| “ | New Orleans is full of ghosts. Our dead are always here, hovering. When supernatural creatures die, they're doomed to spend eternity alone watching the world go on without them. Of course, that's not the cause for the ancestral witches, we linger in a different way. Consecrated in the Earth, replenishing its power. | ” |
The Ancestors are the totality of all New Orleans witches who have been consecrated into the earth in order to fuel the power of the entire witch community of New Orleans. Every three centuries the Ancestors demand a sacrifice called the Harvest where they take four girls and teach them in death. However, their belief in their cause is absolute, and teach this zealism to the Harvest girls. If a witch strays from the faith, they demand that said witch pay with their life, and suffer the consequences in the land of the dead.
As it was the Ancestors who demanded the harvest ritual, which set the initial precedence for The Originals, and it was under their orders that Genevieve attempted to sacrifice Hope Mikaelson, the Ancestors act as major antagonists for the first season, and, along with Esther, the main antagonists of the final chapter.
Purpose
The Ancestors are the power source of all New Orleans covens. Once a witch has died, they are consecrated, and the magic in their bones, and their spirit, are added to the ancestral power. While this restricts the witches, both living and dead, to New Orleans, it gives the coven the power, and the knowledge, of hundreds upon hundreds of witches. However, every three hundred years, the connection between the living witches, and the dead ones, begins to wane. In order to rebuild the connection, The Harvest Ritual must be performed. The Ancestors also seem to be a near divine pantheon to the living witches of New Orleans; the orders of the Ancestors are treated as divine edicts that must be obeyed.
History
Presumably, the Ancestors have existed as long as the French Quarter coven has.
In 1919, Papa Tunde implied that there were other Ancestral Covens in the world, as he claimed to have practiced Ancestral Magic, drawing power from the Ancestors, but was not a native of New Orleans.
The Originals
Season 1
In Sinners and Saints, through flashbacks, the incomplete Harvest was shown, and it was revealed that the plan of the witches was to kill Davina, and allow the magic to flow to the Ancestors, appease them, and have them resurrect the four dead witches, with the power of the coven restored.
In Aprés Moi, Le Deluge, the Harvest was completed, however, the power did not return to the Ancestors, as Céleste Dubois hijacked, and used it to resurrect Papa Tunde, Bastianna Natale, and Genevieve.
In Crescent City, in response to Papa Tunde's death, Monique Deveraux is revived, and is revealed to have been schooled by the Ancestors, inheriting more power, but also their blind faith in the coven. She later kills her aunt for her lack of faith.
In Le Grand Guignol, both Celeste, and Bastianna are killed, resulting in the resurrection of Davina Claire, and Abigail.
In Farewell to Storyville, Davina reveals that, unlike the other Harvest Girls, she was not taught by the witches in the land of the dead, but was berated and shunned by them, for her helping the vampires. The ordeal seems to have left psychological scars on her.
In The Big Uneasy, Monique is communicating with the Ancestors and they tell her it's time to resurrect Cassie, the last Harvest girl. Later on, she is about to kill Genevieve, when the Ancestors tell her not to, but they want her to kill Klaus' unborn child and will let Genevieve live.
In A Closer Walk With Thee, Genevieve explains to the Harvest witches that the Ancestors do not reside on the Other Side, but in the Earth, where their magic remains. After Genevieve saves Hayley, she begs the Ancestors that she can't kill Klaus and Hayley's Unborn Baby and an unseen force makes Genevieve bleed from her eyes, nose, etc. and flings her across the cemetery.
In From a Cradle to a Grave, Genevieve, Monique and Abigail plan to sacrifice Hope Mikaelson to the Ancestors which would fuel their power for centuries. However, Klaus, Elijah, and a transitioning Hayley break through their illusion and try to stop the sacrifice. Monique and Abigail call on the full power of the Ancestors buried in the cemetery to stop the Originals. However, Abigail is killed by Klaus, breaking the power of the Ancestors and, before she can be sacrificed, Marcel saves Hope, killing Monique in the process. Held prisoner by Elijah and Hayley, Genevieve reveals that the Ancestors would not stop trying to kill Hope, because that was the deal that they had made with the most powerful witch of them all: Esther. The Ancestors have resurrect Esther and Finn to allow her to kill Hope and the other Originals.
Season 2
In They All Asked For You, Finn Mikaelson is confronted in the cemetery by his brother Klaus. Finn criticized his brother for confronting him in the place where the Ancestors were the strongest. As a witch possessing another witch against his will, Klaus deduced that the Ancestors did not like Finn. He agreed with the fact that the Ancestors had little affection for him but he also told him that they hated Klaus far more. At that, Finn unleashed a wall of flames against his brother but he was able to evade them. Despite channeling the full power of the Ancestors, Finn was unable to stop his brother and was only saved by the intervention of Elijah and Freya.
