Angel's Advice (Spoilers for Issue 20)

[white avenger]

In the scene where Buffy has her conversation with Angel:

Buffy: If you knew something about someone's past...and Future...would you tell them?

Angel: Probably not. You can't change a person's past. And just by telling them, you'll change their future into who knows what?

I realize that this whole episode is a dream sequence, and also that Buffy has no knowledge of what Angel did to her in "I will Remember You," and no knowledge of Connor and what was done to his memory in Angel Season 4, but, since WE do know, doesn't this statement coming from him seem just a bit ironical? Or maybe hypocritical? Or both?

 

[Skytteflickan88]

I didn't think about that. But yeah, it does sounds ironic. Weird that I didn't pick up on that, because I really loathe what he did to Connor and everyone's elses memories of him.

 

[InsaneMystic]

I don't have the comics, so I just know it from your telling... but if it was a dream sequence and Buffy's "dream Angel" said something like this, I guess it would be every Anti-Bangelite's fantasy having her find out about IWRY and "Home" some time - she'd be probably be appalled by what real Angel did if her "dream Angel" is so clearly against it (even more so than she'd be anyway, as one of those times it was her life/memory being messed with).

 

[AndrewCrossett]

Since Buffy apparently wasn't sure whether she was dreaming or not, she was probably wondering whether she should warn Angel about the future Big Mistakes he's going to make (like sleeping with her and losing his soul, etc.).

Could also be a reference to whether she should tell Willow about her future in Fray-land. Hard to believe Willow wouldn't have asked about it, given Buffy's reaction on returning... did Buffy lie to her or deliberately omit Dark Willow from her story... or did she tell Willow all about it, in which case she seems to be taking it pretty well?

And Dream Angel, being a product of Buffy's dream, is really just an aspect of Buffy herself... so anything he says comes through the filter of Buffy's experiences.

 

[Primal Slayer]

since WE do know, doesn't this statement coming from him seem just a bit ironical? Or maybe hypocritical? Or both?

Well you have to remember this was S1 Angel who was saying it, so he wouldnt know what he did in the "future" to Buffy and Conner.

 

[sosa lola]

In the scene where Buffy has her conversation with Angel:

Buffy: If you knew something about someone's past...and Future...would you tell them?

Angel: Probably not. You can't change a person's past. And just by telling them, you'll change their future into who knows what?

I realize that this whole episode is a dream sequence, and also that Buffy has no knowledge of what Angel did to her in "I will Remember You," and no knowledge of Connor and what was done to his memory in Angel Season 4, but, since WE do know, doesn't this statement coming from him seem just a bit ironical? Or maybe hypocritical? Or both?

Since it's Buffy's dream, Angel isn't really responsible for what Dream Angel says.

And even if it's what S1 Angel believes, so what? Characters change throughout the course of the show. S1 BtVS Angel isn't the same as S1 AtS Angel, ideas and values change according to experiences.

 

[Chase Summers]

Eh, dreams are guided by the subconcious and there's no telling what buffy's chosen one subconcious does and doesn't know or remember, and at the end of the day it could be something that is meant only for the audiences like when Angelus taunts Conner about killing his father and sleeping with his mother in season 4. Obviously Conner would have no knowledge of Oedipus, so it was just for us

 

[Buffyverse Fan]

In the scene where Buffy has her conversation with Angel:

Buffy: If you knew something about someone's past...and Future...would you tell them?

Angel: Probably not. You can't change a person's past. And just by telling them, you'll change their future into who knows what?

I realize that this whole episode is a dream sequence, and also that Buffy has no knowledge of what Angel did to her in "I will Remember You," and no knowledge of Connor and what was done to his memory in Angel Season 4, but, since WE do know, doesn't this statement coming from him seem just a bit ironical? Or maybe hypocritical? Or both?

Good catch. It was sort of ironic, but Angel mainly just hurt himself with those things. He didn't put the burden on Buffy and right before she lost her memories she was saying how devastated she was that they couldn't be together.

And with the Connor thing, both Wesley & Connor were grateful for it.