The Ancient Athame is a magical athame infused with a spell powerful enough to kill souls, causing them to cease to exist. Most magical beings believe it to be a legend. In order to activate its power, it requires the blood of the wielder, a witch, an innocent and someone trapped between life and death.
Despite its dormancy, it had the power to eradicate anyone who wasn't powerful enough to wield it. To harness its power, a lower-level demon would need to corrupt a pure magical item as a temporary surge, such as Shillelaghs.
History[]
When the right-hand man of the Source of All Evil tried to obtain the athame, the Source quickly had him executed, as according to Cole, even demons feared its power.[1] According to Murray, all those who ever wielded the athame were also destroyed by it.
Valen and Fritz obtained the athame with the help of a magical tome from Murray and a shillelagh. They entered the manor and tried to kill Cole Turner, though Piper interrupted the fight. After Fritz was vanquished by Piper, Valen retreated with the athame. Cole appeared to recognize the blade and stated that if he was right, they were all in big trouble.[2]
While Leo and Cole were learning about the athame from Montgomery Knox and telling the sisters, Valen activated the weapon by obtaining all the blood he required, even that of the Angel of Death.
After luring the sisters, Coop and Cole to a cemetery, Valen attempted to kill his hostage Aidel. When Coop interrupted him, Valen froze Coop and threw the athame at him, though Cole pushed Coop out of the way and was hit instead. Black smoke began to rise from the wound and Cole's veins turned black as he collapsed.[3]
As Cole lay dying, Paige orbed the athame at Valen, who immobilized it. The sisters then chanted a spell to destroy his shillelagh. Without his magical conduit, the power of the athame overwhelmed Valen and destroyed him. The sisters later handed the athame over to Prue.[4]
When confronted by an unknown figure, Prue wielded the athame as she demanded answers.[5] She later tried to kill Phoebe with it, but Tyler Michaels was able to send her through a portal.[6]
While trying to revive the Old Ones, she slashed Dominus's throat, releasing the demon from Montgomery Knox's body, then stabbed Paige with the athame. Piper was eventually forced to destroy Prue with the athame for the greater good. The blade collaborated with the magic of the All, thus shattering it to pieces while sparing Prue's soul. Additionally, Paige survived the stab by the weapon (though she suffered complete memory loss), Heremus's essence was destroyed and Patience was revived. The athame (now shattered and harmless) is currently in possession of the Charmed Ones.[7][8]
Activation Ritual[]
To activate the blade's horrendous power, a ritual of blood is necessary: it requires the blood of the being who wields it, a witch, an innocent, and a being that hovers between life and death.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Soul Killing: The ability to annihilate the soul of a being if dealt a deadly blow from the weapon. The athame was powerful enough to destroy an Old One's essence. However, it was incapable of destroying the Angel of Death. Its deadly magic was also powerful enough to kill its wielder if said wielder was a lower-level being.
- Corruption: If the person holding the blade isn't an upper-level being, such as a Charmed One or an upper-level demon, the blade's power would kill them within seconds. The only other way to bypass its destructive power is to carry a magical item as a conduit at the same time, such as a shillelagh.
Gallery[]
Notes and Trivia[]
- Although the athame is described as being able to kill souls, Pat Shand confirmed on his Twitter that in this case, the word soul is a synonym for spirit or essence. This means that the athame is also capable of wiping soulless beings from existence.
- Also according to Pat regarding Prue's surviving soul, the blade was unable to destroy magic, and Prue's inhabited body contained the magic of the All, which was powerful enough to prevent her soul from destruction and destroy the weapon in the process.
- In addition, by destroying the blade, the magic that was destroying Paige's soul was canceled and so her soul was spared, which was also why she had memory loss.
References[]
- ā Season 10, "The Perks of Being a Whitelighter"
- ā Season 10, "Magically Malicious"
- ā Season 10, "Charmed Assault"
- ā Season 10, "Whatever Happened to the Demon with a Soul?"
- ā Season 10, "Will o' the Witch"
- ā Season 10, "Effigy"
- ā Season 10, "Something Old, Something Prue"
- ā Season 10, "The Reason"