The Power of Three



The Power of Three is the generic term for any collective of powers that consists of three magical beings. The Power of Three has been a strong theme throughout the series run of Charmed as the three main characters (The Charmed Ones) are connected through the Power of Three. This is said to be the strongest kind of magic that has ever, does and will exist. The Triquetra is the theme symbol of Charmed, representing specifically the Charmed Ones themselves and their Power of Three, which is marked on their Book of Shadows. While most of the spells written in the book require the Power of Three to take enough effect, it isn't always necessary for all three sisters to chant a spell together, only as long as they are all together at the same time. For example, Phoebe cast the Dominus Trinus to awaken their powers as the Charmed Ones; Piper has summoned the Power of Three to save Paige from an invading spirit; Paige summoned it to vanquish a Slime Demon.

The Power of Three is used often in the Halliwell/Warren family. Each of the sister's has three children, and each of Piper's children will have three children. It is unknown though, if this will continue with Phoebe's and Paige's children.

Evil Power of Three
Evil beings have also been seen to exploit the Power of Three. For example, the Rowe Coven were a trio of two warlocks and a half warlock (just like the reconstituted Charmed Ones but not as powerful).

Pros & Cons


The effect of a Power of Three bond being formed is that all the members' powers are pooled together into a Collective, which gives them High Resistance.

Of course, the downsides of this are that the amount of power one gains from this is relative to the level of the other beings involved, with the above example assuming that the beings involved are (at least more or less) the same strength.

Another downside of this is that if one member dies it weakens the Collective, making the other members easier to kill off with the death of each member. However, on the flip side, more powerful (and hence higher level) beings are harder to kill/affect with ones powers than lower level ones i.e. Piper and the other various Charmed Ones have been shown to have taken direct hits from all kinds of attacks such as fire and energy balls and live many times over whereas such attacks would vanquish any other magical creature instantly. The Triad are also highly resilient to Piper's combustion power whereas other lower level demons usually disintegrate within seconds. Therefore this particular con is easily balanced out.

Then there is the fact that this collective interconnects all of the members to each other in various metaphysical ways. Certain spells cast on one member may affect the others through this interconnection such as when Prue was magically turned evil, causing Piper and Phoebe to turn evil also.

A Power of Three bond can be broken in several ways. If the members use their powers on each other in a negative manner or atmosphere then the bond will be broken. Fortunately, this may be reformed by all of the members reconnecting with each other emotionally or something to that effect. For example, when the Charmed Ones used their powers on each other during an argument it shattered their Power of Three. However, later on they all got over the argument and showed their solidarity as sisters (which is where their Power of Three comes from) and hence reformed it. (Power Outage).

Another way, mentioned above, would be if one of the members died. Although this event is less likely the implications are more severe as the collective would be weakened beyond repair (excluding the unlikely addition of another member, for example, Paige Matthews)

Origins
It is not explicitly stated how a Power of Three bond is formed but prophecy, lineage, identity and mutual trust seem to be key factors. It could be possible one must take a blood oath to always remain together or something of that nature as Phoebe mentioned that she and her sisters once took one to always remain friends. (The Witch is Back)

It may be that one needs the aid of a spell to create such a bond. Phoebe read a spell to bestow the power of the Charmed Ones upon the sisters, titled "Dominus Trinus":


 * 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,
 * We call upon the Ancient Power
 * Bring your powers to we sisters three!
 * We want the power!
 * Give us the power!

The Power of One
The first time that the term "Power of One" was mentioned was on the episode The Wendigo. Also the Power of Three was once referred to as the "Power of One" because all three sisters work as one. The Power of One is also referring to the strongest sister (Prue) as the sister to destroy Abraxas.

The Power of Four
This is a real Charmed-world term and was used by the Phoebe of an alternate Universe where the balance of power was shifted towards evil. The term described the collective powers of Paige, Phoebe and their evil counter parts from the alternate universe, and is shown to be at least as strong if not more so than a Power of Three. Had both the evil and good Pipers not been in labour there could have also been a Power of Six.

Many Charmed fans also theorize that had Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige ever all been alive and met and connected with each other, that it would've led to a Power of Four bond between all of them.

Spell: We call upon the Ancient Lore To punish with the Power of Four, Strike down this threat from both there and here, Make him suffer, then disappear.

The Power of Five
During an earlier episode in season 1 Prue used the Charm of Multiplicity to make two duplicates of herself. With all three Prues using their powers together they had their own version of the Power of Three and together with Phoebe and Piper it could have well been possible that they could have had a "Power of Five".