Oh My Goddess: Part 1
Phoebe and Paige are signing up guys for a charity auction sponsored by The Bay Mirror at P3. The guys agree to be auctioned off on dates and the proceeds will go to a children's organization. Phoebe has signed up six guys, but Paige has scared off everyone she's talked to, meaning none of the guys she talked to have signed up. She hasn't been able to sleep due to apocalyptic dreams.
In an Arctic ice cave, a demon speaks an incantation. An ice wall shatters and two Titans, Demitrius and Meta, emerge. The demon asks the Titans for their help in taking over the Underworld, as a return favour for freeing them. However, Demitrius contemptuously fries him with lightning. Demitrius wants to free the Titans' leader, Cronus, over Meta's objections. He counts on Cronus being furious.
Piper has gotten her first good night's sleep in some time, thanks to Wyatt finally sleeping through the night despite an unusual heat wave in San Francisco. Phoebe is complaining about the heat and Piper shows her the phone bill. Phoebe explains that she doesn't know where she and Jason stand so she has to make a lot of phone calls. Piper and Leo had sex for the first time in months. Paige comes in and complains about her dreams and the weather. The sisters begin to suspect magic.
Meta is skeptical about freeing Cronus; she thinks that she and Demetrius have more than enough power between them to take over the world. However, Demetrius wants revenge on the Elders as well, and thinks they need Cronus' power to get it. He tells Meta to find and kill some Whitelighters. Meta whirls away while Demetrius raises a storm to free Cronus.
Piper and Leo are at the park with Darryl and Sheila. Darryl tells Piper and Leo that he didn't get much sleep at first when his son was born. Suddenly, Leo gets an urgent call from the Elders and heads away. Darryl reveals that Sheila already knows about their magic.
At P3, Elise and Phoebe are making final preparations for the auction. Elise really wants the charity to go without a hitch and requests that Phoebe thank her sister for donating the club for the charity. Elise talked with Jason earlier, and he said it was almost as hot in Hong Kong as it is in San Francisco. Phoebe feels really weird ending a good relationship abruptly. Elise, at the risk of advising the advice columnist, suggests Phoebe bid on a bachelor so she can have a relationship closer to home. Suddenly, Paige walks in with two heavy coats. She tells Phoebe that she's read the I Ching, tarot cards, and other supernatural sources — all of which report something big going down. Paige orbs Phoebe to the ice cave where the Titans were unleashed. Phoebe gets a premonition from the remains of the demon; she sees Demitrius and Meta emerging from the ice wall. The ice cave collapses as Demetrius frees Cronus.
The sisters are trying to get a fix on who Phoebe saw in her premonition when Leo orbs in. He reports that a Whitelighter has gone missing — and he didn't die from a Darklighter's arrow. The sisters and Leo believe that all Whitelighters should be grounded; Leo persuades the Elders to do this.
Meta appears to a Whitelighter and, with a gaze, turns her to stone and places her next to another petrified Whitelighter. She whirls back to the Arctic, where Cronus and Demetrius are waiting. Cronus wants to attack the Elders now, but Demetrius thinks that only two will not be enough. Cronus and Demetrius take the power from the two petrified Whitelighters, and the statues crumble.
Leo rushes in late for a counselling appointment when, much to Piper's frustration, he gets another urgent jingle.
Paige is reading the Book of Shadows and finds the page on the Titans. She wants to lure them to the manor and vanquish them, but Phoebe isn't sure about doing this until they know who they're dealing with. Paige orbs and attracts Meta. Paige tries to vanquish Meta, but the potions have no effect. Meta blasts Paige and, in that moment, a Whitelighter orbs in. He warns Phoebe not to look in Meta's eyes. The Whitelighter throws potions and Meta retreats — but Paige has been turned to stone.
The Whitelighter identifies himself as Chris Perry and says he's from the future. According to Chris, in his time Paige had died on this day, and would have been the third Whitelighter to be killed by the Titans. As a result, the Power of Three was permanently destroyed, and the Titans had taken over the world. Piper and Phoebe are sceptical until Leo orbs back in and tells them that a second Whitelighter had gone missing earlier. They hear a commotion downstairs and find the manor overrun with magical beings, including fairies, leprechauns, the Elf Nanny, a wood nymph, and an attractive buff male oracle.
Cronus is angry with Meta for exposing them to the Charmed Ones, and he vanquishes her with a stream of fire.
The sisters and Leo corral the magical beings into the conservatory. Phoebe expresses her amazement at the male oracle's impressive appearance. The Elf Nanny explains that the magical beings sensed something was very wrong, so they took refuge in the manor. She hears Wyatt crying and goes up to change him.
Piper goes back to the attic to find Chris leafing through the Book. Chris explains to Piper that the Titans were more than anyone could handle. The Elders only defeated them by giving several mortals massive powers. The mortals managed to trap the Titans in ice, but got overwhelmed by their new powers and declared themselves gods. They then took over the world themselves, becoming the Greek Gods of mythology. The Elders swore never to create gods again.
Phoebe comes up with a Leprechaun and a dwarf in hopes they can free Paige. The leprechaun thinks they need a fairy's help to get Paige loose. Chris explains that the Titans are killing Whitelighters to get their orbing power. Piper realizes they're after the Elders, and sends Leo to warn them. However, when Leo arrives, he only finds dead Elders.
Phoebe is very angry at Chris for not warning them of what was going on earlier, but Chris was afraid to say too much for fear of making the future worse. Piper comes in to report that she hasn't heard from Leo in five hours. She tells Chris to bring Leo back.
