(can i imagine if that was a real me)
This is an overview of the character of the Magdalena, what her origins and role are, plus a brief look at each of the Magdalena’s we've met so far and some of the supporting characters who've appeared with her.
The Magdalena
Mary Magdalene (MM) witnessed the resurrection of Christ and was blessed by him - she could reveal sins of the past to a person giving them the chance of redemption, which she received. All her first-born descendants have this gift, and the first-born is always a woman.
The Magdalena’s greatest achievement so far has been in 1945 when she was able to retrieve the Spear of Destiny from Hitler before Berlin fell to the Russians.
The line was lost for many years but was found again in 1253 AD when a young girl who claimed to be a descendant of MM was found to have amazing abilities, this woman was Arianne de la Croix, the first Magdalena.
Arianne’s mother Mireille left her a letter upon leaving her with the Cathar sisters, which explained her heritage (It was later in Arianne’s life when she was in a Catholic Convent that her abilities came to light) The letter stated that;
MM and Jesus were members of the royal houses of Benjamin and David respectively;
The two were betrothed and married;
When Jesus was killed Mary took the body and
buried it and tells of a resurrection and angels
Mary then travels to Egypt where she gives birth to a daughter, Sarah;
Jesus was popular and powerful men exploited this and a church built upon what they claimed was Jesus’ teachings. They also created rumors about Mary to discredit her and their line;
The Magdalena’s power is a fraction of the power of the ancient kings from whom she is descended, who had great powers.
As can be seen from this the church’s interpretation of events differs from that given by the descendants of MM, passed from mother to daughter up to Arianne. The Vatican knows the truth and they want to keep it secret, if it were to become common knowledge the church would fall.
When we meet Rosalia she is 33 years old. Raped as a teenager she gave birth to a daughter who we can only assume was taken from her and brought up in a convent somewhere.
She is sent to investigate what might be vampire killings in France. She finds the vampires and discovers they are humans infected with a virus and sees that they are not evil. She is killed by the soldiers of the Inquisition, the Garduna, for trying to prevent them from slaughtering the ‘vampires’.
Daughter of Rosalia, she makes the first printed appearance of the Magdalena in The Darkness #15 - 18, and then appears again in Magdalena/Angelus #1/2. Mariella must be in her later teens/early twenties when she is called as the next Magdalena. She is sent to kill the Darkness with the Spear of Destiny but unbeknown to her she is not yet fully trained and even when the Sisters of the Order of Magdalene perform the ritual which gives her the ability to reveal a person’s sins, she is still defeated by Jackie Estacado and left for dead.
Having recovered from her run in with Jackie the Magdalena receives word of where the Spear of Destiny is and goes to retrieve it, where she meets the Angelus and Appolonia Francetti, and is again left for dead. It is not clear what has actually happened to her as it clearly states she’s not dead after her appearance in Magdalena/Angelus #1/2, but a new Magdalena has been called so she perhaps died on another mission which we have not heard about.
Having been sent on two very dangerous missions, once by Cardinal Innocent and once by anonymous letter, it is clearly possible that someone within the church, probably Cardinal Innocent, wants an end to the Magdalena and her line because of her true origin.
Patience
The last and most recent Magdalena is called Patience. We have no information as to her lineage from the previous Magdalena’s, she seems too old to be Mariella's daughter. It is also not clear whether Patience is actually a nun. She receives her calling from Kristof, her mentor, while ending a fugue through New York City with a newfound friend, a homeless girl called Rowan Barry. These events, along with Rowan's abduction, lead the young Patience to her destiny. But a highly evil force has awakened in our world and only the Magdalena can stand up to it.
A Magdalena from the past who appears in the Darkness one shot 'Black Sails', more info to come later.
During the Darkness issues it seems that Innocent is trying to remove any possibility that the true origin of the Magdalena and the church does not come to light. He wrongly sends the Magdalena on her mission to kill Jackie when he knows that she has not completed her training and that the mission will more than likely end in death for her. He also has Father Jasper, the only other person who knows of the existence of the letter, imprisoned by the Inquisition.
It is fair to assume that the letter sent to the Magdalena giving the location of the Spear of Destiny was sent by Innocent to try again to eliminate her.
In the Darkness issues, a Cardinal, where Innocent abuses his trust and has him take responsibility for the Magdalena’s mission against the Darkness, which leads to his imprisonment by the Inquisition. It could be thought that his punishment is innocent tying up the loose ends surrounding the letter and relics. It is stated that his punishment will not be permanent so he will perhaps reappear later.
The Vampiri
A group of humans, infected with a lethal retrovirus that attacks their immune systems and destroys cells in their blood, forcing them to drink blood to survive. The Church sees them as an unholy, perverse threat and wants to annihilate their kind. The Magdalena is sent on this mission, but along the way discovers the Vampiri are not evil, and that her real enemy is, to date, an unseen one.
The Garduna
Ruthless, faithful warriors, loyal only to the Inquisitors. Not benign saviors like the Magdalena, rather hooded, merciless executioners. Believed to originate from Spanish mercenaries under the employ of the Inquisition in the 16th century. They will serve the Magdalena if ordered to. They will murder the Magdalena if ordered to as well.
Sisters of the Order of Magdalene
A Holy Order of sisters who live solely to aid and prepare the Magdalena of their generation. They are also skilled in combat and will be ever faithful to God and his instrument on Earth, the Magdalena. It is they who perform the Holy Rite of Consignment, which is the sainted ritual that passes on the powers that are the birthright of the Blessed Sister, descendant of Mary Magdalene.
The Darkness
Maffia enforcer Jackie Estacado is the most recent heir to this age-old curse that takes hold of its bearer at age 21. The arcane power of the Darkness manifests itself as the ability to control the shadows and to create anything at will from pure darkness. In theory, the power can be used for both good and evil, but seeing as the Darkness is a ravenous and cruel power of destruction, the result is more often than not, evil. The natural enemy of the Darkness is the Angelus, a being of Light that has similar powers, but only by day, whereas the Darkness is only powerful at night.
The Witchblade
Sara Pezzini, a NY city police officer, found herself the latest wielder of the ancient mystical weapon called the Witchblade. It is an artifact of divine or extra-terrestrial descent that bonds with its female wielder. These wielders are not blood-descendants of each other, as with the Darkness (a sworn enemy of the Witchblade), but rather chosen by the Witchblade for exceptional strength. As the wielder controls the Blade, her character directs its actions, though the Witchblade, hungry for power, seems fond of perverting the pureness that lies within. Thus a question arises: who controls whom?
This was a piece belonging to Riven from the Top Cow message board.
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