Buffy chose to kill Anya but help Spike

[Zeppelin92]

I feel really bad for Anya. She technically killed no one. She was ready to reverse the Vengeance she caused on the frat boys by giving her own life and it was reversed anyway when D'Hoffryn sacraficed Hallie.

The First was controlling Spike so that could be an argument and Anya did kill them by her own free will. Still it is messed up that Buffy and the gang kind of treat her harshly.

 

[Xin Rong]

while i also think that buffy was a little quick to be up for killing anya, i think she pulled the angel defense, that is, she was willing to kill angel, her soul mate, when she had the chance at the end of season 2. spike not withstanding, i think her willingness to do that pretty much insulates her against critique for being so quick to off anya.

My main criticism of Buffy in the episode with Anya, is when she tell's Xander that she has considered all the options, when clearly she hasn't. Not once do Buffy/Scoobies open a book and research vengeance demons, if they did then they would find that there is a non fatal way of reversing anya's 'wishes' and making her human, as we saw in wish.

 

[itssmiletime]

I also despise how Buffy in Selfless interprets her friends actions in Becoming... Buff, it's not all about you. You weren't the only one who was effected by Angelus. So yeah, maybe your friends are going to 'cheer you on' to kill the man who killed a beloved teacher, a lot of classmates, tortured their father figure etc. And her saying she loved Angel more than anything, honestly, doesn't mean much. She said she loved Joyce more than anything in Intervention. And killing Angel... there was completely no choice, or everyone would be sucked into hell. As I've mentioned and stressed a thousand times, Buffy could've actually picked up a book and gone about it another way. She is 'not the law' that is just her opinion. Saving the world numerous times merits respect, but it doesn't give her the right to decide whether or not someone lives or dies. Stop turning into s3 Faith, really, stop it.

With Spike, her biasm towards him in season seven was completely ridiculous, but hey, I guess that's what Buffy loves. A constant, gutless suck up. I don't think Buffy in season seven at all cared at all about morality, the fact that in Never Leave Me that Spike is chained up in a bedroom, not in a basement, is awful. He gets out and bites Andrew. But hey, he is the comic relief, so who cares? She was so mission centric, that I don't think she actually cares about a human being. She is willing to let Wood die. She wants to lead potentials back in Empty Places. Buffy in s7 gets absolutely no moral high ground whatsoever.

Buffy's actions in Selfless and Sleeper are a complete example of biasm. Do I think Anya deserved to die? No, on the bases that under that under the demon surface, there is a human being underneath. Do I think Spike deserved to die? No, I don't, on the basis that he was triggered.

Also, I know alot of people were turned off by Anya post- Selfless, as she didn't get much of an arc and wasn't really involved within the plot. However, she did contribute and probably interacted with the potentials more than all the other scoobies. As minor as these may sound, she did contribute. She gave theory lessons on how to kill demons and vampires. She did the boring, gritty stuff such as washing potentials clothing, etc. She tends to potentials bruises, talks to them, etc, something I can't recall seeing Buffy, Willow or Xander doing. For a war that needed any possible contribution, the more help, the better. Any help would have been valuable.

 

[Spook]

I believe that the fact that Anya chose to kill was a big part of it, not just when she turned back to being a demon but before, for the hundreds of years prior where she killed and mamed all while having a soul. So Buffy never really trusted Anya and therefore never formed a bond with her and only put up with her due to Xanders love/ but Spike has never killed anyone whilst ensouled and without being under any influences, Willow was forgiven because she was corrupted by magic, Angel because he didn't have a soul, the only reason Buffy rarely doesn't forgive someone is because they have made a decision, with a soul, to kill without any mystical influences controlling them and Anya fell into that category whereas Spike did not.

 

[YummySushiPJs]

I feel really bad for Anya. She technically killed no one. She was ready to reverse the Vengeance she caused on the frat boys by giving her own life and it was reversed anyway when D'Hoffryn sacraficed Hallie.

The First was controlling Spike so that could be an argument and Anya did kill them by her own free will. Still it is messed up that Buffy and the gang kind of treat her harshly.

I'll point out again that at the time of Buffy choosing to help Spike rather than kill him ("I know he can be a good man"), she had NO idea he was being controlled by the First. All she knew was that he was killing again.

 

[Blaze]

What it really comes down to is that yes, she chooses to help Spike and not Anya, and that's exactly how the real world works. She was closer to Spike and didn't care for Anya, simple as that.

Let's say we would have never met Anya until that one episode where she was the demon of the week, boom episode happen, viewers are all like yay Buff killed the baddy, everyone is happy. Now, because we know the characters of Anya, it happens and everyone gets angry that Buffy tried to kill a demon.

Ok, I'm part of the group that thought Buffy was wrong, very very wrong, but I don't forget her duties ARE to slay demons, and Anya is a demon, so technically speaking only, no she wasn't wrong to try and kill her. Where she was wrong was emotionally speaking because Anya was suppose to be her friend. Buffy IS the demon police, that is why the slayer is made, so yes Buffy was in her right of duties to kill Anya. Again, I don't agree, and I was really mad at the fact that she'd try to kill her, and there were other options, but to whoever said Anya was just doing her job, well so was Buffy.

Now, back to the fact she was helping Spike, that was purely because she had love for him that she obviously didn't have for Anya. It really only came down to her being selfish by keeping Spike around, that time, she wasn't doing her duty and putting people in danger by doing so. So technically speaking she was wrong to protect Spike. As a slayer, she should have killed both of them if they posed any threat at all, which they did. But because we know the characters and so does she, it suddenly becomes different. I'm sure in her slaying career, Buffy has killed quite a few of "good" demons without knowing so and because the viewers aren't aware of the actual character, it makes it ok because she's the slayer.

 

[YummySushiPJs]

I'm sure in her slaying career, Buffy has killed quite a few of "good" demons without knowing so and because the viewers aren't aware of the actual character, it makes it ok because she's the slayer.

True. For example, most vampires violently fight Buffy with an arrogance that they are going to win, until they get dusted of course. But isn't there an episode where a vampire looks petrified by Buffy, Buffy feels sorry for her and lets her go, but then changes her mind and throws a stake at her? I may be remembering wrong but that always stood out to me, I always felt a bit sorry for that vamp.

Also, I really agree with your post and think it sum it up well. I think as a slayer Buffy was totally right, but as a human she was wrong. And unlike previous slayers who are all about the kill, the mission etc... Buffy's success usually comes from mixing her slayer duties with human compassion and this is where she fails here IMO.

 

[Robb Stark]

I'll point out again that at the time of Buffy choosing to help Spike rather than kill him ("I know he can be a good man"), she had NO idea he was being controlled by the First. All she knew was that he was killing again.

This is true. However, Spike (with a soul of course) has a better track record than Anya. I wish they'd gone into it more really, because it does make sense, when you think about it. Anya has killed thousands upon thousands of people for centuries. Then she stopped for three years because of Xander. Then she broke up with Xander and started killing again. All of that isn't opinion. It's what happened. Now clearly, there are shads of grey, but that doesn't really excuse that Anya was guilty. She was doing what Buffy accused her of. There was no reason to think that Spike had just snapped for no reason.

However, as others have stated, the entire thing could have been handled better. It is a bias to a certain extent, Buffy favoring Spike over Anya. But given the history of both Spike and Anya, Spike probably did deserve it more.