W.I.T.C.H. (TV series)
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| W.I.T.C.H. | |
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| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | Elisabetta Gnone |
| Developed by | Andrew Nicholls Darrell Vickers Greg Weisman |
| Voices of | Kelly Stables Candi Milo Miss Kittie Christel Khalil Liza del Mundo Greg Cipes Lauren Tom Mitchell Whitfield Dee Bradley Baker Serena Berman Kath Soucie Jason Marsden Steven Jay Blum |
| Country of origin |  France |
| No. of episodes | 52 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | SIP Animation Paris |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC Family (until August 2006)/Toon Disney (after August 2006) BBC2 |
| Original run | December 18, 2004 – December 23, 2006 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
W.I.T.C.H. is a French animated television series based on the Italian comic book series of the same name. Like the comics, the series follows five ordinary girls: Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin who become endowed with magical powers and become the "Guardians of the Veil".
They must save Meridian from the evil sorcerer Phobos and Cedric who are searching for Phobos' sister, the long lost princess of Meridian. It is later revealed the princess is Cornelia's best friend Elyon, and the Guardians then set about saving her from Phobos. When Meridian is freed from evil and Elyon takes the throne, a new mysterious sorceress named Nerissa frees Phobos's top henchmen and forms them as the Knights of Vengeance. Once the Guardians learn more about the sorceress and her evil plan of reuniting former Guardians, they are able to defeat the Knights only to have more powerful Knights of Destruction, plus the old Guardians attack them.
The Guardians chief ally is Hay Lin's grandmother Yan Lin, a former Guardian herself, and the one that taught the girls about their magical destiny. They are also helped by Caleb, a heroic soldier from Meridian who leads the rebellion against Phobos, and Blunk, a frog-like goblin creature (known as a Passling) who takes things from the human world to Meridian (and vice-versa), humorously mistaking everyday objects for other things or items of value. Matt, Will's boyfriend, accidentally learns about Meridian and when he sees all the trouble on it going on, he learns how to become a warrior to help them. They are also helped by the Oracle, leader of the Universe in Kandrakar, who was the one who chose the Guardians.
Both the first and second seasons consist of 26 episodes each. Sip Animation completed the full production of W.I.T.C.H. Season 2 around September of 2006, and it premiered in the States, Canada, and The UK in spring of 2006.
W.I.T.C.H. airs on Jetix (on Toon Disney) in the US and on Jetix (UK) and CBBC in the UK. It has been screened in several other countries as well.
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[edit] Characters
[edit] Heroes
| W.I.T.C.H. - The new guardians chosen to protect the infinite dimensions | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Role | Voice Actor | |||||||||||||||||
| Will Vandom | Guardian of Quintessence, and the Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar | Kelly Stables | |||||||||||||||||
| Irma Lair | Guardian of Water | Candi Milo | |||||||||||||||||
| Taranee Cook | Guardian of Fire | Miss Kittie | |||||||||||||||||
| Cornelia Hale | Guardian of Earth | Christel Khalil | |||||||||||||||||
| Hay Lin | Guardian of Air | Liza del Mundo | |||||||||||||||||
| Allies of W.I.T.C.H. | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Role | Voice Actor | |||||||||||||||||
| Caleb | Leader of the rebellion, and later bodyguard of Queen Elyon | Greg Cipes | |||||||||||||||||
| Blunk | Passling, used by caleb to find portals, and later create folds | Steven Jay Blum | |||||||||||||||||
| Elyon Brown | Queen of Meridian | Serena Berman | |||||||||||||||||
| Matt Olsen | Will's boyfriend, forcibly made into Nerissa's slave, and then Regent of Earth | Jason Marsden | |||||||||||||||||
[edit] Villains
| Season 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Name | Role | Voice Actor | |||||||||||||||||
| Prince Phobos | Main villain of the series, Tried to steal the throne of Meridian, Elyons powers, and later steals the Seal of Nerissa | Mitchell Whitfield | |||||||||||||||||
| Lord Cedric | Phobos' General, has the ability to shape-shift into a man-snake hybrid | Dee Bradley Baker | |||||||||||||||||
| Season 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Name | Role | Voice Actor | |||||||||||||||||
| Nerissa | Past guardian of Quintessense, steals the hearts of Meridian and Zamballa, main villain of Season 2 | Katherine Soucie | |||||||||||||||||
| The Knights of Vengeance | Nerrisa's minions to distract the guardians while she steals Elyons Powers | Various | |||||||||||||||||
| The Knights of Destruction | Nerissa's minions made to fight the new guardians while she collects the old ones | Various | |||||||||||||||||
| C.H.Y.K.N. | Nerissas old friends, who were tricked into her control through flaws in their souls | Various | |||||||||||||||||
[edit] Episode list
[edit] Season 1
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[edit] Season 2
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[edit] The Guardians' powers
Each Guardians' powers are fuelled from Kandrakar to the Heart via the Aurameres (the physical representations of the Guardians' powers). The Aurameres hold the same powers per Guardian, that is if Cassidy had the ability to manipulate minds, Irma has it too. The Guardians' powers progress over time.
