| “ | And now a reading of the prophecy; "And it shall come to pass, at the close of the first millennium, at the rise of the Halloween Moon, a Cromwell of Great Power will embrace The Gift." Marine Piper is the Cromwell of the prophecy, the one we have waited for. | „ |
| ~ Silas Sinister, leader of the Dominion. |
The Dominion was an ancient evil organization of magical monsters and powerful witches alike within the world of Halloweentown and they were the main antagonists of Return to Halloweentown. The members of that treacherous and powerful coven included: Silas Sinister and his daughters, Chancellor Goodwin, Dr. Ichabod Grogg, and also Ethan's father, Edgar Dalloway.
History
The Dominion which were also primarily comprised of 7 witches as their leaders, went back over a 1,000 years ago when the creatures that would become the settlers and citizens of Haloweentown, were natives to Earth, but were banished by the humans who feared them and tried to destroy them. During the settling of Hallloweentown, they tried to conquer that very realm and its inhabitants by stealing a very powerful talisman called "The Gift" which would aid them in their potential plan of total domination. Yet, they waited for the heir of the Cromwell Family to recover the family's powerful creation and manipulate the heir to fulfill their scheme.
The Return of the Dominion
Marnie and Dylan were going to follow their dreams to go to college, at Halloweentown University, which was also known as Witch University. Marnie was offered a full scholarship for her good deeds and for her work in the previous movies. Much to her mother, Gwen's dismay, Marnie went, and her brother, Dylan, was reluctantly forced along by Gwen to keep an eye on her. The school was not what it seems. At the school, witches and warlocks were forbidden to use magic. Instead, they learned about Shakespeare and old magic history. Marnie had thought she was going to learn how to use her magic and was crestfallen. She ran into her old friend, Ethan and made a new friend, Aneesa, the genie. She also made three new enemies in the Sinister Sisters: a triad of malevolent witches with whom Dylan was immediately infatuated with.
Sadly, Marnie discovered that she, in fact, was responsible for the restriction on the use of magic at the University. The University was originally established only for Witches and Warlocks to learn how to use magic, but when the portal was opened, most of them went to college in the Mortal World. Because of that, Witch University had to let several different creatures come to the school so that the teachers would actually have students to teach. Since then, the school had allowed mortals and other magical beings to attend. The classes were boring for Marnie, until a box, with the name "S. Cromwell" inscribed on it, magically appeared in front of her. Most people at the school believed that Marnie had used her magic to conjure up the box, but it was brought to her by fate, and was therefore out of her control. Marnie met with one of her professors, Miss Periwinkle, and asked for an explanation. Miss Periwinkle told her that the S. stood for Splendora, but not a word more about it was mentioned. Chancellor Goodwin told Marnie that she believed that she did not conjure up the box, and that it was indeed fate which brought it to her.
Marnie and Dylan attempted to discover the secret of the box, and he revealed that he used magical speed reading at home to skip a grade. He used it again secretly and learned that the box contained the Gift, though the Gift itself remained unknown to them. Meanwhile, the Sinister Sisters used Dylan's infatuation with them to make him do their homework for them.
Also in the shadows, a mysterious group known only as the Dominion, realized that the Gift was near, and tried to use Marnie to open the box. Marnie decided to go into the past to meet Splendora and learn about the true nature of the enigmatic gift. Splendora explained that the power of the Gift was the power to control anyone by force of will, a power that witches were forbidden to use. Marnie realized that Chancellor Goodwin and Dr. Grogg were in the Dominion, and Splendora bestowed upon her the key to the box that contained the Gift. Also, Splendora was revealed to be Marnie's grandmother, Aggie Cromwell. Agatha was her middle name and she hated the Splendora part, so, she eventually dropped it. Marnie returned to the present to open the box, but before she did, she created the Halloweentown giant pumpkin for Splendora, and told her that she'd need it. Surprisingly, stated by Splendora, Marvin, (Merlin's cousin), was Marnie's great-grandfather. That was given as a hint when Splendora told Marnie: "...even King Arthur said that the whole royalty thing was harder than it looked.".
Chancellor Goodwin stole the Gift for the Dominion, in order to use it to take over Halloweentown. Knowing that only a Cromwell could use the Gift, the Sinister Sisters (working with the Dominion) transformed Dylan into a dog to compel Marnie to comply with their demands. If the Sinisters' and the Dominion did not turn Dylan back, he would stay that way forever after Halloween had passed. They agreed to return him to his natural form if Marnie controlled Halloweentown for them. While it seemed that Marnie had agreed to aid them in their heinous plot, she was really fooling them, and turned on them once her brother was released from the dog transformation spell. Together, Marnie, Dylan, and Gwen destroyed the Gift with help from Aneesa, Marnie's genie friend.
The members of the Dominion forever trapped within a mirror with their powers removed.
The Dominion, having been discovered for the evil ones that they were, attempted to escape, but were betrayed by none other than Professor Periwinkle. Professor Periwinkle was revealed to be an undercover detective working for the Halloweentown Anti-Dominion League and apprehended the evil group by trapping them inside a mirror forever with their powers removed.
The malevolent Sinister Sisters lost their powers, but Marnie learned that Ethan willingly gave his own powers up. Marnie and Ethan began a new relationship and left on a date. The movie ended when Dylan discovering that Marnie hadn't destroyed the Gift, but instead left it for him in a book. Since spells cast on the grounds of Witch University become permanent at the stroke of midnight, the Gift belonged to him, the only person that Marnie trusted with its power. Saving the power of the Gift for important uses only, Dylan put the book back, and showed a glowing, red letter S.
Members
- Silas Sinister (leader)
- Chancellor Goodwin
- Dr. Ichabod Grogg
- Edgar Dalloway
- The Sinister Sisters (minions)