Season 3
In You Hung the Moon, Davina asks Céleste Dubois to lift the Crescent Curse for a time, and after a short opposition, she grants it.
In The Axeman's Letter, as a gift for Fête de Cadeau, the Ancestors erase the Crescent Curse permanently to the request of Davina.
In Out of the Easy, Davina reveals to Marcel that the Ancestors warned her about the Strix. Later in the episode Davina is shunned by Vincent Griffith and the Ninth Ward Coven, as punishment for the massacre of Kara Nguyen and 10 other witches; as a result, Davina lost all connections to the Ancestors.
In Wild at Heart, Davina uses magic to access The Ancestral Plane where Kol finds her. They hide from the Ancestors and keep up with each other with Davina informing Kol she found a way to bring him back despite wanting to come back he tells Davina she cannot use the spell The Strix gave her knowing she would be snuck into their services. However after nearly being found by the people they been hiding from. They make their way back to St.Anne where Davina's psychical body is, but not before being confronted by Kara Nguyen who wanted revenge on Davina fortunately for them Ariane came and saved them from Kara. However The Ancestors attention was drawn and Kol offered himself up so Davina could return safely to the psychical plane of New Orleans.
In An Old Friend Calls, although not seen, Vincent contacts them so they could show him where the last White Oak is and they refuse to. After Cami leaves, they show him images of where it is and Vincent later finds the White Oak bullet underneath a floorboard.
Known Ancestors
Note: * indicates the witch is a former ancestor.
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Appearances
The Originals Season One
- Always and Forever (Indirectly Mentioned)
- Sinners and Saints (Mentioned)
- Après Moi, Le Déluge (Bastianna, Genevieve, Papa Tunde)
- Crescent City (Mentioned)
- Le Grand Guignol (Céleste, Bastianna, Abigail, Davina)
- Farewell to Storyville (Mentioned)
- The Big Uneasy
- A Closer Walk With Thee (Mentioned)
- From a Cradle to a Grave (Esther, Unnamed Members, Bastianna, Céleste)
The Originals Season Two
- They All Asked For You (Mentioned)
The Originals Season Three
- You Hung the Moon (Céleste (unseen))
- The Axeman's Letter (Mentioned)
- Out of the Easy (Mentioned)
- Wild at Heart (Kol, Kara, Unnamed Members)
- Dead Angels (Ariane)
- An Old Friend Calls (Mentioned)
Trivia
- The Ancestors are based in the Cemetery, also called the "City of the Dead."
- Given that Esther is buried on New Orleans land, and was consecrated, it can be inferred that she was in fact one of the Ancestors, which was confirmed in From a Cradle to a Grave.
- The spell that allows the living witches to channel that power of the dead fades away over time, and must be recharged every three hundred years through the Harvest Ritual.
- Given that everything in the first two chapters of The Originals' first season was to complete the Harvest, the Ancestors can be seen as the true Antagonists of that arc.
- The Ancestors may have some connection with The Spirits, a similar group of deceased witches on the Other Side. Whereas the Ancestors act as overseers of the New Orleans Covens specifically, the Spirits reside over the witches in general.
- According to Genevieve, unlike other supernatural beings, the Ancestors do not reside on The Other Side, but instead exist apart of the Earth and fuel the power of Ancestral Magic in New Orleans. This is the reason why the Other Side's collapse didn't affected them.
- It seems that the Ancestors, like living witches such as Josephine LaRue, do not like the idea of witches possessing other witches, according to statements made by Klaus and Finn in They All Asked For You.
- The Elders elect a Regent to lead the nine covens of New Orleans.
- The Regent has a direct link with the ancestors and speaks on behalf of all the consecrated dead in New Orleans.
- The Regent is also offered a one-time access to the full power of the Ancestors to be used freely.
- The Ancestors have the right to decline a Regent, such as Van Nguyen.
- The Ancestors seem to have set certain laws in motion that the witches of New Orleans must abide by, such as shunning.
- Kol may had been a member of The Ancestors but he's not welcome amongst them. Due to the fact that he possessed one of their own, and he's an Original Vampire. Throughout his time with them, Kol had been tortured.
- As seen in Dead Angels any of the Ancestors could visit their family or friends as a corporeal spirit although it's implied they rarely do so as Davina was startled to see Ariane.
Gallery
See also
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