Ashley Magnus

ASHLEY
Biographical Information
Full name	Ashley Magnus
Alias	A (text message initial signature) Ash (by Sylvio Rudd and Henry Foss)
Born	Summer (June/July) 1984
Age	23-years-old 24-years-old 25-years-old For more age related details, reference age section.
Status	Alive (presumed deceased)
Physical Information
Species	Human (abnormal)
Abilities	Teleportation Super abnormal (converted into)
Gender	Female
Height	5' 5"
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Blue
Relatives
Parents	Helen Magnus (mother) John Druitt (father)
Siblings	Henry Foss (brother figure)
Extended family	Gregory Magnus (maternal grandfather) Patricia Heathering (maternal grandmother) † Alice Foss-Myers (niece figure)
Affiliations
Nationality	English Canadian
Organizations / Groups	Sanctuary Network Super abnormal project
Occupations / Roles	Monster hunter Weapons expert
Appearances
Portrayed by	Emilie Ullerup
Appears in	List of Appearances
Type of role	Main character

Ashley Magnus is the daughter of Helen Magnus and John Druitt. She is a human with the abnormal ability to teleport near-infinite distances across the world; a power she inherited from her father.

She was, however, unable to use this power until early 2009 when the Cabal injected her with an unknown substance(s) to bring out this latent ability. Six weeks after her dormant gene(s) were activated, the Cabal injected her with a four-vial series of a modified source blood serum to give her vampiric traits as well as continuing to inject her with a consistent regimen of mind control drugs so that they could control her.

Biography

Ashley Magnus was conceived in late 1888 just as her parents ended their relationship. Helen Magnus chose to keep Ashley frozen in an embryonic state for almost a century. When the loneliness became too much for her to bear, and she believed John Druitt was gone for good, Magnus brought her to term. Magnus never told Ashley about her father's identity and allowed her to believe he was dead.

Ashley inherited her father's killer instinct, and so lacked modest behavioral skills. However, she more than made up for them in her field talents. Ashley soon proved herself an expert (yet self-proclaimed) ‘monster Hunter’; becoming proficient in the usage of advanced weaponry and technology.

On a personal level, Ashley remained quite close to her mother. Ashley's own natural distrust of abnormals provides a proper counterbalance to Magnus's desire to protect them; as she normally doesn't hesitate to terminate ones that prove hostile, and use whatever methods necessary to capture targets.

Web Series

Part One

Episode 0x01 - "Webisode 1"

Near the end of the webisode, a fleeing Alexei is seen running down an alleyway, temporarily stopping at a building corner to look for some place to hide before proceeding down into Montgomery Street Subway Station. He is being pursued by Ashley Magnus with an umbrella, followed by a teleporting John Druitt making an appearance. As the boy makes his way onto the tracks and walks along the subway tunnel, Ashley is close behind him and unholsters her sidearm.

Episode 0x02 - "Webisode 2"

Ashley Magnus Down in the underground subway system, Ashley Magnus clad in black leather whilst holding a golden gun and flashlight follows Alexei through a subway tunnel from Montgomery Street station all the way to supposedly the next subway platform on the same line. Here, she sees the boy interact with John Druitt who's kneeling down from the platform, reaching to the boy below. Suddenly, an express train barrels down the track from behind her, forcing her to flatten up against the tunnel wall. This causes her to lose sight of the boy and the man, both of which completely disappear by the time the train has passed by. Transit Cop 2, Ashley Magnus, and Transit Cop 1 In a subway tunnel somewhere underneath Old City, two transit cops (Blue Rider 9) are walking down the track trying to get in radio contact with the Transit Worker from before, with no response. While lamenting about working under Old City and discussing where the worker could be, Ashley stealthily drops down behind them to hide behind a concrete pillar at the side of the tunnel, watching them as they catch sight of the transit worker's body laying in the track just ahead of them. Ashley Magnus and Helen Magnus After tracking the boy all night and contacting her mother about Alexei's current location, Ashley is joined by Helen Magnus and Will Zimmerman. At Ashley's mention of a tall guy being with the boy, Magnus asks her to explain. During this, Will catches sight of the boy sitting in an open empty wooden crate. Will gets too close to the boy, barely being missed by the killer appendage due to Ashley suddenly tackling Will out of the way to safety. Ashley Magnus, Alexei, Will Zimmerman, and Helen Magnus Once both Magnus and Ashley approach Alexei together, after stating that she wants him alive, Magnus coaxes the boy out of the box, to which his appendage attacks Ashley on the back of her right shoulder. Will then distracts the boy's attention long enough for Magnus to shoot the boy in the back with a tranquilizer dart. Alexei falls unconscious to the ground and Magnus moves to his side to check on him. After a brief exchange of words between the two women, Magnus identifies the young woman to Will as being her daughter, Ashley.

Episode 0x03 - "Webisode 3"

At the Old City Sanctuary, Ashley Magnus is in the infirmary receiving stitches from her mother Helen Magnus after she took a strike from Alexei's appendage earlier that night to her right shoulder blade. Will Zimmerman is also nearby sitting on an adjacent bed with a cold compress to treat his head. After Ashley gets patched up and leaves to meet Ernie Watts across town on the east side in twenty minutes, Will questions the apparent twelve year physical age difference between mother and daughter. Ernie Watts, Ashley Magnus, and John Druitt Across town on the Eastside, Ashley is meeting with Ernie for a weapons buy. The deal goes south when John Druitt suddenly appears, hitting Ernie squarely in the chest with a throwing mace and then proceeds to get into a hand-to-hand combat situation with Ashley. During the fight, Druitt teleports behind Ashley causing her to become surprised; this easily allows Druitt to disarm her from her knife and restrain her, standing behind her back with his hand over her mouth. Druitt then teleports away with her, leaving Ernie alone. At the Sanctuary, Magnus receives a phone call from Ernie contacting her to tell her that she has a problem; that Ashley has been kidnapped and gives Druitt's description. Ashley Magnus and John Druitt In some unknown location, Ashley is being held captive by Druitt, sitting in a chair with her hands and feet bound by rope. Druitt offers her some water and the two begin to converse. Druitt then takes his hidden rapier blade out of his cane, using it to unzip the top panel of Ashley’s leather jacket, revealing the silver pendant necklace that Ashley is wearing. Druitt then reveals to Ashley that she is his daughter. At the Sanctuary, Will and Magnus find in Alexei's guest room on a pillow directions left behind by Druitt to find the three of them at the abandoned 98th Street subway station.

