Discussion of 8.17 "Time of Your Life Part 2" - Released 04/08/08 (Dark Horse)

[Clem Rocks]

Anybody else get the feeling that Giles' days are numbered?

Nah, i just think that years from now, when he's retired, he'll go out one day to get coffee and....wont come back

 

[Slayeress]

I was just pondering, with there being no more magic or demons, what would happen to Angel and Spike? They're vampires with souls but still, demons. Would they also disappear? It seems like they would anyway.
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Edit:
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I just realized, Angel is a human right now in the ATF comics. Unless he turns back into a vampire, but otherwise I guess he wouldn't disappear.

 

[UnKle]

I am so, so, so lost. I am barely catching what's going on, and I mean barely, and barely barely. I am so, so lost.

I didn't like the issue. Don't understand the Fray thing. I don't get who all these people are. I can hardly read the dialogue. Nothing makes much sense... am I the only one having trouble with this arc? I can't even tell who's Buffy unless Buffy continues to wear the same outfit through the whole arc, then I'll be able to tell it's her. Because the artwork, while it's nice, nobody really looks like themselves, right? I'm not even sure what's going on in the arc, anyway. 🙁

Why do comics have to be so short? A few more pages could add a few more panels and make things not so jumpy and unconnected and confusing.

Or maybe it's that I never really read comics. Maybe I just don't know how they're paced. Or which way to read the panels in order. Or pay enough close attention to the little details in the panels, that show what's happening. Or maybe I just read it too fast so that it all feels like a jumble... must be me, right?

 

[Superstar]

I am so, so, so lost. I am barely catching what's going on, and I mean barely, and barely barely. I am so, so lost.

I'm sorry. How can I help?

I can hardly read the dialogue.

Buffy's comment from this issue:
"Boy, the English language is just losing it.
I should have treated it better..."
has its relevance. No?

Or, in plainer words:
u r teh pwned.

I'm not even sure what's going on in the arc, anyway.

Well, people have been doing a synopsis of each issue so that may help you a bit.

Why do comics have to be so short?

Modern style. They didn't use to be as short, in the same manner that TV shows of the past didn't use to be as short as today either.

Or maybe it's that I never really read comics. Maybe I just don't know how they're paced. Or which way to read the panels in order.

Paced much like storyboards used for movies and television.

They are normally read left to right. A splash page (full page or even 2 page artwork - popular now to show off and extend the storyline instead of a more direct need to tell the story concisely and quickly than the elder days of comics) may have additional panels inside. The splash is read first.

Or pay enough close attention to the little details in the panels, that show what's happening.

Since comics are a visual medium instead of movies or TV where it is a 50/50 split between audio and visual, the comic heavily relies on the art to assist along with the dialog in telling the story. Not "seeing" the art reduces it to a visual equivalent of radio or handing the book to someone else and having them read it to you.

As for being lost, I think you are not alone especially now that time travel is involved.

 

[crabby patty]

Just read issue 17, I found it started a little slow and confusing but got better. Like others I am not to keen on the art sometimes. Although still loving Jo Chen covers!

I was surprised at the big bad at the end, did not see that coming.

As for the ripples comment - I take it maybe as Buffy was the last of the slayers evil Willow has lived on centuries more then all of a sudden Fray appears, Willow or whoever thought there were no more slayers. So Buffy is brought to the future , as didnt Willow say something about 2 Slayers are weaker then 1!!! So maybe she thinks bring down Buffy and Fray together now!!

Does that make sense?

 

[Tranquillity]

I'm stearing clear of all theorising on time travel, paradoxes and the like. It makes my brain hurt.

But i did notice that FutureDarkWillow says ‘The princess leaves her kingdom for the forest of the now” and then a few pages over we see Dawn leave the castle (= kingdom) and run into the forest (= forest)? Maybe Buffy is not the objective, maybe Dawn is?

....Just another crazy theory🙂

 

[NightBird]

Time travel never makes sense!