When the Guardians transform, they change form and grow wings, which help them fly. Using the Heart of Kandrakar, a Guardian can create an Astral Drop, a duplicate of herself, when the words "Spord Lartsa" (Astral Drops spelt backwards) are said. Also the Guardians can combine their powers together and create a beam as seen on the first episode of the series. Sans the Veil, the Guardians can cross worlds by folding, with the help of the Heart of Kandrakar.
In order to travel to another place in the same world, each Guardian can teletransport. Teletransporting is a difficult ability to learn and one can materialize into another solid object if not careful enough. Also if a Guardian teletransports while not connected to an Auramere or a Heart than they will drain their life force.
The Guardians can also become one with their dragon (or in Will's case, the nymph Xin Jing) and literally become their element all the while increasing their power to its absolute zenith, stronger than if they had multiple Hearts. But this is risky and rather dangerous because it costs them their humanity and they could be easily controlled and enthralled.
Also it is shown that if a Guardian uses their elemental powers and is not connected to an Auramere, than they will drain their life force, making them much weaker. This may be why Nerissa aged so much faster than the rest of C.H.Y.K.N..
A Guardian can also become a Quinto - Guardian. A Quinto - Guardian has the powers over all five elements: Quintessence, Water, Fire, Earth and Air. A Quinto Guardian can also again the power to summon ice . The only known Quinto - Guardians are Cornelia (for a short-while by the Aurameres), Nerissa (by using her Seal) and Phobos (not a Guardian, but did have the powers of all five by taking Nerissa's Seal from her.)
- Will and Nerissa control the Power of Quintessence
- Irma and Cassidy control the element of Water
- Taranee and Halinor control the element of Fire
- Cornelia and Kadma control the element of Earth
- Hay Lin and Yan Lin control the element of Air
[edit] The Hearts
The Hearts are the sources of mystical energy for the worlds they come from. They can be represented by a jewel, a talisman or a living being. Prominently featured in the series is the Heart of Kandrakar, a pendant that allows W.I.T.C.H. to transform. Over the course of the series, it is revealed that Elyon Brown, Queen of Meridian, is the Heart of Meridian, and Lillian Hale, Cornelia's younger sister, is the Heart of Earth.
[edit] Special items
Elyon Brown (Heart of Meridian)
Lillian Hale (Heart of Earth)
Portal Map – An ancient map given to Hay Lin from Yan Lin. It displays and locates portals to Meridian, when the Heart is held over it. It is only part of the map, the part in the universe that shows Earth, as a long loyal knight to Prince Phobos saw Phobos is evil, he ripped part of the map and took it. It debuted in "Happy Birthday Will" when Yan Lin found it while cleaning out the attic. Once the Heart of Kandrakar absorbed the Seal of Phobos, the Portal Map became useless. Its final appearance was in "The Underwater Mines".
