Interview with Pat Shand - Charmed Season 10 #12 (SPOILERS)

Under the cut you can read my interview with Pat Shand talking about the events of #12!

The interview contains spoilers.

Click "Read More" below to continue.

INTERVIEW

CHARMEDCOMICFAN: Starting the issue we find out why Prue needed Benjamin and why she needed him to stay human even though he is in Cole’s body. Going forward what can you share about Prue and Ben’s partnership? Does she have more plans for him?

PAT SHAND: I’ll say this… it’s not what anyone’s expecting. I just plotted through the end of the season last night, and I’ll just say that there’s a lot of fun, weird stuff coming up.


CCF: Prue enters her own mind and it is bloody and seemingly a very evil place. Is this the influence of Patience’s anger and/or the Grimoire tainting it?

PS: Patience has no hold on Prue’s mind at all. She’s a victim here. It’s the Grimoire – we can see it webbing out of it, as well as the more pure areas being formed from the lighting shining from the Sword.

CCF: While not the same I thought there were some nice parallels between the discussions Cole and Belthazor in #5 and Prue and Patience in this issue had. Was this deliberate?

PS: Deliberate to be sure, but inversed. In #5, Cole “destroys” his monster by making the sacrifice that would kill both him and Belthazor, while in this, our protagonist is the monster who kills the person tethered to her mind.


CCF: Kyra decides to fight evil but she is just mortal now. Going forward will she help the sisters in a way Leo does as a guide, the one to ask when you have magical problems?

PS: That’s her hope.

CCF: When Kyra had a “looksie” inside Prue did she see the place Prue meets Patience in this issue?

PS: Up for debate!


CCF: Who is the narrator in the page where Shax looks at the motel where Prue and Ben are?

PS: There’s no narration on that page. That’s a dialogue caption – when there are quotations surrounding the words within the caption, it just means that dialogue is carrying over from the last scene, like a voiceover. It’s Kyra’s speech about Prue continuing as we move to the next scene.

CCF: Was Patience’s soul actually taken by Charon? And if it was in what kind of existence are we seeing Patience?

PS: That’s also up for debate. But here’s my thinking – if the soul is taken but the person’s not dead? There’s something left behind. Patience was still hanging on in a way. Prue’s occupation of her body is a monstrous action, whether or not she knows that Charon took the soul, which… how could she know, and even if she did, is there no magic the Nexus of the All can do to get it back? Here’s the thing, though. Death? It’s the one thing that unites us all, and it’s the most terrifying thing we can think of. Fear of death is the basis of most religions – we have to believe there is more, something after. As Prue faced oblivion, she saw a chance. She did something dark. Would you do the same? I can’t say for sure that, if I had power like Prue, that I wouldn’t do the same. Would you let an innocent die to save someone you love? How about yourself? When the situation presents itself, I’m betting most would find it incredibly difficult to turn away. Prue didn’t turn away, and now there are consequences.

CCF: Patience mentions her friends and family. And after Prue got her body they are probably still wondering where Patience went. Will we ever see them?

PS: No plans, but perhaps.


CCF: In my opinion Patience has every right to want her body back. Patience existing in some way is something Prue didn’t know about but when she finds out she destroys what’s left of her. It really is hard to give an excuse for that. Is Prue doing this as a necessary evil? She has to know she is essentially killing an innocent at that point.

PS: Here’s where what I was talking about before gets tricky. Prue, after all that, is given the opportunity to vacate Patience, to give the body back to whatever fragment of her remains. And she doesn’t. Not only does she refuse, she destroys that fragment. I don’t know if I’d call it necessary, but it’s definitely an act of passion. It’s not for me to make a statement on, though. I hope readers make up their minds there.

CCF: Shax’s vanquishing was fantastic. It was such a “Take THAT!” moment that I’m sure everyone scarred from “All Hell Breaks Loose” will cherish. Not a question but let me thank you for this scene!

PS: Thank you. Giving Prue and her sisters that moment to look in the face of their grief and rise above it – that was cathartic to write.


CCF: One big question that emerged after last issue is what would happen to Tyler if the sisters vanquished one of the demons he’s turned into. After Shax’s vanquished we see him alive and well. Is where he emerges, the Wasteland?

PS: No, that’s just a few miles from the hotel. It’s different each time. When Barbas was in control of his body, he was eaten by the remaining fear monsters in the fire circle he’d opened, so he vanquished himself and emerged out of another circle. With Shax, he explodes in lightning, so the lightning strikes down a bit further away and Tyler reforms. It depends on what power set each of the vanquished demons is working with.

CCF: Since Tyler can take the form of vanquished demons, could he hypothetically become Shax again?

PS: Absolutely.

 

CCF: Congrats on another arc finale! As we are stepping into the 3rd one next month, what can fans look forward to?

PS: Thanks! We’ve got Court of Love next month, and it’s the most structured issue of the season. I’m really excited to see what everyone thinks of Giorgia’s art on that issue. The third arc is also what I’ve been waiting for – everything has been building to this, and I’m actually a little scared about fan reactions. Everything ties back to the theme of #1 – the idea of using power to escape death, and what that means – and I can’t wait to see how you all react to how everything plays out.


CCF: Thank you, Pat!

PS: As always, thank YOU!

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You can find Pat on Twitter and Tumblr.