Satsu - killing off the lesbian lover again would get too much negative reactions from LGBT fans.
Do you think Joss would make a story decision based on something like that? If he wasn't afraid to kill off Tara...
Making the fans angry isn't something he's ever shied away from.
Willow - she's alive during Fray's time.
Assuming that timeline is still in play, or still is by the end of the story.
Obviously, Buffy hasn't told Willow about that. But it's hard to imagine a day would go by without her thinking about it, and wondering what to do. If there's any of the old Buffy left in her, she'll try to disconnect that future from Willow. That, of course, would make it possible (maybe even necessary) for her to die in this story.
But I don't think we'd see her die twice in one season. They'll find some other way to save her.
Andrew - he's a fun character, which is a good reason to keep him, but they did also kill Jonathan, so we can't count on anything.
He seems like the kind of character who would survive an asteroid strike. Probably with his action figure collection still intact. He's an observer character, and observers usually survive.
Amy - she might be killed in the climax or live to annoy another day.
I think she'll be killed, and then Warren will die as a result of her magic fizzling.
Dracula - I'm tempted to say he's safe, because he's an icon. But killing off an icon can also have a big impact on the audience. Then again, can he even be killed?
He no longer has his special powers... he was stripped of them in Tokyo along with the other vamps, so he's just a regular vampire now. I don't think we'll be seeing any more of him, though. He's kind of Drew Goddard's special project.
Faith - is her story of redemption also the end for Faith? Could be! Chances that she lives to redeem other Slayers are roughly equal though.
I think she's going to be the key character who takes Buffy by the hand, pulls her out of the mental hole she's in, and fights to victory by her side. That could end with a triumphant high-five and the two Chosen Ones finally reconciled, or it could end with Buffy mourning over Faith's dead body. Depends on what kind of mood Joss is in. Let's hope that upcoming new movie of his does well.
Giles - hasn't been able to add to the story much, maybe now that he's teamed up with Faith he can, otherwise, his days might be numbered.
He seems like the single most likely character to go down, I think.
Kennedy - it sure would please a lot of fans.
Well, if Satsu is protected, so is she. Doubly so, since she's still in a relationship with one of the main characters. My story instincts tell me she won't die, but I think she'll split from Willow at some point, probably over Saga Vasuki.
Plus, Dark Willow's words... "it's been 200 years, how do you think she is?"... suggest that she may live quite a long while in that particular timeline.
Riley - Angel and Spike did plenty of wrong things, but Buffy allowed them to redeem themselves. On the other hand, this new Buffy might not be so forgiving.
Depends which side he ultimately proves to be on. If he's a villain, Buffy will probably kill him with her own hands. If he's a good guy, he might live. All of Buffy's ex-lovers (except Satsu) have done terrible things to her at one point or another, but none of them have died (permanently).
Oz - we don't know his role in the story yet, so this is left TBD.
I wonder if he might have a role to play in saving Willow from her future. No idea whether that would entail dying or not.
Xander - here's a tricky one. This is the only character who's only tie to the story is his friendship to the other main characters (not an original watcher, not a key, not a vamp, not a witch). That might be a reason to keep him around. On the other hand, it's just as good a reason to kill him, as he can't produce any new storylines other than the interpersonal ones.
They were going to kill him at the end of season 7, but decided it just wasn't appropriate at that time (so they whacked Anya instead.) But I suspect they only ever considered killing him because they thought the story was over. The fact there's a season 9 might save him.
Twilight - the season's main villain has never survived; in the case of s6 (Dark) Willow lived, but Warren died (albeit shortly).
He's definitely toast... I just wonder if he's one of the people listed above.
I'm still tempted to suspect we're in for a Total Kill Scenario at the end of this season (all the main characters dying), and next season dealing with the implications of that.
