Countess Von Marburg

Countess Von Marburg
Biographical Information
Aliases	Swallower of Souls Hecate Medea Bathory Last of the True Witches Water Witch Queen of queens Pagan Siren
Home	Boston (Formerly) Salem (Currently)
Type	Witch
Occupation	Countess
Status	Unknown [1]
Cause of Death	Drowned Head bashed (during Roman Empire) Suffocated (ca. 1630) Stabbed to death (1692) Various other unknown methods.
Killed By	Roman soldiers Increase Mather The Devil Anne Hale
Significant Kills	Mr. Elliot George Sibley Dollie Trask Sooleawa
Physical Information
Height	5'9" (1,77 m)
Hair Color	Reddish Brown
Eye Color	Blue
Relationship Information
Relatives	Sebastian Von Marburg † (Son) Anne Hale (Daughter)
Significant Others	John Hale (Former Lover)
Supernatural Information
Powers	Witchcraft
Character Information
Portrayed By	Lucy Lawless Janet Montgomery
Season(s)	2, 3
First Appearance	Cry Havoc
Last Appearance	Black Sunday

Countess Palatine Ingrid Von Marburg ^[2] is the current identity of a very ancient witch who has crept in the higher ranks of the aristocracy to add power and wealth to her boundless wickedness. Main villain of the second season, her goal is to bring the Devil on Earth, with no problems dethroning Mary Sibley.

Early Life

It was later revealed by Increase Mather that the Countess is quite possibly one of the oldest witches alive, considering she was a young girl during the time Lucifer fell. According to various legends, the Countess was one of the first who made a pact with the Devil, his first lover, and worshiper, and thus one of the first witches in history. Her only known weakness is a wooden coffin where her remains, as well as a vital part of her own soul was stored, enabling her infinite life.

Physical Appearance

Countess Marburg is a beautiful woman who appears to be in her late 40's. She has a slim and tall physique with long dark brown hair, glacial blue eyes, and a pale complexion. As Mary Sibley, she wears clothes of rich fashion, with rich fabrics and adorned with jewelry and accessories that highlight the high social status.

She has a burn in the shape of a hand on the left shoulder, which was left by Increase Mather when the hunter sank his hands in the Hell's pitch to stop the Marburg witches' attempt to complete the Grand Rite.

The original body of the Countess is kept in a sacred sarchophagus hidden in a parallel dimension. It is a mummified corpse and over the centuries the Countess took several physical aspects, even if the current one seems to be her original appearance.

Personality

Manipulative, cunning and deeply luxurious, the Countess has a strong personality, as befits a true witch. Her cruelty is unmatched; she was the first spouse of Satan, the first witch to implement spells of pure perfidy and malice. Seductive and libidinous, wearing sophisticated and refined clothes, sometimes bizarre, as befits the clothing of the nobility of the 17th century. The Countess has a co-dependent relationship with her son Sebastian, with whom she shares even incestuous gestures.

