STEALING THE BOOK OF SHADOWS

[vandergraafk]

In this thread, discuss demonic threats against the Book of Shadows. Already in Season 1, demonic and warlock attacks against the Book of Shadows occurred. These were repeated throughout the seasons until Season 7 when Zankou actually does manage to steal the book and remove it from the Manor. Exactly how did Zankou manage to do that when other demons had failed? Are you persuaded by the plot development that allowed that theft to take place?

As you can guess, I am not at all persuaded that Zankou had done enough to weaken the sisters emotionally. Thus, he should not have been able to steal the Book of Shadows nor remove it from the Manor. Some of my reasons for adopting this position were posted in the Season 7 General Discussion thread. Rather than re-post them here, I invite you to read those postings before commenting here.

[whitelightertony]

The biggest problem occurs in "Thank You For Not Morphing," when one of the shapeshifters, in Phoebe's premonition, disguises himself as Victor and walks right out of the manor with the Book of Shadows.

Evil should not be able to touch the book, so this must be a false premonition on Phoebe's part.

[ljones]

whitelightertony said:

The biggest problem occurs in "Thank You For Not Morphing," when one of the shapeshifters, in Phoebe's premonition, disguises himself as Victor and walks right out of the manor with the Book of Shadows.

Evil should not be able to touch the book, so this must be a false premonition on Phoebe's part.

The sisters and Leo have been able to touch the Book of Shadows and despite being "vanquishers of evil", they do have some evil or darkness within them.


Perhaps those who have dark intentions behind using the Book are unable to touch it.

[vandergraafk]

I would hesitate to dismiss Phoebe's premonition as "false". Her premonitions are meant usually to give an indication as to what might happen so that the sisters might take steps to alter the outcome. Certainly, the three warlocks posed a threat to the Book of Shadows. They had - or at least the dog - had already tried to remove the book from the Manor without success. For Plan B, the warlocks attempted to enlist Victor Bennett in their scheme. When Victor refused to go along, Plan C was put into action. One of the warlocks would try to bluff the Book of Shadows by pretending to be Victor Bennett. Of course, Plan C was never realized since Prue cast a spell to vanquish the demons in the house. Given that the real Victor Bennett had a protection ring, he was saved from vanquish.

Now, do these events suggest that Phoebe's premonition was false? Hardly! Actions were taken that altered the future. That's exactly what a premonition can mean once it has been properly understood and interpreted.

I should note that bluffing the Book of Shadows was a strategm that the Stillwell sisters used to perfection in the Power of Three Blondes.

[piperhalliwell4eve]

ok yes some demons have been able to bluff the book like
Jenni
frome I dream of phoebe she was a demon and she touched the book
and then there was the 3 shapeshifters that stole the sisters identaty in season 8 they couldnt touch the book but they looked like the sisters so i dont get the whole trying to foul the book or evil not being able to touch the book as we have seen it has stoped evil imposters touching the book and also others that have shape shifted into the sisters or acted good some of them it stops and some of them it doesnt!

[charmedlives4ever]

this is what always got me like someone said above if the deomns had evil intentions they couldent even touch the book like in the episode with the shapeshifters he carried the book all the way downstaires but he had evil plans for it and than in later season we see the demons being thrown across the room just by laying a finger on it so i was always expecting something new wehn a demon wanted the book since they alwasy insisted on changing the rules behind it

[whitelightertony]

When Victor refused to go along, Plan C was put into action. One of the warlocks would try to bluff the Book of Shadows by pretending to be Victor Bennett. Of course, Plan C was never realized since Prue cast a spell to vanquish the demons in the house.

But wouldn't the Book be able to sense evil? How do you explain the shapeshifter making it all the way out the front door in Phoebe's premonition?

[vandergraafk]

I think you incorrectly assume that the Victor in Phoebe's premonition was the shapeshifted warlock. I don't. I believe it was Victor Bennett that Phoebe saw. And, he would have been able to spirit the Book out of the manor had he cooperated with the warlocks.

