Heart of Kandrakar

The Heart of Kandrakar, (later changed to the Heart of Candracar by Walt Disney), is a fictional magical pendant from the Italian Comic book W.I.T.C.H., and the French animated series of the same name. It is bestowed to the leader of the Guardians of the Veil, and enables the Guardians to transform into their superhero alter egos by channeling the power of the Aurameres into them.

Although the Guardians have some power without the Heart, their strength is greatly increased by it. Without it, the Guardians' powers would be drawn from their life force instead of the Aurameres. [W.I.T.C.H., Season 2, Episode 14 (N is for Narcissist)] [W.I.T.C.H., Season 2, Episode 18 (R is for Relentless)]

In the comic book, the Heart is a unique magical jewel that merges with its holder's body when it is not in use, and retains a shade of them when it is passed on to the next holder. In the animated series, the Heart remains distinct from its owner, and each world had a Heart of its own. Some of which are jewels like the Heart of Kandrakar, and others of which are people with tremendous magical power. In Season 2, it is revealed that Elyon is the Heart of Meridian, and Lillian Hale is the Heart of Earth. It is also revealed that the holder of one Heart can merge it with another world's Heart, but only if that Heart is given willingly. However, the Hearts of each world cannot be taken by force. They must be given willingly, which is why Nerissa had to resort to trickery to acquire Elyon's powers instead of direct confrontation or stealing it from her. This means that the Heart of Kandrakar is literally the "Heart" of Kandrakar, and possibly its central power source, or perhaps vice versa. In the comic book, the Heart is the symbol of Kandrakar, which explains the reason the Oracle's head is marked with its symbol. Also, even the Oracle does not have the power to demand the Keeper hand it over, and the Keeper must decide to return it, which is the reason why Endarno does not simply use his powers as the new Oracle to take the Heart from Will, which would enable him to succeed in his evil scheme and greatly weaken the Guardians.

Origins

According to the animated series, there once was a kingdom that was suffering from a prolonged drought. [W.I.T.C.H., Season 1, Episode 8 (Ambush at Torus Filney)] Feeling pity for the people of the kingdom, the Jade Emperor's four dragons came together and used their magical abilities to bring rain to the land. However, in doing so they enraged the Emperor himself.

Angered that they had acted without his permission, the Emperor ordered that the dragons be confined in the hearts of four mountains. The Emperor's daughter, however, realized that the dragons were right in helping the people. She argued with her father and when he refused to reverse his decision she freed the dragons herself.

After being freed from their mountain prisons, the dragons became one with the Emperor's daughter, and she left. All that remained of her was the Heart of Kandrakar.

In the comic book, the dragons are freed by the nymph Xin Jing (zh-s|s=心晶), (meaning Heart of Crystal in Chinese), who absorbed their dragon essence and turned them into the four great rivers of China. Afterwards, all that remained of Xin Jing, her spirit, became the Heart, making it a thinking and decisive being. It is revealed in the final confrontation against Nerissa that the Keeper does not choose the Heart, the Heart chooses the Keeper, as the Heart contains the spirit of Xin Jing.

Holders

Notable holders of the Heart are Nerissa, Cassidy, Yan Lin and Will, with the comic book pointing out that there have been many others before them. [ 5th Special Issue of "W.I.T.C.H.". Retrieved on June 4, 2007.]

Powers

When first introduced, the Guardians are told that the Heart possessed two powers. The ability to channel the power of the Aurameres into them – enhancing their elemental abilities, transforming them back into their normal selves, and allowing them to transform into their alter egos – and the ability to close holes in the Veil. However further powers are either revealed, or added to the Heart, as the series progresses.

Early in Season 1, the Heart is shown to have a bond with whoever it is bestowed upon, allowing the Heart to track the holder, or the holder to track the Heart, if they are separated from each other. It is also discovered that the Heart can be used in conjunction with an enchanted section of a map, once part of a much larger map, located in Phobos' castle, to find holes in the Veil (in the comic book, there are only twelve portals, in the animated series there are many more). The Heart is also the key to go to Kandrakar.

In the TV series, the Heart possesses the ability to display images of people and items at their present state and location, even through other realms such as Meridian, and the Guardians use this power a number of times.