Throughout the Salem Series

SEASON TWO

While staying in Boston (Cry Havoc), the Countess has bewitched a member of the Council of the Puritans, such Mr. Eliot, so he relates what was said in the meetings of the Elders Puritans. The witch is in fact interested in finding out who is behind the Great Rite realized in Salem and in addition she's extremely curious about the actual death of Increase Mather, revealing that the witch hunter kept her in the past to make herself the Grand Rite. To prove it, a scar shaped like a hand on her shoulder. The woman comes to Cotton Mather's house, bringing with her a basket of food pretending very well the part of a charitable woman who takes care of the poor unfortunate boy without a mother or a wife to take care of his needs.(Blood Kiss) The witch is therefore surprised to find Anne Hale. Presenting holding her hand, causing the girl in a trance breaking into her thoughts, or as defined by the same Countess, she's entered "into her soul." In this sort of enchanted forest, where Anne is naked in a tub, the Witch reveals his identity as the last of the True Witches and that in the course of the centuries she took many names such as Hecate, Medea, and Bathory to name a few. Then she starts to question Anne about what is actually happening in Salem. Countess Von Marburg has acknowledged Anne Hale as a blood witch, daughter of John Hale, also a pureblood witch but too cowardly. Threatening the young girl, the Countess affix a mark kissing her violently until Anne'lip bleed, saying that they will meet again soon. Returned to the physical world in the house of Mather, the woman takes leave. Later, in her boudoir, Countess Von Marburg is in negligee with her son, Sebastian, who exchange incestuous effusions while he brushing her hair, as they discuss how to get to Salem without detection and the role of the Witches of Essex. Sebastian, then, shows to his mother the gift he has done to her. A girl gagged and hidden in the closet. The Countess, then, looks ecstatic, thanking her son before turning to the terrified girl, saying her "buh!". The Countess implements again her terrible powers bewitching a girl from the village so that the water tank of The House of the Seven Gables, used that night to prepare Mary Sibley's bath (Book of Shadows). The Witch of Salem, in fact, is attacked by a spectrum sent by the Countess who tries to drown her and then kiss her to bleed, subtracting information from her unconscious. While comfortably soak in the bathtub of her boudoir, the Countess licks her bloody fingers, snickering satisfied from what she learned about the perpetrator of the Grand Rite. The Countess and Sebastian are in Marburg's ship talking about the power and beauty of Mary Sibley, while Sebastian nourishes his mother with pomegranate's berries using his fingers to her mouth. The woman is lying in her bath and after a passionate kiss with her son, we find that half of her face horribly disfigured. A young girl hangs from the ceiling and has a collar around her neck that Sebastian turns a crank to drain the blood directly from the girl's neck to the face and breasts of his mother.(The Wine Dark Sea). The Countess and Mary Sibley meet for the first time on the ship Marburg and discuss the effective role of the Queen of the Night and the completion of the Grand Rite. Countess Von Marburg, in fact, raises in Mary the worm of suspicion that the Essex witches haven't treated her with the right respect. Arrived in Salem, the Countess is accepted by the bourgeoisie of the city and from public office. The woman claims to have come to the city to bring relief to the poor souls of Salem suffering from plague and gives food to the community (III Met by Moonlight). Countess Mary Sibley makes it clear the intentions of her, including to complete the Great Rite to resurrect their Lord and condemn to eternal damnation citizens of Salem. The Countess also several projects for other witches coven: first takes under his wing Mercy Lewis, appearing to her as her "fairy godmother" and showing her the wonders of prodigious bathe in the blood of virgins, a supernatural tonic for the body. The old witch has indeed captured the unfortunate Dollie and kills her along with Mercy to give it to the precedent and her beautiful appearance. Countess Von Marburg continues to her machinations to get on her side Anne Hale and orders to the young witch to steal John Hale's Book of Shadows from the house of Mary Sibley, at a dinner attended by the elite members of Salem: Magistrate Hathorne , Dr. Wainwright, Rev. Cotton Mather, her son Sebastian, Mary and Anne. During dinner, the Countess communicates telepathically to Mary that she plans to sacrifice all of them because they are a hindrance to their plan to resurrect the Devil (The Beckoning Fair One) Also during dinner, John bursts into the dining room and the Countess perceives in the child the presence of the Dark