Horn of Hypnos – is a yellow/orange bulky mystical horn, which turns its victims, into zombie-like "Trance Marchers". The Horn has a low pitch, which changes them. However, once a victim is turned into a Trance Marcher, they lack the brain knowledge and speed of how they attack, they can only follow orders the best they can and basically lack free will. The Horn will only work when it is pointed at its victim, hearing the Horn is not enough to be turned into a Trance Marcher. To prevent the Horn from working on someone, two methods of escaping the spell is putting in earplugs (Irma and Blunk did this) and to be under water doesn't seem to turn somebody into a Trance Marcher (Caleb went under-water accidentally when the Horn was blown). When the spell is broken, it will vanish and reappear in a different location.
The Horn's debut was in Season 1 "Walk this Way", where Cedric used it to turn Drake and a few rebels into Trance Marchers. But Blunk stole it and everybody in Heatherfield fell victim to the Horn's spell, including Hay Lin. Caleb manages to break the spell and everyone turns back to normal and the Horn vanishes. It then reappeared in Season 2 "G is for Garbage" and the Knights of Vengeance uses it to turn the Guardians into Trance Marchers, except Irma who escapes the spell. She enlists Blunk's help and Blunk finally manages to sing the melody, which breaks the spell and makes the Horn vanish again to somewhere else. However, before the spell was broken, Trance Marcher Cornelia sent boulders flying in the air and one of them fell on the Horn and the Horn was flattened.
If the Horn can be usable again is unclear after getting crushed.
Aurameres – The Aurameres made their debut in Season 2 "B is for Betrayal". The Aurameres are five small, glowing spheres kept on the world Kandrakar. The Aurameres spin clockwise on a table in a separate room in the fortress. The Aurameres are the source of all Guardian magic, the Aurameres transmit Kandrakar's energy across the dimensions to the Heart of Kandrakar and the Guardians. Luba is the keeper of the Aurameres. There are five different colours:
- Pink – The Pink Auramere represents Will's Guradian element over Quintessence
- Dark Blue – The Dark Blue Auramere represents Irma's Guradian element over Water
- Orange – The Orange Auramere represents Taranee's Guradian element over Fire
- Yellow – The Yellow Auramere represents Cornelia's Guradian element over Earth
- Light Blue – The Light Blue Auramere represents Hay Lin's Guradian element over Air
The Aurameres were introduced to the Guardians in "B is for Betrayal" as the source of their powers. In "N is for Narcissist" when the Knights of Destruction attacked Kandrakar, Nerissa (Glamoured as the Mage) managed to make Halinor afraid if the Guardians failed to protect the fortress to steal the Aurameres. She knocked Luba out for a few minutes in order to absorb the Aurameres to become a Qunito - Guardian. However, she accidentally put all the Aurameres into Cornelia. She didn't have a choice but to absorb all five Aurameres into her own body. The other Guardians lost their powers and was up to Cornelia to defeat the Knights. It appears that when the powers of the Aurameres are present in one person, that person becomes more powerful than the five are together.
This was a part of Nerissa's plan, because she tried to enthrall Cornelia while she still held the five Aurameres, but she was interrupted by the return of the other Guardians and Luba. In the end of the episode, the Aurameres were removed from her body and back on the table to float again. In "Z is for Zenith" when Cedric had swallowed and eaten Phobos and grew to the size of Godzilla, he instructed Miranda (who had also been enlarged by Cedric's power) to destroy the Aurameres in order to render the Guardians powerless. She was on the verge of completing her task when she defeated Luba, Caleb and Blunk, but thankfully, Sandpit managed to punch and knock her out from taking the Aurameres.
Symbols of Elyon – are her Body, Mind and Spirit. Phobos had finally discovered who his long lost sister was in Season 1 "The Princess Revealed" and it turned out to be Elyon Brown. In "Stop the Presses" Phobos started the Ritual of Amalgamation, which would cause a part of Elyon to be in Meridian already, so that it will be easier to bring her there afterwards. For this ritual, he needs symbols of Elyon's body, mind, and spirit. Cedric takes her hairbrush (body), A+ math test (mind), but the Spirit is much harder since Cedric had to get her breath. Cedric finally captures Elyon's breath (spirit) in a balloon. In "Parents' Night" the Ritual of Amalgamation has been completed and the three items combine create a crown, which Elyon wears, even after Phobos is defeated in Season 2. Later on in the episode, Cedric manages to take Elyon back home to Meridian and to a lying Phobos, who comes up with dumb lies like the Veil and the Guardians etc.