Episode 0x04 - "Webisode 4"

Ashley Magnus and John Druitt At the underground abandoned 98th Street Subway Station in Old City, Alexei is sitting on some steps playing with a marionette puppet while Ashley Magnus is being held hostage by John Druitt, her father. Ashley struggles to try to free herself, failing to make any progress. Druitt tells Ashley of his century’s worth of searching and spending all of his resources in order to find her, how in every decade he was continually disappointed to find that Ashley hadn’t been born yet, until now. When Ashley tells him that her father is dead, Druitt becomes enraged at learning that Helen Magnus had kept her from knowing her own flesh and blood. Druitt rushes toward Ashley with his cane above his head as if he’s going to strike her, yelling out “Who is she to say...!” but is suddenly stopped in his tracks by Magnus running into view loudly declaring: “I’m her mother, that’s who!”. Meanwhile, Will Zimmerman and Bigfoot are crawling through an overhead maintenance duct. They stop just above the room where Ashley, Druitt, Magnus, and Alexei are, looking down on the conversation taking place below. Magnus tells Druitt to stop playing games as he now has what he wants: a family at last. Druitt tells Magnus that playing her cards very patiently wasn’t enough to stop this moment from happening. Ashley believes that Druitt is crazy, voicing out loud for her mother to tell him that there’s a nice padded cell in his future. Magnus quiets her child to then address Druitt about not being able to tell her due to him murdering eight innocent women. Ashley is now desperately waiting for her mother to tell her that Druitt being her father is a total lie, but all her mother can do is give her an apologetic shake of her head. Ashley tearfully pleads with her mother one last time, but the only response Magnus says is “Please, this is neither the time, nor the place”. John Druitt and Ashley Magnus Druitt then reaches down to yank Ashley up out of her chair to stand next to him. This causes Magnus to raise her gun at him, fearful that Druitt is going to hurt Ashley. Druitt responds that it’s actually Magnus who’s going to do the hurting, proceeding to give her two options. He offers up their daughter, whom he criticizes Magnus for raising as “a foul-mouthed, willful, violent child; but at the core, a needy little girl who just misses her dad” before placing a kiss to the side of her head and shoving her to sit back down in the chair. His next offer is Alexei, “And this, your beloved creatures, the damned souls you so tirelessly try to save.” He then tells Magnus to “MAKE YOUR CHOICE!” Sensing Ashley’s fear, Alexei’s appendage starts to respond. Due to the imminent threat to her daughter, Magnus non-fatally shoots Alexei. Druitt then teleports over to Magnus, and Will spontaneously falls to the ground in front of where Ashley is sitting, scaring Ashley in the process. Alexei's appendage, Will Zimmerman, and Ashley Magnus Will helps Ashley up from her chair to move her a safe distance away from the boy (who's recovered and his appendage now agitated) and then proceeds to try to calm Alexei. After Magnus stealthily injects Druitt with a substance which causes his teleportation ability to turn on him, he impales Bigfoot with his fist. Right before he teleports away, Druitt’s only response is that Magnus can’t control Ashley forever (possibly believing that Ashley would one day seek out and want to be with her father against her mother’s wishes). Helen Magnus and Ashley Magnus After Druitt disappears, the entire group of people left standing move forward to check on Bigfoot’s condition, Magnus and Ashley kneel down next to him on the floor, both in tears from the events that just transpired. Magnus then brushes her hand against the back of her daughter’s head in comfort. Will Zimmerman and Ashley Magnus Barney Sometime later that night, Ashley brings Will to the Sanctuary’s library to view a message from Magnus’s previous protégé, Barney, that’s addressed to her new protégé following after him. After letting the message play normally for a short while, Ashley then fast forwards the message past his ramblings to his advice to the "new guy". Afterwards, Will then walks into Magnus's study and during their conversation, Will confronts Magnus about how any of what just happened is possible, including how Ashley is her daughter. Magnus reveals that she kept Ashley frozen as embryo for almost a century until she could bear the loneliness no longer, underestimating John’s determination.

Part Two

Episode 0x05 - "Webisode 5"
to be added

Episode 0x06 - "Webisode 6"
to be added

Episode 0x07 - "Webisode 7"
to be added

Episode 0x08 - "Webisode 8"
to be added

Season 1

Episode 1x01 - "Sanctuary for All, Part I"
to be added

Episode 1x02 - "Sanctuary for All, Part II"
to be added

Episode 1x03 - "Fata Morgana"
to be added

Episode 1x04 - "Folding Man"
to be added

Episode 1x05 - "Kush"
to be added

Episode 1x06 - "Nubbins"
to be added

Episode 1x07 - "The Five"

At Will Zimmerman's enquiry, Bigfoot says that Ashley cancelled the morning meeting. Ashley Magnus meanwhile had just previously left the Old City Sanctuary following a phone call from Squid. When Ashley arrives, she finds that it was a trap set up by John Druitt to lure her out of the protective building; away from the EM shield. She is then darted unconscious with a tranquilizer gun by him and teleported away to a storage room at an unknown location. Ashley Magnus talking to John Druitt while handcuffed to a chair. When she awakens, she finds herself handcuffed in sitting position to a metal chair. After failing to free herself, she relents and calls out to Druitt who returns moments later after having changed his clothes. She learns that Druitt kidnapped her in order to find out Helen Magnus's current location. Ashley though initially reluctant, eventually teams up with him after much compelling discussion (aided by a brief physical confrontation with Druitt that leads to a short dramatic teleporting trip across the world) and teleports with him to Rome in order to help save her mother from Nikola Tesla; another member of the Five. It was during this time that Ashley's suspicions about Druitt's past connections with her mother finally made her realize the truth: Druitt is her father.

Episode 1x08 - "Edward"

Ashley Magnus accepted the revelation about her father being John Druitt, but was nevertheless hurt that her mother Helen Magnus wasn't the one to tell her. Because of this, while not physically distant, Ashley does becomes less verbally social with her mother. While the pair are performing target practice, Ashley's mind is consumed with how she and her father previously fought as her mother tries to open a dialogue between them, mentioning how Ashley hadn't said anything on the plane ride home from Rome nor has said anything to her since they got back. The subject of feelings is broached, to which Helen admits she can't bear to see Ashley hurt, and Ashley admits that what really hurt wasn't the news, it was that it didn't come from her.

Episode 1x09 - "Requiem"

When almost near to their intended destination, Helen Magnus comments that she's relieved that Will Zimmerman is doing well, mentioning that Ashley Magnus had previously said that Will was dreading the submarine trip. Later on, after Magnus gets infected with an undersea parasite, while she's analyzing samples of her blood for the cause of her symptoms, she gives Will an opportunity to ask her questions. He immediately broaches on the personal issue and tension going on between mother and daughter, noticing how quite Ashley has been lately dealing with John Druitt (Jack the Ripper) being her father, inquiry on how that information would put some strain on their relationship. Magnus is initially tight-lipped, but Will presses the issue and Magnus's behavior of walking away from difficult questions. Magnus then admits that she's frustrated that she can't relate to Ashley, and that Will has no idea what it's been like.

Episode 1x10 - "Warriors"
to be added

Episode 1x11 - "Instinct"
to be added

Episode 1x12 - "Revelations, Part I"

Eventually, Ashley Magnus learned to continue on with her life and to continue working with her mother. She still remained a little upset though with her father (for kidnapping her twice) when he showed back up for a third time to help the Sanctuary team stop the Cabal's Lazarus virus. Ashley, along with Henry Foss, infiltrate a Cabal weapons lab just outside of New City. The are ambushed and tasered unconscious. Ashley then awakens alone in a room on a stool atop of an electrified floor. She finds evidence on her arms that she's been poked multiple times with hypodermic needles. Shortly after, Ashley's joined in the room by Dana Whitcomb who tells her that her mother will fail and that Ashley herself is going to help the Cabal complete its plan.

