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This article is about a character by that name. For the episode, see Morgana (episode).


Season 2 villain

Morgana is is a major character in the animated series Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders. She is the main antagonist of the series' second and final season, voiced by Deborah Allison, and is also known as Queen Morgana, the Enchantress Morgana and the Sorceress Morgana (Morgana the Sorceress). Both she and the also evil Lady Kale inspired the later character of the Dark Sorceress in the book series Avalon: Web of Magic.

Dark Stone 1

Morgana wielding the Dark Stone

The beautiful and very mysterious Morgana was once the eternal Queen of the Wild Magic and a ruthless leader of the evil ancient wizards who have been eliminated by the good wizard Merlin 1,000 years prior to the events of the show. Introduced in "Revenge of the Dark Stone", she first appears in person in the titular episode "Morgana" as she revived by the power of the Dark Stone. Morgana then enters an uneasy pact with the new Dark Stone wielder Lady Kale to work together against the Jewel Riders and their friends as she hopes to find the Wizard Jewels and to use them to get her vengeance upon Merlin and finally conquer Avalon. Soon, the girls learn about it and so they embark on their second Jewel Quest to rescue Merlin and hopefully defeat her once and for all.

"That's the trouble with you Jewel Riders, always thinking of others first. That is your weakness and my strength!"

In the series[]

Jewel Riders Morgana

Fallon checks Morgana's hologram in her lair in "Revenge of the Dark Stone"

Background[]

Morgana is described by the Fortune Jewel as "a great witch out of legend". A thousand years ago, she had been the treacherous leader of ancient wizards, who have secretly conspired against the great wizard Merlin in order to take over the magic of Avalon after destroying them during his and theirs Circle of Friendship ceremony, as well as the original creator and wielder of the Dark Stone, a powerful jewel of evil magic. However, together with the other wizards, Morgana was defeated by Merlin. When they were all thrown into the deadly Wild Magic without their jewels, Morgana and her wizards perished. Ten centuries later, Morgana is so forgotten that even Merlin's own young students the Jewel Riders have not heard about her.

Return[]

Morgana 1

Lady Kale and Morgana fight over the control of the Dark Stone in "Morgana"

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Kale and Morgana working together in "The Wizard of Gardenia"

Morgana suddenly returns with a vengeance in the first episode of the show's second season, the titular "Morgana", as the Dark Stone restores her physical form in her lair after the jewel went into the Wild Magic at the end of "Full Circle". (The script of the episode introduces her in the form of a sparkling cloud of magic energy in the Wild Magic.) Unable to control her Dark Jewel anymore, however, Morgana is forced to ally herself with Lady Kale, an outlaw princess and would-be evil queen of Avalon and too a sworn enemy of Merlin, even as she regards Kale as a troublesome upstart who cannot be trusted. In their deal, Morgana sends Kale back to Avalon and lends Kale some of her own power so she can collect all the lost Wizard Jewels for Morgana's plan to destroy Merlin and rule both Avalon and the Wild Magic in his place.

Morgana 5

A dark prophecy of Morgana's triumph in "The Fortune Jewel"

Morgana godlike

After gaining semingly ultimate power in "The One Jewel"

Now, Princess Gwenevere and her Jewel Riders must fight to prevent this and overcome Morgana's dark magic, so the hopefully returning Merlin can make sure she will remain history. During their adventures, the girls have several very dangerous confrontations with Morgana, meeting her both in Avalon and in the other realms as she appears either alongside Kale (in Avalon) or alone (in the other realms that Kale cannot access, her having no help from the Gliders to navigate the Wild Magic as the Jewel Riders do). But there is a deep rivalry and even hatred between the two evil women, even as Kale sarcastically talks about "the power of friendship" to mock the Jewel Riders. The truth is that Kale has no intention of sharing the Wizard Jewels with anyone, as the ever-proud Princess of Avalon wants all of the Wizard Jewel powers tuned only to herself and refuses to accept her role as Morgana's mere sidekick, while Morgana is well aware of Kale's lack of loyalty but is forced to rely on her as Kale controls the Dark Stone now. Meanwhile, the Jewel Riders meet new friends that become their true allies against Morgana, including Gwen's other love interest, Prince Ian.

Abilities[]

Morgana 31

Kale watches Morgana using magic in her lai in "The Fortune Jewel"

Alike Merlin, Morgana does not age (Morgana to Kale: "I can sit here for another few centuries. Can you?"[1]). She also does not need a jewel for her spells as both she and Merlin are able to channel powerful magical energies with their very hands. but she still needed her lost Dark Jewel (now Kale-bonded Dark Stone) to survive within the Wild Magic and to get out of it. In addition, she is also able to project strange magic tendrils from her hair to grab things or capture living beings on long distances. In "The One Jewel" she briefly takes a green-skinned mermaid form, described in the episode's script as the "sea witch". Eventually, she briefly turns into a goddess-like figure with also greenish skin and clad only in a simple leotard garment instead of her normal costume (a long dress with shifting length).

