Witch Trial

Witch Trial is the season 2 premiere and the 23rd overall episode of Charmed.

Summary
On their first anniversary of becoming witches, the sisters face a cloven-hoofed demon called Abraxas, who steals the Book of Shadows and undoes the spells they've cast, releasing the old vanquished enemies of the Charmed Ones after them. If Abraxas succeeds and undoes the spell that granted them their powers, the sisters will lose the The Power of Three, which will weaken them immensly.

Characters
Characters in bold appear for the first time in the series.

Rite of Passage
Grams flipped to this entry on a sunny morning to warn her granddaughters of an oncoming threat. Phoebe began reading the entry to her sisters, but she got interrupted by Abraxas, who stole the Book of Shadows, making it impossible for Phoebe to finish reading the entry. Because she had only read the first half, Phoebe and her sisters thought that the Power of One meant Prue, who was the strongest of the sisters.


 * Rite of Passage ~ fight
 * it with the Power of One,
 * or else... a more powerful
 * Evil that awaits will
 * destroy you. ' 

Love Spell
The last spell in the Book of Shadows (although the Relinquishment woodcut is the very last page) and thereby the first spell that Abraxas undid. The spell did not have any effect on the sisters or didn't bring back any demons since it is not a vanquishing spell.


 * "To find true love ...
 * I conjure thee, I conjure thee
 * I'm the Queen, You're the bee,
 * As I desire, so shall it be."



Grams' "Happy Anniversary" Message
After appearing as a spirit to her granddaughters, Grams flipped to a blank page in the middle of the Book of Shadows and wrote an entry to congratulate them with their one year anniversary of being witches.


 * Happy Anniversary,
 * My Darlings

The Power of Three Spell
The spell which the Charmed Ones first used to vanquish Jeremy Burns. When Abraxas reversed this spell, it brought back Jeremy after which he was sent to Piper who, at the time, was at P3 with Rob, the banker. Panicking, Piper forgot the spell and called her sisters; Prue and Phoebe. Together they chanted this spell and vanquished Jeremy for a second time.
 * The Power of Three will set us free!
 * The Power of Three will set us free!
 * The Power of Three will set us free!

Woogyman Spell
The third demon that Abraxas brought back was the Woogyman. Piper and Phoebe had just found out Abraxas' name when the Woogyman appeared in the family room of the manor. Phoebe had forgotten the spell and needed Piper's help to remember it. Luckily, Piper could help and together, the two sisters vanquished the Woogyman one more time.
 * I am light,
 * I am one too strong to fight,
 * Return to dark where shadows dwell,
 * you can not have this Halliwell!
 * Now go away, and leave my sight,
 * and take with you this endless night.

A Spell for Invoking the Power of Three
A spell which is completely the same as "Dominus Trinus", except it misses the last three lines. When Abraxas had almost undone every spell in the Book of Shadows, the Charmed Ones used this spell to vanquishhim.
 * Hear now the words of the witches,
 * The secrets we hid in the night,
 * The oldest of Gods are invoked here,
 * The great work of magic is sought...
 * ...In this night and in this hour,
 * I call upon the ancient power...

The Nicholas Must Die Spell
This spell was used by Prue Halliwell to vanquish the Warlock Nicholas. He was brought back from the dead by the Abraxas, a demon from theAstral Plane. Nicholas was send to Bucklands to kill Prue where she was able to vanquish him with this spell:
 * Lavender, Mimosa, Holy Thistle,
 * cleanse this evil from our midst.
 * Scatter its cells throughout time,
 * let this Nick no more exist.

To Reverse the Love Spell

 * Eniw der Ni Liob,
 * Stun leteb puc,
 * riah fo kcol s'revol dda,
 * stoor ekardnam owt.

To Reverse the Warlock Spell

 * Eerf su tes lliw,
 * eerht fo rewop eht.

To Reverse the Woogyman Spell

 * Llewd swodahs erehw krad ot nruter,
 * thgif ot gnorts oot eno ma I.



