| “ | The law is clear. When the Seven Seals are broken, four Horsemen shall ride forth to punish the wicked, be they Sons of Men, Lords of Heaven, or the Dregs of Hell... — The Charred Council |
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The Charred Council is an entity featured in Darksiders. Its responsibility is to maintain balance and order in the universe by preventing any one celestial power from becoming too great.
Overview
| “ | Only the Charred Council - not angel, not demon not Old One, but something other - holds the warring factions at bay. Only the Charred Council, and their fearsome servants, stand at the pivot point of all Creation, protecting the Balance from all who would see it shattered. Barely. — From Darksiders: The Abomination Vault |
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The Charred Council are mediators, created in time immemorial by the Creator to keep the balance between the never-ending war of the forces of Heaven and Hell. When the Third Kingdom, humanity, emerged from the chaos of the universe, both angelic and demonic factions began to make an attempt on ensuring their influence within the realm of man. To maintain balance, the council forced a "cease-fire" and allowed the Third Kingdom to grow without fear of being obliterated by the ancient conflict between light and dark. When the Three Kingdoms were ready for the end-war, they would break the seven seals for the Apocalypse, thus calling off the truce. The Charred Council is located in a special realm, though some have assumed that they were in Hell due to their fiery surroundings.
There are three Heads that physically represent the council, though the true number of council members and their identities are unknown. One of their former members was a Demon known as the Lord of the Hollows indicating that they are all Demons(despite Darksiders: The Abomination Vault calling them something other than Demon, Angel and Old One). The fact that Lucifer is aware of things known only to the Charred Council(such as Fury's being in possession of the Lord of the Hollows' amulet form which she never mentioned to her allies) indicates that either he or some of his followers are on the Charred Council. It is referred to as an "entity", singular, in the beginning narration of Darksiders, but referred to in the plural on other occasions. Even the Four Horsemen do not truly know whether or not the Council is a single being or multiple ones. Each has a different role, and speak differently. The First is harsh and accusatory while the Second questions all things, seeing the far-reaching consequences of the crime before it and the judgment at hand and the Third is wise and slow to rouse, and usually offers a course of action that is most fair.
The Council is quick to anger and is noted for being impatient. It also appears as though the Council is rather paranoid, as it appears to trust no one and seem to fear for its position when Abaddon manages to defy it.
Biography
Origin
The Charred Council came in to existence long ago, when the conflict between the First and Second Kingdoms was in full swing. The Council imposed treaties and laws upon the kingdoms to keep them in balance until the Third Kingdom, the Kingdom of Man, could rise to rival the other two. They also recruited the Keeper of Oblivion to serve as their executioner at some point.
The Council gained their greatest enforcers when the Nephilim under Absalom burned entire realms in a wrathful crusade for one of their own. Four Nephilim came to see the threat to the balance Absalom's actions represented and formed a bargain with the Council. In exchange for unfathomable power, the Nephilim became known as the Four Horsemen and joined the angels on the field at Eden, the original home of mankind, and slaughter their former brethren. They ordered the Nephilim's souls gathered and destroyed, though Death secretly defied their instruction and entrusted their souls to the Crowfather. Mankind was relocated to Earth and the Council ordered the realm's Tree destroyed to prevent unsanctioned interference in the Third Kingdom.
At a later point, the Charred Council created a being known as Panoptos. Using his template, they eventually created the Watchers to serve them as a slave race.
The Abomination Vault
Millennia before the apocalypse, the Charred Council detected a conflict in the fallen realm of Eden between angels and an unknown enemy. They dispatched Panoptos to hand the task of investigation to Death, who had recently emerged from centuries of seclusion.
When Death eventually returned and reported the threat of the Grand Abominations and those who sought to use them, the Charred Council became enraged by his refusal to reveal the location of the Abomination Vault. Despite their threats, the Horseman was able to convince them that his usefulness in the matter outweighed his insolence and the Council dispatched the Horsemen to eliminate the threat. However, Death immediately ordered the other Horsemen to stay behind while he went alone when they had left the Council's presence. War chose to follow him anyway.
