Witchness Protection

Witchness Protection is the 144th episode of Charmed.

Episode Guide
Leo, Piper, Wyatt and Chris are posing for a family portrait when the Avatars appear to Leo. They tell him of someone who has information that could bring the Charmed Ones into alliance with the Avatars. Leo finds Kyra, a Seer he consulted two months ago under attack by demons; he vanquishes the demons with strucks of lightning and brings her to the manor. She bumps into the Charmed Ones, but Leo convinces them to spare her.

A demon gang plans to kill Kyra, saying she has betrayed demonkind. One plans to release Zankou, but another argues, saying that the Source had imprisoned Zankou for a reason. One of the arguing demons vanquishes the one who wants to release Zankou. The demons plan to attack the Charmed Ones.

Darryl comes to the manor, still worried about Inspector Sheridan and suspicious of Kyle. He wants Phoebe to scry for Sheridan and gives her a pen that Sheridan had used.



Kyra makes a long list of demands, the last of which is that she wants to be human. Piper is suspicious, thinking she has no information, but demons attack and Leo and Piper fight them off; this is offered as proof that Kyra is telling the truth.

Phoebe begins to bond with Kyra as she goes through a family album and they discuss their respective gifts. Kyra takes the pen and she and Phoebe fade to Darryl. The three find Sheridan in a coma in a mental hospital. Kyle admits putting her there, to protect the Charmed Ones from exposure.

The demons free Zankou, who promptly vanquishes a shapeshifter, taking his power.

Phoebe places her hands in Kyra's and has a vision, of meeting her two nephews and a daughter and telling them that demons no longer exist, thanks to the Avatars. She senses that the world has become a utopia. As she releases Kyra's hand, she has a premonition and sees Zankou vanquishing her. With Piper and Phoebe open to the Avatars being good, Leo admits that he is an Avatar himself.

Leo and Phoebe orb to Magic School and Phoebe shows one of the Elders her vision. The Elder thinks this is a trick, but Phoebe convinces him to make Kyra human.

When Kyra is about to be made human, she borrows one of Phoebe's dresses, and reveals to Piper. "Phoebe" walks into the attic, approaches Kyra and convinces Piper to leave. "Phoebe" suddenly shapeshifts back to Zankou and kills Kyra. Leo orb in with the real Phoebe and see her devastating death. Piper and Phoebe, tired of constant demon attacks, are now willing to talk to the Avatars. Leo summons them and three avatars, Alpha, Beta and Gamma appear.

Trivia

 * After being freed, Zankou showed that he was aware of outside world events while imprisoned. He already knew that the Source was dead, who the Charmed Ones were, and about the Avatars.
 * This is the seventeeth episode to have the word 'witch' in the title.
 * This episode introduces Zankou who becomes the most powerful and cunning enemy the sisters face throughout the series. It takes destroying the Nexus while he posses it to vanquish him.
 * The title is a reference to being under "witness protection" by federal agents, if you've witnessed a high profile crime where your life is in danger.
 * The WB used the promo (commercial) title "Charmed, with Charisma" for this episode to promote the guest appearance of Charisma Carpenter, familiar to WB audiences as Cordelia Chase on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel.
 * Kyra is looking through a photo album in the attic in this episode, and a lot of the pictures are of actual events that happened in episodes, like one from Baby's First Demon.
 * Oded Fehr (Zankou) is the second actor from the movie "The Mummy" to play a character the series. The first was Arnold Vosloo, who played a darklighter in the episode Murphy's Luck.

Glitches

 * When The Seer takes Phoebe and Darryl to find Sheridan, she tells Phoebe to go easy on Darryl because he's having a fight with his wife. She then advises him to bring his wife marzipan. At that moment Darryl says the name "Amy", while in other episodes his wife is known as Sheila.

thumb|300px|right|Witchness Protection WB Trailer