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To save a life, there must be a death. The balance of the world must be restored.
Nimueh to Merlin[src]

The Power Over Life and Death is a form of magic that lies at the very heart of the Old Religion. It can be used to revive the dying who cannot otherwise be healed or to create an entirely new life. However, another life must be given in return to maintain the balance of the world.

History

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The power over life and death allowed Ygraine to conceive Arthur.

The High Priestess Nimueh used the power over life and death to allow Uther Pendragon and his wife Ygraine conceive their son, Arthur. However, because the balance of the world required that another life be given in return, Ygraine ultimately died in childbirth and Uther, devastated by her loss, instigated the Great Purge.[1][2]

When Arthur was bitten by the Questing Beast, a monstrous creature of magic whose venom could only be cured by the power of the Old Religion, Merlin went to Nimueh and agreed to trade his own life for Arthur's. However, Nimueh chose to take his mother's life instead, striking her with an incurable plague.

Merlin later returned to Nimueh to trade his life for his mother's, but discovered that Gaius had already done so on his behalf. Enraged by the death of his mentor, Merlin dueled Nimueh and harnessed the power over life and death to strike her down with lightning, trading her life for Gaius' and restoring balance to the world.[3]

Rules and Effects

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In order to save a life, another must be given in return.

The power over life and death could be used to save the life of someone who could not otherwise be healed, or to create an entirely new life by allowing a barren woman to conceive.

However, the use of this magic carried a heavy price. To maintain the balance of the world, when saving or creating a life, another life had to be sacrificed in return, and once such a bargain was struck it could not be undone.

Once a bargain was struck, the life of a chosen sacrifice could be taken in a variety of different ways. Ygraine died in childbirth, Hunith was stricken with an incurable plague, and Gaius was struck dead instantly.

When the power over life and death is invoked, the choice of whose life is given for whom appears to be entirely up to the user's discretion. Though Nimueh once told Uther that she hadn't known Ygraine would die as a result of her magic, she later had no trouble ensuring that Hunith's life would be traded for Arthur's or that Gaius' life would be traded for Hunith's. She was also able to choose Hunith as a sacrifice in spite of her verbal agreement with Merlin, and later told him that the Old Religion did not care who lived or who died as long as the balance of the world was restored.[1][3][2]

Methods of Use

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Nimueh saved Arthur with water from the Cup of Life.

The power over life and death was an ancient and powerful form of magic that could only be utilized by highly skilled sorcerers. Merlin and the High Priestess Nimueh are the only known individuals to have mastered it.

The power over life and death could be utilized in many different ways. Nimueh used the Cup of Life to revive the dying and as a conduit to sacrifice Gaius. She also used an unknown method to strike Hunith with an incurable disease.

When Merlin discovered what she'd done, he dueled Nimueh and struck her down with lightning. He then called upon the Old Religion to trade her life for Gaius'.[3]

Appearances

Series 1
Excalibur (Mentioned only)
Le Morte d'Arthur
Series 2
The Sins of the Father (Mentioned only)

Trivia

  • There is no indication that the power over life and death is related to necromancy.
  • The Questing Beast's venom was said to carry the power of life and death.[3]
  • The Cup of Life appears to have healing properties independent of the power over life and death, as the Druids were able to use it to heal Leon.[4]

Gallery

References

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