Powers

 * Molecular Immobilization: Used by Piper to freeze Rob and Jeremy.
 * Portal Creation: Used by Abraxas to create a portal from the Astral Plane to the attic in the Physical Plane.
 * Telekinesis: Used by Abraxas to pull the Book of Shadows into the Portal and to flip through it. Prue used it to move a chair across the attic. Grams used it to flip through the Book from the Afterlife.
 * Levitation: Used by Abraxas to float whilst reading the Book.
 * Projective Levitation: Used by Abraxas to levitate the Book whilst reading it, so he didn't have to touch it.
 * Remote Teleportation: Used by Abraxas to teleport Jeremy to P3 and Nicholas to Buckland's.
 * Adjusting: Used by Jeremy to fight through Piper's freeze.
 * Shadow Manipulation: Used by the Woogyman to attack Piper and Phoebe.
 * Premonition: Phoebe got a Premonition of Prue being attacked by Nicholas.
 * Blood Boiling: Used by Nicholas to attack Prue by boiling her blood.
 * Force Blasts: Used by Abraxas to send the Charmed Ones flying backwards.
 * Projection: Grams used some form of Projection to leave her granddaughters a note in the Book of Shadows.

Terms

 * Equinox: occurs when the sun passes directly over the equator. It occurs twice a year at the beginning of spring and fall. It is a powerful day in and of itself, the convergence of powers is even stronger, the potential greater. All one has to do is connect.
 * The Power of One: first believed to be Prue Halliwell, it actually is the united power of the Charmed Ones; The Power of Three.
 * Rite of Passage: a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. In this case, learning that you are stronger with three than one.

Artifacts

 * The Book of Shadows: is the The Warren Line's magical tome. In addition to spells and potion recipes, the Book of Shadows contains information on warlocks, demons, and other supernatural beings.
 * The Spirit Board: also known as a Ouija Board is a device used to contact the spirit world. Piper and Phoebe used it to find out the name of the demon who attacked them and stole their Book of Shadows. The board spelled out A-B-R-A-X-A-S.
 * Ring of Immunity: Nicholas' ring blessed by Patty Halliwell to make him immune against the Charmed Ones' powers. It was also through this ring that Nicholas accessed his powers, mainly Blood Boiling.

Magical Beings

 * Penny Halliwell
 * Abraxas
 * The Woogyman
 * Nicholas
 * Jeremy Burns

Mortals

 * Dan Gordon
 * Jenny Gordon
 * Stevie
 * Mrs. Milton
 * Rob

Notes and Trivia

 * This episode is the second one to feature the word witch in its title. The first being "The Witch is Back"
 * Prue channels her power through her eyes for the first time since "When Bad Warlocks Go Good".
 * This episode scored 5.1 million viewers.
 * The opening credits have changed, featuring the newly added cast (Greg Vaughan, and Karis Paige Bryant) and new clips for the other characters. T.W. King is no longer featured in the opening since he departed the series after the season 1 finale "Déjà Vu All Over Again".
 * From this episode on, the ending credits feature an image of the Book of Shadows on its stand in the attic. The image is taken from this episode's teaser.
 * A clip has been reused from a previous episode: The moon, half-covered by clouds from "Something Wicca This Way Comes". It's the second time that it was featured in the teaser of an episode.
 * As mentioned by Prue Halliwell, it has been a month since the last demon attack.
 * Piper starts the process of opening her own club called P3.
 * The nightclub that Piper is trying to buy is offered by SWA Properties, which is the same real estate firm that Phoebe briefly worked for in the season 1 episode From Fear to Eternity.
 * Although it seems like Abraxas undid all the Charmed Ones' spells featured in the Book of Shadows, only three vanquished evils return; Jeremy, Nicholas and the Woogyman.
 * Grams appears for the first time in the series as a spirit.
 * Prue has a new car, a black 1999 Mazda Miata.
 * Piper gets a new car, a forest green 1998 Jeep Cherokee.
 * It is revealed for what the Triquetra stands; the bond between the sisters, the Power of Three.
 * Nicholas' vanquish is described as a supernova in the script.
 * In the season 7 episode "Show Ghouls", Phoebe uses a spell, which ends with the word Abraxis.
 * It is revealed that the astral plane co-exists within our own realm.
 * This is one of the episodes which defines witches as both magical and non-magical.
 * Abraxas undid the spells by reversing the words. The Love Spell was the only spell whose reversed version was different, it was the text of the Love Potion, the page opposite the Love Spell.
 * Deleted scenes:
 * In the script, Stevie mentions there are only 7 planes of existence. It is likely that mortal witches don't know of the other 4 planes.
 * Discussion on how to find Abraxas and the Book, right after Dan left the Manor.
 * Darryl speaks to Prue and Piper in P3, asking if he should even investigate the attack. Piper says he better not. Darryl says to Prue that he needs to talk with her, Prue says she's too busy.
 * When the sisters are vanquishing Abraxas, he tries to hurt them and scratches Prue with his claw. This explains the sudden tear in Prue's shirt.
 * Prue moves a vase in her office to test her powers. This scene was used for the opening credits of season 2. (see the photos below)

References to other movies, books, mythology etc.