Lord. File:12 595 Mini Logo TV white - Gallery.jpg While returning to the ship with Sebastian, she reveals to the young man that she is willing to put her claws on the child. While Mary ignores the true potential of the Countess, the old witch has sent Mercy Lewis to kidnap the child, John, because the Countess wants to prepare him herself as a vessel to receive the Devil in his body. When Mary discovers that the child has disappeared, she has a confrontation with the Countess, who reveals that she will awaken the Devil into John and Mary will be just a mere instrument for achieving the supreme goal. But Mary also has her trump cards and, after discovering that John Alden is still alive, she reveals to the man the existence of their child and the two weave a plan to save him. While the Countess along with Sebastian is heading into the woods with the child in order to sacrifice him in the crags, Mary threatens the Countess to destroy the relic- the source of the Countess' power- if she wouldn't return the child to her. The Countess is forced to surrender, for the moment (Til Death Do Us Part). File:5 595 Mini Logo TV white 4 - Gallery.jpg The ancient witch at this point resorts to another of her ally, the magistrate Hathorne, that she had seduced from the first moment she set foot in Salem. And while the man arrest Mary Sibley on charges of fornication with the doctor Wainwright, now mysteriously disappeared (in fact, killed by Sebastian) and the murder of George Sibley, the Countess uses her magic to find the hiding place of the child ([[On Earth as in Hell ]]). The evil witch uses illusions and oldest black magic to seduce John Alden in an alternate dimension and finds the place in which he keeps hidden his son. The Countess then sends Sebastian to get rid of Alden and retrieve the child. But since Cotton Mather flees with the baby, it will be Anne Hale to secure the child in her secret room at the cottage. At this point, the Countess reveals her last card. She is the natural mother of Anne Hale and as Anne is her eldest girl, she will inherit the power from the Countess, as in witchcraft the kingdom passes through the female witches (Midnight Never Come). File:6 595 Mini Logo TV white 5 - Gallery.jpg Anne is not very convinced, and do not want to give the child to the woman, but rather return him to Mary Sibley. Then the Countess, to convince her daughter, shows her that Mary Sibley held Tituba prisoner for a simple argument. While they are in prison, the Countess offers to Tituba freedom if the cinnamon-skin woman will reveal the secrets of the Essex Hive's stronghold. The Countess reads from the lips of Tituba his suffering, but also of her betrayal of the Hive. Meanwhile, Sebastian deals with Mary and begs her to bend to the will of the Countess. Mary, after fighting to the last, is forced to give up. The whole coven formed by the Marburgs, Tituba, Anne, and Mary goes into the woods and performs the last act of the Grand Rite. After pouring the blood into a sacred goblet, the Countess sacrifices little John by drowning him in the pool of Hellblood. The Grand Rite is finally completed, after centuries of failed attempts, and Hecate has finally met again with her Lucifer. The woman waking the sleep of her Lord and gather the witches of Salem to pay him homage. However, the Devil has in mind other projects that have nothing to do with the ideas of the Countess. After badly driven away Mercy, by biting the finger she used to indicate the fake witches, also the Countess has a falling out with the girl and the Countess withdrawing the spell that made Mercy beautiful, tracing her back to the previous stage of living-dead, with the burned skin. File:9 595 Mini Logo TV white 6 - Gallery.jpg When the Devil reveals that he's going to make Mary his Scarlet Queen, the Countess is extremely shocked. In a desperate attempt to win again the love of Lucifer, the Countess hordes a plan with her son, namely to kill Mary, which now wants to commit suicide. The two witches have a fierce battle in the church, with wooden benches and fire flying around the room, along with curses and fists. Sebastian then ask his half-sister Anne to go to the rescue of their mother, because Mary is about to destroy her, fueled by hatred for what the Countess brought on Earth. Anne then appears in church and conjure the rain, putting out the fire. However, the two women are refusing to satisfy the demands of the death of Mary Sibley. But it is too late. The Devil discovered the plan of the Countess, and after having received her in his room at the House of the Seven Gables, he kills her brutally, by stabbing the Countless numberless times making her bleed to death under the impassive gaze of Sebastian. The woman tries desperately to have the help of her son, but she dies then wake up trapped in her old mortal coil, helpless and powerless, locked in a coffin, for the rest of her existence. (The Witching Hour)

