Fray's Urkonn, Scorpion & Blob

[AndrewCrossett]

Good thought. The only existing allies I could think of was Andrew summoning some creature to pull her out or Clem, but Illyria makes more sense.

The only flaw in that theory... or any of those three theories... is that Buffy has just banished all the demons and magic from our world. Therefore neither Illyria, nor Clem, nor Andrew's summoned creature could exist in our reality to pull Buffy out. Which would suggest she's being dragged into Hell, not out of it. Not that that would necessarily be fatal for her.

But how would she get home if there's no longer any magic on Earth that would allow a portal to open or a spell to be cast?

Another oddity is that Melaka has had access to the Watcher Library, which is presumably why she recognized Buffy's name as a former Slayer. But wouldn't she then also have known that Buffy was THE Slayer who won the big battle, and made some mention of that at some point? It's not certain that she would have, but you'd think she would.

 

[Buffyverse Fan]

The only flaw in that theory... or any of those three theories... is that Buffy has just banished all the demons and magic from our world. Therefore neither Illyria, nor Clem, nor Andrew's summoned creature could exist in our reality to pull Buffy out. Which would suggest she's being dragged into Hell, not out of it. Not that that would necessarily be fatal for her.

But how would she get home if there's no longer any magic on Earth that would allow a portal to open or a spell to be cast?

Another oddity is that Melaka has had access to the Watcher Library, which is presumably why she recognized Buffy's name as a former Slayer. But wouldn't she then also have known that Buffy was THE Slayer who won the big battle, and made some mention of that at some point? It's not certain that she would have, but you'd think she would.

I thought that too about Fray recognizing Buffy, but perhaps the "Watcher's Diaries" are diaries recovered from the original Watcher's Council. I don't think the New Watchers/Scoobies keep diaries since it would be pretty impossible. In that case, the entries regarding Buffy would only be Merrick's over a several week period, Giles' from S1-early S3, Wes' late S3, and Giles' S5-7, ending when the original council was disbanded.

I assume the "banishing demons & magic" deal is referring to banishing the Big Bads, and the general hold that they have over Earth. Because obviously vampires nor Willow were banished, not to mention the fact that demons are integrated into society by Fray's time. I know that I'm stretching here, but that's the only thing that makes sense.

 

[AndrewCrossett]

My understanding is that the demons and vamps were banished for a while (which is why Slayers stopped being called), but by Fray's time had found their way back and were becoming a problem again (causing the calling of Slayers to resume with her).

Of course, that tentacle could have been pulling Buffy into any one of thousands of "friendly" dimensions (like Pylea, for example), where good demons and souled (or Shanshu'd) vampires could live comfortably and happily. That's certainly the kind of place where people like Spike, Illyria, Clem, Willow, Lorne, and Angel (if he's still a vampire) would rather be if Earth has been completely de-magicked in their time. Given that, it's probably where Buffy would prefer to spend her "retirement" as well.