Episode 1x13 - "Revelations, Part II"

Having been previously captured along with Henry Foss by the Cabal, Ashley Magnus, who had tried to steal data on the Lazarus virus project to prevent the launch of the full-scale bioweapon, is personally interrogated by Dana Whitcomb. Ashley is drugged and while under the Cabal's control is forced to steal the sole vial of source blood, teleporting away from the Old City Sanctuary. Ashley arrives on Easter Island. Whitcomb is there waiting for her, and Ashley readily hands over the vial. Whitcomb formally welcomes Ashley to the Cabal.

Season 2

Episode 2x01 - "End of Nights, Part I"

Six weeks after being abducted, Ashley Magnus is fully controlled by the Cabal who have been pumping her full of mind-control drugs in order to force her to work for them. She was under the care of a brilliant but disturbed Cabal Scientist who saw Ashley as a surrogate daughter-figure (the scientist's own daughter would have been about the same age as Ashley had she not previously died; the how and when was not revealed). Using the source blood, the Cabal were able to bioengineer a modified serum that crafted her DNA with vampiric traits, effectively turning her into possibly one of the first purest blood vampires in centuries. After the fourth and final injection, this new Ashley, while powerful, was now effectively a mindless drone who only obeyed the Cabal's commands. Ashley Magnus using her new teleportation ability. On her first trial run after conversion, Ashley is sent to attack her friends and family when they followed a lead to a way station warehouse in their effort to ultimately find her and the source blood. Ashley noticeably had her father's teleportation ability in addition to gaining vampiric traits from the injected source blood serum. Alongside her having received long obsidian talons and her eyes changing from natural blue to a combination of both Cabal controlled orange and red vampiric eyes, she appeared to have gained enhanced strength as she was easily able to overpower her father John Druitt and Nikola Tesla in a fight, though the two managed to recover quickly; as well as gained an enhanced healing ability as evidenced by quickly healing after Will Zimmerman shoots her twice, once in each upper arm. The Sanctuary team's efforts result in zero effect in stopping Ashley, and causes them to retreat (teleporting back to the Sanctuary). After the Cabal's leaders considered the way station encounter a success, they pushed forward with making an entire batch of super abnormals using Ashley's newly altered DNA. However, despite apparent success, the Cabal's scientist was rushed, being forced to put Ashley into the field rather early before running proper tests due to the organization's overconfidence and the fact that the Sanctuary was getting too close to figuring out the truth behind their intended goal. Because of this, it is unknown if there were any side effects from what the Cabal have done to her.

Episode 2x02 - "End of Nights, Part II"

After acquiring Dana Whitcomb's telephone number from Kate Freelander, Helen Magnus learns that the Cabal would release Ashley Magnus but only in return for the surrender of the entire Sanctuary Network, something which Magnus refuses. Magnus then orders Henry Foss and Nikola Tesla to create a weapon that could disable the source blood powers in Ashley; a challenging request that even Tesla is unsure he could fulfill, considering the short time scale and difficulty of the task and its factors. Ashley Magnus attacks the London Sanctuary. Ashley leads the first set of super abnormals in brutal attacks on the Sanctuary Network around the world, much to the horror of her mother and friends. During the attack in London, Ashley and the other super abnormals are seen to possess the ability of telepathic communication. The weapon that Tesla and Henry built is put to the test during the defense of the London Sanctuary, but did little more than temporarily knockout Ashley and the others for a short moment. In the first few seconds after waking, Ashley seems to hesitate when her mother Helen Magnus calls out to her, indicating to Helen that there is a possibility that Ashley could be saved. Ashley however quickly reverts back under the Cabal's control, rejoining the other super abnormals. The Sanctuary team are then forced to unleash a fire elemental on the attackers in order to stop them. This defensive tactic is only successful in defending the London Sanctuary because the Cabal aborts the attack after quickly realizing that the fire elemental would have damaged Ashley and the others beyond their ability to heal. After the battle, Magnus realizes that her request of Tesla to create a benign weapon was impossible and gives him a sample of Ashley's unaltered blood, telling him to make the weapon lethal, saying they have no more options. (She also does this out of guilt because a super abnormal killed Clara Griffin.) When Ashley and the other super abnormals arrive at the home Sanctuary base, her mother uses the weapon on the other soldiers, but cannot bring herself to use it on her own daughter. In the end however, Ashley corners her mother and seems ready to slice her throat. Still unable to use the weapon on her daughter and possibly catching a glimpse of hesitation in Ashley's eyes, her mother begins to pour her heart out to Ashley attempting to remind her of who she is. This combined with a blast from an RPG fired by Kate Freelander (who decided to stay to fight) has the effect of bringing Ashley back to her senses. Ashley Magnus regains her self-control. Unfortunately the joy of this and the Sanctuary's victory is short lived, as in order to stop the last super-soldier and defend her mother, Ashley sacrifices herself by teleporting away, seemingly disintegrating herself and the other soldier, as the EM shield (designed to kill by disrupting the molecular structure of anything attempting to teleport within the Sanctuary) has been put back online and apparently rips the two apart on the molecular level.

Episode 2x03 - "Eulogy"

Helen Magnus's hallucination of Victorian era John Druitt with Ashley Magnus. Shortly after Ashley Magnus's apparent sacrifice, her mother, fraught with little sleep and food intake over the last seven days, begins having hallucinations of Ashley being alive; for example, she sees John Druitt as he was in Victorian times presenting a live and well Ashley to her, claiming "It's a miracle." This coupled with her own denial leads Helen Magnus on a search for Ashley, which the others (who have already mourned Ashley in their own ways and moved on to repair the Sanctuary and continue the fight with the Cabal) see as a fool's errand. Since the attack, Magnus requested that no one is to touch and or reset the EM shield as she believes it can help her in finding out what happened to her daughter. Due to the EM shield currently running at a very high level of use, it puts an energy usage strain on the rest of the Old City Sanctuary's facilities, upsetting some of the staff members in the process. Another hallucination. Some of Helen Magnus's ideas to find Ashley include theorizing that the anomalies in the EM shield readings right before, leading up to, and during Ashley's considered fatal teleport indicate that Ashley may have gotten through the EM shield, bounced backed off of it to land somewhere in the Sanctuary (possibly disoriented or hurt), and or got captured in the EM shield's buffer itself as pure energy. Magnus goes about testing these theories by hammering several bio scanning unit stakes into the ground around the outside of the Sanctuary, running a scan for traces of Ashley's DNA within in the Old City Sanctuary (leading to her finding the remains of another super abnormal stuck in a concrete wall of an underground level; seemingly the same one that Ashley teleported with), and by running an exponential wave analysis to search for her particular electromagnetic signature stored in the EM shield's computer system. In the end, Helen Magnus is reluctantly convinced by a distraught Will Zimmerman (who had tried to believe in her investigation up until a point) that Ashley is indeed dead and gone after all of her tests return back negative results / zero indicators for proof of life in or around the Old City Sanctuary. With no other tests to run, Magnus excuses herself to reset the EM shield. The next day, despite all of Helen's senses telling her that Ashley may still be alive somewhere out there, a memorial service is held for Ashley in the Sanctuary's nave. Everyone places a sentimental token into the empty open casket as a sign of farewell. Helen Magnus's hallucination of Ashley Magnus at her memorial service. Now on her own at the memorial, Magnus encounters another hallucination of Ashley. The apparition tells Magnus that she must let go of her to move on, that Magnus will never be without her, and that she knows that Magnus will always love her, "no matter what." Meanwhile, John Druitt avenges Ashley's sacrifice by hunting down and killing the heads of the Cabal, including the woman responsible for Ashley's conversion, Dana Whitcomb. While her death is not shown, we do see Druitt finding Whitcomb in a café somewhere in Europe (most likely Paris by the looks of it). As he gets up to follow her, it is understood that she will not survive their imminent encounter.