Seal of Phobos – is a rhombus shaped magical jewel that allows the user to have the power to open portals in the Veil. It was stolen by Galgheita Rudolph to take Elyon as a baby still over to Earth to protect her from her brother, Phobos. Before entering through the portal, she drops the Seal and it falls into a sewer. 12 Years later, the Seal is discovered by Blunk, when escaping some Lurdens. When the Guardians find Blunk, he accidentally causes the Seal to merge with the Heart of Kandrakar. The Heart then has the power to open Portals now. They now then open the Book of Secrets, and learn the deadly plan Phobos has for Elyon. It became useless after "B is for Betrayal" in Season 2.
Tooth of Tonga – is a large tooth that belonged to a creature long ago, this allowed him to travel through the universe by creating folds. The Tooth is used to open folds, like the Heart of Kandrakar. The Tooth of Tonga made its debut in Season 2 "B is for Betrayal", the Oracle gave the Tooth to Blunk as a gift because he sees Blunk is always willingly save his friends, even Guardians. It is revealed in "R is for Relentless", that Nerissa performed a spell on the Tooth earlier in Season 2, that she can track Blunk's movement between worlds when opening folds. In "X is for Xanadu", when Blunk is captured, Phobos takes the Tooth away from him in part of his plan to create a giant fold using the Great Ring. Blunk managed to get the Tooth back in "Z is for Zenith".
Book of Secrets – is a large book that only the owner of the book can open. The owner of the Book is currently Prince Phobos. It has all of Phobos' secrets and plans for Elyon locked inside. It was first mentioned in "Ambush at Torus Filney" but made its debut in "The Mogriffs" where Caleb and Blunk stole it from Elyon's room after Elyon had found it in the library and had took it there. Despite trying in many ways, they just couldn't open the Book until in "The Seal of Phobos" where the Guardians gained the magical Seal of Phobos that could open anything. That's where they learned of Phobos' plan to steal Elyon from her power.
Mage Ring – The Mage Ring is like any normal ring, except the ring can open folds to travel between worlds. Nerissa kept it when the Mage died, Nerissa didn't really need the ring really since she had her Seal to do her work. When the Seal was taken and she was absorbed into it, the Mage Ring teleported straight to Phobos. He uses this to create a giant fold using the Great Ring. It is uncertain of what becomes of the Mage Ring after Phobos and Cedric are defeated in "Z is for Zenith".
The Great Ring – The Great Ring is a gigantic ring that towers over the castle of Meridian. It is used to create a huge fold that splits the castle in half. Its power supply comes from the Mage Ring and Blunk's Tonga Tooth. Phobos created the ring in order to invade Kandrakar with his army, enough to get through the fold. It made its debut in "Y is for Yield" as people of Meridian were forced to build the Ring over the castle. At the end of the episode, Phobos activated the Ring and a fold was created allowing a dozens of Lurdens and the Knights of Vengeance to cross over. In "Z is for Zenith" Cedric uses the Great Ring in order to invade Earth since he has grown to the size of godzilla. When Elyon returns back to Meridian with all her powers back, it is unclear of what becomes of the Great Ring towering over the Palace.