In Season 1 Episode 8 "Ambush at Torus Filney", it is revealed that the Heart has the power to create Astral Drops, physical duplicates of the people who summon them, but with limited personalities.

It is also revealed that the Heart can force a beast in disguise to reveal his/her true form upon contact with him/her. Later, in Season 2, in the battle for Zamballa, the Heart emits a beam of light that revealed the true forms of Nerissa and her minions when it shone on them.

According to Prince Phobos, with the Heart's power, his strength would be doubled.

In Season 1 Episode 20 "The Seal of Phobos", the Heart is merged with the Seal of Phobos, a mystical item that is said to be a universal key. This also proves that the Heart has the ability to absorb or merge with magical items. After the merging, the Heart gains the ability to open portals in the Veil, between dimensions, not only close them.

In Season 1 Episode 25 "The Stolen Heart", Will applies the Heart's ability to create multiple, though powerless, copies of itself, a power not seen in any other episode.

In the comic book, the Heart retains a shadow of the spirit of each of its former holders, allowing Will to ask it for advice. It also is capable of transporting its user to anywhere desired, even if its user does not know the precise location of the desired destination, and making its user and those whom the user is in contact with invisible. It can also create an image of anyone the Keeper desires it to, quite unlike an Astral Drop, which can talk, feel and think.

In both the comic book and the series, the Heart also shows a number of other, less specific abilities, including the ability to let of a flash of energy that can blind or disorient an enemy and free the user when he/she is imprisoned or trapped, and a limited ability to act on its own when the Guardians are in danger. The Heart has only acted on its own twice, and that was when Phobos sent a giant bug-like creature to kill Elyon's adopted parents. It shot a ray of light at the creature, shrinking it down to the size of a normal bug, revealing another one of its abilities. The second time was when Cornelia sneaked into Elyon's palace to pay her a visit, as she believed there was still good within her, and stole the Heart from Will, for reasons unknown, though perhaps she believed it could somehow help her, even though she was not a Keeper of the Heart. Elyon, her mind still clouded by Cedric's lies at the time, imprisoned Cornelia in a bubble, but the bubble was shattered by the Heart, which suddenly activated without warning and freed Cornelia.

The Heart is able to protect its Keeper from dark forces, like the time it shielded Will from the dark magic of Phobos's poisonous black roses.

The Heart of Kandrakar was also used to break the deadly spell of Phobos on the Crown of Light, a crown of the rightful ruler of Meridian to help the rightful heir to achieve her full powers. Long ago, when Elyon was not even born and her mother Weira was still a young girl, the Mage, residing in Meridian, was apparently somehow in possession of the Heart and used it to create the Star of Threbe.

In the comic book, Nerissa, armed with the Heart of Kandrakar, is able to penetrate through even the powerful magical defenses of Kandrakar, withstand the combined assaults of the Oracle and the Congregation, rival the Oracle's power, who is literally "God of the Universe", and would have conquered Kandrakar had the Guardians had not intervened, showing the Heart's great power. Nerissa also causes the Heart to explode, thus creating some living black goo (which the Oracle says is the purest form of true evil) that nearly consumed all of Kandrakar, the Oracle, the Congregation, the Guardians and Caleb. Nerissa also claimed that possession of the Heart of Kandrakar would make her Queen of the Elements, and manages to even deflect the formidable elemental attacks the Congregation of Kandrakar bombarded her with.

In the TV show, in the episode "V is for Victory" Will uses the Heart of Kandrakar to seal a binding oath Prince Phobos made for getting the Seal of Nerissa back to the Guardians and not using its immense power for himself in exchange for his freedom.

In the Endarno saga, Will screams, "Save him!" when Matt falls from a roller-coaster when the two are under attack from Cedric, and the Heart of Kandrakar emits a beam of light that forms a sphere that protects Matt. Matt also sacrifices himself to save Will from Cedric's deadly attack, which rekindles the Heart's magic, because love is the most powerful magic of all.

In the Arkhanta saga, it is revealed that the Heart of Kandrakar was given the power of regeneration by the nymph Xin Jing, which is the reason why Yan Lin managed to serve Kandrakar for so long, and the Guradians's continual transformations do not exhaust them, as the power of regeneration ensures a balance between the body and the mind. Every time one of the Guardians touch the Heart, they become stronger. The power of regeneration even cured Taranee's blurry eyesite.

References