The Deep Dive on Shadow Magic that you 🫵 asked for
I'm gonna try not to make this post too long so check out the ALT Image Descriptions for more insight.
I based my research on the principle that magic is integral to science and nature. So first of all, we should break down what a shadow is literally:
A shadow is a tear in the projection of a light caused by an Object (or individual).
1 shadow is always bound to 1 object. One object can produce several shadows at the same time (from several lights), but one shadow can't belong to two separate objects.
Shadows are 2D, but they exist in several planes.
Now let's break down each of these.
A shadow represents a soul. Belonging to a person, or something that's just real. That's why, sometimes, all a picture needs to look unsettling or dreamy is a shadow that either doesn't match the light's intensity or direction, or just isn't there.
That goes to say a shadow can't exist without its Object, but the human brain finds a shadowless body weirder than a bodyless shadow. Check it out:
This happens because a shadow is and always has been a sign that Someone Is There. A bodyless shadow still feels like somebody's, but a shadowless person doesn't even feel real. Old tales described faefolk and vampires as shadowless creatures for that reason.
If your shadow represents your soul, does that mean you're your shadow, and not your body?
Uh, no. Your shadow is an indicative that you have a soul, but you are not your shadow. Your shadow isn't a separate individual either. Let's look at the “Jungian Shadow”.
Literally speaking, from the perspective of the light, your shadow will always be hidden behind you, invisible, like in the first pictures of this post. The “Jungian Shadow”, named after psychologist Carl Jung (1875-1961), is the concept that your shadow is everything you hate and fear the most about yourself - it's the part of you that's so dark you don't let anyone see. Even the Bible nods to that on John 3:19-20 and Ephesians 5:11-13. Your shadow is all of your immoral urges, vulnerability and intrusive, dark thoughts combined.
Which makes these two interactions very interesting:
It makes you wonder what's up with Lena. It'd make perfect sense if Magica was Lena's shadow - which she is, for a while - because Magica is everything Lena hates and fears to become. But Lena is Magica's shadow.
If shadows aren't their own individuals, how did Magica create a person with their own thoughts and desires from her shadow? How come Lena isn't a walking amalgamation of the worst aspects of Magica?
We see Magica was able to jump into her shadow while her body got sucked into the dime, then she used her powers to form a temporary body she could cling to.
But what we see isn't necessarily true. It doesn't even make sense:
You can't just CREATE life with magic alone, and even if you could, it'd with much darker arts than just Shadow Manipulation and Transmutation.
↑ It would take a lot longer and a lot more power and materials than shown in the “flashback” anyways
Why is Lena a teenager? You trynna tell me Magica created a past version of herself, without her memories, just body and maybe personality?
This scene isn't even a flashback. It's the guys' imagination illustrating the poem Lena wrote. So not only is this scene not what Lena remembers, it also isn't necessarily true as something that Lena thinks she knows. Only Magica really witnessed what happened there.
Here's what probably happened: Magica was stuck in her quickly dissipating shadow and cast a desperate spell to latch onto somebody else's shadow just like Lena did to Webby.
Lena used the power of Webby's friendship bracelet to pull herself out of the Shadow Realm by latching onto Magica's shadow and even becoming physical WITHOUT A BODY. Even if Magica's magic isn't as strong as the magic of friendship, she could've just as easily latched onto somebody's shadow, especially Scrooge's, if she just needed a body to grab his dime.
I'm saying creating a teenager is overkill. It's even impractical, given her circumstances.
And I think the way Magica insists she's Lena's family - aunt, to be more precise - until she wants Lena gone for good... points us towards a very obvious solution:
Lena was Magica's actual biological niece like in the original Ducktales, as Poe De Spell's daughter.
The exact time passed between Scrooge's raid on Mount Vesuvius and Magica's first attempt to trap him inside the dime isn't clear, but if it was thirteen years, it would explain why Lena is a teenager. Though that would imply taking over someone's shadow would erase their memory and freeze their age...
If you scroll back to the first GIF on this post you'll notice Lena is the only shadow who didn't have red eyes. Even Magica had red eyes. That means she wasn't a regular shadow, not even a person-shadow.
And notice that even though it looks like Lena was turned back into Magica's shadow, the next time Lena shows up (GIF 7), she does not emerge from Magica's shadow. That implies Lena was dragged into the Shadow Realm through Magica's shadow, not turned back into a it.
Another nod that Lena was never a shadow to begin with is the way she's alone in the Shadow Realm. Nobody else's shadows are following their Objects around, and when other shadow spirits do appear, they are:
Shadowy shapes, unlike Lena, who was still bodily while in the Shadow Realm
Made from Lena's feelings of fear and jealousy. Which means they were her “Jungian Shadows”, and a shadow can't have its own shadows, can it?
By the way, did you notice the sunlight from that window is purple in the Shadow Realm? I think everybody knows the color of Shadow Magic is purple because it's black light - or ultraviolet light - the only light that won't light up a room, but will highlight namely “dirty” bodily fluids in fluorescent blue the way “dirty” feelings are hightlighted here.
It's interesting that Lena chose a blue light for her room, too. Just saying. I'm not going too deep into this particular detail.
Back on track, the Shadow Realm is something like nisses' Nowhere Space from Hilda.
It's a pocket dimension you can enter and leave through every shadow (unclear if it's only every person's shadow or any Object's shadow). The way it most differs from the Nowhere Space, is that the Nowhere Space is a space separate from a house, while the Shadow Realm seems to envelop the physical world.
The reason I believe it's a pocket dimension is because Lena was afraid about what would happen to Webby if her tulpas took her outside, as if the Shadow Realm is only inside buildings. That could be because the inside of a building is a shadow in on itself. See how Lena only steps out of Webby's shadow once she's inside of the library? She also opens her eyes like she's just waking up.
This explains why Magica waited until the eclipse to make her move. Duckburg was under the moon's shadow, extending the Shadow Realm into the streets.
I wasn't sure Shadow Magic could be considered Dark Magic at first, but if it allows you to bring people's evil dark sides to life and ban someone into the Shadow Realm, I guess it can be pretty harmful. Tbf it's a magic completely based on lies, omission and your Evil Dark Side. It can also just be shadow-transportation or the power to turn yourself into a shadow though.
Anyways, one thing I haven't figured out is what could be the downside to Shadow Magic. Every Dark Magic comes with a price, be it something that directly affects the user (e.g. illness, curses, losses, etc) or a setback with the spell itself, (e.g. the “came back wrong” trope). Based on the inconvenience of shadows irl, the drawbacks could be:
Feeling cold all the time
Sensitivity to light and/or poor eyesight
Thanks for reading, this was.. Something. I'm getting too autistic about this show.
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