How Did You Feel When Anya? *Spoilers S.7*

[anyatara]

I'm still in mourning. *Sniffles*
Honestly, I was so upset by it. I didn't want her to die, she was awesome. 🙁 And we got, what, two fleeting glance; one of her being killed and one of her dead?
It wasn't enough of a goodbye. 🙁 I was so bummed, poor Anya.
She needed a real death; not just a quick one which made me sad for days afterwards.
I say we throw things at Joss. =D

Not that I'm biased towards Anya or anything, whatever gave you that idea..? 😉

 

[WannaBlessedBe]

On the poll, I chose "mad about how it happened" and I am, but I do also understand why it happened that way. Anya was one of my favorite characters I truly loved her. For her to go out that way really did make me angry and sad, but I honestly think that any way that they chose to kill her would have made me angry and sad.

Not to go too off topic here, but look at Tara, I was angry and sad about that and they did take the time to acknowledge it. That didn't help me be less angry with the death.

I do think that Anya finally figured out what it means to be a person, there was a time when she wouldn't have even been there for that battle in the first place. That makes me feel a little less mad about her death because ultimately, it was her choice. She knew it was likely and stood to fight anyway.

I do have to say that when she is laying there on the floor and Xander is looking all over for her but can't see her, that was particularly cruel of Joss considering how horrified I already was.

I think I started crying happy tears at Chosen when they all became slayers and they quickly turned to horrified shrieks when Anya died and then spike... oh no... bad memories.

But I digress... ultimately, I am mad and sad about the way Anya died, but I do get why it happened that way.

 

[grrarg]

But I digress... ultimately, I am mad and sad about the way Anya died, but I do get why it happened that way.

Since you've already spoken so eloquently on the subject, why don't you explain to everyone why exactly you think it happened.

I've heard your take before, but would like to hear it again 🙂

OFF TOPIC... is the icon I'm using in this post Emma? It's so small I can't really tell.

 

[Mumrik]

Anya's death was just right. Of course I was sad because she grew a lot on me but that's what makes the show so good.
It would have been a lot less believable if all of the main characters walked out of this epic battle alive. At least one of them had to die or I would have lost a lot of respect in the show. So a quick death that you didn't really see coming - everyone was like, "Did that really happen? Did she really just die?" - that was very good storytelling!
Not every death is a slow farewell, makes the world stop for a few minutes so you can take it in - surely not in a battle like that. That was just right for this episode.

And Anya, who I think deep down didn't really think she would be the one to die because she's been immortal for so long, makes it even better. She also was the only choice - if Andrew died instead of Anya that just wouldn't have the same effect. And, let's face it, if Joss had decided to kill one of the core four (or Dawn) that death wouldn't have been like Anya's. They would've gotten a proper goodbye and it would have been acknowledged more by the others and thus spoiling the final seconds a lot.

As for the not caring part - I'm sure they cared. Afterall, Andrew told Xander "she died saving [his] life" which frankly wasn't true, to comfort him und probably himself, too. Or maybe that's just really how it seemed to Andrew.
But there was just so much going on - a lot to take in. They won that battle, yes they had their casualties, but first - they won.
I'm sure they didn't really grasp the fact that Anya wasn't there and that it would have come up later, on the bus maybe.
And I really like it that only Xander gets to know in those final minutes of the show because he's the closest to Anya. If the others knew it would have felt wrong.

 

[white avenger]

While I definitely feel that at some point after the battle, maybe later that day or even as late as the next day, there would have been a much stronger reaction to the loss of Anya, Spike, and the Potentials/new Slayers who didn't make it, everyone's reaction at the end was pretty accurate. Any combat veteran can tell you that the initial relief at finding yourself alive when the fight is over tends to deaden the immediate sense of loss of friends and loved ones. I'm certain that, once the adrenalin surge had subsided, after the wounded had been seen to, a roll call was taken, the losses were assessed, and more than a few tears were shed for the "absent friends." I'm also quite certain that at some point, an appropriate ceremony was held to give them proper recognition. And I also think that there is a great story there, and I hope that Joss sees fit to share it with us someday.

 

[Avalith]

Pretty devastated.

I knew that it was coming, but still...

The way her body was just lying there made me unhappy, at least Andrew had her back with his story.

 

[anyalover17]

I chose "Lost all faith in the series".
She was my favourite character. I loved her to death. Seeing her get cut in half in half a second was too horrible.
I cried for about a week, no lie.

 

[Fake Shemp]

none of those options really

i was a bit 'meh' cause it was the end, and everything in season 7 led up to that moment for her character. She had already 'died' in 'Selfless' or was about to let buffy kill her, and sacrifice herself.

but when i watch it now i DO cry my shempy eyes out as i LOVE anya to two pieces

 

[Roonblah]

I said I was happy with the way it ended... not because I was happy to see her go, but because one of the characters dying would have been more realistic in a battle like that (Spike doesn't count). It was sad that there wasn't time for the characters to grieve over her a little more.