Chris orbs to the heavens to find Leo distraught over the carnage. Leo is also angry at Chris for not telling him sooner. Chris tells him that some Elders managed to escape — and there's only one way to defeat the Titans. Leo realizes what Chris is suggesting — releasing the God powers. He's sceptical, but Chris tells them they had to die so Leo could be free to think out of the box and protect his family.
The leprechaun, dwarf, and fairy manage to free Paige. She and Phoebe head down to find Piper on the couch, worried that Leo won't come back. The magical beings head out to protect the surviving Elders while the sisters fight the Titans. All of this is too much for Piper, and she calls for Leo. Leo hears her call, but Chris tells him he needs to stay up and coordinate their defence. Leo suggests Chris go back down to explain what's happening.
Leo releases the powers of the gods and the sisters find themselves dressed in white ancient Greek outfits. Chris tells them that they are gods. Phoebe becomes the Goddess of Love, Piper the Goddess of Earth and Paige the Goddess of War.
Tropes:
- All Up to You:
- The various members of the magical community head to the manor since the Charmed Ones are the only ones who have a chance of saving the world this time. The sisters are not particularly enthused about fighting Titans.
- After the Titans' initial assault leaves multiple Elders dead and the survivors hiding on Earth, Chris tells Leo that the future is in his hands and that he'll have to do the one thing the Elders would never do.
- Arc Welding: True to Greek mythology, the Gods did overthrow the Titans. However here they were merely mortals infused with great power.
- Bachelor Auction: The episode opens with Phoebe and Paige recruiting guys for a charity auction being run by the newspaper.
- Continuity Nod:
- When Leo is 'up there', the same whitelighter language from Season 3 can be heard in the background.
- Thistle, the fairy from Season 3 reappears as part of the magical creatures.
- Continuity Snarl: Phoebe complains about not having air conditioning. A minor plot point in Season 3's "Sight Unseen" had the manor's air conditioning revealing a demon with invisibility.
- Death of the Old Gods: The Titans had to be sealed away. The Greek Gods meanwhile had to suffer this too, as they grew mad with power.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Chris is wearing glasses when he first appears and loses them in the fight with Meta. They're never brought up again.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Piper questions why the Titans would even bother with Whitelighters and their orbing power, only to realize mid-sentence that it's the only way to get in where the Elders reside.
- False Reassurance: Demitrius refuses to leave Meta behind, and he reiterates that after Cronus badgers her for failing to claim Paige's orbing power. Cronus assures him that he won't have to right before killing Meta.
- Foreshadowing: When Leo has to leave right before the therapy session, Piper says she's scared of how something magical always interferes with her having the normal family life she wants. In the last scene, she openly worries that Leo is not coming back.
- Jerkass Gods: It turns out the Greek Gods were humans infused with power, but they became arrogant and thus fulfilled the trope. The Titans were this as well naturally.
- Last Episode, New Character: Chris is introduced in this two-parter. He will become a regular in season 6.
- Late to the Tragedy: Leo heads "up there" to warn the Elders about why the Titans are targeting Whitelighters, only to find a bunch of dead bodies.
- Little "No": Leo when finding multiple Elders dead.
- Masquerade: Meta cites this as a reason why it's so hard to track down Whitelighters, saying magic is not practiced openly anymore.
- Mission Control: Chris says that even once the powers of the gods are released, Leo is going to have to stay "up there" in order to coordinate the next phase of the fight against the Titans.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Piper is quite content to badger the various magical guests into the conservatory, but she has this apologetic reaction when she sees she almost squished a fairy when trying to close the door.
- The Needs of the Many: Leo is about to release the powers of the gods when he hears Piper calling him. He wants to go to her, but Chris reminds him that countless more people are depending on him right now.
- Next Sunday A.D.: Chris asserts he's only 20 years from the future.
- Noodle Incident: While looking over the Book of Shadows, Chris tells Piper to update the goblin entry and that that will save them some later trouble.
- Our Titans Are Different: They're human-sized and more powerful than the average upper-level demon. Meta has the power to turn people to stone. All of them can affect weather patterns through their emotions alone.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Of the two Elders that Leo talks to, Cecil is quite personable, hears out Leo's concerns, and gives him encouragement about following his instincts. Leo is later crushed to see that Cecil was among those killed by the Titans.
- Rule of Three: Three Titans are freed. Three whitelighters turned to stone. Three magical creatures help Phoebe free Paige.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Titans were trapped in ice for centuries.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Chris claims he came back to the past to prevent Paige from dying and to help the Charmed Ones defeat the Titans.
- Shout-Out: The elf nanny hires herself, much like Mary Poppins does. Phoebe mentions the film by name too.
- Taken for Granite: Meta, one of the Titans can turn people to stone. She turns Whitelighters to stone and shatters them to steal their teleporting powers. Paige is turned to stone, but is saved from the shattering and later returned to normal.
- What Have I Become?: After the powers of the gods transforms the sisters, the first part of this story closes on this exchange.Paige: What are we?
Chris: You're gods. - What the Hell, Hero?: After finding multiple Elders dead, Leo accosts Chris and demands to know why he didn't give any advanced warning of this.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: The Olympic Gods were just a bunch of humans given Godly powers by the Council of Elders to defeat the Titans. However, once the humans successfully stopped the threat they refused to give back the powers, climbed the biggest mountain they could find, and declares themselves Gods until they had to be cast down. When the Titans return, Leo (the only living councilman left) gives the powers of War, Love, and the Earth to the sisters who, in the next episode, struggle not to succumb to the madness such powers naturally give.
- You Have Failed Me: After the attempt to claim Paige's orbing power fails, Cronus executes Meta. He justifies it by saying she not only failed outright, but that she exposed their presence to witches and thus endangered the chance to take the Elders by surprise.
