Guinevere Jones


Guinevere Jones is a Canadian/Australian fantasy television series and a series of four novels. It revolves around the adventures of the title character as she uses magic to fight evil, while at the same time dealing with problems and difficulties of high school. The show debuted in Canada on May 4, 2002 on YTV and ten days later in Australia. It ran for twenty-six episodes over two seasons.

Television Show

Elizabeth Stewart created the television show. Both seasons aired in 2002.

Episodes

There are a total of twenty-six episodes, with thirteen in each season. Each episode has a self-contained plot, but there are also several story arcs stretching across multiple episodes. Most episodes being with both a teaser and a plot review. The last three episodes are direct continuations of each other.

Season 1

Season 1 Aired in May, June, and July 2002.
EpisodeTitleSummary
1.1Hard RainThe series opener. Running from sinister things in Canada, Gwen and her mother move to suburban Melbourne. Gwen's Mom is declared insane and is put in a hospital. Gwen is put in foster care. She meets Merlin and finds out that she is the reincarnation of Guinevere and learns that her true destiny is to fight evil.
1.2PsychedPeople in St. James' Hospital are seeing things. Gwen and her Mom see them too.
1.3That Old Black MagicMorgana kidnaps Tasha. Josh and Gwen must rescue her.
1.4Ordinary EvilKatie is removed from Harve and Louise's foster care. Gwen believes that she may have inadvertently cast a spell to cause that.
1.5Weird SistersDuring a rehearsal for a school production of MacBeth, Gwen starts to see visions of the future. They start coming true. Meanwhile, her pendant goes missing, and Reine develops a crush on Josh.
1.6DybbukkinA mischievous demon possesses Spencer. Reine finds out that Gwen can do magic.
1.7First DateJosh and Gwen start falling in love.
1.8Warwe and MineerA magical rock with Aborigine paintings and magical powers traps Spencer inside.
1.9Love HurtsThis is the first episode with Michael. Tasha has a crush on him, and tries to get Gwen to cast a love spell on him. It goes wrong.
1.10The DryadA dryad named Fern lives in the huge tree near the glade where Gwen meets Merlin. The tree is due to be cut down by a company owned by Reine's father.
1.11Solo ActMichael's father bribes the school so Michael will make the basketball team. However, that is exactly what Michael does not want. Meanwhile, Gwen finds that there is something Magical about Michael.
1.12ShadowsGwen manages to get Gadowain to stop following Michael around while invisible, but now he can't leave Tasha's shop and starts eating all of the snacks.
1.13ChoicesA woman named Amanda enters Gwen's life and provides proof that she is her Aunt. However, there is something disturbing about Amanda.

Season 2

Season 2 aired in September, October, November, and December 2002.
EpisodeTitleSummary
2.1Lost and Found
2.2Time CutsTasha sees Black Angus, an evil dog that dooms everyone who sees it to death. Using a faerie device, Gwen goes back in time to prevent anyone from seeing it.
2.3DetentionWhile studying time capsules left behind by a class long ago, Gwen and Tasha discover find a horrible secret about a teacher who disappeared fifty years go.
2.4WishesUsing an artifact, Josh wishes for Gwen's love. His wish comes true and Gwen loves him... at the cost of everything else.
2.5Tribes
2.6Easy MoneySomeone casts a spell and tries to frame Gwen for stealing money. Gwen must find the real culprit and contend with an over-zealous police investigator who thinks she is guilty.
2.7No Place Like HomeThis is a partial clip show. Someone casts a spell on Gwen to prevent her from leaving her foster parents' shop. She must find out who did it, why they did it, and how to stop them.
2.8BloodlinesMichael's parents are in a car accident. This unleashes a chain of events that leads to him finding out a dark secret about his past.
2.9FifiSpencer accidentally sells his emotions for complete knowledge of the secrets of the universe. Gwen must get them back. Meanwhile, Michael has disappeared.
2.10Spellbound
2.11What Guinevere Knew
2.12Darkness Falls
2.13RebellionAs humanity wallows under Morgana's tyranny, Gwen organizes Tasha, Josh, Spencer, Harve, Louise and Katie – all of whom are unaware that the world was ever different – into a resistance. Reluctantly accepting O'Leary's help, Gwen infiltrates Morgana's dungeons to retrieve Merlin's Stone and discovers her way blocked by Reine, Morgana's chief henchman. In a final showdown, Gwen makes the startling revelation that Reine is, in fact, Morgana, who has used the crystal to rejuvenate herself. Gwen leads her friends to victory over Morgana and returns the crystal to Merlin, thereby restoring reality. As Gwen and Karen prepare to move out of Rosen's and find their own apartment, there's one more surprise left for Gwen: the realization that Patrick O'Leary is her father.

Characters

There are several major characters in the television show and books:

Main characters

These all appear in relatively few episodes or are not very important to the advancement of the overall story arc.
There are other characters, such as one-episode appearers, who are very unimportant or are only relevant in one episode.

Magic

Based on the discussions in the series, people whose souls have been around for many lifetimes have magical ability. There appears to be a direct relationship between the age of the soul and a character's magic. Gwen, who has had many lifetimes, has powerful magic. Her Mom has some magic but not as much as Gwen. This is specifically discussed in the second episode.
It is specifically mentioned in the fifth episode that objects do not have any magical ability. They just assist the bearer. This does not mean that objects cannot have spells cast on them. For example, the stone from Warwe and Mineer has magic on it.
The glade where Gwen talks to Merlin is near two Ley lines. This allows Gwen to focus her magic better.

Magical artifacts

There are several magical items. The most important is a large fluorescent blue gemstone called Merlin's Stone. It is so powerful that it could allow the bearer to become immortal and break away from the endless cycle of death and rebirth. That is the reason Morgana seeks it.
Formed from a tiny piece of the stone is Gwen's pendant. Assists her in using magic. She has used for some of these purposes: erasing memories, influencing the actions of other people, and moving objects through telekinesis, as well as other purposes. The pendant lights up when near Merlin's stone.
In the first episode, Gwen receives a book from an unknown person. In the third episode the book gets destroyed because evil magic is in it.
Eventually, in Rebellion, it is revealed that Merlin's Stone is actually relatively unimportant; Gwen's Pendant is actually more powerful.

Settings

The majority of the action takes place in several places. The fictional Griffin High School is where most of the scenes involving school take place. It is casually mentioned in the thirteenth episode that the setting is near Melbourne, Australia.
Near the school is a small forest glade where Gwen can talk to Merlin. Merlin mentions that the glade is near where two ley lines intersect. That is also where Gwen learns much of her magic.
The Arc is the cafe and arcade where Tasha works. It is frequented by other students. The store Gwen's foster parents run is called The New Sage. It sells herbs. Gwen and her foster family live on the second floor of that same building. The hospital is called St. James's Hospital.

Production

The series was a co-production between Canada and Australia. The Canadian production companies were Original Pictures Inc and Ibis Entertainment. They are based in Winnipeg. The Australian production company was Crawford Productions. The show was filmed at St. Hellier's Convent, a 120-year-old building and heritage site in Melbourne, Australia.

Airings

Guinevere Jones is or was aired on: YTV and several other networks for its initial run. On March 1, 2005, YTV announced that it would be airing reruns of the show during the last half of March through May. In 2005, it appeared on Disney Italy, Nickelodeon UK, Nickelodeon Arabia, and France 2. In Australia it was aired on Network Ten. The show also aired in the UK on Film 24 on 7 November 2009.

Books