Plus we will FINALLY get the question answered, once and for all, of whether or not Buffy was aware of Spike's return, and, if so, for how long she has known.
Yes - one of the reasons I started buying the comics was to get the answer to this question!!
Okay so I'm soooo wanting this issue that I'm reduced to doing a close reading on one page"¦ but it is an interesting one.
First Angel:
Angel is wandering around in a park and is hearing voices from random people (and animals).
"
She has done something marvellous. But it will bring the world down on her. Her enemies will come at her from all side unless they stand beside you"
So Angel gets this task/mission from who? The universe? The PTB?
The mission is to galvanise and unify Buffy's enemies and stand as their figurehead. Ensure that attacks on the Slayer camp come from one direction only.
Angel goes to a tailor and has a costume made "“ the Twilight costume. The tailor tells him:
"
There will be bloodshed. This is inevitable. But you can take her beyond the battle, to a world without war, without constraints. This is your true destiny. Focus her anger. Be the target of her power, and it will come to her. What she feels must be pure; she cannot be distracted by her feelings for you. Until it's time, she cannot know. No one can know."
Is the tailor just another voice"¦or is he somehow more involved. Is he the same tailor/toymaker as appeared in
Living Doll? (#25) After having a close look, I'm not convinced"¦ but who knows.
Angel pulls on the mask, "˜becomes' Twilight. Yet again Angel is given a "˜Destiny' to follow and indeed, he is told that this is his "˜true destiny' "“ And the promise of Destiny is always something that Angel finds very hard to resist even if it is difficult and involves hurting Buffy (and others). He is a great advocate for doing something for the greater good. Plus the possibility of a "˜happy-ever-after' is dangled in front of him. You can hardly blame the guy for succumbing"¦except that historically speaking, these "˜destiny' things have not had a good track record with working out for him, so I can only wonder why he gets sucked in again. And the possibility that Buffy might not go along with the plan never seems to occur to him"¦
And Spike:
We find Spike having a smoke in Trafalgar Square watching a protest rally. The Twilight symbol appears on some placards. This is a
pro-Twilight rally. A purple-haired girl explains that the twilight symbol is "
a symbol of resistance" and that some of the Slayers victims had it on them. She explains that, "
There's a secret sect fighting against the fascist slayer army and that's their leader's mark" She is also pro-vampire rights and wishes she could get bit.
This is happening sometime after Angel has adopted his new alter-ego and it is after he has successfully set himself up as the leader of the anti-slayer movement. Certain sectors of the public are clearly anti-slayer, so much so that they'll get out on the streets and rally in support of twilight and vampire rights. How much of this is created by Twilight's manipulation?
Spike, now that he knows about the anti-slayer sentiment gets on the case, hits the laptop and does some research. He finds the only known footage of the mysterious Twilight, filmed on a mobile phone over Edinburgh, I'm guessing at about the time Twilight and Buffy had a smack-down in
A Beautiful Sunset (#11). Spike has a copy of Harm Magazine next to him on the bed (#21 "“
Harmonic Divergence), obviously reading about "˜
Slayers: why they hate America' and other in-depth stories. Spike also reads OK magazine
🙂)). Despite Twilight's need for anonymity, Spike knows exactly who is behind the mask the minute his video footage finally loads.
And so we have to ask ourselves, why has it taken Spike so long to get in touch with Buffy and tell her the information?
And that's all we've got. What a tease! Is it September yet?
