Angel Going Back

[white avenger]

Do you think that Angel ever offered to stay in Sunnydale for awhile after Buffy died? Almost certainly, he went there to pay his respects, and he obviously saw the situation as it was developing, with Giles and the Scoobies trying to both patrol the Hellmouth and cover up Buffy's death. I would have thought that carrying on Buffy's legacy would have been a better way of honoring her memory than going to some monastery somewhere.

 

[Kean]

Personally, I think the story lends itself to Angel leaving immediately for Sri Lanka. But I like to think that he stopped by Sunnydale, on his own, telling no one he was there, and had a moment at her grave before leaving. I've read a lot of fic based on what he did after Willow told him and there have been about 2/3 different scenarios that came up that I thought felt authentic and sincere. But unless the comics talk about what he did, we'll never know.

As for him going to the monastery, I wouldn't hold that against him in a million years. He grieved the way he needed to grieve, the same way Buffy did when she fled to L.A. after she sent him to Hell.

 

[janas]

No Crossover. No Angel.

And there's no need to be in Sunnydale to carry on Buffy's legacy, as you know Evil is hiding everywhere. Whether it Los Angeles or Vegas, or Sunnydale or a Tibetan monastery, doesn't change the fact that Angel continued to Buffy's work, carrying on the good fight.

 

[Black Eye Guy]

No I'd say he went straight out by himself, if he did go to sunnydale I don't think anyone would have known about it.

Him going to Sri Lanka isn't about honouring her death, Angel is his own person he isn't made up of the person he loves. He went to Sri Lanka cuz that's what he needed to do.




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[Lyri]

I don't think Angel is the kind of person who thinks that honoring someone means replacing them - which is exactly what he would have been doing if he'd gone to and stayed in Sunnydale.

I think it's very in character for Angel to just take himself away, so that he can be on his own, without anyone he knows around him, so that he can grieve in his own way. And I think the monastery is very fitting.

I definitely think he went to Buffy's grave to pay his respects, but I don't think sticking around would have been something that Angel considered the right thing to do.

 

[Cordy_Chase]

As to whether or not Angel visited Buffy's grave, 'Heartthrob's opening scene which is where ATS jumps to right after Willow shows up to deliver the news kind of asks us to assume that he'd fled to Sri Lanka right away. Accurately speaking however there is no canon answer as is the case with anything not shown or directly referenced and Angel's last crossover appearance was when Joyce died.
There is absolutely room for the possibility of it but it's forever left open for debate/fanficton.

Honestly I don't believe he'd offer to stay in Sunnydale to fill her shoes as he never could for a few reasons. The Scoobies even at this point lacked a sense of responsibility and focus which he wouldn't be able to work with but he also had his own life. What you are suggesting wouldn't be like some weekend babysitting job. It would be trading one life for another, another that wasn't his anymore. He no longer belonged in Sunnydale.
He'd also know by this point that it would be a stretch to earn his own team back a second time after his epiphany. They, particularly Cordelia had made very clear to him that they weren't jackets that can be hung in the back of the closet when not needed. After that he'd learned to really appreciate his team.

We also very well know Angel to be the suffer in silence type. Cordelia was the only one he'd ever let see him in pain (I.E. his grieving Connor in 'Double or Nothing') and thus I find it very fitting that he'd isolated himself.

Personally based on something very significant that Angel had revealed to Cordelia at the end of 'Heartthrob' I have my theory that says he didn't visit Buffy's grave.
"I'm ok"
"What's the problem then?"
"That I'm ok. That Buffy's death didn't kill me. That I can deal with it."
There is no telling how long he felt this way so what he could have been grieving the whole time was that he wasn't feeling enough pain over her death. This leads to a couple of reasons he may have chosen not to visit her grave. That either he thought it would actually be disrespectful because he had said he thought he was betraying her in the same scene or because as suggested it really was James who'd gave him realization and it would have been too painful at the time.

 

[janas]

"I'm ok"
"What's the problem then?"
"That I'm ok. That Buffy's death didn't kill me. That I can deal with it."

For the sake of accuracy, the full quote is this:

ANGEL: I *am* okay.
CORDELIA: Then what's the problem?
ANGEL: That I'm okay. That losing Buffy didn't kill me, that I could deal with it. In all those years no one ever mattered, not like she did. And now she's gone. Forever.
CORDELIA: And you're still here.
ANGEL: Yeah. And it feels like I'm betraying her somehow.

This leads to a couple of reasons he may have chosen not to visit her grave. That either he thought it would actually be disrespectful because he had said he thought he was betraying her in the same scene or because as suggested it really was James who'd gave him realization and it would have been too painful at the time.

He thought was betraying her because she is died, while he was still live. And Cordelia reassures him.

No. If you were a loser, if you were a sick obsessed vampire, you'd go to a snod demon or whatever and get your heart cut out. But you're not. You're a living, breathing -- well a living, anyway -- good guy who's still fighting and trying to help people. That's not betraying her, that's honoring her.

There is no telling how long he felt this way so what he could have been grieving the whole time was that he wasn't feeling enough pain over her death.

