Ghost/Faux Anya

[amberjane]

granted i havent finished reading s10, i keep up on spoilers and threads as much as possible.... but i feel like the situation caused by ghost anya is breeding a lot of annoyance and redundance (at least judging by most responses throughout other threads). in particular, real anya being left at the altar and her dying. most quote xander from s7 on how that excuse of being left stops working, and thus showing how hes done and over it, as she should be.

so i guess i have a different understanding of it. first of all, xander was in therapy, where his feelings and past situations came up im sure as he discussed his anger and emotional problems... then he also has a ghost in his ear of someone he deeply loved, who died. he never planned of her dying, so why wouldnt he regret not giving her more of him? it was clear he didnt stop loving her at the show's end.

but faux anya herself isnt real, in thr sense her memories arent hers. she is filled with d'hoffryn's take on it all with an anya tone of voice. all purposely meant to mess with xander. also, her master is a friggin vengeance demon, 'why go for the kill when you can go for the pain,' so of course hed plan to reach out to a very emotional matter especially with 'anya' as the device.

i remember seeing a panel where the scoobies were in a cave or something with ghost anya trying to distract xander with more altar and death complaints... i guess overall i dont find it annoying or redundant, id say it makes sense as d'hoffryn is leading s10.

 

[GoSpuffy]

My problems with ghost Anya :

1) Anya died a heroes death to be admired and deserving of our grief. Bringing her back takes away from her death

2) other characters who died are coming back to life and it feels like lazy plot lines to me. Warren was Dead with a capital D same with Jonathan. I don't read A&F but I've heard Fred is back too. Giles was dead and now he's a freaky teenager. There is a tipping point and it's been reached with resurrections. Death has no meaning if it is never permanent. I still miss Jenny, Joyce and Tara, everything else has no impact.

3) Xander had some great character development this year until Anya pulled him back to S7. Loved seeing him grow up and become friends with Dawn and Spike and his friendship with Buffy seemed true to the tv show. Liked seeing dr Mike help him through his anger issues.

s10 #29 shows us why Anya was brought back, I can't help but wonder if there was a better way, a more honorable way for the same result but I can't say too much in case I'm giving away a spoiler.

 

[Stoney]

I agree @amberjane. We don't know how D'Hoffryn created fauxAnya and if it wasn't somehow(??) from her real memories but from his perceptions of what happened to Anya then her resentment and anger are his, so can be somewhat regressive and/or OOC. It is a little like Jonathan, who isn't really 'back' because it is a saved version of himself from years, presumably, before he died. It could even have been in part created with how he wished he was at that point too, striking back forcefully against those he perceives have wronged him rather than being thoughtful of wider context etc. But it is certainly before his later progression. If there is any of the 'real' Anya in there, her real memories or what not, or if the fauxAnya has been at all affected by the time she has spent with Xander underneath all that D'Hoffryn has been feeding her, then they could be going for her reflecting more of the original character's progression and have her turn away from D'Hoffryn at the end. If not, then really it does just prove what a fake creation based on his desired image of her that fauxAnya is and that is an interesting insight into him as a character rather than having any impact or reflection on the real Anya for me.

But generally I have to say I massively agree with @GoSpuffy's point that resurrections are too plentiful. The falsity of the developed and complete characters with Jonathan and Anya makes me feel a little differently with them, but there has to be the potential for great loss and a seriously felt risk, of them putting everything on the line, and that just fades if they all just come back again. The Fred one is the most disappointing by far, a dreadful choice on the part of the writers to undo that.