Thursday, November 25, 2021

W.I.T.C.H. Part 4: Trial of the Oracle


Ah, a new story arc. Yay. This one is pretty intense. 

FIRST ISSUE: The Oracle is challenged to a trial by a man named Endarno. The girls have to testify, which doesn't go very smoothly, especially because Taranee still has a lot of anger. The council votes and the oracle is removed from his role and exiled to his former homeworld of Basiliade. Orube is from there, as well as Endarno himself. The secondary plot this time is revolving around the girls' romantic crises. Will still thinks Matt likes Orube and has fights with both of them. Irma is still being ignored by Martin, so Taranee and Cornelia get the idea to find her someone. Hay talks about Eric and Cornelia is crushing on Taranee's older brother Peter. 

SECOND ISSUE: The best part of this was Irma's heart to heart with her mom. I loved that. Will's still struggling. She's been so angsty again lately. Both Yan Lin and Endarno are up for the role of Oracle, but when the time comes for the announcement, only Hay makes it to Kandrakar. The others ignore her trying to get them to come. Of course Endarno is chosen because otherwise we'd have no villain for this arc. The girls have also been having trouble in school as they no longer have their astral drops, so they've got to do community service. Will is at an animal shelter, while the other four are at the museum. Endarno asks Will for the Heart, but she refuses to give it to him, so she fails his test. He thinks the guardians are too immature. Irma has a disaster date with the boy Taranee and Cornelia picked, while Hay gets her first kiss (on the cheek) from Eric. 

THIRD ISSUE: Endarno is choosing new guardians in semi-secret. Actual warrior women who grew up on worlds that openly know about Kandrakar. I have a feeling Earth is like the only one that doesn't. Endarno pays a visit to the Tower of Mists, the prison he used to run. He visits Phobos and then Cedric...and then reveals to Cedric that he IS Phobos. Phobos managed to body switch with the real Endarno. Irma makes up with Martin. Endarno sends a spell to erase all memory of the guardians from their lives. The spell, in the form of a butterfly, goes to Cornelia's first and she has to deal with her parents and sister no longer knowing who she is. She flees to Taranee's, where Peter also doesn't know her, and then they all meet at Orube's. Hay had an encounter with the butterfly, who was erasing Cornelia from her photos, but the family's guardian silver dragon came alive and captured the butterfly spell. Hay brings it to the meeting and Will uses the Heart to find the origin of the spell. The guardians travel to the Secret Garden of Remembrance, where Cornelia sees visions from her past and regains her life. Meanwhile, Cedric is on his way to Earth to give the guardians even more problems. 

FOURTH ISSUE: Matt wants to have a nice date with Will so they can hash out all their recent difficulties, but it takes him forever to pick where to go. On Kandrakar, Endarno/Phobos decides to go after Meridian. He orders Elyon to give up her crown so that the people can vote for who they want to rule. She refuses after meeting with her council. Endarno sends the guardians to arrest her, but they help her escape to Earth, where she'll hide in Orube's house. Elyon has a cute reunion with her friends, as do Caleb and Cornelia and Corny happily realizes she and Caleb can be friends. He seems to have eyes for Elyon, which is conflicting, as I believe Cornelia's true age was one of the things that broke them up. Matt and Will finally make it out. He got a flyer saying that the old carnival was restored, so that's where he takes Will. Only the entire thing was an illusion set up by Cedric. Will uses the Heart to save Matt, who then saves her from Cedric's energy blast, awakening the Heart's power to protect them. So Matt is going to be let in on the secret of W.I.T.C.H. and he and Will kiss. 

Order of Favorite Guardians: Cornelia, Hay, Irma, Taranee, Will. 


FIRST ISSUE: Karmilla is back in town! Remember the rockstar from the early issues? Matt is trying to handle Will's big reveal after she tells him all their adventures, but she wants him to keep it a secret, even from the other guardians. Elyon is missing her people, but it's cute to see all of them together again. Endarno tells the guardians to bring Elyon to Kandrakar or give up being guardians. Irma and Joel, one of Matt's bandmates, take an interest in each other. 

SECOND ISSUE: Will tells her mom about Matt and she freaks out and says Will can't date. Sometimes she is truly unreasonable. Cornelia has conflicts with her competitive skating and her guardian life. Elyon wants to talk to Endarno, so it's off to Kandrakar, but when she refuses to hand over her crown, he imprisons her. Then he gives Cornelia an hourglass pendant called the Breath of Time, which will stop time on Earth while the guardians are elsewhere. No more need for constant cover stories. Whew. On Basiliade, the old Oracle is taking the first steps toward rediscovering his identity. Then the rift between W.I.T.C.H. begins when they can't decide what to do about Elyon. She gets a visit from Endarno and quickly realizes it's actually her brother Phobos. The guardians go to Meridian to get the crown but learn that it's in a barrier only Elyon can break. The rift between the guardians continues, because Hay and Cornelia want to take action while Will and the others want to wait and plan more. The Oracle remembers his original identity as the warrior Himerish. Will's mom gives her permission to date after some coaxing from Mr. Collins. The steps toward giving Endarno the full powers of the Oracle come closer. 

