Blinded by the Whitelighter

Blinded by the Whitelighter is the 11th episode of the third season and the 55th overall episode of Charmed.

Summary
The sisters must stop a warlock from executing his plan to steal specific powers from witches in his attempt to kill every whitelighter in the world. Meanwhile, the girls get a new whitelighter named Natalie.

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

General Notes

 * witches are supposed to keep their Book of Shadows in a sacred and protected altar room.
 * when a being absorbs the powers of a Whitelighter, he/she also gains the vulnerability to Darklighter poison.
 * the Charmed Ones are not the only witches that keep a Book of Shadows.
 * that Leo's bosses are called "The Elders".
 * Whitelighters...
 * ...have staff meetings with mandatory attendance, unless a charge is in need.
 * ...have their own language, which sounds like a bunch of telegraph-like clicks to human ears.
 * ...can only enter the Heavens by Orbing.
 * ...have rules that say they are not supposed to eat on the job.
 * ...have rules that say the healing power is restricted to magical attacks only.
 * ...have rules that say they have to wear robes when Up There.
 * ...have rules that say that a charge's call takes precedence over all else.

Terms

 * Cloning: The ability to duplicate oneself. This power can't be sustained for long periods of time.
 * Deflection: The power of deflection is a witch's best shield against the forces of Darkness.
 * Transmogrification: The ability to change one's shape or form.

Book of Shadows

 * 1) The Belthazor entry and vanquishing potion entry is in front of The Hand of Fatima entry.
 * 2) The Deflection entry is at the front of the book.
 * 3) The Eames entry is at the back of the Book, after the Brianna and the Lords of War entry.

Eames
A cunning Warlock who has collected the power of Cloning, Transmogrification, and Fire. In 1991, Eames murdered a Witch in Glasgow, Scotland and stole the Cloning Power In 1989, Eames killed a Witch in Nairobi, Kenya and took the Power of Transmogrification. All witches should consider him to be a serious threat.

Deflection
The Charmed Ones read an entry on the Deflection power after Natalie had told the Charmed Ones that one of her charges, who possessed the power, was killed by the Warlock Eames. Bestowed upon one witch in a generation, the Power of Deflection is a witch's best shield against the forces of Darkness. Deflection can be used against all Supernatural powers, including those of Good, and, potentially, it could be manipulated to defend evil as well. Like a shield, the Deflection power must be consciously activated; therefore, a Witch with this power is vulnerable when unaware of an impending supernatural attack.

Eames Vanquishing Spell

 * Time for amends and the victims' revenge,
 * Cloning power turn sour,
 * Power to change turn to strange,
 * I'm rejectin' your deflection.

clows of pain we have to sever demon you're gone forever

Powers

 * Healing: Used by Leo to heal Piper's finger.
 * Fireballs: Used by Eames to attack Vivian and to vanquish a Darklighter.
 * Deflection: Used by Vivian to deflect Eames' Fireballs. Used by Eames to deflect Prue's and Piper's powers.
 * Orbing: Type of teleportation used by Leo, Eames and Natalie.
 * Blinking: Type of teleportation used by Eames.
 * Telekinesis: Used by Prue to flip through the Book of Shadows, to fling Eames at the warehouse, to fling a wooden board out of Natalie's hands, to fling a Darklighter's crossbow out of Eames' clone's hands, to try to fling Eames at the manor and the deviate a Darklighter's arrow.
 * Molecular Immobilization: Used by Piper to freeze Natalie, to try to freeze Eames at the warehouse and at the Manor, to freeze a Darklighter, to freeze several low-voltage Energy Balls and to freeze a Darklighter's arrow.
 * Premonition: Used by Phoebe.
 * Cloning: Used by Eames to clone himself.
 * Photokinesis: Used by Natalie to create low-voltage Energy Balls.
 * Levitation: Used by Phoebe when training with Natalie.
 * Transmogrification: Used by Eames to morph into a Darklighter's crossbow.
 * Black Orbing: Type of teleportation used by Darklighter.

Artifacts

 * Book of Shadows - The Halliwell Family's magical tome. In addition to spells and potion recipes, the Book of Shadows contains information on warlocks, demons, and other supernatural beings. It was created by their ancestor, Melinda Warren, and was passed down every generation.
 * Darklighter Arrows - An arrow, poisonous to Whitelighters, used by Darklighters to kill Whitelighters. The poison will slowly kill them, if not healed in time.