SEASON THREE

Forced to inhabit her mummified mortal coil preserved inside of a precious sarcophagus, Countess Von Marburg was far from resigned to declare herself defeated. Hidden in a secret crypt, she instructed her son Sebastiana so she was regularly nourished with the blood stolen from Mary Sibley at the time of her attempted murder; blood contained in a haversack stored in a closet in the private rooms of the Dark Lord. (After the Fall) The Countess was regularly visited by his son, feeding her with blood. Sebastian took advantage of these moments with his mother for advice on what to do and how to win the love of Mary Sibley. The Countess, impatiently, advised her son to resort to witchcraft to bind Mary's heart, but Sebastian did not seem convinced. (The Commonwealth of Hell) During a conversation with Sebastian, the Countess showed to be totally aware of the plans of the Dark Lord about Great Terror and annihilation of humanity, for she was convinced that it was necessary to make the world ashes before being able to build a new one. This didn' stop her from continuing the slow healing process obtained from the blood of Mary Sibley, regularly sipped from the lips of her son. (The Man Who Was Thursday) Invigorated, the Countess demanded the presence of her daughter Anne Hale, gathering for the first time in a while the three Marburg in the same room. After arousing Anne through kisses and caresses of Sebastian, the Countess instructed Anne about her plan for her return. (Saturday Mourning) The blood sipped in the past days, in fact, had created an unbreakable bond with Mary, preparing her body to a spirit possession. When Anne deceived Mary, and forced her to shed blood from her mouth directly on the Relic, the spirit transfer was achieved in a short time, and Countess was able to take full control of Mary's body, while the latter was imprisoned in the Relic. The Countess, then, became aware of the death of Sebastian, but reacted nonchalantly, saying that he had always been the weakest. Her real interest was to take part in the consummation of the Royal Marriage, joining in a sexual embrace with her beloved Dark Lord. However, he was killed by Anne shortly after, with a promise to bring him back as soon as possible as his bride. The Countess, upset, railed against Anne only to realize that she was just a mere human before a cradle witch. Trying to win back the trust of her daughter, she claimed to be ready to become the Queen Mother, leaving the title of Queen for her daughter. Anne, however, stabbed her between the shoulder blades, turning Mary's body in a dried corpse very similar to the Relic, while the Relic inhabited by Mary's spirit regained full health with the features of Mary Sibley. (Black Sunday)

Powers and Abilities

As an ancient and powerful witch, having been alive during Lucifer's fall, the Countess is in control of sophisticated abilities and powers far greater than those practiced by the Essex witches. Her own magic is much more superior due to her advanced age and she is arguably one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful witch that has appeared on the show thus far, which is proven by the fact that she was once worshipped as the mythological goddess Hecate in ancient times and a pagan siren in 17th century Germany, throughout her various identities.

Unlike most witches, the Countess does not require any tools to achieve a state of astral projection, in which she can remain conscious in both the astral and the physical form.

In terms of her control over the elements, the Countess has demonstrated an affinity for water, using it several times as her conduit to achieve her own goals. This was first seen when she killed Sir Elliot by causing him to drown from within. She would later kill George Sibley in the same manner. She also used water as a conduit in order to attack Mary Sibley in her home in the form of a specter. She achieved this feat by seemingly placing a random girl under some kind of semi-possession, through which she gained entrance to the Sibley house. She is powerful enough to assume complete control over the weather, as seen when she invoked a storm over Salem, alerting Mary of her presence. Though she has also shown an incapability of doing so when trapped within the place that serves as a source of power for another witch, as seen in her fight with Mary, when the latter attempted to burn the church. It is unknown if Mary's allegations of the Countess requiring tears to invoke rain are true or just an assumption on her part.

Countess Ingrid is also capable of high-level telepathy, which allows her to invade other people's minds as well as read their thoughts. She usually performs such a feat through a blood kiss, allowing her to penetrate the minds of her victims and see their secrets. She is capable of creating dream-like states within the human mind, which she achieves either through physical contact, as seen with Anne or by using water as a conduit when her target is at a large distance, as seen with John Alden. This is an advanced form of dream walking that the Countess calls meddling within the soul. She is also highly psychometric and can even detect the presence of a spirit nearby, as well as roughly determine the location of a person from a distance, as seen when she felt Little John's presence while chasing after him. She also easily detected Mercy as a rebel witch of the Essex hive, using her to her own ends.

However, her most noteworthy ability is to continue living after each death. This is possible only due to the fact that her original body was stored in an ancient sarcophagus, thus preserving a vital part of her soul and protecting her from truly dying, making her an immortal of sorts. However, if any harm comes to her original body, the Countess herself will be rendered mortal and killable. It is not yet clear on how her resurrection works, whether upon each death she possesses a new body or if the process is more long-lasting, such as an actual reincarnation into a new entity. She is also skilled in blood magic, knowing how to preserve a youthful and healthy appearance by bathing in the blood of the young.