 

[Crashing Doors]

I voted that I was happy, but I wouldn't really say "happy" that she died. I was devastated that she died but at the same time that was the absolute most heart-wrenching scene of the whole series as far as I'm concerned. One of the few times I've ever been in shock/teary eyed while watching any show. Joss really knocked it out on that scene.

So, again: not happy that she died, but impressed with it for my own personal reasons.

 

[Fredsicle]

You know that feeling you get when you hear your grandfather just died? That's how I felt. I grabbed my mouth in a gasping sort of way. But it was better than something climatic. It was very straightforward- just like Anya. I hope she comes back.

 

[white avenger]

It was, as near as we knew at the time, the last thing that we would ever see of Buffy and her gang, and it only seemed logical that at least one of the regulars would die. At least she went out heroically, sword swinging, facing the enemy. Well, all except that one who split her from right shoulder to left hip. She even seemed to have conquered her fear of bunnies.

 

[Willow-Tree]

Since Anya is one of my favorite characters, I was damn depressed when she died! I still don't understand the necessity of killing her off, but whatever. Hopefully she'll appear in the comics.

 

[Superstar]

It was, as near as we knew at the time, the last thing that we would ever see of Buffy and her gang, and it only seemed logical that at least one of the regulars would die.

Personally I think an opportunity was missed in only killing off a couple of characters.

One of the major themes of the season [responsibilities and consequences of war] was diminished. Buffy more or less pulled out the atom bomb of creating a slayer army with little personal aftermath.

The original scooby gang survived [one with a war injury] and all the casualties were collateral and largely incidental really.

A few newbie and barely named slayers were offed, Anya slain [who arguably was already a dead character since Selfless], and Spike used his Doomsday device by choice.
What real consequences did this war conclude with?

A big deal was made with Giles quizzing Buffy on Dawn and if she would make the same choice as before. Buffy says she would have done things differently. She should have been given that choice. But no, Dawn is sent away by Buffy and only returns on her own initiative. Buffy's declaration is cheapened by her own actions.

Imagine the impact if Willow had died to make Buffy's plan work.
Or if Giles died saving Dawn himself [after his big speeches and questioning to Buffy]? Or Xander saving Anya in an act of some personal redemption by throwing himself on the "grenade" meant for her. Any of these would have been more satisfactory as actions and consequences of war.

What was given was a weak presentation of playground waterpark warfare where all the good guys come in to dinner wearing their soaked swimsuits

 

[white avenger]

Personally I think an opportunity was missed in only killing off a couple of characters.


The original scooby gang survived [one with a war injury] and all the casualties were collateral and largely incidental really.

A few newbie and barely named slayers were offed, Anya slain [who arguably was already a dead character since Selfless], and Spike used his Doomsday device by choice.
What real consequences did this war conclude with?


What was given was a weak presentation of playground waterpark warfare where all the good guys come in to dinner wearing their soaked swimsuits

I agree, and I'll take it even further than that. Given the small size of her "army," a couple of dozen newbie Slayers, 8 civilians, and one ensouled vampire, standing off a fource of literally thousands of savage, primordial monsters, nothing human should have walked out of there alive. They should have had even less chance than Angel and his crew in that alley the next year. And just think what a dramatic ending it would have made if they actually had all died, a Vampire Slayer equivalent of "300" or "The Alamo," where the last remaining Slayer seals herself inside the hellmouth, sacrificing everything for the good of the human race.

But if they had done that, there wouldn't have eventually been a Season 8, with the promise of at least another season after that one.

 

[Superstar]

I agree, and I'll take it even further than that.

Oh definitely!
I was trying to be optimistic really.
But yeah, showing slayers activated all over the world [thereby giving the "hope" factor] and having the entire Sunnydale crew be annihilated would have been a far more fitting end.

Then in comparison to Angel, it would have bookended nicely.

 

[ShadowPeoples]

i was shocked that it was anya, i was expecting the giles or xander to die, then Spike got roasted and then I kinda forgot about Anya's death. But At the end(even if I thought it was a bit rushed towards the end), it was necessary. its a war. I was expecting more of the characters to go. (cept buffy and willow) 2 of the other ogs, to really really close out the show for good. (Because at the time I wasn't thikning about them making season 8)

 

[Tasha]

So sad when she dies, the very first time i watched it, I was like :O!!! and I was like :'((

I was shocked and sad. Then obviously Spike closing the Hellmouth and all.

 

[Jersh]

I was pretty happy with the way it ended.
She died protecting others, which shows that she isn't always thinking about herself.
It showed how her character matured throughout the series.

 

[Wishing Oceans]

I just sorta felt... empty. Like I couldn't believe she was gone. It's still hard to believe, she always seemed so alive and undefeatable. But in a way I'm almost glad. I loved Anya, but one of the things I adore most about the show is it's use of metaphors, and I think that Anya dieing was a very large metaphor, and furthermore if she didn't die something wouldn't be right. Something would be missing. So overall, I have slightly mixed feelings on the matter. It still would be awesome if she somehow came back to life though. 😀