When Death sent a request for reinforcements to the homeworld of the Ravaiim, the Council chose to hold Fury and Strife in reserve. They forwarded the request to the angels, who sent Azrael and a small army to aid the Horsemen.
After Death and War returned from the Ravaiim world, the Charred Council was enraged at their failure to end the threat and showed them images of an angelic outpost that had been attacked using Abominations. The Council once again demanded that Death reveal the location of the Vault and tortured him with paralyzing agony when he refused. Despite his protests that they needed him, the Council was prepared to kill the Horseman for his disobedience before War stepped in and told them they would have to kill him along with his brother. The Charred Council grudgingly relented and assigned the pair the task of standing guard over the Vault while Fury and Strife sought out the perpetrators.
Some time after the resolution of the crisis, the Council granted an audience to Panoptos and vowed to consider his proposal to assign one of the Watchers to each Nephilim in order to ensure the Horsemen's loyalty.
The Graphic Adventure
When the End War began on Earth, the Council received a report of it through a female Watcher. After hearing the report, they executed the Watcher for violating the law by journeying to Earth without sanction.[1]
Darksiders III
The Charred Council tasked Fury with hunting down and eliminating the Seven Deadly Sins, who had escaped during the premature apocalypse. Unbeknownst to the horseman, the Council had actually released the Seven themselves. They sent Fury after them in the hope that they would destroy each other. However they miscalculated and underestimated both Fury and the Sins in particular Envy who used both to gain power, power strong enough to actually be a threat to them. When Fury arrived they attempted to use her to kill Envy but learning that she was planning on defying them, they chose to attack her after her battle with Envy, believing the Black Horseman had outlived her usefullness. They failed in killing her however, with Fury using a mysterious amulet left behind by the Lord of the Hollows, a former member of theirs, to their horror. To escape and find retribution for the Council's manipulation, Fury detonated the Talisman containing the Sins to escape. Out of anger for Fury and fear of humanity, the Council secretly urged the demons to attack Haven to kill the humans.[2]
Darksiders
War was held responsible for the premature End War and the ultimate destruction of Earth. The Charred Council was furious with War, accusing him of forgetting his post and defiling the law. They claimed that because there was no call for the Four Horsemen, his presence on the battlefield during the battle of Armageddon turned the tides of war in favor of the demons, despite attacking both kingdoms involved in the battle, leading to man's extinction. For this his soul was imprisoned in the Abyss for a century.
After War struck a bargain to be sent back in an attempt to punish those responsible for disrupting the balance, the Charred Council agreed, stripping him of most of his power and binding a Watcher to him to ensure his loyalty. They then returned Chaoseater to him and sent him back on a journey to redeem himself and bring retribution to those responsible.[3]
Conspiracy
The Charred Council knew about Abaddon and his conspiracy to start the Apocalypse as a preemptive strike. They considered summoning the Horsemen to handle him, but they determined that, without proof, the Horsemen would not carry out his execution, only his murder. Instead, the council sent War to Earth and framed him for the premature apocalypse. They knew that the Horseman would stop at nothing to clear his name and kill everyone involved.
Darksiders II
When the Council accused War of breaking the law, Death objected, not believing his brother would ever do such a thing. With that in mind, he went to see the Crowfather without their knowledge or blessing.[4]
Abilities
The Charred Council's power is shown in their confrontation against Envy, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, they could throw fireballs and powerful streams of fire at their target.
Trivia
- The Council are the only characters to not be shown in their true form, with the only others being the Creator and Lucifer.
- According to the Darksiders Website, The Charred Council has been corrupted; this is proven in the original Darksiders, as they knew Abaddon was responsible of the events of the game, yet they accused and manipulated War into killing him.
- It can be assumed that they know about the threat of the Corruption during the event of Darksiders 2, but chose to not care since they knew Death would take care of it for them during his journey to clear War's name.
Gallery
References
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