Melinda Warren
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 Tyler Layton as Melinda Warren |
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Melinda Warren is a fictional character on the WB television series Charmed. She is played by actress Tyler Layton.
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[edit] History
Melinda Warren is an ancestor of the Charmed Ones; in fact, she was the one who created the Charmed prophecy.[1] She was born on October 31, 1670 outside of a rural village in the Colony and Dominion of Virginia; the daughter of a witch named Charlotte.[2]
She later moved to Salem, Massachusetts and bore a daughter; Prudence.[3] Betrayed by her lover, the warlock Matthew Tate, she was burned at the stake in the Salem witch trials of 1692. Matthew's power was to copy any power used against him and having already tricked Melinda into letting him copy all of hers, he betrayed her.[3]
Before her death, Melinda enacted her revenge on Matthew by cursing him to spend eternity trapped within a locket he had given to her as a gift, but not before somehow wiping out Matthew's copies of her powers. Only Melinda herself or a witch of blood kin could set Matthew free.[3] On the day of her death, Melinda foretold the prophecy of the Charmed Ones.
You may kill me, but you cannot kill my kind. I vow that with each generation of Warren witches will grow stronger, culminating in the arrival of three sisters. These three sisters will be the most powerful witches the world has ever known. They will destroy all kinds of evil and shall be called the Charmed Ones
—Melinda, on the day of her death
[edit] Powers
Melinda herself possessed the three original powers that the Charmed Ones later develop separately; Telekinesis, Premonition, and Molecular immobilization.[1]
[edit] Melinda's return
Over 300 years after her death, Melinda’s descendant, Prue Halliwell, stumbled upon the cursed locket while working as an appraiser at Buckland’s Auction House. Not knowing of the curse, Prue opened the locket and set Matthew free.[3] With his ability to copy powers, he acquired a replica of Prue's telekinesis and after discovering she was a descendant of Melinda Warren herself, Matthew had a new modus operandi; copying the powers of the Charmed Ones and then killing them, effectively destroying the Warren line and enacting the ultimate revenge against Melinda Warren for entrapping him for almost 400 years.
Fearful for their lives, the Halliwell sisters cast a spell to bring Melinda back and into their time to learn how she originally cursed Matthew into the locket. Melinda brought back into this new time and age has some trouble adjusting to the modern world and a woman’s new place in it, but her "daughters" are there to help her every step of the way.[3]
Before they can finish the potion with which they can curse Matthew back inside of the locket, Matthew himself arrives at the manor and copies Phoebe’s power of premonition. Now all Matthew needs is a copy of Piper’s powers before he is powerful enough to kill the sisters and then Melinda as well.[3]
Fortunately, the collective workings of the sisters and Melinda are enough to foil Matthew. Prue delivers the last ingredient to the potion, the feather of a spotted owl, and Melinda uses the completed potion and its adjoining spell to once again trap Matthew within the locket for all of eternity.[3]
After the battle Melinda, returns to the afterlife, but before the Halliwells release her spirit, Melinda receives a glimpse of a distant future with her power of premonition. She sees many more generations of "her daughters" through Phoebe... which proves that the Warren line will live on for years to come.[3]
Melinda later returns as a newborn baby when the Charmed Ones are sent back in time to save a woman who belongs to a coven of witches. The woman they save from Cole and the evil Ruth is pregnant. As they flee, they are chased by a group of gun men on horseback. While Prue and Phoebe use magic to form a protective cirle, Piper helps deliver the baby. Back at the coven, the sisters discover that the woman they have saved is Charlotte Warren, the mother of Melinda.[2]
[edit] Trivia
- Piper Halliwell planned to name her first daughter (Melinda Halliwell) after her ancestor after seeing a potential future in the episode Morality Bites; in that future Melinda was her only child.[4] Later Piper would become pregnant and expect a girl, only to have a son instead.[5] She then had a second son, and eventually had a daughter.[6] Although her name was never mentioned, the shooting script had her named as Melinda Halliwell.
- The character is loosely named after Mary Warren who took part in the famous Salem witch trials.[citation needed]
- The show's creator and writer, Constance M. Burge, named the character "Melinda" after her niece.[citation needed]
- Melinda is most famous in her line for being the creator of the family Book of Shadows.[1]
- Phoebe, who triggered Melinda's premonition of "many beautiful daughters", is the only sister to end up with three daughters.[3][6]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Something Wicca This Way Comes". Charmed. The WB Television Network. 1998-10-07.
- ^ a b "All Halliwell's Eve". Charmed. The WB Television Network. 2000-10-26.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "The Witch Is Back". Charmed. The WB Television Network. 1998-12-16.
- ^ "Morality Bites". Charmed. The WB Television Network. 1999-10-07.
- ^ "The Day the Magic Died". Charmed. The WB Television Network. 2003-02-16.
- ^ a b "Forever Charmed". Charmed. The WB Television Network. 2006-05-21.
| Charmed |
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| Main: Season summaries | Episode guide | Multimedia | Terms | Trivia |
| Locations and Artifacts: Bay Area | Halliwell Manor | Magic School | The Nexus | Book of Shadows |
| Good beings: Charmed Ones | Close friends | Ancestors | Family and friends | Whitelighters | Elders |
| Evil beings: Darklighters | Warlocks |
| Neutral: Avatars | The Hollow | Firestarters |
