can't say. Suffice it to say, however, that she used her powers for evil.

[ljones]

My guess is that Ms. Burge's research into witches had progressed very far. She knew about warlocks, but really didn't have any idea what they were. Do we, for that matter? I mean I take it that a warlock is a good witch gone bad. Correct or incorrect?

Since a witch is basically a Pagan priest or priestess, I have heard that a warlock is someone who had betrayed his or her oath as a witch. Which would make both a witch and a warlock mortals. And because of this, I never understood why Burge had warlocks changing into game faces or making them immortals that do not age.

There are probably witches who do not practice the Wicca faith. There are Stregheria witches, but they are basically the Italian version of Wiccans. But if there are non-Wiccan witches that use magic for . . . unpleasant reasons, I guess one can assume that they are "bad" or "evil" witches.

And, if Burge's research of witches had progressed that well, then she would have known that a witch would not use an athame to kill someone.

[vandergraafk]

Thanks for pointing out my error, ljones. I had meant to write that Ms. Burge's research hadn't progressed that far. Thanks for picking up on this!

[Mrs.Tunner_aka_Lady_kissable]

in witch wars didnt they say that the atheme was spificly(or howerver u spell it) suck the powers out of demons and witches