Guardians

The **Guardians** are the spirits of those in their lifetimes that were former Charmed Ones who upon their deaths ascended to become one with the magical world. In the case of Ishta, she was forced to become a protector of the Black Amber Tree hidden beneath the Command Center as a punishment for betraying her sisterhood with Ishani by entombing Inara, who grew power-hungry, which later lead her to be an infrequent mentor to the Vaughn-Vera sisters. Macy Vaughn ascended upon her death to become a Guardian.

## History

### The Distant Past

After the defeat of the first Conquerer, a power-hungry mortal who wanted to steal all magic for himself, before or during the time of the 8th Millennium B.C., Inara, one of the first Charmed Ones, wanted to restore the stolen power of the Conquerer, to put magic everywhere. Ishta and Ishani, the other two Charmed Ones disagreed, knowing it would continue to create temptation for another Conquerer to rise. So, they combined the power in one place and hid it so no one could find it, thus creating the Source. However, the argument tore the Charmed Ones apart, with Inara growing power hungry and wanting to take on the power, which resulted in Ishta and Ishani entombing her alive south of Baghdad in the Akahtu Mines, at the cost of betraying their sisterhood and creating a vicious cycle of destruction. As a punishment for betraying the sisterhood, Ishta was bound to the Black Amber Tree to serve as its guardian, acting as surveillance in hopes of meeting future Charmed Ones to help them break the cycle, while Ishani was forced to wander the Earth alone for all eternity, watching events play out from the sidelines.

### 2021

Macy Vaughn's stolen demonic powers were restored just in time for her and her sisters to use it in combination with the Power of Three to expel the Whispering Evil from its current host. The Charmed Ones were previously warned of the adaptive nature of the Whispering Evil so it wasn't a complete shock when the ancient being sought out the powerful Charmed One with demonic powers as its ultimate host. Macy was able to stop its control by drinking poison, which killed the ancient monster, but its death inside Macy damaged her body at the cellular level. Despite the efforts of her sisters and Harry Greenwood, the damage was irreparable as the Guardian had appeared in a dying Macy's dreamworld to inform her that she was on the verge of becoming a Guardian. In the end, having come to terms with what had happened, her sisters took the dying Macy to the Guardian where her soul separated from her body and ascended, becoming part of the magical world.

## Powers and Abilities

*Basic Powers*
* **Spell Casting:** The ability to cast spells and perform rituals.
* **Potion Making:** The ability to brew and concoct potions, remedies and elixirs that have supernatural properties.

*Other Powers*
* **Individual Powers:** Since they were witches, the Guardians possess a variety of powers that are unique to each individual.

*Inactive Powers*
* **Immunity:** Being witches, the Guardians were inherently immune to certain magical abilities (e.g. the Sirens' songs and to Pixie Dust).

*Spirit Powers*
* **Flight:** The ability to defy gravity and propel oneself in any direction through the air. Ishta is able to break up into wispy, spectral energy. Macy later developed this ability upon ascending to become one with the Black Amber Tree after her death.
* **Technopathy:** The ability to communicate with modern technology and control it. Ishta uses this to operate the system of the Command Center and to provide the various protective measures.

*Former Powers*
* **The Power of Three:** The collective power of the Charmed Ones, which stems from their sisterly bond. Evidently, there are certain spells that require the Power of Three and cannot be cast by even the most powerful witches, like Charity Callahan. Following their deaths and their ascension as Guardians, they have forever lost the Power of Three.
	+ **Resistance:** Presumably through the Power of Three, the Charmed Ones are able to resist the effects of having their memory erased to a certain extent, allowing the memories to slowly bleed back through.

## Former Weaknesses

* **Death of Magic:** When magic was dying after Vivienne Laurent touched the pool of pure black amber from the Black Amber Tree, Ishta was greatly affected due to being alive at the time.
* **Mortality:** Despite being witches, the Guardians were still mortal and still had many of the same weaknesses as non-supernatural humans (e.g. age, decapitation, disease, heart-failure, suffocation, snapped neck, etc.), until their deaths.
* **The Destruction of the Sisterhood:** Despite the Power of Three being one of their greatest strengths, it was also a burden. Every generation of Charmed Ones met a tragic end due to the Power of Three where one member of each sisterhood died an untimely death.

## Trivia

* All of the Guardians wear white robes and a belt with a triquetra symbol on it.
	+ However, in *Cats and Camels and Elephants, oh my…*, Ishta was shown wearing a black cloak when she visited the Veil.
* The existence of other guardians, aside from Ishta, is never specifically stated within the series. Ishta is the only previous Charmed One to ever be shown guarding the magical world and the Black Amber Tree in death, and the only one to be recognized as "the Guardian" with this fate having been forced upon her after the betrayal of her sisterhood. Macy Vaughn was shown donning an outfit similar to Ishta upon her death and ascending into the magical tree, but then was subsequently said to have moved on to the afterlife. After Ishta, Inara and Ishani sacrificed themselves to stop the Nebron Root Bomb, it is unknown if there are any other guardian spirits of this sort.

## References

1. ↑ *Unsafe Space*
2. ↑ *Divine Secrets of the O.G. Sisterhood*
3. ↑ *Cats and Camels and Elephants, oh my…*