I'm really enjoying season 8, I don't really see the nature of time travel taking away from the story.

I'm most interested in what drives Willow back to the dark side.

 

[CharmedSlayer85]

I also wanna know how in the world did she survive all this time, did she perhaps become something other than human kind of like Cordelia

 

[UnKle]

Time travel never makes sense!

I'm really enjoying season 8, I don't really see the nature of time travel taking away from the story.

I'm most interested in what drives Willow back to the dark side.

I haven't read any spoilers, but my wild, completely in-the-dark guesses say it has something to do with magic and what she and Buffy did in "Chosen" that apparently screwed with the balance of good vs. evil and the existence of magic.

Or something.

Could Dark Willow have anything to do with the way the world is, in Fray's time?

It kinda hit me like a sack of bricks, too, that Willow could be destined to kill Buffy. Of course, that's probably a guess that's way out in left field. But having read a lot of the old Greek tragedies, and knowing how Joss loves to spin a gut-wrenching yarn, I think the only thing worse than Buffy having to die at the hand of her best friend would be Buffy dying a senseless death in a random fight. Buffy's death has to mean something.

I know that Joss is very close to Buffy, and that she's been with him for 2 decades now. As a writer, I get that, and I get that he knows her journey and is the one that's tasked with the job of tying the two ends of time together. I don't envy that job, though.

 

[alexa]

Well I'm also confused.. but I can generally understand the language in the future.. might be because I'm a Fray fan.
It's just the whole time travel, dark Willow thing.. I'm assuming she didn't want the end of magic to you know.. end. So she had a hand in defeating Buffy's supposed goal, and a way of staying alive.. or she just pops in and out of time and space to when she pleases... although if Buffy's goal is to end the age of magic/demons etc, then she's also ending the need for a slayer or slayers.. but I can see her choosing that.. but isn't that what Twilight is about.. and damn this season is such a big tapestry of possibilities my brain doesn't have enough space!
I'm with Allycat I think.. just going to enjoy the read and see what happens. Sweet that it is Dark Willow though.. Dru would have been ok I guess, but DW has much more to offer the story.

 

[futureslayer]

I just read the issue and I absolutely love the story arc. This makes for a very interesting season eight. I want to think that Dark Willow's plan doesn't involve killing Buffy or ending the slayer line, instead her motive is to save her best friend.

I think Dark Willow feels that the activation spell did more harm then good and had to witness the death of her friends and now she wants to change the future for the best. Willow becoming Dark Willow doesn't necessarily make it bad, she just might be using her dark magic for the greater good, since she will need all that magic to pull this off. Yet the cover for issue 19 says otherwise because it would appear as if Dark Willow was trying to kill Buffy.

Well this is going to make for a very interesting story arc.

 

[UnKle]

I think Dark Willow feels that the activation spell did more harm then good

I think it did more harm than good, too. Buffy took away that balance that's needed. It might mean more good people fighting the bad people, but in the long run, it affects quite a lot more. It affects balance and the way forces operate and the way things are connected and the way they interact, on a lot of levels, in a ripple effect. Nature lives in balance and will act on its own behalf to put balance back where it's been taken away. Without balance, things go to extremes. Too much of one thing and not enough of the other really screws up the routine.

At the time she did it, it seemed like a kick ass plan, but now? I'm sensing there's a price that's going to have to be paid at some point because the balance has to be restored in some way.

 

[CharmedSlayer85]

I personally don't see how the multiple slayers affected balance, because one slayer in a world filled with thousands if not millions of vampires and then the millions of demons both in this dimension and others doesn't seemed balanced, and then also as far as we know there is still much more evil out there than there are slayers and also not all the slayers are good, so I don't see how the scales would be tipped toward the side of good. Also evil has The First, but as far as we know there is know The First for good.

 

[Blondie Bear]

Phew! I finally got my issue today. I liked it. I also was like, "It's Dru! That's totally Dru. Dru, Dru, Dru, Dru . . . Holy GOD, you're Willow."