Relationships

Main article: Countess and Sebastian

“	Don't be a greedy boy.	”
	— Countess to Sebastian

She seems to share an incestuous relationship with her son. Sebastian is totally in love with the mother, but at the same time knows that he himself is essential to the woman, playing well in a twisted emotional relationship.

Main article: Countess and Mary

“	Well, you can put a crown on a sow's head and it doesn't make it a queen. A true queen is not made. She is born in the Earth's womb and destined to rule forever.	”
	— Countess to Mary

The antagonistic relationship between the two women comes from the fact that the Countess cannot stand that a simple "contract witch" has managed to complete the Grand Rite and Mary Sibley does not tolerate anyone undermining her authority as Queen of the Night.

Main article: Countess and Lucifer

File:L-R-Lucy-Lawless-as-Countess-Marburg-and-Oliver-Bell-as-Boy.jpg

Countess was one of the first to worship the Devil, and love him as her husband. For centuries this ancient witch has moved Heaven and Earth to reunite with her beloved, only to discover that she has no role at the side of the Dark Lord.

Main article: Countess and Anne

“	I already killed one mother. Who's to say I won't kill another one?	”
	— Anne to her mother

Countess Von Marburg has a high regard for her daughter, so much she has talked profusely with Sebastian, triggering the jealousy of the latter towards his half-sister. Although Countess Von Marburg has great plans for Anne, her narcissism and blind love for the Dark Lord are unmatched. It is precisely because of this that the Countess found death by her daughter's hand.

Main article: Countess and Mercy

A relationship born as an exchange of favors and that is over to become yet another disappointment for the poor Mercy. Mercy looks at the Countess as a model to aspire to, the quintessence of the Witch while for Countess Von Marburg Mercy is only a rough Essex witch, nothing more than a means for her purposes.

Memorable Quotes

Countess Von Marburg (to Anne Hale): "Oh, my dear, I have had so many names. Hecate, Medea, Bathory are just a few. I'm the Swallower of Souls, she who flowers from her own wounds. I'm the last of the first, I am the last of the true witches."

— Blood Kiss

______________________________

Countess Von Marburg (to Anne): "Oh, do not lie to me. Ever. There could be no greater error than that."

— Blood Kiss

______________________________

Countess Von Marburg (to Anne Hale): "We must all murder our fathers and mothers. This is the way."

— Blood Kiss

_____________________________

Countess Von Marburg (to Sebastian Von Marburg): "We're not all as obvious as you, my dear son. Unlike men, women keep their most sensitive parts hidden within. And our beautiful Mary Sibley... now, she has more and deeper secrets than most."

— The Wine Dark Sea

____________________________

Countess Von Marburg (to Mary Sibley): "You're like the foot of a pyramid. But you will make a fine and mighty base for one more naturally designed to rule."

— The Wine Dark Sea

____________________________

Countess Von Marburg (to Mary Sibley): "Well, you can put a crown on a sow's head and it doesn't make it a queen. A true queen is not made. She is born in the earth's womb and destined to rule forever."

— The Wine Dark Sea

____________________________

Countess Von Marburg: "Do not be blinded by the light of your dreams, Mary Sibley, for these are not the last but merely the first of the sacrifices it will take to achieve our new world."

Countess Von Marburg (to Mary Sibley): "There are other cities to conquer, other empires to fell. And all the while, we must wear our mask of respectability."

— Ill Met by Moonlight

____________________________

Countess Von Marburg "We all make sacrifices, Mary, and in these courageous acts, legends are born."

— Til Death Do Us Part

_____________________________

Countess Von Marburg "Men long for the freedom of their chains. To them, slavery is freedom!"

Mary Sibley: "You are no better than the ones I sought to destroy."

Countess Von Marburg "You've not lived nearly long enough to judge me or the forces that drive me."

