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Not to be confused with the events of Witch Trials...

Witch Trial is the season 2 premiere and the 23rd overall episode of Charmed.

Summary[]

For a complete plot of Witch Trial, go here.
To read the full script of Witch Trial, go here.

When a demon steals the Book of Shadows, the Halliwell sisters have just one chance to recapture it or they will lose their powers forever.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Stars[]

Featuring[]

Uncredited[]

Magical Notes[]

The Book of Shadows[]

Rite of Passage[]

2x01-BOS-rite-of-passage

The entry in the Book of Shadows.

Grams flipped to this entry on a sunny morning to warn her granddaughters of an oncoming threat. Phoebe began reading the entry to her sisters, but she got interrupted by Abraxas, who stole the Book of Shadows, making it impossible for Phoebe to finish reading the entry. Because she had only read the first half, Phoebe and her sisters thought that the Power of One meant Prue, who was the strongest of the sisters.

Rite of Passage ~ fight
it with the Power of One,
or else... a more powerful
Evil that awaits will
destroy you.

Love Spell[]

2x01-BOS-love-spell

The spell in the Book of Shadows.

The last spell in the Book of Shadows (although the Relinquishment woodcut is the very last page) and thereby the first spell that Abraxas undid. The spell did not have any effect on the sisters or didn't bring back any demons since it is not a vanquishing spell.

"To find true love ...
I conjure thee, I conjure thee
I'm the Queen, You're the bee,
As I desire, so shall it be."
Warlock Spell

The spell in the Book of Shadows.

2x01-BOS-a-spell-for-invoking-the-power-of-three

The spell in the Book of Shadows.

Grams's "Happy Anniversary" Message[]

2x01-BOS-happy-anniversary

Grams's message to her granddaughters.

After appearing as a spirit to her granddaughters, Grams flipped to a blank page in the middle of the Book of Shadows and wrote an entry to congratulate them with their one year anniversary of being witches.

Happy Anniversary,
My Darlings

Spells[]

The Power of Three Spell[]

The spell which The Charmed Ones first used to vanquish Jeremy Burns. When Abraxas reversed this spell, it brought back Jeremy after which he was sent to Piper who, at the time, was at P3 with Rob, the banker. Panicking, Piper forgot the spell and called her sisters; Prue and Phoebe. Together they chanted this spell and vanquished Jeremy for a second time.

The Power of Three will set us free!
The Power of Three will set us free!
The Power of Three will set us free!

Woogyman Spell[]

The third demon that Abraxas brought back was the Woogyman. Piper and Phoebe had just found out Abraxas' name when the Woogyman appeared in the family room of the manor. Phoebe had forgotten the spell and needed Piper's help to remember it. Luckily, Piper could help and together, the two sisters vanquished the Woogyman one more time.

I am light,
I am one too strong to fight,
Return to dark where shadows dwell,
you can not have this Halliwell!
Now go away, and leave my sight,
and take with you this endless night.

A Spell for Invoking the Power of Three[]

A spell which is completely the same as "Dominus Trinus", except it misses the last three lines. When Abraxas had almost undone every spell in the Book of Shadows, The Charmed Ones used this spell to vanquish him.

Hear now the words of the witches,
The secrets we hid in the night,
The oldest of Gods are invoked here,
The great work of magic is sought...
...In this night and in this hour,
I call upon the ancient power...

Nicholas Must Die[]

This spell was used by Prue to vanquish the warlock Nicholas. He was brought back from the dead by Abraxas and was sent to Buckland Auction House to kill Prue where she was able to vanquish him with this spell:

Lavender, Mimosa, Holy Thistle,
cleanse this evil from our midst.
Scatter its cells throughout time,
let this Nick no more exist.

To Reverse the Warlock Spell[]

2x01-NicholasVanquished

Nicholas being vanquished.

Eerf su tes lliw
eerht fo rewop eht.

To Reverse the Woogyman Spell[]

Llewd swodahs erehw krad ot nruter,
thgif ot gnorts oot eno ma I

To Reverse the Nicholas Must Die Spell[]

Tsdim ruo morf live siht esnaelc,
eltsiht yloh, asomim, redneval.
2x01-WarlockSpellDissappears

The Power of Three Spell disappears as a result of Abraxas undoing the spell.

