Selfless...Did Buffy hold back with Anya?

[Sunnydale Siren]

after seeing them fight, I think she did somewhat.

Clearly it would take more than a sword to the chest to destroy a vengeance demon.


While never being one of my favorite characters, I liked learning more about Anya's backstory. Could've done w/o the singing, but this was a decent episode.

 

[anyalover17]

I wanted to kill Buffy for trying to kill my beloved Anya.

I don't care if she held back (which I think she did, a bit), she tried to kill my Anya! She can't do that! Stupid Buffy. Grr. Argh.

 

[Rayne]

Yeah, I feel she did quite a bit...and yes...it's really too bad it came to that. I think there should have been more of an intervention. Poor Anya. LOL.

 

[Revolver]

I wanted to kill Buffy for trying to kill my beloved Anya.

I don't care if she held back (which I think she did, a bit), she tried to kill my Anya! She can't do that! Stupid Buffy. Grr. Argh.

I think Anya was kind of asking for it in this episode (even literally at one point?).

This is a really good episode, one of the best in season seven.

 

[atticus]

I think they both held back . There is a moment where Anya gives Buffy the opportunity to kill her. If I remember correctly Xander stops her. I think Anya wanted to die, and as much as Buffy had to do it, I don't think she wanted to - but that's the job.

 

[charmedones193]

I think they both held back . There is a moment where Anya gives Buffy the opportunity to kill her. If I remember correctly Xander stops her. I think Anya wanted to die, and as much as Buffy had to do it, I don't think she wanted to - but that's the job.

i agree i dont think buffy wanted to kill her,

 

[Your Creamy Coolness]

I don't think Buffy wante to kill Anya. However, it always comes back to the fact that Buffy has to make the hard decesions. Just like she told Xander about her having to kill Angel. And this is coming from one of the biggest Anya fans on the planet!

 

[white avenger]

I think that Buffy held back quite a bit at first, because she was reluctant to actually kill Anya, even though she believed it to be necessary. Then she was probably shocked as hell at just how formidable an opponent Vengeance Demon Anya actually was. (I would have loved to have seen either Buffy or Spike tangle with D'Hoffrin. There at the end, once he dropped all of the pimp charm, he struck me as being a very dangerous character to get crosswise with)

On that note, up until that time, Anya had struck me as being sort of a klutz when it came to violence, always just sort of dancing around in the background and letting others do the fighting.

 

[zoelee]

i think she did too, buffy didnt want to kill her but to let her know that she would if she rally had too. she knew why anya went bk to her demon ways. buffy was doining her job, its what she dose. anya knew that when buffy turned up to stop her. they both had an understandin of each other they both knew why they were both there. buffy throught of anya as her friend so did anya of buffy. maybe it whats anya needed to get her on the straight again, as after she made d'hoffryn make it rite again. i think it was about findin where u stand in the world and anya did it, she knew that if buffy really wanted to kill her she could have done and anya knew that. thats what i think.

 

[The_Final_Cylon]

I think they were both holding back a bit because they may not have been the closest of friends but they have fought side by side in some big battles which means she's killing someone who has helped save the world with her.
I really loved this episode, it was nice to see them resolve a lot of the Anya stuff.

 

[Buffanator]

I think Buffy was WAY holding back. I think Buffy really didn't wanna kill Anya, and I think Anya somehow really wanted to die.

But yeah, Buffy was definitely holding back. She coulda killed Anya much easier, IMHO.

 

[Jersh]

Buffy always holds back whenever she is fighting her friends.
I think she wanted to give Anya a little scare.

 

[The Arcane]

Yeah, no doubt that she held back. Whatever she might have said about having no choice, she had no desire whatsoever to kill Anya.

What really surprised me was how well Anya fought back, to be honest. Never really imagined Anya in ass-kicking mode until that episode.

 

[Perny]

I very much doubt Buffy was holding back. She knew she had to do the unthinkable. Kill Anya. Being the Slayer she didn't have a choice much. Anya had killed, Anya was a demon, Buffy's the Slayer, Slayer kills demons who kill people. Simple

 

[The Arcane]

...Buffy's the Slayer, Slayer kills demons who kill people. Simple

Except for when it's Angel... or Spike... or technically even Willow... 😉

Buffy might like to tell herself that her responsibilities are that black and white but the truth is that if she had wanted Anya dead then that sword into the chest would have been one through the neck. Buffy held back from the deathblow, pure and simple.

 

[Flannen]

Except for when it's Angel... or Spike... or technically even Willow... 😉

Buffy might like to tell herself that her responsibilities are that black and white but the truth is that if she had wanted Anya dead then that sword into the chest would have been one through the neck. Buffy held back from the deathblow, pure and simple.

But she did kill Angel. Ignore the Spike and Willow thing 😛. And in Becoming, she didn't hold back, even though, yes, in the earlier episodes of Season 2 she did.

I don't think she was holding back. I always get the impression in that episode that Buffy gives off this vibe that she actually does want to do it; but she felt bad for Xander's sake.

I don't think she held back, definitely not after Anya started making jibes. That's the impression I get from the episode anyway.

 

[Perny]

About the Willow thing...

Buffy was fighting her, and I think in the end if it had come so far, she would have taken on Willow in a fight to the death. Spike..Well he was never the biggest threat.

 

[The Arcane]

But she did kill Angel. Ignore the Spike and Willow thing 😛. And in Becoming, she didn't hold back, even though, yes, in the earlier episodes of Season 2 she did.

True enough for the events of Becoming but, as you said yourself, Buffy held back against killing Angelus for an entire half of the season and in truth probably only went through with it then because it was clear she no longer had a choice. With Spike she found excuse after excuse to let him live (which was good for me, given the guy was my favourite character 😀) and from what she said in Selfless it appears that she had been debating the Anya situation since she first discovered she was a vengeance demon again.

Add all that to the fact that the thrust to the chest was entirely pointless and Buffy knew it and it seems to me to add up to Buffy wanting to perform her duty as the Slayer but not commit herself to actually ending the life of someone she cared about. At least not until Anya gave her no choice.

 

[Flannen]

About the Willow thing...

Buffy was fighting her, and I think in the end if it had come so far, she would have taken on Willow in a fight to the death. Spike..Well he was never the biggest threat.

I completely agree. I think Buffy would have done whatever she had to do, to any one, in order to fulfil her duties as the Slayer. And it's always easy to say 'but she wouldn't have done it to so and so' when we don't see her in that position. As much as Willow was the Big Bad, Buffy never got into the situation of the 'final' showdown with her. She was stuck in a hole! (sw)

 

[The Arcane]

About the Willow thing...

Buffy was fighting her, and I think in the end if it had come so far, she would have taken on Willow in a fight to the death. Spike..Well he was never the biggest threat.

Regarding Willow, maybe, maybe not, but it would have been another 'kill a friend or let the world end' sort of choice, just like the Angel situation.

The point being that when left with no alternative Buffy will make the hard choice. The situation with Anya was far from being apocalypsy and didn't call for the same final decision to be made.

As for what you said about Spike... pffft! 😛