Director Derek Johansen is surprised it took the show so long to tap into the deep well of Arthurian lore.
"The fact that we had so many stories to tell before we got here says a lot about [Executive Producer Brad Kern] and the writers," he says.
Filming gets under way on the attic fight sequence, under the supervision of Johansen and stunt coordinator Noon Orsatti. While Combs' stunt double, Nancy Thurston, does most of the heavy lifting, Johansen says the actress is no slouch.
"Holly Marie is doing an amazing job with her swordplay. She catches on quick."
Earlier in the week, Rose McGowan, who plays youngest sister Paige, had to perform a pratfall in a scene with Balthazar Getty, who plays her current love interest, the warlock Richard Montana. Despite having to drop and pop back up several times, McGowan was unfazed.
"I'm always cognizant of them being girls and small," Orsatti says, "but I'll tell you what, they're tough. Oftentimes, they're shooing me away because I'm always trying to pamper and baby them."
In the same scene, the 6-foot-tall Getty's toughest job was to wave his hand over a malfunctioning garbage disposal. "That's good enough for me," Getty says. "Throw fireballs, clean up drains -- what more could you ask for?"
Back in the attic, Richard Atterton, playing the nefarious Mordaunt, and Mark Aiken, as the Dark Knight, prepare to square off. Atterton straps on perhaps the largest pair of boots ever seen on "Charmed," while Aiken practices his moves in a long black wig and a long black coat.
"I thought I wasn't going to be doing any sword-fighting because we have stunt doubles in," Aiken says, "but at some point Derek wanted a bit more of me. So they took me to one side and spent about 20 minutes talking me through it and rehearsing. So I get to do some sword work, which is very good fun."
He says this despite having to maneuver in his snug yet stylish outerwear. "The costume designer found it in some weird, spooky shop on Melrose," he says. "I think it was designed to be worn in a dark bar by somebody with a lot of makeup, rather than somebody who's going to be doing lots of sword-fighting.
"All the costumes are anachronistic, with zips and buckles. I think Edward looks like a cool, 1980s pop star, and I look like a roadie for The Cure."
Aiken draws on his London drama-school training in stage fighting, but that's not the main background for Orsatti's team.
"A lot of people get their skills from the martial-arts field," Orsatti says. "A very few are true fencers. And one of my guys has done it in live shows."
John Boorman's 1981 film "Excalibur" inspired Johansen's sleek design for his sword in the stone. It's rendered in gleaming silver metal, not painted wood or plastic, as are all the show's blades.
"We are playing with the real thing," Orsatti says. "They're not sharpened blades, but they're aluminum. Last time, we had a guy that had a pretty good cut on the finger, just caught the blade.
"But in six years, we've had a grand total of 30 stitches. Considering the action we've done, we've had a pretty good success rate."
For McGowan and Alyssa Milano, who plays middle sister Phoebe, the episode is less about fighting and more about feelings.
"Basically," McGowan says, "I'm getting closer to my man-friend and they are getting a little pissy about it. He used to do magic, but he doesn't now because he could be dangerous."
Of course, there's the question of that magically repaired garbage disposal.
"I'm very suspicious of Paige's boyfriend," Milano says. "It's sort of a play on when she was suspicious of my boyfriend, Cole. She was right. It's yet to be seen if Phoebe's right about this.
"The last time Richard used magic, he had a breakdown and lost it and went crazy. So he's been on the magic wagon for quite a few months. He used magic to fix our disposal, so it causes a little friction between Phoebe and Paige."
This season, Phoebe acquired the ability to sense the feelings of others. While she has already used this empathic sense on a prospective date, it seems to be doing no good with Richard -- which has Milano wondering.
"Why doesn't she use her empathy power to figure him out?" she says. "They haven't really discussed that. That should be addressed."
While Thurston and the other stunt people flail away in the attic, and Combs (who recently announced her pregnancy) drops in to swing Excalibur for close-ups, Milano is perfectly happy to hang on the sidelines.
"I'm too old and too tired," she says. "I get all sore. I have bruises still from just doing the little bit of action that I do."
