The guy from HEllsbells

[CordelliasHeart]

I cant explain it... What Anya did to him, was a trifle disproportional, for being a philanderer.

And yet I see NO Karma in his actions whatsoever, and with all my heart want to see him brutally tortured across eternity...

If I'd been at the party I'd have turned to Halfrek real quick and said "I wish he was a powerless spirit, forced to watch through Xander and Anyas long happy lives, as they have children who go to good colleges, see their grandchildren and great grand children, and Anya has plenty of comfort when Xander dies, until dieing herself a respected Matriarch full of years forced to watch and curse in vain!"

Is their a reason why I'd feel so little sympathy for the guy?

 

[WillowTaraHolic]

I personally agree. Xander had no right to treat Anya the way he did. But I'm still thinking: I think the writers keep making these characters act a little old for how young they actually are. (Well, Anya was 1,000 years old, Spike's a century and a half years old... whatever) But still... the wedding shouldn't have happened in the first place. They should have stayed engaged for a couple more years before actually planning a wedding. This, I think, would have made their relationship better and Xander a lot less of a jerk.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Anya is one of many in the cast who never gets called out on the trail of broken bodies, spectacular curses and general evil that she has done, far exceeding anything that could be called justice and many times, exceeding what the wronged woman wanted. It was most notable in Season 7 after she returned to the vengeance business with Nancy in "Beneath you 7ABB02" where Nancy's ex Ronnie has been turned into a giant slug that ate her dog. It continues with the execution of a dozen boys that so traumatized their victim that she wanted to take it back. So in "Hell's Bells 6ABB16" someone from her past gets back at her and we are supposed to say, "Poor Anya, what did she do to deserve this?"

There are two Sicilian proverbs about vengeance:

1. Vengeance is a dish best served cold.
2. If you wish vengeance, begin by digging two graves (meaning one for your target and one for yourself).

Anya finally gets her dream of a happy wedding destroyed. This is minor compared to what she has done before to other people. She was not turned into something vile or shameful as she had done to others.

The guy from Hell's Bells was long overdue. I don't condone vengeance as doing anything more than continuing a vendetta, but if you think Anya should have been able to do all she did with impunity, I would disagree.

 

[thetopher]

Anya is one of many in the cast who never gets called out on the trail of broken bodies, spectacular curses and general evil that she has done, far exceeding anything that could be called justice and many times, exceeding what the wronged woman wanted. It was most notable in Season 7 after she returned to the vengeance business with Nancy in "Beneath you 7ABB02" where Nancy's ex Ronnie has been turned into a giant slug that ate her dog. It continues with the execution of a dozen boys that so traumatized their victim that she wanted to take it back. So in "Hell's Bells 6ABB16" someone from her past gets back at her and we are supposed to say, "Poor Anya, what did she do to deserve this?"

There are two Sicilian proverbs about vengeance:

1. Vengeance is a dish best served cold.
2. If you wish vengeance, begin by digging two graves (meaning one for your target and one for yourself).

Anya finally gets her dream of a happy wedding destroyed. This is minor compared to what she has done before to other people. She was not turned into something vile or shameful as she had done to others.

The guy from Hell's Bells was long overdue. I don't condone vengeance as doing anything more than continuing a vendetta, but if you think Anya should have been able to do all she did with impunity, I would disagree.

Yeah, I agree with this.

This guy was punished way beyond his actual crime (which is a pattern we see with vengeance demons from the very start.) and so he gets revenge.

His revenge is actually really mild considering how he was cursed, all he does is lie to Xander and play on his fears. It's Xander who then goes and breaks Anya's heart, ruining her wedding day.

Boo Hoo.
Considering all the harm she had done and, more importantly, the complete lack of remorse she showed for her past actions (and Xander's own obliviousness to his own hypocrasy at her past actions.) Anya got off mildly, but then again she usually does. 🙁

What the guy did was wrong, his vengeance is empty and spiteful and I don't particularly feel sorry for him- but I think, karmically speaking, Anya brought it on herself.

 

[CordelliasHeart]

What I was ASKING is in light of the disproportional retribution Anya had visited on him why is it I'd want to see the guy TORTURED to death

I see NO Karma in his actions... and really found the ending depressing to the point I've never watched the episode straight through.

Is it just because disrupting a brides wedding day hits a specific emotional resonance?

 

[Blaze]

As much as I felt devastated for Anya at the end of Hell's bell, well karma's a bitch.

I disagree with revenge, but if I go and slap a donkey's ass I can only expect it to kick back. This whole thing was a consequence of Anya's actions...well actually scratch that this whole thing was really about Xander not being man enough to cancel the wedding sooner, but the demon part was all on Anya.

Plus, why want to see the demon tortured, in reality the demon had nothing to do with Xander running away, which is the most heartbreaking part for me. But yes, I feel no sympathy for the demon either, because he stoop down to Anya's level making his actions equally bad.

---------- Post added at 10:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 AM ----------

What I was ASKING is in light of the disproportional retribution Anya had visited on him why is it I'd want to see the guy TORTURED to death

Well what the guy did was equally bad as what Anya use to do. Revenge is plane bad, I cannot think of one scenario where it would ever be ethically correct. The feeling of wanting revenge is a natural one though, only difference is that in real life we can't act on it, but on a TV show revenge can be pretty satisfying. For me, it was Warren that I wanted see tortured to death. It all depends on perspectives. If for you disrupting love creates the strongest feelings for wanting revenge that's just your human reaction to something that hits close to home.