The ancient wizards, or the Wizards of the Wild Magic, are a group of characters in Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders. They are introduced as a concept in "Revenge of the Dark Stone" and play a larger role in the show's second season.
The ancient wizard Morgana is the main antagonist during the second season, when the forces of good and evil both are searching for their long-lost Wizard Jewels, some of them still hidden within the strange wizard lairs. Other named wizards that appear are Derek, Mallory, Ronan, and Tiberius. Two episodes take place in the former Hall of Wizards and a few more feature Morgana's lair.
"Time is running out. Shortly, Merlin expects us in the Friendship Ring to bind us all together to the good of Avalon. He will not prevail! The Friendship Ring is the most magical place in Avalon. We will turn that magic against Merlin with my Dark Stone. Merlin will be destroyed!"
Background[]
Statues at the Hall of Wizards
There have been once the Great Wizards, a society of many[1] wizards led by their queen, Morgana the enchantress. Unknown to the good great wizard Merlin, they have begun studying magic for dark purposes, living in their strange wizard lairs in various magical realms and meeting in the secret Hall of Wizards hidden in the most magical of all, Avalon.
Kale and dweasels after triggering a wizard lair's trap in "Mystery Island"
Many generations before the current events, they were all defeated and banished from Avalon to the hidden dimension of the Wild Magic by the Merlin after conspiring to destroy him during their false Circle of Friendship ceremony. The ancient wizards had their own magic jewels, called the Wizard Jewels. Thrown into the Wild Magic without them, they could not leave and no longer had protection from the effects of exposure to the wild magic, and so the Wild Magic consumed the ancient wizards, and they became part of it themselves. A thousand years later their jewels are now usually still in their former lairs hidden all though Avalon and beyond, the mysterious and dangerous places still being protected by all sorts of magical traps.
Members[]
Morgana and the ghosts of Mallory (right) and Tiberius (center) reacting to Merlin's use of the Staff of Avalon in "The One Jewel"
At the start of the show's second season, Morgana is brought back to life iin the titular episode "Morgana". One of the other wizards, Derek, is featured in the episode "The Fortune Jewel". Four more, including Mallory and Tiberius, as well as possibly Ronan (the former owner of the Time Stone, whose lair is visited in the episode "Mystery Island"), briefly return only as "wild magic ghosts" once their jewels are brought to the Center of the Wild Magic in the final episode "The One Jewel" ("The Last Dance"). Another ancient wizard (given that there are seven Wizard Jewels including the Dark Stone for Morgana) remains unnamed, just as does the fourth wizard-ghost. However, the script of the episode "Spirit of Avalon" actually lists the Staff of Avalon belonging to the (good) Lady of the Lake as the seventh of the Wizard Jewels.
Derek[]
Cat-Derek in "The Fortune Jewel"
Derek has been the holder of the Fortune Jewel. After the final battle between Merlin and Morgana in ancient times, he too was blasted into the Wild Magic with the other evil wizards without his jewel. Over time, Derek’s Wizard Jewel has become partially tuned to the Gypsy fortune teller named Ezmerelda (and earlier to the previous generations of her family).
In "The Fortune Jewel", Ezmeralda's strange new cat steps in to keep his titular jewel away of the evil Lady Kale and protect her from Kale's magic, and later also saves the shrunken girls from her dweasels. After Kale takes them to Morgana, it is revealed that the cat is Derek, whom Merlin found in the Wild Magic and sent him to Avalon to find his new old jewel and give it over the Jewel Riders as a sign of his friendship. Derek turned into a talking cat (orange colored, but originally written as black[2]), but he has retained just some of his magic. When Derek has to make a choice to either aid the Jewel Riders or to help Morgana and work with him as he did in the old days, he decides to help the Jewel Rider, blaming Morgana for having deceived him once before and believing that his only real hope to turn back into his true form is with Merlin. He also agrees to let Ezmeralda use him for her new traveling business as a wonder talking cat, if they just split the earnings.
Mallory[]
Mallory's statue in Gardenia being discovered in "The Wizard of Gardenia"
According to Morgana, Mallory was an especially clever wizard. He was the owner of the Garden Stone, the Wizard Jewel of Gardenia. His lair in Gardenia with a tree-castle and a maze of enchanted hedges is featured in "Wizard of Gardenia" (along with Mallory's statue, showing him "with a crazy smile"[3] and a thunderbolt-shaped staff) and is later briefly revisited in the last episode, "The One Jewel". A good-hearted garden gnome named Chance who helps the girls against Kale and Morgana claims to be Mallory's former apprentice.
Mallory and Tiberius are the only ones mentioned by name in script for the show's final episode,[4] when they and two other evil wizards appear summoned by their jewels in their ghostly forms to again challenge Merlin (unlike the other wizards who show up there, Mallory does not appear to have elf-like ears). However, in these forms they do not have any powers anymore and so they fully submit to Morgana after briefly trying to wrestle their jewels from her, shortly before they end up destroyed along with Morgana by Merlin when she loses to the Jewel Riders and their friends.
Morgana[]
- Main article: Morgana
Morgana in the episode "Morgana"
The mysterious, cruel, and seemingly eternally young Morgana was once the Queen of the Wild Magic and a leader of the ancient wizards. Introduced in "Revenge of the Dark Stone", she first appears in person in the titular episode "Morgana" as she is revived by being reunited with her Dark Stone. She and Lady Kale then grudgingly make a deal to work together against the Jewel Riders.
During the second season, Morgana hopes to find the Wizard Jewels so she can get her vengeance upon Merlin and finally conquer Avalon to seize all the magic forever, not intending to share any of it with Kale nor anyone else including the other ancient wixards. Eventually, at the time of her near-triumph, Morgana is vanquished once and for all by the ultimate power of the One Jewel.
Behind the scenes[]
The ancient wizards did not exist in the original pre-production materials including the history of Avalon and were only created later. Mallory's name seems to be a homage to Thomas Malory, a medieval English author (and notorious criminal) known for his work to compile the Arthurian myths that served as a loose inspiration for the show. These legends included that of the often (but not always) evil sorceress Morgan le Fay, also known as Morgana, and of Arthur's Roman enemy (Lucius) Tiberius.
Legacy[]
The wizards (and perhaps Mallory in particular) later in turn inspired the character of the sorcerer Tangoo in Avalon: Web of Magic. There are also warlocks in the series, as are actually wizards, but they are different there - defined as "a person, male or female, who is especially skilled in broad fields of magical activity and usually mentor and teach mages about magic. Wizards do not need jewels or magical animals although both always help make lasting and strong magic."[5]
See also[]
References[]
| Characters |
|---|
| List of characters List of episodic characters Main characters |
| Magic |
|---|
  Magic, Wild Magic, Jewel Quest, Jewel Armor |