Episode 2x05 - "Pavor Nocturnus"

Not long after Ashley Magnus had died, Helen Magnus travels to eastern Honduras looking for the tomb of a Mayan king from the late dynasty. Her goal was to to find an elixir that granted her a normal lifespan, a cure for her longevity, because she was tired of outliving everyone she loved (especially her daughter). After the Guardian shows her a possible apocalyptic wasteland ten years in the future (year 2019) as the result of her using the elixir on herself, becoming patient zero, Magnus leaves it be and returns home. MAGNUS: It wasn't long after Ashley had died. I...I was tired of outliving people I loved. I wanted to find a cure for my longevity.

Episode 2x07 - "Veritas"

Due to recent sensitive information leaks that are hard to explain, Helen Magnus devises a plan to catch one of the Sanctuary's empaths red-handed. Magnus goes about this risky plan by staging Bigfoot's 'murder' in which Magnus becomes the prime suspect. As stated in the Sanctuary charter, this type of behavior from a head of house warrants a tribunal conducted by the triad. In order for Magnus's plan to remain secret, Magnus implants a red-list abnormal into her brain that primarily causes memory loss and progressive unstable irrational behavior among a handful of side-effects. During this manic state, Magnus becomes convinced that she has been framed, saying that Ashley Magnus "told her" and that they (the people who have currently confined her) also killed her daughter. Eventually the team figures out Magnus's plan and restores her mind back normal. MAGNUS: Isn't it obvious? Will, they're trying to kill me! Look. Look at this. It's poisoned. Smell it. Smell it! They're going to destroy everything. Ashley told me. WILL: Magnus, this has nothing to do with Ashley. MAGNUS: They killed her too! They killed my daughter! WILL: Okay, listen to me. You're exhausted. You need to rest.

Episode 2x08 - "Next Tuesday"

A few months later in the year since the memorial service, in the early summer of 2009 Helen Magnus experiences a moment of uncertainty and slight fear of being alone during Ashley Magnus's upcoming 25th birthday that takes place next Tuesday, and does all that she can to keep Will Zimmerman near her for the next couple of days; much to his frustrated annoyance at being made to miss out on a conference in Iceland. After a retrieval mission for a vampire squid goes awry, Magnus eventually reveals this truth to Will. MAGNUS: Tuesday is Ashley's birthday. That's the real reason I wanted you to stay. I just...I didn't know how to ask you. WILL: Oh, Magnus, I...I guess it didn't help that I was desperately trying to get away to Iceland.

Season 3

About a year after Ashley Magnus's sacrifice, in early 2010 Adam Worth shows back up in Helen Magnus's life and starts to taunt her about her daughter's death, trying to convince and encourage her to change the past in order to save her daughter's life; because he wants to save his own daughter, Imogene.

Episode 3x05 - "Hero II: Broken Arrow"

While the Sanctuary team tries to track down Kate Freelander who's been taken as host by Walter's suit, when Helen Magnus put the pieces together about how Virgil St. Pierre found out the whereabouts of the suit in the Sanctuary's possession, Virgil alludes to Ashley while calling out Magnus's knowingly common practice to do the same thing he did; sending her attractive daughter out hunting for information. VIRGIL: Well, the easiest way to get information is to send a hot girl to ask for it, right, Magnus?

Episode 3x07 - "Breach"
As Adam Worth hunts down Helen Magnus in an abandoned warehouse, he mentions Ashley Magnus as a verbal way to try to flush Magnus out of hiding, hoping bringing up her 'dead' daughter would make her either verbally or visually reveal her current location. WORTH: I heard about Ashley. Tragic, isn't it? Losing a child.

Episode 3x08 - "For King and Country"
While Helen Magnus divulges her past history with Adam Worth to Will Zimmerman as a way to help him figure out and understand Worth's psychological break into two distinct personalities, Magnus references Ashley Magnus as her own relating factor. MAGNUS: The loss of a daughter, it's a wound that never heals. WILL: I think he's handling it differently than you.

Episode 3x10 - "The Hollow Men"
Helen Magnus performs one last check in with Adam Worth before leaving for Hollow Earth and as she makes her way to leave the room, Worth intentionally references Ashley Magnus as a way to make an emotional dig at Magnus. WORTH: Death of a child... Hmm. Never quite the same after that, is it?

Episode 3x19 - "Out of the Blue"

Just before Helen Magnus goes back through Adam Worth's time portal, she first becomes a collateral damage victim resulting from Worth's destruction of Praxis during one of his attempts to power up his time machine. When Praxis fell, their security measures to contain abnormals ceased to exist. This lack of 'protective fencing' lets a giant psych worm free. Initial reports from the New Mexican desert leads Magnus to believe it was an off-season migration of abnormal rock lizards. When Magnus and Will Zimmerman go to check it out, the psych worm surfaces right underneath their feet, hitting them with a psychoactive venom that implants a crazy dream world into their heads. Henry Foss and Kate Freelander seek out help from Virgil St. Pierre to create a restorative mind-control gel to return their minds back to sanity. While in that dream world during treatment, Helen Druitt is in a childless marriage to John Druitt, but throughout the dream Helen can feel that something is off about not having kids. When a pregnant Abby Corrigan visits and innocently asks if she has kids, Helen for a few briefs moments sees flashes of Ashley Magnus invade her mind, causing Helen to momentarily feel a little uneasy. HELEN: So, how are you feeling? You look to be about what, 32, 33 weeks. Ultrasound showing good bone development? ABBY: 33 weeks exactly. Do you have kids? HELEN: I-I... ASHLEY: [as memory flash] Mom? ABBY: I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to pry. I just, uh... Well, you-you just seemed to know so much about, uh... [gestures to abdomen] Later when Will visits Helen to thank her for helping with Abby, Will asks if she and Druitt had any kids, to which she responds "We never had any". Again, this causes Helen some confusion as more memory flashes of Ashley invade her mind. HELEN: I got married because it was supposed to make me happy, safe. WILL: But it didn't. HELEN: It should have. John was everything I wanted, or so I thought. WILL: And what about kids? HELEN: We never had any. [memory flashes of Ashley] This "reality lifeline" of seeing Ashley helps act as cemented proof for Helen to definitively know for certain that her life feels completely wrong. Eventually Magnus and Will are able to permanently reject this dream world and return back to reality completely sane.