Spike Wheels – Spike Wheels made their debut in Season 1 "Framed". These are used by Lurdens and Castle Guards during Phobos' reign. Lurdens or Castle Guards will let the wheels roll freely towards fleeing people and will send out spikes at the victim to hopefully injure them and will stop them from running. The wheel will eventually stop and release lots of tiny little ornage like scorpions, which are called Morphans. The Morphans will attack the victim with a stinger on there tails, these will inject Morphan Venom into the victim, where they will sleep for 24 hours. More of the Spike Wheels were seen in "The Rebel Rescue" which are used by some Lurdens, Castle Guards and Cedric, in order to get Caleb and Blunk. The Guardians and Caleb soon came to the area to try and find Blunk, but was Ok. However, they discover a Castle Guard was injured by one of the spikes from the wheel, and against Caleb's complaints, the Guardians help him and soon Morphans were released and one of them managed to inject Morphan Venom into Taranee, where she fell asleep for 24 hours.
The Castle Guard that the Guardians helped was in fact Tynar and he managed to convince nearly all the Castle Guards to turn against Phobos and help the Rebellion.
Seal of Nerissa – The Seal of Nerissa made its debut in Season 2 "Q is for Quarry". It was created and combined by two Hearts of Meridian and Zamballa. After Will didn't absorb the Heart of Meridian because she thought it might corrupt her power, Kadma who is annoyed with her, absorbs the Heart into the Heart of Zamballa, but Hearts cannot be taken by force, so the new improved staff teleports back to Nerissa. She then calls it the Seal of Nerissa. Nerissa went on to try and find more power for her Seal. In "U is for Undivided", she tries and adds Lillian's power, the Heart of Earth, to her Seal but fails. In "V is for Victory", Will discovers that they can't take the Seal because of the Heart of Meridian, it can't be taken because it was given to Nerissa freely, so she frees Phobos since he can take it and bend the rule.
Nerissa then absorbs the original Guardians into the Seal after they snapped out of her control. This therefore allowed the Seal to have all the Guardians powers to be fueled by two Hearts. Phobos managed to get the Seal and renames the Seal as the Sceptre of Phobos. After retaking Meridian, Phobos sets his sights on Kandrakar, and is on the verge of taking it when he is betrayed by Lord Cedric, who swallows him whole, thus gaining his powers for his own. After Cedric's defeat, Phobos is brought back up and the Seal is also broken, separating into a tear-drop jewel and the Heart of Zamballa. C.H.Y.K.N. and Elyon manage to escape, however, Nerissa can't since she doesn't have harmony.
It has been shown with the power of the Heart of Meridian, Heart of Zamballa and the Guardians Powers, that its holder has the powers of:
- Glamouring
- Teleportation
- Opening folds
- All the Powers of the Guardian of Quintessence
- All the Powers of the Guardian of Water
- All the Powers of the Guardian of Fire
- All the Powers of the Guardian of Earth
- All the Powers of the Guardian of Air
- Showing who has a Heart of a world (Nerissa did this when she wanted to the Heart of Aridia)
- Absorb people into the Seal
- Creating Shields (protects the holder from attacks)
- Increasing the natural powers of its holder
- Warping Reality
- All of the Powers of the Hearts of Meridian and Zamballa
[edit] Planets
Various planets play an important role in the W.I.T.C.H. series. Earth is the home of the Guardians of the Veil, later the Infinite Dimensions while Meridian, Kandrakar and Zamballa are mystical planets that are introduced as the story progresses and the evil forces get stronger. Nerissa also briefly visited a place called Aridia, a desert realm in an attempt to steal their Heart (an unnamed male rock giant). But her attempt failed when the Seal of Nerissa signalled that the other members of C.H.Y.K.N. were freed from her control.
[edit] Zamballa
Zamballa was first introduced in Season 2 "P is for Protectors". Zamballa is a purple world with a jungle streching out as far as the eye can see. At the centre is a Pyramid, the palace where Kadma lives while the Veil is still in effect. The Zamballans themselves look like walking purple trees. The Guardians learnt of Zamballa from Yan Lin, who told them the story of when she was a Guardian and had to protect the world of Zamballa from an attack of Phobos. Kadma led the attack against him, the Zamballans were grateful and they offered her the Heart of Zamballa itself and made her Queen. However, the Veil was raised and cut off Kadma her Guardian friends and other worlds and she had to live there without any hope of leaving.
