Pandora's Box is an ancient magical box that contains all of the sorrows of the world. It is protected by a chosen guardian and can only move on to the next one when the current one dies.[1]
History[]
Pandora, the First Guardian[]
Pandora was given the box by the Greek gods as a gift to Prometheus. Her curiosity got the best of her and when she opened the box, all the sorrows came out of it and resulted in great calamity on the world. The one thing that was left at the bottom of the box was hope. Pandora eventually found the confidence she needed to recapture all the sorrows into the box. It has been protected by guardians throughout the millennia since.
Hope[]
In 2005, a rogue demon named Katya went after the box, hoping to unleash the sorrows again and earn a position in Zankou's factions. Kayta tracked and fought the current guardian, Nina, and managed to fatally stab her. However, the box then teleported itself to its next guardian, Hope.
Katya, disguised as Nina, went to the Charmed Ones for help in locating the box. Meanwhile, Hope found the box and accidentally released some of the sorrows at Berkeley University. When Katya revealed herself, she fought Piper and managed to escape with the box. Learning that her own power was not enough to open it, Katya decided to force Hope to open the box by threatening her friend Darcy's life.
To save Darcy, Paige glamoured herself as Hope to fool Katya and vanquished her after she brought her to Darcy. After the box was retrieved, Hope was able to recall the sorrows into the box with encouragement from Darcy and the sisters.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Active Powers
- Sensing: The ability to sense the location of beings. When a guardian dies, the box senses the location of the next guardian.
- Fading: The ability to teleport in a fading matter. When a guardian dies, the box teleports itself to the next guardian.
- Suggestion: The ability to plant thoughts into the minds of others. As the box exists to tempt, it will whisper to those near it to be opened.
- Other Powers
- Immunity: The ability to be immune to certain powers, spells or potions. The box was unaffected by demonic powers, such as energy balls. Katya claimed that nothing can harm the box and that it can only be opened by its current guardian.
Guardians of Pandora's Box[]
In each generation, a woman is born with the sole destiny of protecting Pandora's Box. The guardian is the only one with the ability to open the box, release its contents and also the only one whom can recall the contents back into the box. Each guardian also has the task of training the next guardian.
- Pandora: The first guardian of the box.
- Nina: Nina was the guardian for an unknown amount of time. She was killed by Katya in 2005 before she could train Hope.
- Hope: Hope was a college student at Berkeley University who became the guardian when Nina was killed, though she did not receive the proper training.
Notes and Trivia[]
- In Greek mythology, it is a box that the Greek god Zeus gave to Pandora, the first woman, with strict instructions that she will not open it. Pandora's curiosity soon got the better of her, and she opened the box. All the evils and miseries of the world flew out to afflict mankind and the world almost came to an end because of this, although there was one last thing at the bottom of the box, hope.
- According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod's Theogony, Pandora's box was originally a large jar called a pithos. The shift in object is attributed with the 16th-century humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam, who erroneously mistook the Greek pithos (storage jar) as the Greek pyxis (small box) when he translated Hesiod's original story into Latin.
- The box was mentioned twice on the show before it actually appeared.
- In "Sin Francisco", Leo implies that the sin box could have served as inspiration for the myth of Pandora's Box.
- In "Charmed and Dangerous", Cole references to Pandora's Box while discussing how to stop the Hollow.
- When Sandra explained Pandora's Box to Phoebe she said 'it exists only to tempt, part of the Grand Design'. If mankind chooses to open the Box, the Elders cannot intervene.
- The sorrows inside Pandora's Box bear a striking resemblance to the Hollow.
Gallery[]