Episode 3x20 - "Into the Black"

In early 2011, moments before Helen Magnus follows Adam Worth back in time to London 1898, Worth references Ashley Magnus as an attempt to recruit Magnus into joining his plan to change history; Magnus disagrees with his proposition. MAGNUS: But you'll destroy everything. Billions of lives wiped out. Their blood on your hands. WORTH: What's so special about their blood? I have a chance to get my daughter back. Are you telling me you wouldn't do the same thing? MAGNUS: Not at the expense of everyone on the planet.

Season 4

Episode 4x08 - "Fugue"

Ashley Magnus is alluded by Will Zimmerman to Helen Magnus. Will accidentally comes across the topic of Helen's loss of Ashley when he questions the purpose of the Sanctuary in a moment of desperation and stress surrounding Abby Corrigan's fate of becoming a new creature. WILL: How bad? MAGNUS: Completely new pathways in half her cerebral cortex. WILL: You said the singing would help keep her human. MAGNUS: And it did... temporarily. We've tried every musical key, even subsonic frequencies. This isn't a virus, Will. This is a new life form overtaking her entire physiology. WILL: You think there's no cure. MAGNUS: I think... we should prepare for the worst. WILL: No, no. I do not accept that, okay? There is a way to save her. We just haven't found it yet. MAGNUS: The timeline is not good. WILL: Well, then put her on ice until we can understand this. MAGNUS: Cryogenics might just kill her outright, or make the creature even stronger. We have no idea. WILL: Well, figure it out! What is the point of this entire place if we can't save the people that... [looks up at Magnus and sees her reaction, realizing he's 'stepped in it'] Oh, Magnus... MAGNUS: [holding back tears] It's not over yet.

Episode 4x09 - "Chimera"

An unknown amount of months later, potentially half a year later in mid-late 2011 (chronologically about two-and-a-half years after Ashley Magnus's sacrifice), a sentient organic nanite gets loose in the Old City Sanctuary's computer systems. Joined by Nikola Tesla, Helen Magnus connects her brain to the computer using a jerry-rigged Praxian-like device setup between the Old City Sanctuary's computer system and the spiderbot in order to quarantine it. While inside the computer, they encounter a manifestation of a digital copy of Adam Worth's consciousness. This manifestation, initially seemingly helpful and not sure of who he really is, turns suspicious the more he reads the "stories" (memories) that have been added to his 'library' (database). While reading a book containing some of Magnus's memories, Worth verbally notes out loud that Ashley makes Magnus sad, prompting Magnus to feel a little on edge. WORTH: Ashley. MAGNUS: I beg your pardon? WORTH: Ashley... makes you sad. MAGNUS: How do you know about Ashley? WORTH: Oh, there are many stories in here. I haven't read them all, not yet. Now your stories are here too. Adam Worth creates a holographic illusion of Ashley Magnus. After a little more time passes in computer cyber world, the manifestation of Worth becomes violently hostile, refusing to let Magnus and Tesla leave due to jealousy of not being real. At one point in time, all three of them are inside a digital rendering of the Sanctuary's nave, where Magnus is chained sitting down to a church pew and Tesla is chained to a pillar while standing up. During this moment, Worth grabs her sharply by the jaw and asks "What's real for you, Helen?", prompting Magnus to relive a barrage of painful flashbacks about her daughter and how she was changed into a monster by the Cabal. This ends with Worth briefly presenting a hologram of Magnus's hallucination of Ashley standing in all white while at her funeral, declaring that she's just an illusion and can't be real because she killed her. This entire ordeal causes Magnus to begin to cry until she is distracted by the threat of the manifestation realizing who he truly is. WORTH: What's real for you, Helen? MAGNUS: [flashback] Ashley, please... ASHLEY: [flashback] Mom... MAGNUS: [sees hologram] Ashley. WORTH: That's just an illusion, Helen. How can she be real? You killed her. TESLA: You bastard. WORTH: Why are you crying, hmm, if it's not real? I want to learn. WORTH: Your stories... Oh my. They're full of such death, destruction. MAGNUS: Adam... this doesn't accomplish anything. It's not real.

Episode 4x11 - "The Depths"

In Helen Magnus's preparation for her ultimate plan to destroy the Old City Sanctuary, important sentimental items such as picture frames of Ashley Magnus are seen to conveniently 'go missing' from Magnus's study prior to the Sanctuary's destruction. This is noticeably significant as photos of Ashley have been ever present on and around Magnus's desk ever since her daughter's abduction and apparent sacrifice. While stuck in a Bolivian cave, Will Zimmerman (who's currently on the 'downside' of a dose of special mineral water) mentions Ashley as a way to bitterly back and nail home his claim that Helen Magnus just uses and discards the loyal people around her, as according to him, she isn't personally attached to others due to her longevity. WILL: Either way, the show must go on. You can't get close to anybody, because you're just going to lose them, right? MAGNUS: Would you blame me if that were true? WILL: Magnus, what good is your lifetime if you don't allow yourself to connect with anyone? You surround yourself with people who would do anything for you, and then you turn your back on them when they don't live up to your standards. MAGNUS: That's ridiculous-- WILL: John Druitt. MAGNUS: You can't even begin to judge that-- WILL: Griffin, Watson, and now me. Are we all just expendable in your mind? Is that how you cope? Ashley. MAGNUS: You bastard. In a deleted extended scene titled "Thank You", while Will Zimmerman reveals his thoughts to Helen Magnus about wanting to have a balanced work and family life with Abby Corrigan, Magnus makes an allusion to Ashley Magnus as a way to warn him that it may not be possible while working at the Sanctuary. Will catches on and wants to discuss her life choices. WILL: In case I don't get a chance to say it later-- MAGNUS: -Will. WILL: Thank you, for changing my life for the better. MAGNUS: You're high as a kite right now. WILL: No. I have clarity. I mean everybody has days where they hate their job where the sacrifices seem like they're too much. MAGNUS: Some more than others. WILL: Uh, you remember that psych worm that trapped us in that fake reality? MAGNUS: It was a very long time ago for me. WILL: Not for me. I remember every single little detail. A normal life with Abby... baby on the way. And here's the thing, I want that, someday. MAGNUS: The door is always open. WILL: No, no, I want both. The work we do and something to keep me grounded. MAGNUS: Be careful what you wish for. WILL: Did you try to find balance? You and Ashley? MAGNUS: See how that turned out. WILL: You'd do it again wouldn't you? MAGNUS: I have the life I want, Will. If I didn't, I wouldn't have come back. Believe me, I had plenty of time to figure that out. WILL: What do you want now? More of the same for your very long life? MAGNUS: No, I assure you.

Personality and appearance

Arrestingly beautiful, tough as nails, physically adept and a skilled fighter, Ashley Magnus is perfectly suited for her calling as monster-hunter supreme. Ashley has moments of vulnerability but it's a side she deftly covers with a veneer of bravado and fearlessness.

Growing up in the world of the Sanctuary with her mother, she has come to accept the impossible as a matter of course. And while there are the usual generational sparks between mother and daughter, Ashley is acutely respectful of her mother’s work and knowledge.

Ashley is fully aware that the life she leads isn't normal and understands the fact that her mother "can be pretty dark and weird" yet good at what she does dealing with strange events and beings. She tries to buffer her mother's 'oddness' around brand new team members and doesn't like when complete random strangers instantly pass judgement on her mom after only being around her for a few minutes.