But with the Veil lifted and Nerissa out to control all the Ex-Guardians, they all agree Kadma must be warned, but Nerissa and her Knights are already there and are glamoured as W.I.T.C.H. destroying Zamballa. Soon Kadma learns of the deception and with Taranee's help she manages to defeat Nerissa. In the next episode, "Q is for Quarry", the Guardians and Kadma team up to defeat Nerissa once and for all and come up with the idea of taking the Heart of Meridian. At first, Will gets the chance too, but refuses saying that much power will corrupt her. Kadma instead takes it and merges the two Hearts which form the Seal of Nerissa. Because Hearts cannot be taken by force, soon Nerissa will have two Hearts and Kadma under her control. The Zamballians and the Guardians gather to discuss what should happen next.
Ironwood (Zamballian) makes herself Regent of Zamballa and her first act is to banish the Guardians and Yan Lin from their world so that Nerissa is never tempted to return. In "Z is for Zenith" the Heart of Zamballa is returned and Kadma abdicates from her throne to live on Earth, while Ironwood takes the Heart and is made Queen herself.
[edit] W.I.T.C.H. DVDs
W.I.T.C.H. has been released on DVD in Europe, Australia, the Philippines (both in DVD and VCD versions, which is currently in the first season), Brazil, and Malaysia currently spanning 3 volumes, each containing episodes of season 1. They each come with 2 art cards featuring one of the W.I.T.C.H. girls. The DVDs together only contain the first 11 episodes. Volumes 4, 5 and 6 are planned to be released on the 3rd September 2007 for Region Code 1 and 2 and on the 17th of October for 3 and 4, which could see the rest of Season 1 on DVD. Two box sets have been released in the United Kingdom: the first box containing volumes 1, 2 and 3. The second contains volumes 4, 5 and 6.[citation needed]
[edit] Cast list
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The UK and US versions of the show have different theme songs. The UK introduction shows the girls and their powers in a "story version" with unique footage for the opening, while the US version shows action clips from some episodes.
- For season 2, SIP Animation brought a new studio to animate the series.
- In the US, Season 2 didn't get a new opening because Disney US wanted consistency when they aired Season 1 and 2 simultaneously. This doesn't apply to the UK Season 2 opening, which did get revamped with new scenes.
- The US theme song entitled "We Are Witch" was sung by Marion Raven.
- The US opening includes scenes from the W.I.T.C.H. demo reel that were never used in the series.
- There are three Spanish versions of the W.I.T.C.H. opening: (1) A version heard in Spain, (2) A version heard in Latin America, and (3) A Spanish version of the US opening which can be heard in the US if you switch the audio from English to Spanish (You'll hear the Spanish dub if you do so)[citation needed]
- From episode 14 onwards, a new version of "We Are W.i.t.c.h." is used as the show's opening theme, replacing the "demo" version; this new version has different instrumentals and a different vocalist.
- If a teleportation scene is slowed down and watched frame-by-frame, the text "V A N-S" can be made out in the images; this essentially spells out "Vaness", the nickname of visual effects supervisor Guillaume Louyot's girlfriend Vanessa.
- All four voice actors of the popular show The Weekenders have a connection to W.I.T.C.H. The protagonist Tino was voiced by Jason Marsden, who voices Matt Olsen; Lor was voiced by Grey DeLisle, who voices Miranda; Tish was voiced by Kath Soucie, who voices Nerissa; and Carver was voiced by Phil Lamarr.
- The episode "M is for Mercy" was censored in the US version. The battle between Shagon and W.I.T.C.H. was edited to remove the scenes where Shagon hurts the girls.
- In episodes "R is for Relentless" and "V is for Victory", Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon, dressed in her school uniform, makes two cameo appearances, first in the lunch line and then walking around Sheffield Institute.
[edit] Broadcasters
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[edit] References
[edit] External links
- JETIX US W.I.T.C.H. website
- W.I.T.C.H. - United fansite
- W.I.T.C.H. Forum
- JETIX UK "W.I.T.C.H." website
- W.I.T.C.H. wiki
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