THIRD ISSUE: Yan Lin has won a small victory over Endarno/Phobos. She's been voted the new custodian of the Tower of the Mists, so she pays a visit to Elyon, who tells her Endarno is Phobos. Yan was pretty sure already. Will caves and tells the girls that Matt knows their secret and they're very angry, which just widens their rift. Yan comes to Will in a dream and tells her about Phobos. She gives Will the essence of the Light of Meridian, which she can use to get the crown. The dream ends when Yan is attacked by Endarno/Phobos, who spins it to the council that Elyon did it. The good news is that he has to endure a period of magical fasting before being given the full oracle powers, so he'll be sidelined for some time. Hay is very upset when she learns her grandmother is injured and the girls plot to free Elyon from the prison. Orube says there are secret entrances, but only the old Oracle would know them, so she heads to her homeworld of Basiliade. She finds Himerish and they team up. 

FOURTH ISSUE: Cornelia is chosen to represent her school at regionals. Hay gets her braces removed. Will and Matt struggle with the weight of Matt's knowledge. Then Himerish shows up...wearing jeans and a baseball cap. It's pretty hilarious. Cornelia is pulled from a celebration dinner by Will. Will, Cornelia and Himerish go to Meridian to get the crown. Hay makes each guardian a piece of jewelry with one of the elemental symbols Hay had on her braces. It's cute but a little gross, too. Heh. But it's a start at really getting them back together. At the end, Hay goes to Eric's to show him her new smile and meets his mother...who she dropped soup on earlier. But Mom's pretty cool. 

Order of Favorite Guardians: Cornelia, Hay, Irma, Taranee, Will. 



FIRST ISSUE: Hay has met Eric's family and dropped an antique, though Eric's dad caught it. She fled the scene and is now distraught. At Irma's suggestion, she takes them a gift to apologize, but then is called to a guardian meeting and has to run off again. Himerish and the guardians use the power of the elements to break into the Tower of Mists where they're spotted by Cedric. Endarno needs to go see the real Endarno one more time. While at the tower, he runs into Cedric, who tells him the guardians are there. Phobos/Endarno then turns on Cedric and tries to have him imprisoned again, but Cedric escapes. Tibor goes to see Yan Lin and then gets her to the guardians. They finally find Elyon and give her the crown. 

SECOND ISSUE: Back in Heatherfield, the Breath of Time stops working so the girls' absence will be noted now. The reawakened Elyon...turns out to be Cedric. He knocks everyone out and they're imprisoned, then he goes to confront Phobos. He'll continue to help Phobos but he wants Meridian in exchange. Himerish tells the girls how to direct their powers to free themselves. Will is teleported away to Phobos. He tortures her with images of a future where the others all leave her behind in an attempt to break her spirit and get her to willingly give up the Heart. On Earth, Matt covers for Will then goes to see Orube, where they cover for everyone. The others free Elyon. Will uses the Heart to return Phobos and Endarno to their real bodies. Cedric is outed and Elyon goes after him, but he vanishes. Phobos flees from the guardians, leaping off Kandrakar. Kandrakar is in the center of infinity, so he's just condemned himself to fall into nothingness forever. The girls return to Orube's and are thrilled that Matt helped them. 

THIRD ISSUE: This one's got a bunch of time incidents. People from the past keep showing up in the present, like still alive Yan Lin from before she told the girls they were guardians and the entire Brown family. Phobos put a spell on the Breath of Time and when it gets chipped, it frees him. It's not the real him, but a past fragment. For some reason, he has powers but the girls can't hit him with theirs unless he grows more real. A silly accident with the Breath of Time pendant back in Cornelia's room puts a stop to him. It's pretty much a useless chapter. This story just wasn't necessary. 

FOURTH ISSUE: Jensen Dance Academy is opening in Heatherfield, run by one of Karmilla's dancers. Irma is excited to go because she has this crazy idea that Karmilla is the special surprise at the end. Taranee is the only one who wants to go with her, having taken dance lessons in her old town. The guardians are called to Kandrakar where Himerish says he's becoming the Oracle again but will do things differently this time. At the dance academy, Irma and Taranee meet Sheila Jensen, the unhappy daughter of the academy owner. In a preview of one of the classes, Taranee recognizes the song and does a dance from her old school. She catches the eye of Kevin Jensen, the owner, and he tells her she may have what it takes to go pro. Taranee is super happy about dancing again and Peter helps her tell their parents. Her mom is a bitch about it. Will's mom is sometimes bitchy, but Taranee's mom is almost always overprotective, condescending and just plain bitchy. She gives in pretty quickly, but I don't know why her first reaction always has to be Bitch. Irma and Joel realize they both of have younger siblings in the same class. In school, Sheila is courted by the popular kids and wants nothing to do with anyone, whiile Matt is thrilled to have helped W.I.T.C.H.

Order of Favorite Guardians: Cornelia, Hay, Irma, Taranee, Will. 

I didn't do a summary of each volume, but this story arc was really good. Old enemies and old friends back. The girls' relationships strengthening and struggling. I loved the changes in Himerish's character and Orube remains really strong. It was good to see the Meridian gang again and I always love Yan Lin. The only bit I really didn't care for was the Breath of Time Phobos after story. Just felt like filler. Some of their filler stories have a lot of character development, but I didn't feel like this story added much. 

The girls remain in their same order, but Taranee might be creeping higher on Irma. I love dancing so her passion for it may help me like her more. (Not that I don't.) I only read these newer storylines once before and it was so long ago that I can't remember what I thought of Taranee and her dancing. But we'll soon find out!

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