Because of her lifestyle, Ashley doesn't date, much, but considered going out with Zach Spencer (giving him a rain check for dinner with the intent to call him later) until he was killed. Her lack of dating can be attributed to the fact that she thinks that she can be a little standoffish, knowing that she can be snippy; having been previously accused by guys as being unappreciative and unapproachable.

While under the affects of nubbin pheromones, Ashley accidentally starts to blab to Will Zimmerman about qualities she likes in the "right nubbin" (man) until she catches herself mid-list: Smart, handsome, good sense of humor, go-getter, dedicated to the same things you are, and loves long walks on the beach.

Her favorite album is: "Nevermind" by Nirvana.

A bit of sarcasm, unless she rides in vans with 'Lord Poseidon' airbrushed on the side, she thinks vans are for losers as she likes to ride her bike. She is seen riding it practically everywhere, day or night, in several different types of weather conditions.

Personal objects

Two specific objects belonging to Ashley Magnus besides her motorcycle (a black 2005-2006 Honda CBR600RR) are a silver pendant necklace with an "S" on the front and a heavily modified and customized Jericho 941 R that is gold plated with a weighted compensator that shoots 12 rounds of .40 S&W bullets. She is frequently seen wearing the necklace with her outfits and using the gun that was a present from her mother. During her capture, while the necklace and the rest of her personal clothing may be lost forever to a Cabal site, her golden gun is not. Potentially due to realizing the risk of capture and losing her favorite weapon, Ashley is seen to not have taken the gun with her when she and Henry Foss trespass into a local Cabal facility just outside of New City ; which means she either left the gun in the Old City Sanctuary's armory, or more likely, had left it in her bedroom. Being that Helen Magnus cleaned out her bedroom after her sacrifice, converting it into a gym workout area, the gun is highly likely to be in Magnus's personal possession considering how much the weapon had meant to her daughter.

(Theory: When Helen Magnus blew up the Old City Sanctuary, the gun presumably would have been one of the small objects that she would have taken with her alongside the picture frames of Ashley that she had noticeably removed from on and around her desk in her study in the month(s) leading up to the explosion. Alternatively, considering that Ashley is said to be alive at the Underground Sanctuary , Magnus may have given the weapon back to her off-screen long before then at some point during the year's length of season 4.)

Relationships

• Helen Magnus
• Henry Foss
• Bigfoot
• Will Zimmerman
• John Druitt
• James Watson

Helen Magnus

Ashley Magnus and her mother Helen Magnus are quite close to each other, being called an "intrepid duo" by John Druitt. They had distanced somewhat over the betrayal Ashley felt towards Magnus resulting from her mother not being the one to tell her the truth about Druitt being her father. They eventually reconciled not too long later. Ashley highly respects her mother and her mother reciprocates that same level respect back to her. Magnus generally relies quite heavily on her daughter to be a scout for the Sanctuary by gathering information and hunting down abnormals, to which Ashley fills the role perfectly and never seems to come back empty-handed; field skills that Magnus is quite praise-worthy of. Magnus also relies on Ashley to be the 'enforcer' and 'protector' of the group, as Ashley is often seen to be the one holding off enemies and attacking abnormals to give Magnus and the others enough time to accomplish what they need to do. As a testament to Magnus's strong belief in her daughter's abilities, when the keepers of the dead invade the Old City Sanctuary, Bigfoot comments: "We need weapons." Magnus counters with: "We need Ashley". Not only is the young woman a good fighter, but she is also an impressive shot; Magnus calling her a "heartbreaker" right after witnessing her neat target cluster of bullet holes during a practice session at the Sanctuary's indoor shooting range.

Henry Foss
Ashley Magnus and Henry Foss share a close sibling-like relationship due to growing up in the Sanctuary together as young children. Her mother brought him home from the moors to live with her at the Old City Sanctuary a few years before Ashley was born. Because of this bond, it also makes Ashley the non-biological aunt of Henry's future daughter Alice.

Bigfoot

While Bigfoot was a present male figure in Ashley Magnus's life while growing up, she unlike Henry Foss, does not openly see him as being a father-figure to her. Despite that, they still do share a familial closeness as Bigfoot is a part of her Sanctuary family. Ashley is seen to have caring affections for him, as seen in the web series when Bigfoot is critically injured by John Druitt, and again in the series re-shoot when she informs Will Zimmerman of his flower allergy. Not only does Ashley work alongside Bigfoot while inside the Old City Sanctuary, but she is also known to have him accompany her outside the Sanctuary when running errands during the night.

Will Zimmerman
When Will Zimmerman first arrived at the Sanctuary, Ashley Magnus was skeptical of her mother's new protégé based on how 'green' he initially was. Soon though, Ashley got used to her new coworker and then considered him her friend after he saved her life from a giant lizard creature. Outside of the effects of nubbin pheromones, neither Ashley or Will show any attraction for one another.

John Druitt

Ashley Magnus's first impression of John Druitt was calling him a "ghoul". Initially highly distrustful of Druitt based on his previous pattern of behavior of hurting her and kidnapping her twice , Ashley eventually seemed to tolerate his presence slightly better. When Druitt showed up at the Old City Sanctuary to help out with the Lazarus virus, Ashley's immediate reaction was a bit snippy, asking her mother "Why is he here?!" right in front of him. At Druitt's line of "Please, I am your father", Ashley shoots back "Then you better start acting like one, and that does not mean kidnapping me when you want to spend some quality time" showing that she is open to the idea of having some form of a father-daughter relationship with him eventually.

James Watson
Ashley Magnus's relationship with James Watson is cordial and relaxed. While not officially stated, it is widely accepted by fans that Watson is considered to fill the role of being an Uncle / Godfather to Ashley based on how close Watson's relationship is with her mother, Helen Magnus.

Notes

• Casting / Trivia: Actress Emilie Ullerup enjoyed working with the cast during the first season. She felt that Amanda Tapping (who played her character's mother, Helen Magnus) was "such a teacher" to her, and that it had been "such a treat" working with Tapping as a young and new actress. Ullerup also felt nervous, yet excited playing every scene with Christopher Heyerdahl when he plays John Druitt; her character's father.
• Production: Ashley Magnus appears in all eight webisodes as well as in the first sixteen episodes of Sanctuary.
• Trivia: While under the influence of the Cabal's mind-control drugs, Ashley Magnus's eyes are seen to have been changed from her natural blue to the color orange. Her eyes are then seen to switch between orange and the standard red iris of a vampire with large black pupils, only briefly flashing to blue three times when her consciousness is able to break through the mind-control, twice to severe injury; all three times within the presence of at least one of her parents.

Young Ashley

During the opening title sequence viewers see a photo of Helen Magnus holding a very young Ashley Magnus attached to Ashley's personnel file. In reality, the photo is actually of Amanda Tapping with her daughter Olivia (who also did inherit her mother's bright blonde hair, just like Ashley had from Helen ). For the show, there was initially an idea to try to cast a random young girl to play Magnus's daughter for these images, but was ultimately deemed unnecessary extra work and not done, as Amanda herself had a young daughter who looked like a young Emilie. Olivia was also potentially considered to portray a young Ashley on the screen (had the show's story featured those flashbacks), but the finalization of that casting was uncertain.

