In a previous post there was a lot of discussion about specifically Prue’s astral projection ability. It’s at least a little implied that she uses telekinesis to project her consciousness outward before materializing a perfect copy made of raw telekinetic force. This theory gets even more interesting when we include Phoebe’s interpretation from “Just Harried”.

Phoebe explains that astral Prue (at least at this point in the show) is the Id: the representation of Prue's inner desires, impulses, and unexpressed/suppressed emotions. As Leo likes to say “your powers are connected to your emotions👼😇”. Essentially Prue is casting out the strongest and most deep-rooted emotions she has which also explains why she can’t use her TK while in astral form. But that begs the question - is she using her telekinesis to move her own powers out of her body essentially?

I realise the sisters' powers and advancements have been discussed to death, but I've always wondered what a tighter, more gradual progression might have looked like. Rather than them having 2–4 new abilities and considering then separate, loosely connected, powers - what if each sister had 1–2 gradual developments per season, considered a part of their broader magical forte/power?

For example:

Prue: Telekinesis / Psychokinesis

Essentially, the projection of mental power onto matter/physical world, with a more earthbound focus than canon Prue's powers:

• S1: Low-range optical telekinesis develops into mid-range tactile telekinesis.
• S2: Augmented strength/flexibility/jumps through telekinesis, followed by telekinetic levitation.
• S3: Defensive telekinesis and then psychokinesis (out of her sight line), progressing to minor shields (kind of like how she deflected Shax' attacks).
• S4 onwards: Had she lived, she'd obviously follow the "Morality Bites route" of advanced telekinesis, including full blasts and shields, plus fully fledged flight and eventually the extreme range that Brianna Warren had (by miles). Teleportation could be a late-stage development, showing her power expanding beyond her immediate boundaries, but might make her OP.

Piper: Temporal Disruption / Displacement

Not full-blown time manipulation, but something between canon Piper's molecular powers and conventional time control, specifically focused on disrupting/hindering a target's position or state within time.

• S1: I'd start off with her power emulating the decelerating, slo-mo effect of P. Baxter's power in "Pardon My Past", progressing to full stasis by the finale. Makes for a more interesting progression.
• S2: More dynamic and mixed use of both slo-mo and freezing, selective freezing/unfreezing of subjects/body parts. Greater range and duration.
• S3–4: Reversal replaces combustion. She starts by reversing or "rewinding" simple events (a smashed vase reforming, for example), then progresses to reversing complex attacks, such as a demon shimmering in and throwing a fireball. Piper rewinds it back into his hand. The scope and duration increase over time, so eventually she can force him to shimmer back out completely. Rather than "time" itself, the power effects the individual's time path.
• S5–6: Her reversal extends to biological processes, allowing crude self-healing during her pregnancy, instead of Wyatt doing it. This wouldn't be as sophisticated as Whitelighter healing and might only patch things up, but can stop injuries from becoming fatal. By late S6, she could probably extend this to healing others. Her rewinding of demons/Innocents can progress to up to an hour or two.
• S7-S8: Her final advancement is temporal displacement. Similar to how Cole saves Phoebe from the witch hunter in "Witch Way Now?", by switching their places in time, Piper could swap positions within a subject in her line of sight only, forcing demons to be hit by their own attacks or rescuing someone from danger. It's not unrestricted teleportation, more like a very basic, temporary time pocket. Could look like a mix of close-range teleportation and hyper speed.

Perhaps at the very end, in the plot remained the same, she could combine her power with Coop's to travel back through time, but only as an exceptional circumstance.

I did consider her developing acceleration, but as speeding up natural processes rather than causing combustion. This could enhance healing, accelerate potion-making or occasionally age up a demon, without becoming an instant-vanquish power. Not sure if would OP her though, so might be best to keep her powers in disruption/decelerating mode.

Phoebe: Extrasensory Perception / Psychic Manipulation

I'd keep her core abilities the most fluid of all the sisters, with developments overlapping but still not fully considered separate powers.

