Buffy betrayed herself this season, and all the developements that I've read online just don't come off that shocking, and I kinda already suspected a lot of them. Giles dying is very sad and I do think his death will have a big impact and he will be greatly missed, both for the characters in the stories and for me as a reader. RIP Giles the Last the Great Watcher that Sacrificed himself at the Battle of Starbucks, but I always thought he would go out a hero of some kind, he never lost his heart. The betrayal is Buffy betraying herself, Buffy lost her moral certainity as mentioned in A Beautiful Sunset, and she gave into temptation, her blindness for Angel has again cost much senseless death again, and this time it will hit her very close to home. She also betrayed Willow and the slayers, and anyone else who has supported her this season, the slayers have suffered because of her deciscions, although she did try to at least fix the diaster she had a hand in accidentally causing. FDW warned about Buffy's blindness to her lurks in TOYL, and Buffy's ignoring the ones who suffer for the big picture, Fray is the slayer that Buffy can maybe find her way back to, the slayer that cares about innocents just because its the right thing to do, and won't compromise her morals. I'm not saying Buffy is a horrible unfeeling person but she's got a long way to go to get up to the hero she once was. Xander still remains the heart of Buffyverse and he's still one of the most loyal and noble hero's of the verse, that saved the world without superpowers, but this season definitely challenges just what makes a hero, and not everyone's heroes are the same. Willow who I think is someone I can still admire, and I think there is still hope for her, after all the future is not set in stone, as Willow said in Retreat. Angel's character has probably been lobotomized as a character for many people, and I can relate but his character also symbolizes how compromising with evil can destroy you and others around you, but there is always a darkness before the dawn, the sun will always set and come up again for a new day, a new day in which to start over with a clean slate, and at least a chance to try and do what you can to make up for your mistakes, but the past cannot be changed and thats what the Buffyverse characters have to live with everyday, but still try. HOPE is something that drives the human spirit, it is what sustains us, characters like Xander and Willow have continued to keep on fighting for what they believe in, no matter how dire the circumstances, Angel and Spike are characters that have at least tried to make the world better and keep on going, Spike has truly evolved over the years, Giles has gone out a hero, Buffy I believe can grow from whats happened at least I think she will, and now I'm just rambling, so I'll end it here.