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Morgana on her throne in "The One Jewel"

Similar to the Jewel Riders (by the way of Queen Anya in the Jewel Keep), Morgana has a device in her Wild Magic palace for detecting (but not precisely locating) magical jewels inside the Wild Magic. The great goodness of the Crystal Palace limits Morgana's power to aid Kale inside or too close to its Jewel Keep. As a wizard, Morgana is able to give orders to the Guardian of the Magic, but he later manages to break his servitude the wizards to rebel against Morgana and sides with the Jewel Riders. She can freely float through the air and is also seated on a hovering flying throne during some episodes. She usually manifests only as a magical projection (through the Dark Stone or otherwise), but eventually starts appearing physically, beginning in "Prince of the Forest" (when she barely escapes Ian's fury for having taken his beloved Princess Gwenevere hostage). Morgana is able to manifest herself away from the Dark Stone (and Kale) within her hidden lairs in the other realms in "Shadowsong" and "Vale of the Unicorns", as she tries to steal the magic of the unicorns (before the Jewel Riders come to the rescue of the disappeared Queen Sierra who defied Morgana) and even the magic of the girls' own Enchanted Jewels (that she almost succeeds to drain, and leave the girls trapped in her other lair, the Tower of Glass, before she is stopped by Shadowsong). In "Lady of the Lake", Morgana leaves the Wild Magic when she absorbs enough of magical energies from the magic mists surrounding the Heart of Avalon after Kale brings them there.

Appearances[]

"Revenge of the Dark Stone" (cameo), "Morgana", "Shadowsong, "Fashion Fever", "Vale of the Unicorns", "Prince of the Forest", "The Wizard of Gardenia", "Mystery Island", "The Fortune Jewel", "Spirit of Avalon", "The One Jewel" (demise)

Fate[]

Morgana forge
Morgana 4

A scene described in the script of "The Fortune Jewel" showed the Jewel Riders a prophetic vision of Morgana's victory: "An image of Morgana sitting in her flying throne at the center of the Wild Magic appears. She floats in the Forge (the center of the magic), waving her hands and controlling the ebb and flow of the magic."[2] Eventually, however, following the magic ritual contest for the control over the Jewels, fought between Morgana and the girls fighting as Merlin's champions (during which Morgana cruelly kills Ian and destroys the magical Forest of Arden before Gwen brings him and it both back to life), Merlin uses the power of the One Jewel (created with the help of both Gwen's Sun Stone and Morgana's former own Dark Stone) directly against Morgana, defeating her instantly. As the script describes it, after Gwen calls out for "goodness and love [to] forever triumph over the forces of darkness", "t

The Forge shrinks, shrinks and vanishes taking Morgana and the other wizards with her."[3]

In the end, the evil queen of magic loses everything due to being utterly selfish and unwilling to ever share her power with anyone, not even with the other evil wizards when they return. Not only she chooses not to revive her ally-rival Kale after the latter's defeat (instead even mockingly thanking the Jewel Riders for being rid of "that thorn in my side, Kale"), but also refuses to give their Wizard Jewels to the wizard ghosts after they get summoned by their own jewels, besides unable to win back the trust of the reformed ancient wizard Derek after once having seduced him to her side. On the other hand, Merlin, the three Jewel Riders and their bonded magic animals, Ian, and even the arriving boys of the Wolf Pack, all work together against her, true to the theme of the powers of friendship and love being the most important magic, greater than any dark powers.

The German title of the last episode, "The Last Dance", is actually "Morganas Ende", that is "Morgana's End" in English, and indeed, with Morgana this time having disappeared without a trace, and the Dark Stone no longer existing, it seems nothing is going to bring her back again, even as Merlin cryptically mentions that "darkness always returns". (Some fans have since explored the possibility of Morgana's unlikely return in fan fiction, including in The Jewel Riders Archive contest for the show's theoretical third season ideas.[4]) The sequel comic, to be released in 2024, did promise the return of "a foe the Jewel Riders thought they'd once vanquished", presumably meaning either Morgana or Kale. However, as of January 2024 it is yet to be released which one.

