Crown of Shadows

This article is about the object. You may be looking for the Crown of Shadows, the episode, arc, or other uses.

Crown of Shadows
General information
Function	Allow its wearer control over shadows
Key	Shadow Key
Users	Harland Locke Ian Locke John Locke Eric Murnau Rendell Locke Mark Cho Dodge Dodge Eden Hawkins
First appearance	Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows #3 Echoes

The Crown of Shadows is a magical object that is empowered by the Shadow Key.

History

The Crown of Shadows was created along with the Shadow Key sometime during or after 1775 by Benjamin Locke and used as a weapon against the Red Coats.

In the early 20th century, the Crown of Shadows was used by the family of Chamberlin Locke to cast the living shadows as servants, such as serving dinner, Harland Locke used the shadows to act out the story of Peter Pan as he read the book as a bedtime story. In 1915, Chamberlin placed Crown inside the Vault of Shadows along with some of the most deadly keys in the Lockes' arsenal as a means to keep his son John and anyone else from using them during World War I. John outwitted Chamberlin when he entered the Vault with the Anywhere Key and took with him the Crown of Shadows to Belgium at the war's front lines. John was conscripted the Allied, and shortly after, he summoned an army of shadows to massacre an entire German camp. After suffering fatal injuries in the Second Battle of Ypres, John fled back to Keyhouse Manor, but he dropped the still-active Crown that caught the eye of Eric Murnau. Upon placing the crown on his head, Murnau gained control of his shadow and Chamberlin's, which he used to gain the knowledge of the Keys and Keyhouse. However, he would lose the crown after being knocked unconscious by Henrik Veidt.

After the passing of Fiona and John, Chamberlin allocated the Crown and its key inside the Harlequin Wardrobe.

In October 1927, Mary retrieved the Crown to arm herself for Hell and rescue John's soul. During the battle against Hell's demonic forces, Mary handed the Crown to John and commanded the shadows of Hell itself to fight until Lucifer obliterated the shadows with his powers of light. Once Mary and John manage to escape to the afterlife courtesy of the Moon Key, Mary gives the Crown to Fiddler's Green. He subsequently leaves the Crown along with the rest of the Lockes' valuables with Mary after she returns to Earth, before departing himself.

In the 1980s, the crown eventually falls into the possession of Rendell Locke.

Netflix Series

At some unknown point in time, the Crown of Shadows fell into the possession of Rendell Locke and the Keepers of the Keys. They hid the key in the Ping Pong Room in the basement of Keyhouse Manor, where it would remain for over twenty-five years.

Later, Ellie Whedon would retrieve the crown for Dodge, who blackmails her using the threat of killing her son if she does not cooperate. Bode finds the accompanying key and plans to use the crown to force Dodge back into the Well House. Dodge, however, takes the crown from Ellie and joins it with the key, placing it on her head — still using the disguise of Lucas — enabling her to command the shadows.

At Keyhouse, Tyler, Kinsey and Bode awaited Ellie's return. However, they found that Dodge was approaching the house. She brought the Crown of Shadows and, placing it upon her head, commanded the surrounding shadows. Initially, Tyler believed the shadows to be harmless. When Dodge launched a car across the drive, they believed otherwise. They quickly barricaded the door, however, they were unable to stop the shadows entering through doorways; this allowed Dodge's shadow to enter. One of the shadows began emptying Rendell's urn, however, it was unable to find the Omega Key.

A Shadow overturning the urn of the late Rendell Locke.

Bode realized that turning on the lights ensures that the shadows cannot enter the house. He fashioned a weapon out of the Matchstick Key by attaching it to the end of his toy lightsaber. However, Dodge's shadow was actually a decoy, as she was hiding behind a pillar, proceeding to duck away and cut the power, allowing the shadows to return. Kinsey descended to the basement to trip the fuse board, however it attacked by multiple shadows who began fighting over her; she was able to fend them off initially with a match. Meanwhile, Bode stabbed Dodge's shadow with the Matchstick Key, causing it to explode. This also incapacitated, whom they all believed to be the real Dodge, but did not kill her. They are unable to find the Crown of Shadows, however. Unbeknownst to the three, the Dodge they killed was nothing more than another shadow, and the real one manages to keep the Crown in her possession.

While she and Dodge (disguised as Gabe) were down in the caves, Eden takes out the crown when security guards approach them, telling Eden and Gabe that they weren't allowed down there because of the tides. With the guards questioning what the crown is about, Eden then places it on her head and, when the guards tell her to put her hands up, she uses the shadows to attack the guards, killing them in the process.

During the final battle with Dodge, the demon, as Gabe, dons the Crown and uses the shadows in an effort to keep Tyler, Duncan and Scot from reaching the vault with the Demon Key. However, using the Angel Key, Kinsey snatches the Crown from Dodge, causing the shadows to vanish. Kinsey briefly attempts to use the Crown in battle against Dodge, but loses it when Kinsey loses her balance from the crumbling house. The Crown presumably fell into the ocean along with the falling house after Dodge's death.

Properties

The Crown of Shadows can only be activated with the Shadow Key, and both remained in the possession of the Locke Family for several years following the death of Rendell's friends. When pieced together with the key, the crown allows the user to command and control shadows, and these shadows can be used to attack people. The shadows cannot attack, however, if the lights are on. A shadow can be neutralized by exposing it to light, or killed by exposing it to heated light. Although, for the former, they will reappear as soon as the light is gone.

The shadows disappear when the Shadow Key is removed from the Crown, while the Crown is removed from the wearer's head, both at the same time, or if the wearer is incapacitated in some way, e.g. having a seizure.