The Witch Ranks In Motherland: Fort Salem Explained

Perhaps one of the oddest shows on television today, Freeform's "Motherland: Fort Salem," follows an alternative American History wherein the Salem Witch Trials ended in an agreement between witches and the U.S. government. Per this agreement, witches have served in the U.S. army since the 1600s, directly impacting every major conflict in American History (one witch even supplants Abraham Lincoln as the hero of the Civil War in this universe). 

Anyone belonging to a line of witches (or anyone who displays powers of witchcraft) is forcibly conscripted into this elite unit of soldiers, and a large portion of the series is concerned with the lineage and history behind some of these battle-hardened witch families. While all witches in their universe obviously use their witchcraft to turn the tide of battle, one of the unique things about "Motherland: Fort Salem" is that there are different ranks of witches, with each one possessing unique abilities. Here's how they work.

The witch ranks we've encountered in the show thus far are separated into two groups: the field oriented Blasters and Fixers, and the espionage and intelligence focused Necros and Knowers. Blasters have the ability to manipulate the weather into a destructive kind of attack magic, and General Sarah Alder (Lynn Renée), the highest ranking Witch in the U.S. Army, is one such Blaster. Fixers are the combat medics in this witch military, healing others by transferring wounds onto their own bodies. Series lead Raella (Taylor Hickson) is a fixer, though she enhances her inherent witch abilities by including bible verses in her magic.

Necros, like Scylla, can manipulate the dead to be used as spies and puppets in some of the military's more nefarious plots. Some Necros can even channel the thoughts of the dead, discovering information from beyond the grave. Similar to Necros, Knowers gather intelligence, but where the Necros can channel the thoughts of the dead, Knowers' power over intelligence is based solely in the physical realm. Knowers can see around corners, and look behind locked doors or into shielded rooms. While each rank is unique, it's easy to see how they all take direct inspiration from the complex jobs in the real life U.S. defense complex — wherein spies, medics, and soldiers all fight together under the same flag.