— Til Death Do Us Part

____________________________

Countess (to Mary Sibley): "Were you there to hear the screams of thousands of children sliced apart by Crusaders? Have you smelled the human flesh searing to the red-hot irons of the Inquisition? I consecrate this land on behalf of the millions I watched suffer! And their temples destroyed, their people slaughtered! You began this rite to end all of this. How can you turn your back on us now?"

— Til Death Do Us Part

______________________________

Countess Von Marburg (to Anne Hale): "Behold, the symbol of Mary Sibley's kindness; The reward for serving her faithfully. And you would prefer Mary Sibley to your own mother?"

Tituba: "How did I not see? You are as much serpent as she."

Countess Von Marburg: "And what of it? The first and best of women, our mother Eve, followed the Serpent. And ever since, small-minded men have tormented us. Did you ever ask yourself what kind of a God plants a tree bearing the fruit of true knowledge, only to forbid his creation to partake? When I look around this dismal chamber, I see three powerful women who all serve the same cause, whether they know it or not."

— Midnight Never Come

______________________________

Countess Von Marburg (to Mary Sibley): "For two thousand years, they have tried and failed to build the Kingdom of God here on Earth. Now it is our turn."

— The Witching Hour

______________________________

Sebastian Von Marburg "Wise mother, was this your plan? Did you know what the Devil intends? Do you plan to rule a kingdom of death and dust?"

Countess Von Marburg "All comes from dust. And all returns. The end he brings is a new beginning."

— The Commonwealth of Hell

______________________________

Countess Von Marburg (over the Dark Lord's corpse): "No. I waited eternities for you. Waded through centuries of blood and for what? To lose you now? With eons of evil and ecstasy spread before us and oceans of blood to bathe in and a world at our feet for the taking..."

— Black Sunday

______________________________

Countess Von Marburg (her last words, to Anne Hale): "I should have drowned you in my womb or strangled you on my breast or... Forgive me! I was in shock. Now I understand. I always knew you were my special one. Whilst it is indeed a bitter thing to have victory snatched from me, I am proud of you. You are a true Marburg. I will happily accept my new role, not as Queen, but as Queen-Mother."

— Black Sunday

______________________________

Name

• Ingrid: from the Old Norse name Ingríðr meaning "Ing is beautiful", derived from the name of the Germanic god Ing, combined with fríðr "beautiful". A famous bearer was the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman.
• Von Marburg which in German means literally "from Marburg", a German town.
• Hecate: in reference to an ancient deity of Thessaly, then incorporated in the Greek pantheon. Hecate was the mistress of darkness and sorcery and ruled on the three kingdoms: earth, heaven and sea and for that reason, she was represented with three heads and honored at crossroads. Hecate was a Titaness who helped Zeus in the conquest of Olympus and also the nurse of Persephone, the queen of the Underworld.
• Medea: a legendary sorceress of Greek mythology, daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and priestess of Hecate. She helped Jason in his heroic deeds but when he left her, blinded by anger Medea killed their children and fed them to Jason.
• Bathory: Countess Erzsebet Bathory was a bloodthirsty Hungarian noblewoman who was tried and jailed for life for the practices of witchcraft and ritual murders. She used to bathe in the blood of young virgins and was known for her brutal cruelty.

Status and Rank

• Countess, the female equivalent of the title Count, or in Britain of the title Earl. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin, meaning “companion”, and later “companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor”, an appropriate title to Countess Von Marburg if we consider the Devil as the witches' Emperor. The manner to which she was designated countess in European aristocracy is unknown.
• Palatine, from the Palatini (Latin for "palace troops") were elite units of the Late Roman army mostly attached to the imperial escort armies.The Palatine of Hungary (German: Landespalatin) was the highest-ranking official in the Kingdom of Hungary from the beginning of the 11th century to 1848. A famous family member of this élite was the Bathory family, from which the most known member is Erzsebet Bathory, of whom the Countess Von Marburg is a fictional representation. ^[2]