I don't really have anything to add to the discussion, I just thought I'd stick my nose in and mention that I've read it now. 🙂

 

[Pulse]

Yes my head hurts a little theorizing, but I have total faith that Joss will come up with something that will not hurt anyone's head, and it will come out perfect... also I kind of doubt Willow is really doomed to be evil, because that has to be solved in some way. I don't think she could be "good" for the duration of season 8 and have the readers just know she's doomed to be evil in the upcoming years, and I also think that Willow cannot be permanently evil, she's a scoobie!!! It goes against her nature.

 

[Angel's vision]

Maybe it is Buffy's death in the starbucks battle that sets her off, (Willow that is) ans she see's the way Buffy has acted by awakening the slayers and is trying to stop her, I mean issues back it was said there was going to be a betrayal, and I think Dark Willow is that betrayal. Also I think twilight is frays brother as I said in other posts.

 

[sk]

Got the issue today.

I like it, but I have also a hard time understanding whats happening to be honest.
Reading this thread helps a bit though...

I'm seriosly thinking of waiting with the reading until I got all issues of a story.
It kills me to just read these short parts and then be forced to wait again. grrr.

/SK

 

[UnKle]

Got the issue today.

I like it, but I have also a hard time understanding whats happening to be honest.
Reading this thread helps a bit though...

I'm seriosly thinking of waiting with the reading until I got all issues of a story.
It kills me to just read these short parts and then be forced to wait again. grrr.

/SK

Reading this thread has helped me tremendously. I wouldn't probably be "getting it", otherwise. Also, there's a thread on a different Buffy board, where someone has gone through and turned the comics into film scripts, and that's also helped me be able to understand what's happening. I can't tell you how many "ohhhh! that's what that was!" moments I've had between the comic/scripts and N4H's posts.

I dunno if it's uncool to post the link to the other Buffy board that has the transcripts. But if you want the link, just shoot me a PM.

 

[Five]

UnKle, if you want to understand this arc way better, maybe you should purchase the Fray book. You can find it on Amazon. I know it helped me, I can't imagine how I'd get anything about Issue 2 if I hadn't read Fray between #1 and #2 !

Anyway, I liked this issue even though I thought nothing much had happened.
Jeez, when I think Kennedy was injured, it makes me so sad and mad that she hasn't been killed. Sorry. Can't stand the bitca.
Haha I totally loved the final picture. "Time... Only time."
I particularly loved the dialogue. There were so many Buffy-typical moments ! "Ride me", "I totally can't do that jumpy thing", "I should have treated it better", and my personnal favorite :
"Buffy Summers."
"Present."
"Buffy Summers is dead."
"Occasionally."
xD
The thing with Xand makes me believe that XanDawn might just happen after all... And I think I would like it, granted Dawn doesn't die two minutes after their first kiss. Btw, it was really nice and touching when Xander added after "Soldiers die" : "They do it all the time" (Ooohh...) in smaller letters.
I can't wait for the next issue though, and the explanation of the return of DW... My personal theory is that actually, she's just travelling in time, she hasn't lived forever like that (how could she have when magic was gone). Besides, I think that's our Willow from between S7 et S8, that's gone dark again (possibly after Kennedy's death - however she shouldn't have bothered), travelled in the future, worked all her mojo there meeting with Harth etc., and got back, and got good, and now we'd all know why Willow in this issue seems to be dying with guilt. Haha.

Five - Do you think that maybe Kennedy's wound will infect and kill her ? -

 

[white avenger]

In his conversation with the "dark haired mad woman," Harth says, "You're connected to someone I love, and that's the one, the Slayer of Slayers...THAT'S WHO'S COMING." It would seem that this "Slayer of Slayers" has yet to make an appearance, and that brings only one person to mind. We've been told all along that Dark Horse will be able to use characters from the Angel series. Maybe we're about to see that crossover.