Powers[]

Terms[]

2x01-PowerOfOne

The Power of One

  • Equinox: occurs when the sun passes directly over the equator. It occurs twice a year at the beginning of spring and fall. It is a powerful day in and of itself, the convergence of powers is even stronger, the potential greater. All one has to do is connect.
  • The Power of One: first believed to be Prue Halliwell, it actually is the united power of the Charmed Ones; The Power of Three.
  • Rite of Passage: a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. In this case, learning that you are stronger with three than one.

Artifacts[]

  • Kit's Collar: The red collar that Kit wears, it has a gold plate with an engraved triquetra which made Phoebe realize that it stands for the bond between her and her sisters, the Power of Three.
  • Athame: is a double edged ceremonial knife. Witches often use athames in their daily practice and rituals in order to direct energies. Warlocks generally use athames in their ambitions to kill witches in order to obtain their powers.
  • The Altar: a piece of furniture upon which a Wiccan practitioner places several symbolic and functional items for the purpose of casting spells, and/or saying chants and prayers.

Notes and Trivia[]

BookofShadows - ending

The image used as background for the ending credits.

  • This episode is the second one to feature the word witch in its title.
  • Prue channels her power through her eyes for the first time since "When Bad Warlocks Go Good".
  • This episode scored 5.1 million viewers.
  • The opening credits have changed, featuring the newly added cast (Greg Vaughan, and Karis Paige Bryant) and new clips for the other characters. T.W. King is no longer featured in the opening since he departed the series after the season 1 finale "Déjà Vu All Over Again".
  • From this episode on, the ending credits feature an image of the Book of Shadows on its stand in the attic. The image is taken from this episode's teaser.
  • The majority of this episode supposedly takes place on September 23, 1999, as Phoebe mentions it's the day of the autumnal equinox. That equinox of that year was on September 23, which means the sisters got their powers on September 23, 1998.
  • Its revealed that all the times that the pages of the Book of Shadows moved by themselves it was actually Grams' doing.
  • A clip has been reused from a previous episode: The moon, half-covered by clouds from "Something Wicca This Way Comes". It's the second time that it was featured in the teaser of an episode.
  • As mentioned by Prue Halliwell, it has been a month since the last demon attack.
  • Piper starts the process of opening her own club called P3.
  • The nightclub that Piper is trying to buy is offered by SWA Properties, which is the same real estate firm that Phoebe briefly worked for in the season 1 episode From Fear to Eternity.
  • Although it seems like Abraxas undid all the Charmed Ones' spells featured in the Book of Shadows, only three vanquished evils return; Jeremy, Nicholas and the Woogyman.
  • When the Woogyman attacks Piper and Phoebe, Phoebe begins to say the spell to banish it, but then says that she can't remember the rest and Piper has to help her finish. This is strange, as she was the only one of the three sisters who could remember it in "Is There a Woogy in the House?", and ended up being the one who wrote it in the Book of Shadows.
  • Grams appears for the first time in the series as a spirit.
  • Prue has a new car, a black 1999 Mazda Miata.
  • Piper gets a new car, a forest green 1998 Jeep Cherokee.
  • It is revealed for what the Triquetra stands; the bond between the sisters, the Power of Three.
  • Nicholas' vanquish is described as a supernova in the script.
  • It is revealed that the astral plane co-exists within our own realm.
  • This is one of the episodes which defines witches as both magical and non-magical.
  • Abraxas undid the spells by reversing the words. The Love Spell was the only spell whose reversed version was different, it was the text of the Love Potion, the page opposite the Love Spell.
  • This would be the first episode where the sisters were able to use a successful vanquishing spell from a distance, with only Piper physically present to recite the spell against Jeremy while Prue and Phoebe recite the spell through the phone.
  • Deleted scenes:
    • In the script, Stevie mentions there are only 7 planes of existence. It is likely that mortal witches don't know of the other 4 planes.
    • Discussion on how to find Abraxas and the Book, right after Dan left the manor.
    • Darryl speaks to Prue and Piper in P3, asking if he should even investigate the attack. Piper says he better not. Darryl says to Prue that he needs to talk with her, Prue says she's too busy.
    • When the sisters are vanquishing Abraxas, he tries to hurt them and scratches Prue with his claw. This explains the sudden tear in Prue's shirt.
    • Prue moves a vase in her office to test her powers. This scene was used for the opening credits of season 2. (see the photos below)

Cultural References[]

  • The term Abraxas derives from an ancient charm composed of Greek letters: originally believed to have magical powers and inscribed on amulets, etc, but from the second century ad personified by Gnostics as a deity, the source of divine emanations.
  • The title Witch Trial is a reference to the Salem Witch Trials.
  • Some books Phoebe purchased from the book store were:
    • "The Wicca Garden" by Gerina Dunwich.
    • "Goddess Spirituality Book: Rituals, Holydays and Moon Magic" by Fiona Morgan.
    • "The Wiccan Mysteries: Ancient Origins & Teachings" by Raven Grimassi.
    • "The History of Witchcraft and Demonology" by Montague Summers.