On your second point: again, there is an unresolved tension in Charmed. On the one hand, the power of the Book to resist evil depends on the emotional bonds of the sisters. We see this asserted again and again. Zankou is simply the most successful of all the demons. However, it should be asked whether this defense mechanism is ever-present or is merely the chance result of the power of three. In other words, how did Grams and Patty manage to protect the Book of Shadows from evil? Neither possessed the power of three. Thus, it should have been more vulnerable to demonic attack during those times.

On the other hand, the Book of Shadows seems to possess its own ability to resist evil. Thus, when the seemingly self-doubting sisters attempt to regain possession of the Book in Something Wiccan, the Book repels the attempt. Likewise, when Zankou first shapeshifts into Piper at the beginning of Something Wiccan, he cannot bluff the Book. He, too, is repelled.

Is the Book able to sniff out demonic aura or witchy aura in order to defend itself? If so, then perhaps the lower level warlocks in Thank You for Not Morphing possessed only a lower degree of demonic aura and could fool the Book temporarily, but not enough to allow it to pass outside the manor.

Or, can the Book read intentions? That is, the low level aura of the shapeshifting warlocks in Thank You for Not Morphing may not have triggered the intial line of defense, but the attempt to extricate the Book from the manor certainly revealed the intentions of the would be thieves.

So, why, then, is Paige able to toss the Book so glibly out the windown in Hell Hath No Fury? Did her Charmed aura give her a pass on the obvious attempt to sneak the Book out of the attic?

[piperhalliwell4eve]

Ok in thank you for not morphing!!
the shape shifter didnt get the book out of the door he carried it down stairs yes
but when he got to the door the book repled and wouldnt let him take it out back to the point where no one can take the book out of the manor unless they are a charmed one
and when the shape shifter shape shifted into victor in Phoebe's premonition it was because victor was there dad and it needed to be someone the sisters trusted to get the book out of the house.

[Fourever Charmed]

The Book's power was supposed to grow as they did. Since they were new to their powers, it would make sense that the Book would also "be new to its powers," so to speak. As we saw, it grew from being able to be touched and taken by demons, to being able to erect a force field around itself.

I remember hearing someone online explain it like this, "One day the Book might actually be able to vanquish a demon upon touching it."

[vandergraafk]

But, now we are turning the Book into something it may or may not be. What exactly is the Book of Shadows?

First and foremost, it is the repository of witches' spells from the entire lineage of Warren women, at least those which their ancestors felt important enough to write down. Second, it is a conduit for the Elders to place spells into in order for the sisters to be forearmed. (The Suxen Spell). Third, the Book is constantly changing. Attempts to mark up the Book or even to color code it (for organizational purposes) can be cleansed as the Book re-boots itself!?!

If the Book is to defend itself, how can that be? If the Book is a reflection of the sisters' powers and their collective will, then clearly, since the sisters do not wish the Book to be removed from the house or touched by a demon, it is their intention and will that the Book reflects. Weakening that will (Zankou) or confusing those intentions (Power Outage) will lessen the ability of the Book to "protect" itself.

[Astral Echo]

How do we know what the Book is, the book could have a protection spell on it, for example one of the ancestors could of put a spell on it years ago.

[whitelightertony]

So, why, then, is Paige able to toss the Book so glibly out the windown in Hell Hath No Fury? Did her Charmed aura give her a pass on the obvious attempt to sneak the Book out of the attic?

I think Paige was about to remove the Book of Shadows from the house because the Book recognized her as a Charmed One and a being of Good, so it trusted her. That's why she was able to carry it all the way to South Bay Social Services...although Paige was unable to directly xerox its pages, because the mystical essence of the Book presumably renders it invisible to mortal-conceived reproduction machines.

I think a more interesting question is: would Lilah or Elise have been able to touch the Book of Shadows if they'd caught Paige with it, being pure mortals and thus (as we discovered in "Scry Hard") neutral vessels. Although I think Glenn was able to touch the Book in "Trial By Magic" (I don't remember completely, plus it all happened offscreen), so my question may be moot.