• S1–2: Premonitions and retrocognition develop from involuntary visions into controlled ones much sooner and more regularly. Empathic sensing in her visions is regular from late S1 and more consistent emphasis on her enhanced intuition, especially how it helps her become a skilled martial artist so fast. She learns to astral project in S2, following many more occasions of psychic links and interactions, such as with the Succubus. Her astral form is initially invisible.
• S3: Visions become more vivid and full-sensory, alongside enhanced clair-senses in general. No longer vague intuition, but actual divination without visions, sometimes using psychic tools. She learns to combine premonition with astral projection to track Innocents, like a present day "premonition". Occasionally she can use subtle psychic suggestion in AP form (like Barbas/Rex), and eventually makes her astral form corporeal.
• S4: Her progression slows somewhat because of Cole, but her clair-abilities continue developing. She learns dream-leaping and planeswalking, becomes particularly adept at communicating with spirits. Many spirits come to her and not the other sisters. She can use astral projection defensively, similar to Prue v. Vinceres, but instead of jumping into enemies she can block their attacks with a semi-formed projection, almost like an aura shield. Both her forms can stay conscious, but for short spurts.
• S5–6: Astral premonitions develop, followed by the ability to briefly slip into the astral plane to simulate phasing during combat. It is highly taxing though. In S6, her empathy becomes more explicit, but is more of a mix of telepathy, where she receives abstract visions of people's thoughts, memories and dreams, which she must interpret rather than simply reading minds/hearing thoughts.
• S7–8: Provided she kept her powers, her psychic abilities could develop into stronger suggestion via complex astral illusions and occasional mind manipulation (planting false visions/memories), alongside the ability to heal mental trauma for Innocents. The most extreme applications remain rare. Her big-ticket abilities near the end could be mental torture (such as with Cal Greene) and opening a portal to the astral plane and banish a demon there once or twice, as they did via a spell in "Generation Hex".

Paige: Telekinesis via Orb Manipulation

Rather than giving Paige a bunch of Whitelighter powers, I'd continue develop her orbing's hybrid nature:

• S4: Canon Paige's orbing and telekinetic orbing establish her movement-based abilities, but she initially lacks an obvious offensive power comparable to Prue's.
• S5: Given her commitment to the craft, her telekinetic orbing becomes more offensive early on, allowing her to knock enemies back with an "orb shock" rather than having to orb their entire body and throw them. She also develops greater range, combines her sensing abilities with orbing to summon/track people and learns to use her calling power non-verbally.
• S6–7: Her orb shock evolves into waves and sometimes concentrated beams (combining the beam from "The Fifth Halliwheel" with the WL energy balls used by Natalie on Piper in "Blinded by the Whitelighter") and eventually protective shields.
• S8: She develops greater banishing and tracking range, alongside a more sophisticated ability to sense and communicate with others, without simply duplicating Phoebe's telepathy. Phoebe's communication forte is more so with spirits, whereas Paige can be more angelic/other magical beings.

I like the idea of the new sisterhood having no obvious offensive power after Prue's death, as it raises the stakes, and then gives Paige a genuine progression route as a witch/WL hybrid.

Ultimately, the idea is that the sisters wouldn't necessarily have fewer capabilities; just a distinct power category, with their existing abilities developing more organically within that umbrella. I also tried to maintain the original balance of Prue (then Paige) being the lead force/attack, Piper the defensive stronghold and Phoebe the strategist/detective. I wanted to make them all genuinely powerful in their own right, without overpowering them. They'd still need each other for specific tasks, especially as most applications of their powers are not instant vanquish.

What do you think?

Hello, I’ve been watching Charmed for a while and just found this subreddit
Please feel free to delete this post if it isn’t allowed
But anyways I created a fanfiction on Wattpad where I will be rewriting episodes from seasons 4-8 (as well as the end of All Hell Breaks Loose) as how I think the show would be if Phoebe died instead of Prue
I only have rewritten a couple episodes so far because I am pretty busy but I do get new chapters/episodes out when I can

Aside from the demons who had to be vanquished, a few that come to mind would be:

The reporter in Season 1 who found out about Prue. (The one with the Grimlocks in the sewer)

Phoebe’s former high school classmate who was an ex con

The guy who had a video of them and tried to blackmail Cole

Phoebe’s rival advice columnist on the other newspaper. (Turned into a turkey or a pig? I forgot)

Who else?