Continuity Errors[]

Crewmember glitch

The foot of a crew member can be seen.

  • When Piper freezes Rob initially, his mouth is opened. However, right after Piper walks by him as he's frozen, his mouth is closed and smiling. The shots of him frozen after are showing his mouth back to being opened.
  • When Prue walked into the house at the beginning of the episode, she spotted Rob frozen in the living room and rushed back outside before the freeze ended. She should not have spotted Rob, because the walls would have blocked her from seeing him.
  • A crew member crawls off-screen when the sisters run to the Book of Shadows.
  • During a gathering of women in nature, when they all appear naked in the plot, a woman in white underwear is clearly visible behind Phoebe's left shoulder.
  • When Abraxas undoes The Woogeyman Spell on the Book of Shadows, a shot of the page reads "You can not have the Halliwell" instead of "this Halliwell".
  • When falling on the stone altar, it is noticeable that the Book of Shadows was replaced by some sort of brown prop.

Gallery[]

Screencaps[]

Promotional Pictures[]

Episode Stills[]

Quotes[]

(Phoebe walks in. All the lights are turned off.)
Phoebe: Hello? Anybody home? Sister witches, guess what?
(Phoebe walks in the living room and turns on the light. Piper is there making out with a guy on the couch. She jumps up.)
Piper: Oh, oh. Are you nuts?
Phoebe: What are you doing?
Rob: Hi.
Phoebe: Hi.
(Piper freezes the guy and walks over to Phoebe.)
Piper: Ooh.
Phoebe: Hi.
Piper: Sister witches? I can't believe you said that. What's the matter with you?
Phoebe: How was I supposed to know that you were gonna be here with anybody? Last I heard that you were meeting a banker friend about the loan. (She looks at the guy and then back at Piper.) Is this the credit check?

(The girl walks in and picks up the phone. Prue and Piper walk into the foyer.)
Piper: (to Phoebe) Are you out of your mind?
Phoebe: What was I supposed to do? Say no? Look at that poor girl. (They look at her.)
Dan: (outside) Jenny? (A cute guy in his late 20's let's himself inside.) Jenny, come on. Talk to me.
Phoebe, Prue, and Piper: Whoa!

Phoebe: What have we got to lose, okay?
(Piper and Phoebe turns around and notice all the women have taken off their clothes.)
Piper: Well, apparently we've got our clothes to lose.
Phoebe: I see that.
(Phoebe pulls Piper behind a rock wall and Phoebe starts taking off her clothes.)
Piper: No. Whoa, Whoa. Wait. What are you doing?
Phoebe: When in Rome.
Piper: No-no-no! We're not in Rome, Phoebe. We're in California. And it's illegal here.

(Piper rings Prue from P3 after being attacked by Jeremy)
Prue: Hello?
Piper: Prue, thank god you're there. Jeremy just attacked me.
Prue: Jeremy? That is impossible! We vanquished him a year ago.
Piper: Well, apparently he got un-vanquished somehow, and since we don't have the Book of Shadows, we're going to have to remember the spell together. I'm conferencing Phoebe. (conferences Phoebe)
Phoebe are you there?
Phoebe: AT&T, Power of Three!

International Titles[]

  • French: Célébration (Celebration)
  • Czech: Zkouška (Trial)
  • Slovak: Abraxas 
  • Spanish (Spain): Caza de brujas (Witch-Hunt)
  • Spanish (Latin America): El juicio de una/las brujas (The Judgement of a/the Witch(es))
  • Portuguese (Brazil): Caça às Bruxas (Witch-Hunt)
  • Russian: Новое испытание [Novoe ispytanie] (The New Trial)
  • Italian: L'Anniversario (The Anniversary)
  • Hungarian: Veszélyben a Hármak Ereje (The Power of Three is in Danger)
  • German: Abraxas
  • Serbian: Vesticja sudjenja
  • Finnish: Noitapiiri kokoontuu jälleen (The Coven Gathers Again)
Previous Episode:
Déjà Vu All Over Again
Next Episode:
Morality Bites
Episodes: Season 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
Comics: 9 - 10
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