You make it sound as if Angel doesn't care about the Buffy's death.

JAMES: *You* loved someone. With all your heart?
ANGEL: Yeah.
JAMES: Lucky me. Now I can kill the woman you love.
ANGEL: No, you can't. The woman I love is dead.

"The big forever love" it's clearly a reference to Angel and Buffy. Also we know that Angel doesn't like to share his pain.

 

[thetopher]

If Angel wanted to 'replace' Buffy as a guardian of the Hellmouth he would've been better served busting Faith out of jail and telling her to do it.
Now that she was the 'only' slayer left it would've been more her duty than it was his.

 

[Cordy_Chase]

@janas Of course he cared about her death, she'll always be important to him but my point was that he wasn't hung up enough about it to even consider filling her shoes.

@thetopher That's so true, technically after Buffy died the first time despite how short it was she was no longer really the slayer. Faith is the rightful, active slayer. That's why there wasn't another new one activated when Buffy died this time.

 

[MarlieTheSlayer]

I don't think so. I do think he secretly visited her grave, but actually staying in Sunnydale and helping the scoobies? No.

 

[SiegePerilous02]

I think he paid his respects and maybe inquired about Dawn, but that's about it. He was under no obligation to stay when he had his own city and people to take care of, and I don't think the Scoobies would want him around anyway. Aside from Willow, I can't see any of them making him feel welcome; Xander and Giles would probably tell him to leave.

 

[bespangeled]

If Angel wanted to 'replace' Buffy as a guardian of the Hellmouth he would've been better served busting Faith out of jail and telling her to do it.
Now that she was the 'only' slayer left it would've been more her duty than it was his.

I really like this idea. I could see if Angel did stay in Sunnydale because he would be more able to protect those that Buffy loved. But he had his own people to protect now. Abandoning them would be immoral - he had a commitment there. He had people he had brought into danger and he had to be able to watch over them....and help the helpless.

 

[white avenger]

If Angel wanted to 'replace' Buffy as a guardian of the Hellmouth he would've been better served busting Faith out of jail and telling her to do it.
Now that she was the 'only' slayer left it would've been more her duty than it was his.

I seriously doubt that anything like that, regardless of the reason, would ever make Angel do anything like that. Remember, he, by her own declaration, was the only one who "never gave up on" Faith. He supported her decision to accept the punishment for what she had done, and even the slightest suggestion that she go back on that resolve would be taking away that support. Besides which, I seriously doubt that the thought of ever breaking out of prison to carry on Buffy's work would even occur to Faith. To in some way help her, the way that she later helped Angel when Angelus returned, would be a different matter entirely.

 

[thetopher]

I seriously doubt that anything like that, regardless of the reason, would ever make Angel do anything like that. Remember, he, by her own declaration, was the only one who "never gave up on" Faith. He supported her decision to accept the punishment for what she had done, and even the slightest suggestion that she go back on that resolve would be taking away that support. Besides which, I seriously doubt that the thought of ever breaking out of prison to carry on Buffy's work would even occur to Faith. To in some way help her, the way that she later helped Angel when Angelus returned, would be a different matter entirely.

If it's a choice between Angel staying in Sunnydale to replace Buffy, or busting Faith out of jail (or more likely asking Faith to go be a slayer again) then there's no doubt in my mind that Angel would've chosen the latter. It was Faith's choice to go to jail, but before that it was Angel who thought that she had a chance to change without going to jail. I think he could've talked her round easily enough.
Angel never did this because he didn't think it was his place to carry on Buffy's legacy- he was already doing that anyway, by fighting in LA. It was Buffy who gave him the bloody coda for his own show 'Strong is fighting, and its hard and its every day.' already.

And if Buffy had come to visit Faith in jail (for whatever reason) and said 'I desperately need your help.' then Faith would've busted out just the same, if she was convinced Buffy's need for her was genuine enough, so she could at least begin to balance the scales.
Faith wouldn't intiate anything like that because jail is where she thought she belonged, but if somebody believed in her enough to actually ask for her help? She'd respond.
But Buffy would really never even think of doing that, (not that I can fault her exactly) because she never really believed that Faith had changed in the first place, and possibly she still doesn't.

 

[dillonk47polik]

I don't think Angel would have stayed in Sunnydale with Spike hanging around...too much clashing there, especially since Spike was soulless then. And like others have said, Angel couldn't walk away from his responsibilities in L.A.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Do you think that Angel ever offered to stay in Sunnydale for awhile after Buffy died? Almost certainly, he went there to pay his respects, and he obviously saw the situation as it was developing, with Giles and the Scoobies trying to both patrol the Hellmouth and cover up Buffy's death. I would have thought that carrying on Buffy's legacy would have been a better way of honoring her memory than going to some monastery somewhere.

Honestly? No. I believe he went to visit her grave, then left immediately.

 

[nightshade]

If Angel did go then I think it would only have been a brief visit to her grave, and that he wouldn't have seen or spoke to anyone. However I don't think he went, I think after Pylea he told the LA guys he needed to go and Gunn made a comment about going to Vegas, but Angel said he knew of a quiet monastery that he would go to and he left.