Later in the series after Ashley Magnus's sacrifice, such as seen in Episode 2x06 - "Fragments", on Helen's desk are several photos of Ashley; all real photos provided by Emilie herself, including the photo of her as a really small child with her hair tied up in pigtails.

Age

While Ashley Magnus's date of birth is not directly stated, viewers are given multiple hints as to when it occurs:

	Episode 1x01 - "Sanctuary for All, Part I": While in the infirmary, Ashley Magnus mentions the "Summer (she) turned 18", placing her birthday in the summer months. Summer months (northern hemisphere) in general consist of June, July, and August. Note: This coincides with the possibility that Helen Magnus may have reimplanted her as embryo on the same day in November in which she was removed back in 1888. While gestational age at removal is unknown, Magnus would have been at least one month along to have missed her menstrual period, indicating pregnancy. The classification of "embryo" marks at least six weeks at time of removal. A good estimate is that Magnus was around 1.5 months along (sometime within her sixth and or seventh week) at the time of the surgery , leaving ~7.5 months remaining of her pregnancy. If reimplantation occurred in mid / late November , Ashley's birthday would fall near the end of the month of June and potentially into the beginning of July. Just after Ashley leaves the infirmary, Will Zimmerman asks Helen Magnus about the twelve year physical age difference he notices between mother and daughter. Being that Magnus is eternally 35-years-old, that makes Ashley 23-years-old.
	Episode 1x09 - "Requiem": Will Zimmerman states that Ashley Magnus is 23-years-old. The in-universe month and day of the episode is unknown, just that the year is 2008. However, this does confirm that like Helen Magnus, Ashley has been the same age throughout the entire season so far, placing the episode before her birthday. Because the episode occurred before Ashley's summer birthday, it means that she will be turning 24-years-old after the episode in 2008; marking birth year as 1984. Note: This means that Ashley was 24-years-old when she sacrificed herself in early 2009 in Episode 2x02 - "End of Nights, Part II". With birth year established as 1984, it means that that writer's semi-borrowed actress Emilie Ullerup's age: 23-years-old and born in 1984. With Ashley born in the summer around late June and Emilie being born in late October, it makes her character four months older than her in real life. Birth year of mid 1984 establishes reimplantation year as late 1983.
	Episode 2x08 - "Next Tuesday": Ashley Magnus's 25th birthday takes place "next Tuesday". Helen Magnus references her own age as being 158-years-old, meaning that it's before August 27th, 2009; reinforcing that Ashley's birthday occurs in the summer. Tuesdays in June 2009 occurred on the: 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th. Tuesdays in July 2009 occurred on the: 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th. Speculation: A good potential date range is June 16th to July 14th. Narrowing down to June 23rd to July 7th, leaves June 30th as the median average. Based on conception calculators using the parameters of conception being at least six weeks prior to the removal that took place at some point not too long after Molly's murder; a murder that potentially took place on November 9th. Six weeks prior to November 9th places conception on September 28th, 1888. Due date calculators using that conception date estimate June 21st, 1889 as a possible delivery date. Six weeks prior to November 16th (a week later) places conception on October 5th, 1888. Due date calculators using that conception date estimate June 28th, 1889 as a possible delivery date. If it were true that Ashley Magnus was born on either June 23rd, 1984 or June 30th, 1984, she would have been considered calendar-wise three days 'overdue' for both dates as 1984 was a leap year. Interestingly, 1888 - the year of her conception - was also a leap year. Another comparison would occur if Ashley were born on June 23rd, 1984 as June 23rd, 1984 / 2009 fell on the fourth Saturday / Tuesday of the month. Emilie Ullerup's real birthdays of October 27th, 1984 / 2009 also fell on the fourth Saturday / Tuesday of the month.
	Season 3: Considering that the character is said to be alive in the cancelled season 5 at the new Underground Sanctuary, it means that Ashley Magnus was: 25/26-years-old during the events of season 3 (set between ~January 2010 to ~January 2011). 26-years-old by Episode 3x18 - "Carentan" which occurred on October 8th, 2010.
	Season 4: Considering that the character is said to be alive in the cancelled season 5 at the new Underground Sanctuary, it means that Ashley Magnus was: 26/27-years-old during the events of season 4 (set between ~January 2011 to ~January 2012). 27-years-old by Episode 4x10 - "Acolyte" which occurred during ~September 2011.
	Season 5: Considering that the character is said to be alive in the cancelled season 5 at the new Underground Sanctuary, it means that Ashley Magnus would be: 27/28-years-old during the events of season 5 (would occur at some point during or after ~January 2012 to unknown). Ashley Magnus would turn and be 28-years-old at some point during and at the end of the season, if the planned six-episodes spanned the length of up to an entire year between ~January 2012 to ~January 2013; crossing over her late-June birthday in 2012.

• Chronology: Though not born until late June 1984, since her conception in late September / early October 1888, Ashley Magnus has existed for 123.25 years by the end of season 4 in early 2012. Below is a chart that depicts the ages Ashley would have been had she been born in late June 1889 when she was naturally supposed to be.

Alternate age comparison chart

Date	Unhindered gestation		Hindered gestation
Late September / early October 1888	Ashley Magnus is conceived.
Early-mid November 1888	Ashley Magnus is a 6/7-week-old embryo.		Ashley Magnus is removed and frozen as a 6/7-week-old embryo.
23rd June 1889	Ashley Magnus is born.		—
~January 1898		Episode 4x01 - "Tempus": Ashley Magnus is 8-years-old.	—
~April 1908		Episode 3x08 - "For King and Country": Ashley Magnus is 18-years-old.	—
5th & 6th June 1944		Episode 3x17 - "Normandy": Ashley Magnus is 54-years-old. She will celebrate her 55th birthday in two-and-a-half weeks.	—
Early-mid November 1983	Ashley Magnus is 94-years-old.		Ashley Magnus is reimplanted as a 6/7-week-old embryo to resume gestation.
23rd June 1984	Ashley Magnus turns 95-years-old.		Ashley Magnus is born.
~January 2008		Episode 1x01 - "Sanctuary for All, Part I": Ashley Magnus is 118-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 23-years-old.
Early 2008		Episode 1x09 - "Requiem": Ashley Magnus is 118-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 23-years-old.
23rd June 2008	Ashley Magnus turns 119-years-old.		Ashley Magnus turns 24-years-old.
~January 2009		Episode 1x13 - "Revelations, Part II": Ashley Magnus is 119-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 24-years-old.
~February 2009		Episode 2x01 - "End of Nights, Part I": Ashley Magnus is 119-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 24-years-old.
Late June 2009		Episode 2x08 - "Next Tuesday": Ashley Magnus is 119-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 24-years-old.
Tuesday 23rd June 2009	Ashley Magnus turns 120-years-old.		Ashley Magnus turns 25-years-old.
~January 2010		Episode 2x13 - "Kali, Part II": Ashley Magnus is 120-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 25-years-old.
~January 2010		Episode 3x01 - "Kali, Part III": Ashley Magnus is 120-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 25-years-old.
5th and 6th June 2010 (present day)		Episode 3x17 - "Normandy": Ashley Magnus is 120-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 25-years-old.
23rd June 2010	Ashley Magnus turns 121-years-old.		Ashley Magnus turns 26-years-old.
8th October 2010		Episode 3x18 - "Carentan": Ashley Magnus is 121-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 26-years-old.
~January 2011		Episode 3x20 - "Into the Black": Ashley Magnus is 121-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 26-years-old.
~January 2011		Episode 4x02 - "Uprising": Ashley Magnus is 121-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 26-years-old.
23rd June 2011	Ashley Magnus turns 122-years-old.		Ashley Magnus turns 27-years-old.
22nd September 2011		Episode 4x10 - "Acolyte": Ashley Magnus is 122-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 27-years-old.
~January 2012		Episode 4x13 - "Sanctuary for None, Part II": Ashley Magnus is 122-years-old.	Ashley Magnus is 27-years-old.
23rd June 2012	Ashley Magnus turns 123-years-old.		Ashley Magnus turns 28-years-old.