[vandergraafk]

Yes, you've answered the rhetorical question exactly as I imagined it would be. There was something about Paige - her aura as a Charmed One - that allowed her to do this. However, and here's the difficulty I have with Zankou, how do self-confidence and aura interact? Does a weakening of self-confidence in one's abilities as a witch/Charmed One weaken one's aura? Then, I can understand why the sisters might not have been able to touch the Book once it had been stolen by Zankou. After all, their self-confidence was presumably at a low point, and their aura may not have enough to overcome anything Zankou had done with the book. The problem I have, though, is with Zankou's stealing of the book in the first place. Yes, the sisters were weakened emotionally and the Book became more vulnerable. But, if the argument is made that the Book can recognize a witch's aura, then surely it would have recognized demonic aura and still resisted Zankou's efforts to remove the book from the manor.

[whitelightertony]

The problem I have, though, is with Zankou's stealing of the book in the first place. Yes, the sisters were weakened emotionally and the Book became more vulnerable. But, if the argument is made that the Book can recognize a witch's aura, then surely it would have recognized demonic aura and still resisted Zankou's efforts to remove the book from the manor.

Not if the Book was confused, due to the weakened state of the sisters.

Once Zankou gained access to the Book, his evilness corrupted it, causing it to repel the Charmed Ones.

[vandergraafk]

But, if the Book of Shadows were corrupted, then it would not contain the spells accessible to good magic. The Book should have become something akin to what it became when Prue was turned evil during Season 3 (Bride and Gloom). No, I still have a BIG problem with this episode.

[piperhalliwell4eve]

the book had evil spells etc in it in bride and gloom because the sisters were turned evil and the book is an extension to them therefore the book turned evil

[vandergraafk]

You've missed the point. Re-read whitelightertony's contribution, then read mine. After that, reflect again on what I wrote. All you have done is state the obvious. No one is disputing what you wrote. The discussion is being conducted at a much deeper level than you perhaps imagine!

Now, it depends on what whitelightertony means by "corrupting the Book". I take this to mean that its content turns evil as happened in Bride and Gloom. Note that I did not say it would turn evil just as it did in Bride and Gloom. I said it would turn evil something akin to what happened in Bride and Gloom.

It could be that whitelightertony has something else in mine. Zankou did not corrupt the Book - meaning its contents - but altered its aura recognition ability. First, I don't know how Zankou could do that unless one argues that touching the Book in and of itself alters the aura recognition process. However, that undermines what was presented in Thank You for Not Morphing when a warlock actually manages to latch onto the Book but cannot remove it from the Manor. The sisters should not have been able to touch it afterwards without perhaps chanting the power of three spell or by casting some other spell. I don't think the sisters were lacking in confidence in that episode. So, casting a confidence spell won't help. Second, how then do the sisters recover the book? Do they have to cast a spell to undo Zankou's mojo? It doesn't make a lot of sense to me!

[ljones]

piperhalliwell4eve said:

the book had evil spells etc in it in bride and gloom because the sisters were turned evil and the book is an extension to them therefore the book turned evil

That is because the Book of Shadows is the sisters' ka or their sigil - a representation of them as the Power of Three.

[spiritsas]

fourevercharmed said:

The Book's power was supposed to grow as they did. Since they were new to their powers, it would make sense that the Book would also "be new to its powers," so to speak. As we saw, it grew from being able to be touched and taken by demons, to being able to erect a force field around itself.

I remember hearing someone online explain it like this, "One day the Book might actually be able to vanquish a demon upon touching it."

I was thinking exactly the same thing as I've been reading through this thread. Whether it be the growing (or growing pains) of the Charmedverse or intentional on the writers and creators part, we did see how, from episode to episode, and season to season, how not only did their powers increase, but so did the powers of the demons they were fighting, until they got to the Source. Granted, this was not a linear progression, but in general it holds.

Similarly, the Book grew in power too, with each new generation and with the book now in connection with the TCO, it too was made more powerful by this connection. Let me also add that what we see on a show will never be in perfect sync with it's past, for a variety of reasons. Bad memory, or they needed to do something a certain way to make a story work, etc. It is Hollywood after all, not rocket science.