Music

 * Collective Soul - Skin
 * Nina Gordon - Tonight and The Rest Of My Life
 * Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock - It Takes Two

Magical Beings

 * Natalie 
 * Eames 
 * Vivian  
 * Unnamed Witch 

Notes and Trivia

 * Darryl and Cole do not appear in this episode.
 * Piper and Leo are officially engaged.
 * This is the first episode where a Whitelighter is killed.
 * This is the first episode where "The Heavens" are shown.
 * This is the first episode to feature another whitelighter besides Leo.
 * This is the first time the audience witnesses how a warlock steals a witch's power. This occurs in the first episode offscreen.
 * Phoebe says it would be hard to kill Eames, since any vanquishing spell requires counteracting all of his powers. This would mean that vanquishing a demon/warlock must become harder based on the number of powers they have; however, this has never been an issue before or after this episode.
 * Phoebe confesses to Leo that Cole is alive.
 * Using a potion concocted by Prue, Phoebe finds out that Inspector Davidson is not a demon.
 * It is revealed that Leo and Natalie served together in World War II.
 * On the DVD's French audio track, Eames is described as a demon. The sisters were also noticeably more formal with Natalie than they were with Leo; while they called Leo "tu" (you in the familiar), they called Natalie "vous" (you the formal form).
 * The actor Graham Shiels, who appears as the darklighter in this episode, will later appear as a Shapeshifter in the Season 4 episode "Muse to My Ears".
 * This is the first and last time we see Prue use her powers to "cross reference" two things in order to pinpoint a certain page in the Book of Shadows, similarly to the way Phoebe found a specific page when under a smart spell.
 * Leo mentions that Piper often freezes him for her pleasure when they have sex. This is a reference to the season 1 episode Wicca Envy, when Piper froze Leo while they were consummating their relationship.
 * Although never having trained like Phoebe, Piper displays some skill in acrobatics in the form of rounding off into and out of the path of energy balls in order to freeze them.
 * When training, it is unclear whether Prue runs up the wall with her own athletic ability or her Telekinesis as she did in a previous episode Primrose Empath. In that episode, her powers are amplified by her empathic ability, so it is not known whether it is Telekinesis in this episode or whether it is an anomaly as Prue never received martial arts training like Phoebe.
 * SOTA released a series of Charmed Action Figures, with the original Piper wearing a red top and black leather pants. In the final scene of this episode, we see Piper sporting this outfit.
 * This is the first time Piper creates or writes at least part of a spell.
 * When Phoebe levitates, you can easily see the harness holding her up. This is also the last time she levitates on screen, during season 3.
 * This is the first episode that the Elders are actually referred to by name.

References to other movies, books, mythology, etc.

 * Title is based upon the song title "Blinded by the Light" by New Jersey based singer/songwriter Bruce Springsteen.

Glitches

 * Even though she stated that she could feel the witches' pain, Natalie is unaware of her death and asks Leo what is the matter when he acts on the feeling. Natalie explains that she can block out or ignore certain human emotions unlike Leo who does not especially when he is with Piper.
 * During the training montage, when Piper freezes Natalie's energy ball it still fizzles even after it stops moving forwards.
 * Leo states that he and Natalie "fought together in World War 2". However Leo was a medic and women were not allowed in combat roles at the time. (Though "fought" could just mean "served". Natalie may have been in the Army Nurse Corps, which would have placed her working with medics like Leo.)

Gif Gallery

 * Click for animation.

Quotes

 * Piper: I don't know, Leo. I don't think they're ever gonna let us get married.
 * Leo: They will. They have to. Nothing is gonna keep us apart, I promise. (He leans in for a kiss as Natalie orbs in.) Natalie!
 * Natalie: Leo... Sorry to interrupt, but we've got a major problem on our hands. (She holds out an athame in her hand.)
 * Prue: Hey, I heard something. Ooh! Athame! Athame!


 * Natalie: You must prepare yourselves for battle, mentally, physically, sartorially.
 * Piper: (mocking small laugh)
 * Phoebe: I'm sorry, what?
 * Piper: She doesn't like our clothes.
 * Natalie: You need outfits that are loose and move, that means no more bra-less, strapless,...fearless attire.
 * Prue: Okay, but then I have nothing to wear.


 * Phoebe: Hey, if we don't vanquish Eames, can we at least vanquish Natalie?
 * Piper: Don't tempt me.

International Titles

 * Spanish (Spain): La muerte se lleva a un ángel blanco (The Death Takes a Whitelighter)
 * Spanish (Latin America): La muerte de un ángel blanco (The Death of a Whitelighter)
 * Russian: Osleplёnnye Khranitelem (Blinded By the Whitelighter)
 * French: Les règles du combat (The Rules of Combat)
 * Czech: Smrt si bere světlonošku (The Death Takes a Whitelighter)
 * Slovak: Koniec bieleho svetla (End of White Light)
 * Serbian: Zaslepljen od belosvica (Blinded By the Whitelighter)
 * Italian: Una Vecchia Amica (An Old Friend)
 * German: Gegen alle Regeln (Against All Rules)
 * Hungarian: Fényőrzők klubja (Club of Whitelighters)