Behind the scenes[]

Development[]

Morgana was voiced by Deborah Allison (also Fallon and Sunstar) in English, Françoise Cadol in French, and Aleksandra Cucic in Serbo-Croat. She was loosely based on the Arthurian character of Morgan le Fay, often known as Morgana. In fact, according to the series' art director Greg Autore, Lady Kale and Morgana "were both versions of the Morgan from the Arthurian legends. Since Kale was mostly defeated in season one, we gave the girls a more bad-ass villain to fight."[5]

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Morgana's boots under her running-lenght dress in "Prince of the Forest"

Morgana did not appear in the series' 1994 Show Bible and was only later created for the toy series, even as no toys of her have been ever actually produced. Greg Autore said: "When the second set of episodes was turned on, the only two directions to start with were – 1) Search for wild magic jewels since the first set was all found 2) Use Morgana as the ultimate villainess instead of Lady Kale."[6] Autore said the show's creator Robert Mandell "always had Morgana in the back of his head as a villainess he wanted to do. Her time finally came." Autore then "went completely different and made her cold as ice (note the colors) since she was more mature and less flamboyant of a character" than Kale.[7] He added, "the high points I was aiming at – elfin, icy white to seam cold, darker skin tone to pop the white hair and clothing. More alluring, like Morgan using some of her magic to keep her young and beautiful."[5] A glimpse of her wearing long white boots under her dress can be spotted in the show, however Autore said he would "have put her in some type of high heeled sandals with laces that twined way up the leg – probably to mid thigh."[5]

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An early concept art

In her earliest concept art pictures, Morgana was yet unnamed and yellowish-skinned. However, Autore said "Morgana was always to be icey white/blue/lavender. The yellow tests were just tests. It is possible someone wanted her yellow and I fought it."[5] For the never-released action figure, "her long skirt was to be molded and would open up to be a hovering throne she used to fly around in."[8] Autore described about how her action figure would look like: "her skirt was to transform into a flying throne and we would have her flying around on it in the show. I admit it was probably the dorkiest figure I planned. However, she did have a transparent flash of lightning that could be attached into her hand as if she was blasting someone. Morgana would have had a woman's body [unlike Kale's action figure] and even been a bit taller" than the others.[9] (Kale's too was originally supposed to be at least a head taller than the girls.[5]) Morgana's later concept art designs differed mostly in their color palette, but also featured her "cloud" form originally planned to be shown in the second season's prologue scene.[1]

Legacy[]

Avalon-movie-teaser

The Dark Sorceress with the Jewel Riders-like Mages in the Avalon books

Together with some aspects of Kale, Morgana later inspired the character of the Dark Sorceress who serves the main antagonist of Avalon: Web of Magic. Like Morgana, the Dark Sorceress has silver hair and she destroyed the ancient forest of Aldenmor similar to how Morgana burns down the Forests of Arden. She and the Spider Witch also have a villain team-up during the second half of Avalon, as do Kale and Morgana. Even her demise in the books resembles that of Morgana in Jewel Riders.[10]

Dark Sorceress

The Dark Sorceress working design for the Avalon TV show project

See also[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Morgana (script)
  2. The Fotune Jewel (script)
  3. The Last Dance (script)
  4. Writing Challenge Entries & Voting! – The Jewel Riders Archive
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part Five - The Jewel Riders Archive
  6. Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part Two - The Jewel Riders Archive
  7. Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part Three - The Jewel Riders Archive
  8. Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part One - The Jewel Riders Archive
  9. Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part Four - The Jewel Riders Archive
  10. They raised their jewels, sending light flaring into the smoky night skies. The wolf stone, rainbow jewel, unicorn jewel, and ferret stone floated free from their clasps. The mages locked eyes with their bondeds, and smiled. The black magic struck home in a cataclysm of destruction. The ground warped and trembled, towers exploded in a rain of splintering ice. “No!” The Dark Sorceress screamed as the city disintegrated around her, the well spewing dark magic like a volcano. The last thing the mages saw of the sorceress was her expression of complete shock. In a blinding flash, she was gone, along with the crystal city.

External links[]


Characters
List of characters
List of episodic characters

Main characters
Jewel Riders (Princess Gwenevere, Fallon, Tamara, Sunstar, Moondance), Lady Kale, Morgana, Archimedes, Drake
Major characters
Merlin, the Pack, Shadowsong, Queen Anya, Ian, Rufus and Twig, baby animals
Other characters
King Jared and Goliath, Grimm, Thunderbolt, Cleo, Spike, Travel Trees, Guardian, ancient wizards, Lord Batton, Gliders, Kit, Arienda and the Faery Wraiths, Outlaws, Wintermane

Magic
12-10

Magic, Wild Magic, Jewel Quest, Jewel Armor
Magic jewels
Enchanted Jewels (Sun Stone, Moon Stone, Heart Stone), Crown Jewels, Wizard Jewels (Dark Stone)
Places and items
Avalon, Crystal Palace, Enchanted Gardens, Hall of Wizards, Morgana's lair, Jewel Box, Merlin's key
Main magic users
Merlin, Wizards (Morgana), Kale, Jewel Riders (Gwenevere, Fallon, Tamara, Sunstar, Shadowsong, Moondance)
Other magic users
Anya, The Pack (Drake, Thunderbolt), Ian, Rufus and Twig, Babies (Cleo, Spike), Travel Trees, Guardian of the Magic, Arienda and the Faery Wraiths, Wild Magic Gliders, Kit

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