Consequences of magic aren't a slap on the wrist given by God or some Good Power, as saying “bad, bad boy/girl, you did something very nasty and something bad will happen to you now!”
The consequence is something directly attached to the performing of the spell; it's a natural rule, not a punishment.
I disagree. Magic is nature- it is a natural part of the world, therefore if you mess with it there are consequences for those who set things in motion. Ultimate example- the empowering spell in S7 upsets the magical balance of the world and pushes it towards Twilight, towards evolving. Magic= underpinning natural forces.
Dawn did a resurrection spell, but Joyce came back wrong – that was the consequence. Dawn didn't do a spell to rise a zombie – and certainly there are spells to rise zombies.
Hence, the Spike's mixed feelings - Buffy is back; magic has consequences: is she the same Buffy (apparently she is), or has she come back wrong?
I doubt Spike was told about the outcome of the spell and anyway why would the subject of the spell be punished when they've done nothing wrong. It's always the person who messes with natural forces, who involves that darker magic, that suffers somehow. It's not punishment, its a price.
That just happened, it wasn't a consequence or a punishment. "Consequence of magic" seems to be always magical and not natural.
Again, on the show magic is depicted as a natural part of the universe. When dark magic is used, and nature is violated- then there are consequences to the person who violated it- Willow used blood magic, crossed that line, and Dark Willow was born inside her.
'
the spell was very powerful, I'm very powerful, so maybe it isn't a good idea to piss me off' or words to that effect.
That's what Spike is refering to- he's talking to Xader and Anya who helped with the darn spell- he's telling them of the consequences to the
caster when they mess with magic.
That's been shown as far back as S2 Becoming -when Giles warns Willow about casting her very first spell, about it opening a door she would be unable (or unwilling) to close.
To me that's why the theory makes sense- because we've seen examples beofore and after from the show itself.
I think it goes even earlier - he seemed perfectly at ease doing the spell to heal Dru. And he ended up burned and paralyzed. Even when it came to the Doc-in large part he was overseeing her because he knew how badly things could go. He warned her several time about how dangerous such a spell could be, and about what she might bring back. Had she gone into the spell without his help and advice she quite probably would have died.
This is a good point, Spike has messed with a spell before and he- the caster of the spell- suffered the consequences, not Drusilla (Drusilla was great! She was back to normal again).
So Spike was warning the
casters- 'you'll be sorry about what you set in motion', he wasn't warning them about Buffy, but (unknowingly) about Willow and the part of the spelll she kept from all of them.
Giles emphasise this by saying almost the exact same thing to Willow the next episode, lecturing her about the lines she's crossed. Emphasis- if you do something dark expect dark shit to happen.
Here we go - I agree with you here. I saw Doctake the hair, say it had good DNA by glancing at it under a microscope, and then do everything to appear kind and helpful. I don't know if he knew she was the key, but he knew something there. He had a piece of the puzzle at least. Spike may well have realized this retroactively - another reason to punish himself.
Again I agree, maybe it just added to all those little puzzle pieces. Doc knew about Glory, he knew about the Key, he had a book detailing the Key blood ritual (and perhaps more pbesides) at an appointed time and place, then he sees this girls very unique strand of hair and the cogs begin to turn. Then he twigs.
Then he shows up to complete the ritual.
Resurrecting Buffy killed Tara.
That's on e way to look at it I suppose, except that tends to absolve Warren of responsibility. The way I see it resurrecting Buffy set Dark Willow in motion. If it hadn't been Tara's death, it may well've been something else.