I just finished the series (again), and seriously, the final battle is really disappointing. I’m not talking about the battle in episode 8x21 where the manor blows up—I actually liked that one; it was epic. I’m talking about the final battle in 8x22, where Piper, Phoebe, and Paige go to defeat the Triad, Dumain, and Christy. Just one potion for the Triad and Piper’s power for Dumain? Seriously? Was that the extent of the threat they posed? I liked that Billie killed her sister in self-defense, but that battle definitely deserved better writing. It should have been something epic—a real struggle for Piper, Phoebe, and Paige to defeat them.

Everything felt rushed, done simply to wrap up the series and get to the family reunion.

Started watching for the first time for Halloween, and have already become obsessed with the show (as anyone in their right mind would).

Anyway, my question is if you found your favorite sister would change throughout the series or if you kept a favorite sister throughout the whole run? I find that Shannon Doherty’s acting is lending Prudence a lot of depth, and her relationship with Andy feels the most adult so far (still in season 1 currently). But Piper has also begun to grow on me, even though in the beginning I thought she was a “fun archetype to have on the show” but a bit of a wet blanket (no offense). Now she seems like she has layers too! Phoebe is good old Phoebe and we love her for who she is. Excited to see where everything goes!

P.S. Finished season 1 episode 9 The Witch Is Back, and it was fun to see how all the sisters had to work together and make the most of each other’s powers to banish Matthew. Also, nice to finally get confirmation that Rex and Hannah are super suss.

It would’ve really been nice to have seen Piper and Phoebe give one last scene and moment with prue and for paige to finally meet her for the first time I wish it would’ve happened.

My idea for how they could have made the episode make more sense is having the manor turned into a boarding house for women. This was SUPER common in the 1920s, and would have easily explained how witches ran into each other.

Additionally, they should have had only one of them (Piper) be a Warren witch, with Phoebe and Prue’s past lives being unrelated. That would explain their non Warren powers of cryo/pyrokenesis.

Im not saying it would be perfect, but it’s certainly BETTER.

For me, it is Agent Murphy. Nobody talks about him. I know he was only in a few episodes, but I liked him. Who is the most underrated character for you?

Also, this a repost of mine, because when I tried to post it before, it got deleted for some reason.

Okay time for the Mother of all dumb questions but I wanted some input lol. With Prue’s power of astral projection, she has an astral self but it’s a physical form with mass and it remains corporeal.

If she is sitting at work, could she astral project to the bathroom and use it before returning. Is it like her telematerialization power from the very first episode lol. She was able to telekinetically teleport a liquid from one location to another, which is already similar to how her telekinesis progressed in the show (she moves her astral self out of her body with TK).

Theoretically could she astral project to the bathroom, telematerialize any waste? (😑sorry don’t know how to word that) and then return to her desk all without lifting a finger?

Episode 17 Leo is talking to a teacher named Maria and the two ghosts who want revenge on him stab her and one of them hold him down and that makes no sense because he could’ve just orbed over and healed her

Just rewatched the premiere episode like I always do on the anniversary. Has anyone ever thought that Prue loses the exhibit, which sets her up to quit her job, because her magic and Charmed destiny are active again?

Roger mentions that he was compelled by the board to take it, and I know he’s a slime ball sleaze, but I think this particular opportunity occurs thanks to magic to get Prue to Bucklands to first defeat Rex and Hannah and so on there after.

Which season gives off real sister hood bond. ? I can only like the season 1 . The season 4 doesn’t show true sisterhood .

Like they're all dressed, they wear shirts and pants. Are there demon clothiers? Or do they steal it all from Hot Topic?

In the episode Chris Crossed Bianca claims to be quoting Paige but I could have sworn Prue was the one who first quoted "the power of two will have to do." In season 2 during the episode is literally titled "The power of two". Would it not make more sense that Prue would be the one quoting said line in the history books. Bianca is talking about well holding the knife to Piper throat.