Appearances

Gallery

Video

Salem Countess Marburg Recap

SALEM LUCY LAWLESS

Salem Lawless

Salem- 202 "Blood Kiss" Anne and Countess Marburg

Salem- 205 'The Wine Dark Sea' - The Countess and Mary meet

Salem- 207 'The Beckoning Fair One' Countess and Increase

Salem 209 "Wages of Sin" The Countess and Mary

Salem 210 "Til Death Do Us Part" - Countess and Boy

Salem 212 Countess threatens Anne

Trivia

• On January 14, 2015, it was announced that Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess, Battlestar Galactica, Spartacus, Parks and Recreation) would join the cast of Salem as Countess Marburg, the last in an ancient line of German witches.
• During the advertising for the second season, she was simply known as "The Countess." She was finally listed as Countess Palatine Ingrid Von Marburg, while in a clip featured in Salem Special: Witch War she presented herself as having many names, with Hecate, Medea, Bathory being just a few.
  • Her surname, Von Marburg, is often mistakenly reduced to Marburg, losing the German meaning of the name "Of Marburg" or "From Marburg."
• "Lucy Lawless' character is going to shake things up," says Braga. "She plays a Germanic, very bad witch who wants what Mary has accomplished. And seeing them go head-to-head is really exciting."
• She may be part of the witch faction mentioned by Increase Mather in the episode Ashes Ashes, about a witch coven in Marburg, Germany.
  • It was confirmed in Cry Havoc, when she described the origin of her scars to her servant.
• In the episode Dead Birds, Increase Mather reveals that, much like Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, the Countess possesses an item of great magical power that has granted her seemingly endless life. According to Increase, this object was once the coffin which housed her remains, although it now appears to be the Countess' ship itself.
• In Til Death Do Us Part, the Countess told to Mary Sibley that once she met "the other Mary", describing her as a weak woman mourning her son sacrificed on the cross.
• On April 6th, 2016 Lucy Lawless released a videochat on her official Facebook page stating that she would not be present in the third season (and informs us that she had read the script - which according to her is incredible - and that is jealous of not being part of it).
  • She, however, was present as a voice-over in the course of the whole season. Lucy Lawless's initial denial of being part of the third season can be attributed to the desire to don't spoil the surprise.

• When asked to talk about the character, Lucy Lawless described the Countess as "the soul of violence. She is very charming and very funny and very witty, so you do not really see it coming," ^[3] adding that the best part about playing a witch is 'delicious subterfuge.' ^[4]
• Lucy Lawless has also expressed disappointment in labeling characters as "villains," preferring a deep characterization and all-around approach. She admitted to having had hesitations about some aspects of the Countess, but was eventually able to separate her own personal opinions from the character's ones, adding that the best way for portraying a character is trying to understand its actions and beliefs.^[5] Precisely about this characterization, Lucy Lawless has praised the writers' work and research, claiming that she did not base her acting on a particular character, but "cherry-pick some of those terrible stories and feed them into my character." Lucy Lawless has also expressed great enthusiasm about the representation of witchcraft and the great research work carried out by Adam Simon and Brannon Braga, surprised by the fact that the more something sounds absurd and truculent, the more likely it is a historical fact or belief.^{[3] [4]}

References

1. ↑ Her fate is currently unknown since the Countess was transformed again into a mummy by an unknown "body-transfer spell," fueled by her link to Mary Sibley. Because both Mary and the Countess were sentient inside the original Relic, it is possible that when Mary fluorished again, she simply did it by substracting vitality from her former body, thus condemning the Countess to be trapped inside a newly formed mummy.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} The name of the current incarnation of this witch is Countess Palatine Ingrid Von Marburg, as presented by Cotton Mather in "Blood Kiss," and by Captain Braun in "Ill Met by Moonlight." In "The Beckoning Fair One," Increase Mather mispronounced her name as Countess Ingrid Palatine Von Marburg. However, Palatine is not a personal name, but a high noble title, that of the Counts Palatine.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Entertainment Weekly, Lucy Lawless says the magic of 'Salem' is nothing like 'Harry Potter'
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} TIME, Lucy Lawless Explains the Gruesome History Behind Salem's 'New Kind of Horror'
5. ↑ SALEM: Lucy Lawless Talks Season 2, ASH VS. EVIL DEAD, and More

See Also