Margaret Isobel Thoreaux

"*And you, greedy boy, I can only imagine what mischief you would cause were you to unite the stones of knowledge. Too bad that neither of you could see what was right in front of you all along. It was never a map.*"
—Isobel to Jason Teague and Lex Luthor[src]

Countess **Margaret Isobel Thoreaux** was a character on The CW's *Smallville*. She first appears in the eighth episode of the fourth season. She is portrayed by starring cast member Kristin Kreuk.

## History

### 17th Century

Isobel was recruited by Duchess Gertrude to find the stones. Isobel went to a tent with a mystic and saw a Kryptonian in the globe, who told her that if she got the stones they could rule together. She walked out thinking she herself could rule Earth one day. However, Isobel betrayed the Duchess in the end and stole her map to the Crystal of Air, so she could have it to herself. Madeline Evans and Brianna Withridge were the Countess's comrades and they helped Isobel search for the Stones of Power. The Duchess accused them of being witches they were captured by the townspeople and were sentenced to burn at the stake for practicing witchcraft, although it turned out Gertrude was a witch also. Isobel lost her spell book and was brought to the courtyard to be burned along with Madeline and Brianna. Before she was burned, Isobel spat blood which intertwined with the book's symbol and added a word giving her a chance of resurrection. The Mark of Transference appeared on her skin, which would enable her to possess Lana's body. As the Countess and her companions burned, she prophesied that her heir would awaken her and that she would find the stones and have vengeance. The Countess also vowed to kill each of Gertrude's heirs, therefore destroying the entire future of Duchess Gertrude's family line when Isobel rose again.

### Return

Centuries later, Isobel's tomb was placed in a church in Paris by the grandmother of Genevieve Teague, who used her son to orchestrate a visit by Lana to the tomb. When Lana did a rubbing of the Countess' tomb, she was blasted with a beam of light that branded her with the Mark of Transference. She woke up twelve hours later in her bedroom, with no memory of what happened. This drove her to return to Smallville when she saw the symbol in the Kawatche Caves in some online pictures. She hoped that by returning home, she could learn more about the Mark and the Countess. Jason soon followed.

Lana became possessed by the Countess Theroux when she touched the spell book she had purchased on eBay. Isobel made a potion to restore the spirits of her followers. Brianna's spirit was transferred into the body of Lois Lane and Madeline's into Chloe Sullivan. She then stole the hidden map in the Russian Manuscript at the Luthor Mansion and placed a spell on Lex Luthor to play the piano indefinitely. Isobel and her comrades infiltrated a party thrown by Clark Kent and bewitched everyone, including Clark, to start losing their inhibitions and for all the boys to take their shirts off and dance in their boxer shorts. The next morning, having regained consciousness and learned what had happened to Lex, Clark confronted Isobel just as she had reacquired her old spell book from Jason, forcing him to rescue Jason while she escaped, leaving him a message to meet in the barn at midnight. In the subsequent confrontation, Clark's invulnerability and heat vision allowed him to withstand the witches' initial attacks (although they assumed that he was a sorcerer rather than an alien), but they nevertheless managed to get the upper hand, stripping Clark of his powers and leaving to open the hidden chamber in the Kawatche Caves after realizing that he knew where one of the stones was hidden. When Clark arrived to stop them, having been released by Jason, Isobel grabbed the Crystal of Fire, only to scream out in pain as the stone protected itself from her. Clark grabbed the stone, which restored his powers. Although Isobel threatened to remove his powers again, he swiftly destroyed the spell book with his heat vision, causing Lana, Chloe and Lois to revert to normal.

Isobel emerged once again after Lana was tortured by Chinese officers. She broke free from the Chinese officers and revealed that the map is the key to one of the Crystals of Knowledge. Isobel knocked Clark out and went to the location of the Crystal. Isobel unearthed a horse statue holding the stone. When she broke it, it gave off the piercing buzz to Clark: he followed its origin which led him to Isobel and the Crystal. Isobel fought Clark with magically-powered Chinese weapons. She wounded Clark, who put up a fight against the magically-skilled Isobel. Clark managed to defeat her and get the stone away from her but when Isobel touched the stone together with Clark, there was an explosion. The effects of the explosion seemed to send Isobel back into hiatus and the stone disappeared.