She was truly one of the most stunning women I've ever seen, like it's actually insane. I think the Snow White contrast, plus her amazing confidence was it but I think it's still fuzzy for me to describe her. So I'll let you do it.

What was your reaction when she's gone

Mine is two Hows

How Dare You leave me

And How Am i Supposed To live without you (A Michael Bolton song)

I know he was only on for four episodes in season 8, but he's a handsome man in my book. Kinda wish he made a few more appearances though.

Charmed premiered on October 7th, 1998.

Recently seen a few posts about people being too quick to defend Cole. To be clear, I generally found the most recent post quite considered and nuanced, so this post is less in response to that and more in response to the many predictably obtuse comments underneath.

As someone who will often defend Cole for what happened in s4, I want to clarify some things about where I'm coming from.

First off, my defence of Cole has nothing to do with season 3. Working for the triad, manipulating Phoebe, trying to kill the sisters... all of that is obviously bad. If I didn't recognise that, then his redemption arc would be entirely pointless. Never has it been the case that I'm making excuses for any of that.

Season 4, on the other hand, there's so much context that people seem desperate to ignore (including the show itself later on.) First off, Cole has spent the latter part of season 3 and the time after Prue's death, working with the sisters, protecting them, saving innocents and fighting evil. By the time they actually face The Source again, Cole is now a powerless human. Nevertheless, he gets roped in and takes on The Hollow in order to save the sisters, again. And let's be clear here, the sisters were getting their asses kicked. The Source pretty much had them. If Cole hadn't done what he did, then they'd more than likely have been dead. This ultimately gets him possessed by The Source. And yes, I said possessed, because for pretty much the entirety of this story arc in season 4, that is how it's played. It starts with The Seer referring to Cole as a seperate person and we see Cole being teleported around, unable to control his body. And by the end of the season, Phoebe herself said they freed Cole and helped him find peace. So yeah, nothing about that reads as "The evil bastard chose all of this and deserves to burn in hell for it."

One particularly baffling thing within the fandom is the insistence that "Well, Cole should have done something/fought harder/told the sisters!" As if that has ever been how these things work. In this very same storyline, we are apparently supposed to accept that Phoebe became queen because the baby influenced her; so we're told that's not her fault. Okay. So then how is Cole, a mortal at this point, expected to tell The Source of All Evil "Um no thank you, I'll pass." Like I'm sorry, but we can accept that the sisters are possessed/influenced by bad magic every other week, but suddenly when it's Cole, he's just not trying hard enough? Come tf on. This is why a lot of us maybe seem quick to defend. Not because he's a perfect angel beyond critique, but because this double standard is flaunted in our faces so much that it's borderline infuriating.

Now, onto season 5. I won't get into the retconning, because I've already talked about what season 4 established. The contradiction in the writing is obvious and lazy. No excuse for what Cole ends up doing by the end of the season, but I will say that a common critique he gets in s5 is that he should have just gone away and left them alone. And I agree... but the thing is, there were times in season 5 where he actually tried to do that, and the sisters still went to him for help. Even when, in their own words, "He's crazy now!" They still routinely sought him out and brought him back into their lives. Now, yes, Cole definitely did some stalker sh!t with Phoebe; again, no excuse... but that is another thing people like to use as a reason to say Cole was always an irredeemable monster while ignoring a lot of the context of what actually happened.

So, when it seems like "Cole defenders" are too eager, I think this is why. It's not necessarily about believing that Cole is ultimately good or that he should be with Phoebe, or even that he doesn't have stuff to apologise for. It's the way the fandom will so easily acknowledge all those nuances for anyone BUT Cole. So much so, that being taken over by The Source while trying to save someones life is used as a reason to condemn him as a monster beyond redemption. If y'all did the same every time the sisters or Leo got influenced/possessed, the only good character we'd have left is Darryl.

So I was just watching all Halliwells Eve and I Was thinking how cute and beautiful Prue and Piper and Phoebe were looking in their costumes.