Written off

The Syfy network and some of the show's creator(s) (Damian Kindler and Martin Wood) had decided to kill off Emilie Ullerup's character Ashley Magnus when they began filming season 2 (a decision Amanda Tapping disagreed with). Even though it wasn't the intention of the show's creators, the character was indirectly and effectively replaced from then on by the introduction of the character Kate Freelander.

Ashley's sacrifice was done to demonstrate that death carried actual weight within the Sanctuary universe; to show that the main characters were not immune to dying "for real". This decision was a direct result from the creators previously working on Stargate SG-1, where as the series progressed, several main characters were able to cheat absolute death multiple times, even with mortal wounds. This essentially made life-threatening situations nonconsequential (effectively meaningless) on Stargate SG-1; something Sanctuary wanted to avoid. While the Episode 2x03 - "Eulogy" did not definitively declare the character deceased (leaving a small amount of ambiguous hope), the original intended direction for the character by the creators was that Ashley was actually dead.

In several interviews, Emilie explained that she had no previous knowledge that she was being killed off until she returned to start filming again. She was sad to hear the news and wasn't given a reason for it, leaving her under the initial false impression that it was because her character wasn't liked. It wasn't until after the episode aired, that she received overwhelming fan support for her character that she realized that wasn't the case. The few episodes of the second season Emilie filmed were incredibly hard for her as she had to remain serious. She stated that she was in tears during rehearsals for the ending scene of her last Episode 2x03 - "Eulogy" and the directors told her she had to get it together because Ashley was supposed to have found peace. She believed there was hope that she would return and would love to come back in season 3. Meanwhile, Ullerup made a guest appearance in the "Smallville" episode "Crossfire".

Return

While the initial direction was for Ashley Magnus's sacrifice to have been a permanent death, after the episodes aired the show received massive backlash. A fan effort was underway at one point to bring Ashley back as a regular character. Overall, a large fanbase push for Ashley's return resulted in the show being pressured into adopting the phrase "no one truly dies in sci-fi"; that Ashley could return due to her body not being found. The issue with this change was that current storylines following the end of season 2 and into the beginning of season 3 at the time weren't planned to suddenly involve her character, making it difficult to reintroduce the character properly.

• It was rumored that the writers pitched something to bring Ashley Magnus back in season 3, however, no step in that direction was ever taken.
  • This was one of two failed attempts. Amanda Tapping said it fell through due to the story not being true to the character and to the actress; essentially that bringing Ashley Magnus back at that point was analogous to putting a square peg in a round hole in order to please fans.
• In the commentary track for Episode 3x19 - "Out of the Blue", it is mentioned that this particular episode was originally written to have Ashley Magnus return to the show by being featured in Helen Magnus's induced dream state. Unfortunately, even though Emilie Ullerup wanted to return for this episode, her filming schedule at the time would not allow for the quick cameo. Due to this, the episode was rewritten to include John Druitt instead, and reduced her part to being two extremely small memory flashbacks.
• In an interview conducted at Denver Starfest 2014, Amanda Tapping revealed that one of the plans slated for season 5 besides working from the new Underground Sanctuary, was that Helen Magnus had found a way to save her daughter Ashley Magnus during her 113-year trip back through time without changing the course of the natural timeline. Amanda Tapping had conferred with Emilie Ullerup about this, but unfortunately Sanctuary was cancelled before season 5 could be made to show Ashley alive on-screen.

Support

Fans however saw evidence to the season 5 plan (as well as the overall intent to bring the character back) by the writer's starting to mention, reference, and allude Ashley Magnus more frequently than before after her last seen Episode 2x03 - "Eulogy". Direct mentions and obvious references and allusions are listed above in the character's main biography. In this section below are less obvious references and allusions that still provide support behind the eventual return of the character.

Episode 4x01 - "Tempus"

Adam Worth semi-alludes to Ashley Magnus. Helen Magnus seemingly refuses to join the plan to save one's own daughter and take the world for herself. MAGNUS: I will kill you, Adam. WORTH: What for? To save the future? What makes what we left behind so precious? WORTH: None of that has happened yet, and guess what? Maybe it never does. Move on, I say. Change the future. Make it whatever you want it to be. WORTH: Drop the gun! I said, drop the gun! You just had to get all high and mighty with your amazing future, didn't you? Couldn't get with the program. No.

Episode 4x10 - "Acolyte"

There are other lines in this episode in combination with the lines mentioned above that hint at Helen Magnus changing something without it being noticed or affecting the timeline. MAGNUS: Believe me, Will, if I could control life like a bloody chess game, a lot of things would have turned out very differently. WILL: No... Oh, no. No, no, there's no way. MAGNUS: Here, that's not you talking. The Will Zimmerman I know wants to be with Abby, and have everything he ever wanted to prove me wrong about living a balanced life. Come on, get up. MAGNUS: I had 113 years of not knowing if I would ever see any of you again. What if something I'd done in the past had changed everything? WILL: But it didn't. MAGNUS: Watching everything unfold again, for better or worse. Watching every mistake I made play out again. I had to let terrible things happen, Will, and do nothing to change them. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. WILL: Wow. Don't I feel like the jerk. MAGNUS: You didn't know because I didn't tell you. WILL: Because you carry the whole weight yourself. MAGNUS: I always have.

Overall, from what is seen at the end of season 3 and in season 4 is that Helen Magnus was absolutely firm on her stance that she would not sacrifice the natural order of history by altering the timeline in any way to save her daughter. However, with what is known about season 5, and what viewers see in the dialogue is that Magnus never once says that she won't save Ashley, only that she won't change anything in order to do so. This supports the plausible theory of Future-Helen saving her by interfering with the EM shield; answering the question of what caused the mysterious destabilization at 18:29 hours that night as seen in Episode 2x03 - "Eulogy".

Gallery

Ashley Magnus
(Web series)

Ashley Magnus
(Season 1)

Ashley Magnus
(Season 1)

Ashley Magnus
(Season 1)

Ashley Magnus
(Season 2)

Ashley Magnus
(Season 2)

Ashley Magnus
(Season 2)
Wallpaper: 1920x1200

Ashley Magnus
(Season 2)

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characters_of_Sanctuary#Ashley_Magnus