Kristin Kreuk as Isobel
"The stones of power shall be mine!" - Margerite Isobel Thoreaux, Spell
The Countess Margerite Isobel Theroux was an infamous witch of France in 1604. She has been referred to as Countess, Countess Thoreaux, and, more commonly, Isobel. She was from the village Castelnois de Montmiral. Isobel was very skilled in martial arts and witchcraft. Lana purchased the Countess' spell book on eBay, and once she touched the symbol, Isobel was reborn in her body.
Powers and Abilities[]
Isobel Thoreaux in Lana's body.
Being a witch and having access to a spell book filled with numerous spells, Countess Thoreaux had a repertoire of various powers at her disposal. The most common magical effect that she ever used was conjuring a ray of flaring violet light, which she could project from her fingertips to smite her foes; not only did this blast knock the target back, but it could also render them dead. When Clark was hit by Isobel's spell, he was indeed hurt by her magic, but still strong enough to resist the death effect and only be dazed for several minutes. Isobel was also able to use telekinesis through her spells to lift, throw, or manipulate objects. She also had the power to ignite a target in violet flame, and have the fire glow eerily brighter than normal. Countess Thoreaux was also able to teleport
vast distances with naught but a word, and could use a mind-control like power to extract information from someone by merely being close to them.
The Mark of Transference disappeared from Lana's back when Isobel's spirit left her.
Other spells that she used throughout her possessions of Lana were the enchanting of mundane weapons like swords (where she threw an enchanted sai at Clark, which was able to wound him), levitate into the air or combine her hovering with a jump to send her across short distances quickly (like the levitation done in her fight with Clark in Sacred), release powerful but short-ranged blasts of violet energy to knock back those in the radius (as she used to propel Clark backwards during a sword fight in Sacred, but it unfortunately sent her back, too), create small rifts in the earth (which she did to uncover one of the three Stones of Power), control the actions of others with her voice (noted when she tells Lex Luthor to play the piano - indefinitely), and place others under a form of temporal stasis (which she does to Lex before she enchants him to play the piano). She also has enhanced physical strength that is somewhat above the average human. She demonstrated it when she burst her bonds when she took possession of Lana Lang in China when Lana was about to be tortured by Chinese soldiers. She demonstrated it again when she possessed Lana for the last time when she easily overpowered and stabbed Genevieve Teague, a much larger woman, with the Air Stone when Teague attempted to kill Lana.
While in China, when Lana was tortured by Chinese soldiers and Isobel took possession of Lana again, she also showed somewhat level of invulnerability. Isobel came back as Lana was being electrocuted by her captors; that electrocution was unsuccessfully used on Isobel.
It seems that her power was far greater than those of her two cohorts, Brianna and Madelyn, who were only able to muster a handful of spells, while Isobel seemed to have a massive reservoir of powers. They appeared to be more adept at telekinetic spells, such as when they throw a wheel and various farm tools at him, which Clark was able to either brush off or deflect with his heat vision, respectively. Neither of them had the ability to defy death, requiring Isobel to resurrect them; it was also her who drained Clark's Kryptonian powers from him, using herself as a conduit to siphon away all of them. This leads to the assumption that Isobel is the greatest of the three, wielding more power than any other non-alien character in the entire series.
She does appear, however, to have one weakness, which ironically is the very thing she sought. She seemed to be unable to touch the Stones of Power with her bare-skin without it burning her skin. Originally she is unaware of this, and is stunned when the Stone of Fire burns her and is repelled from her. She later takes precautions against this by wrapping the Stone of Air in a red cloth, so as to prevent it from touching her skin.
Early Life[]
Isobel is burned at the stake.
Isobel was recruited by Duchess Gertrude to find the stones. Isobel went to a tent with a mystic, and saw a Kryptonian (possibly Jax-Ur) in the globe, who told her that if she got the stones they could rule together. She walked out thinking she herself could rule Earth one day. (Smallville Magazine, "Legend," Last Days of Krypton)
Madelyn Hibbins and Brianna Withridge were the Countess's comrades, and they helped Isobel search for the Stones of Power. They were captured by the townspeople and were sentenced to burn at the stake for practicing witchcraft. Isobel lost her spell book and was brought to the courtyard to be burned along with Madelyn and Brianna. Before she was burned, Isobel spat blood which intertwined with the book's symbol and added a word giving her a chance of resurrection. The Mark of Transference appeared on her skin, which would enable her to possess Lana's body. As the Countess and her companions burned, she prophesied that her heir would awaken her and that she would find the stones and have vengeance.
Season Four[]
Centuries later, Isobel's tomb was placed in a church in Paris by the grandmother of Genevieve Teague, who used her son to orchestrate a visit by Lana to the tomb. When Lana did a rubbing of the Countess' tomb, she was blasted with a beam of light that branded her with the Mark of Transference. She woke up twelve hours later in her bedroom with no memory of what happened. This drove her to return to Smallville when she saw the symbol in the Kawatche Caves in some online pictures. She hoped that by returning home, she could learn more about the Mark and the Countess. Jason soon followed.
Isobel and her companions are reborn.
Lana became possessed by the Countess Thoreaux. Isobel made a potion to restore the spirits of her followers. Brianna's spirit was transferred into the body of Lois Lane and Madelyn's into Chloe Sullivan. She then stole the hidden map in the Russian Manuscript at the Luthor Mansion and placed a spell on Lex Luthor to play the piano indefinitely. Isobel and her comrades infiltrated a party thrown by Clark Kent and bewitched everyone, including Clark, to party, and for all the boys to take their shirts off and dance in their boxershorts. The next morning, having regained consciousness and learnt what had happened to Lex, Clark confronted Isobel just as she had reacquired her old spellbook from Jason, forcing him to rescue Jason while she escaped, leaving him a message to meet in the barn at midnight.
The three witches take Clark's powers.
In the subsequent confrontation, Clark's invulnerability and heat vision allowed him to withstand the witches' initial attacks (Although they assumed that he was a sorceror rather than an alien), but they nevertheless managed to get the upper hand, stripping Clark of his powers and leaving to open the hidden chamber in the Kawatche Caves after realizing that he knew where one of the stones was hidden. When Clark arrived to stop them, having been released by Jason, Isobel grabbed the Crystal of Fire, only to scream out in pain as the stone protected itself from her. Clark grabbed the stone, which restored his powers. Although Isobel threatened to remove his powers again, he swiftly destroyed the spell book with his heat vision, causing Lana, Chloe, and Lois to revert back to normal.
Isobel emerged once again after Lana was tortured by Chinese officers. She broke free from the Chinese officers and revealed that the map is the key to one of the Crystals of Knowledge. Isobel knocked Clark out and went to the location of the Crystal. Isobel unearthed a horse statue holding the stone. When she broke it, it gave off the piercing buzz to Clark; he followed its origin which led him to Isobel and the Crystal. Isobel fought Clark with magically-powered Chinese weapons. She wounded Clark, who put up a fight against the magically-skilled Isobel. Clark managed to defeat her and get the stone away from her but when Isobel touched the stone together with Clark, there was an explosion. The effects of the explosion seemed to send Isobel back into hiatus, and the stone disappeared.
Isobel resurfaced for the last time when Lana was being strangled by Genevieve Teague, and used the Air Stone to stab Genevieve in the heart. Once Isobel had extracted her revenge on Genevieve, she freed herself from Lana and the Mark of Transference was removed.
See Also[]
- Stones of Power
- Mark of Transference
- Lana Lang
- Spell book
- Spell, Bound, Sacred, and Commencement