 * The term Abraxas derives from ancient Greek mysticism, probably of Hebraic origin. The word is common in modern mysticism and witch lore.
 * The title Witch Trial is most likely a reference to the Salem Witch Trials.
 * Some of the books Phoebe purchased from the bookstore were "The Wicca Garden" by Gerina Dunwich, "Goddess Spirituality Book: Rituals, Holydays and Moon Magic" by ƒƒiona Morgan, "The Wiccan Mysteries" by Raven Grimassi and "The History of Witchcraft and Demonology" by Montague Summers.

Glitches

 * A crew member crawls off-screen when the sisters run to the Book of Shadows in the teaser.
 * When falling on the stone altar, it is noticeable that the Book of Shadows was replaced by some sort of brown prop.

Gif Gallery

 * Click for animation.

Quotes

 * (Phoebe walks in. All the lights are turned off.)
 * Phoebe: Hello? Anybody home? Sister witches, guess what?
 * (Phoebe walks in the living room and turns on the light. Piper is there making out with a guy on the couch. She jumps up.)
 * Piper: Oh, oh. Are you nuts?
 * Phoebe: What are you doing?
 * Rob: Hi.
 * Phoebe: Hi.
 * (Piper freezes the guy and walks over to Phoebe.)
 * Piper: Ooh.
 * Phoebe: Hi.
 * Piper: Sister witches? I can't believe you said that. What's the matter with you?
 * Phoebe: How was I supposed to know that you were gonna be here with anybody? Last I heard that you were meeting a banker friend about the loan. (She looks at the guy and then back at Piper.) Is this the credit check?


 * (The girl walks in and picks up the phone. Prue and Piper walk in the foyer.)
 * Piper: (to Phoebe) Are you out of your mind?
 * Phoebe: What was I supposed to do? Say no? Look at that poor girl. (They look at her.)
 * Dan: (outside) Jenny? (A cute guy in his late 20's let's himself inside.) Jenny, come on. Talk to me.
 * Phoebe, Prue, and Piper: Whoa!


 * Phoebe: What have we got to lose, okay?
 * (Piper and Phoebe turns around and notice all the women have taken off their clothes.)
 * Piper: Well, apparently we've got our clothes to lose.
 * Phoebe: I see that.
 * (Phoebe pulls Piper behind a rock wall and Phoebe starts taking off her clothes.)
 * Piper: No. Whoa, Whoa. Wait. What are you doing?
 * Phoebe: When in Rome.
 * Piper: No-no-no! We're not in Rome, Phoebe. We're in California. And it's illegal here.




 * (Piper rings Prue from P3 after being attacked by Jeremy)
 * Prue: Hello?
 * Piper: Prue, thank god you're there. Jeremy just attacked me.
 * Prue: Jeremy? That is impossible! We vanquished him a year ago.
 * Piper: Well, apparently he got un-vanquished somehow, and since we don't have the Book of Shadows, we're going to have to remember the spell together. I'm conferencing Phoebe. (conferences Phoebe) 
 * Phoebe are you there?
 * Phoebe: AT&T, Power of Three!

International titles

 * French: Célébration (Celebration)
 * Czech: Zkouška (Trial)
 * Slovak: Abraxas
 * Spanish (Spain): Caza de brujas (Witch Hunt)
 * Spanish (Latin America): El juicio de una bruja (The Judgement of a Witch)
 * Portuguese (Brazil): Caça às Bruxas (Witch Hunt)
 * Russian: Novoye ispytaniye (The New Trial)
 * Italian: L'Anniversario (The Anniversary)
 * Hungarian: Veszélyben a Hármak Ereje (The Power of Three is in Danger)
 * German: Abraxas
 * Serbian: Vesticja sudjenja
 * Finnish: Noitapiiri kokoontuu jälleen (The Coven Gathers Again)