Isobel resurfaced for the last time when Lana was being strangled by Genevieve Teague and used the Air Stone to stab Genevieve in the heart. Once Isobel had exacted her revenge on Duchess Gertrude, she freed herself from Lana and Isobel's spirit could finally rest. The Mark of Transference was removed.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Magic:** As a witch, Isobel had considerable magic capabilities at her disposal. Due to a certain spell book filled with numerous spells, Isobel had a vast repertoire of various supernatural powers, of which being stronger than her other spells. Appearing to be a signature of hers, Isobel often cast a violet array of light, from her fingertips, which proved to be devastating and chaotic. This attack destroyed anything it hits, but when it hit Clark, he appeared stunned but he was strong enough to survive. She also had the power to ignite a target in violet flame and have the fire glow eerily brighter than normal. It seems that her power was far greater than those of her two cohorts, Brianna and Madeline, who were only able to muster a handful of spells, like mild illusions and energy, while Isobel seemed to have a massive reservoir of powers possibly because of her superior experience in the magical arts. They appeared to be more adept at telekinetic spells, such as when they throw a wheel and various farm tools at Clark, which he was able to either brush off or deflect with his heat vision, respectively. Neither of them had the ability to defy death alone, requiring Isobel to resurrect them: it was also her who drained Clark's Kryptonian powers from him, using herself as a conduit to siphon away all of them. This leads to the assumption that Isobel was the greatest of the three, wielding more power than any other non-alien. It is unknown if she was superior, inferior, or equal compared to Zatanna. She could move at alarming speeds, though not nearly as fast as most speedsters. As a fully fledged witch, she could create rifts or minor tremors in the Earth.
	+ **Spell Casting:** While in possession of Lana Lang, Isobel used other spells, like when she enchanted two swords during the battle against Clark. Due to the hue at the tips of the blades, the weapons could harm him.
	+ **Levitation:** While battleing with Clark, Isobel displayed a levitation power. While dodgeing some of Clark's attacks, Isobel would fly into the air and back to the ground, minumising the damage done to her by Clark's super powers.
	+ **Mind Control:** She could use a mind-control like power to extract information from someone by merely being close to them. She could also place others under a form of temporal stasis (which she does to Lex before she enchants him to play the piano).
	+ **Enhanced Strength:** She possessed impressive superhuman strength that is somewhat above the average of a typical human, though still far inferior to any other superhuman being, including Clark. Isobel, through Lana, was able to activate this ability, but seemed to be suppressed at first, as shown in Sacred, when she burst her bonds when she took possession of Lana Lang in China when Lana was about to be tortured by Chinese soldiers. She demonstrated it again when she possessed Lana for the last time when she easily overpowered and stabbed Genevieve Teague, a much larger woman, with the Air Stone when Teague attempted to kill Lana.
	+ **Enhanced Durability:** She possessed somewhat of a high durability threshold. While in China, when Lana was tortured by Chinese soldiers with and Isobel took possession of Lana again, she also showed some level of invulnerability to electric shock. Isobel came back as Lana was being electrocuted by her captors: that electrocution was unsuccessfully used on Isobel and she stated that she would not let any harm come to Lana, the body she inhabited.
	+ **Magical Senses**: Isobel possessed an awareness of anything magical, being able to detect their auras. She was able to sense Clark's powers and was able to determine that he was not magical.
	+ **Teleportation:** Isobel was able to teleport vast distances with naught but a word. When the stone of air was on the ground and Clark ran at super speed to grab it, Isobel teleported down to it, before Clark could grab it.
	+ **Telekinesis:** By utilizing spells from the spell book, Isobel could influence the movement of objects, being able to lift, throw, or manipulate objects and people with her sheer force of will.
	+ **Magical Blasts:** By just a swift movement of her arm and hand she was able to project high power blasts which could knock out any person who came into contact with them, usually knocking them quite far. This is used when she breaks out of the prison chair, knocking out the guards and twice against Clark, knocking him out both times. Thus showing how incredibly strong it was.

### Abilities

* **Martial Arts:** Somehow, Isobel knows martial arts. It is suggested that she learned it sometime as a witch in the 17th century. She used this fighting skill to fight with Clark.

### Weaknesses

* **Stones of Power:** She does appear, however, to have one weakness, which ironically is the very thing she sought. She seemed to be unable to touch the Stones of Power with her bare skin without it burning her. Originally she is unaware of this and is stunned when the Crystal of Fire burns her and is repelled from her. She later takes precautions against this by wrapping the Crystal of Air in a red cloth, so as to prevent it from touching her skin.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Spell"
2. ↑ "Bound"
3. ↑ "Crusade"
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Sacred"
5. ↑ "Commencement"