Twilight: Good or Evil?

Black Eye Guy

Taking over the World!
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Black Thorn
Now that I've reread Season 8, there are still some points I need clarification on with Season 8.

Was Twilight good, bad or neutral?

The plan was that once a slayer came along that tipped the balance in favour of good, they'd be rewarded by ascending to a new universe created especially for them.

If taken at face value, that would make Twilight Good or Neutral at least. But the consequence would be the Seed would be moved to the new dimension, bringing about the apocalypse in the current dimension?

I'm gonna chuck out a wild theory, could the Twilight have been a biblical type reference with the 1 man and 1 women acceding to the Garden of Eden type thing.
Just say this scenario had happened before and Adam and Eve had acceded from another dimension, and that whole temped by the snake deal was a demon reference that let all the demons back in and brought about no more garden of Eden?
Thats all speculation on my part, but it could also mean Twilight was bad, didn't want the balance of Good to out way bad, and wanted a new dimension to start the process over again?
 
I find it hard to see Twilight as evil, when speaking about Angel. But whatever took him over there at the end of Season 8, I don't think was necessarily evil, but it wasn't him. I think it was more the universe making what was pre-ordained come to pass.

Regarding Angel, I think as always, he's trying to do the right thing but it doesn't always work out that way for him.

I definitely thik there were Eden parallels there, but I'm not sure of the bigger picture! 🙂
 
brinkster130
brinkster130
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I'm gonna chuck out a wild theory, could the Twilight have been a biblical type reference with the 1 man and 1 women acceding to the Garden of Eden type thing.
Just say this scenario had happened before and Adam and Eve had acceded from another dimension, and that whole temped by the snake deal was a demon reference that let all the demons back in and brought about no more garden of Eden?
Thats all speculation on my part, but it could also mean Twilight was bad, didn't want the balance of Good to out way bad, and wanted a new dimension to start the process over again?

I never thought of this arc being an Eden reference but I can definitely see it. Even if you think of Buffy as rejecting the Twilight plain and then breaking the Seed as an "Original Sin" parallel, one which she is punished for afterwards.
 
I have a hard time seeing anything good about a creature whose original plan was to transplant a single couple, or even a select group of people, onto an idyllic world of its own creation prior to destroying the universe as we know it, which was pretty much the original story line. Even the later reboot, in which Twilight was going to somehow transfer the entire world population to its version of Eden, a perfect world without pressure or strife (I think that they were going to call the new world "Miranda") seems so similar to the "gift" that Jasmine offered that I am really amazed that Angel never saw it. Maybe popping into reality and hitting the "Hollywood" sign further addled his brains.

I can't see any version of Twilight that comes out as benevolent or good, and I'd be willing to bet that the 2000 plus Slayers that Angel killed (under Twilight's influence, of course. Can't hold Angel responsible for all that death and mayhem. nope, no way, no how) in the cause of the so called greater good would agree with me.
 
I have a hard time seeing anything good about a creature whose original plan was to transplant a single couple, or even a select group of people, onto an idyllic world of its own creation prior to destroying the universe as we know it, which was pretty much the original story line. Even the later reboot, in which Twilight was going to somehow transfer the entire world population to its version of Eden, a perfect world without pressure or strife (I think that they were going to call the new world "Miranda") seems so similar to the "gift" that Jasmine offered that I am really amazed that Angel never saw it. Maybe popping into reality and hitting the "Hollywood" sign further addled his brains.

It's exactly like the Jasmine situation, but Jasmines intentions were good, as were Twilights. Just the price for getting that reward was to high a price to give up.
We've seen characters do allot of bad things in the name of good, such as Giles killing Ben. What he did was bad, but the price for doing it was his alone to bear
In the case of Twilight and Jasmine the price was to high to sanction the reward.

can't see any version of Twilight that comes out as benevolent or good, and I'd be willing to bet that the 2000 plus Slayers that Angel killed in the cause of the so called greater good would agree with me.

Well 1794 probably would have since you made them up. There was only 1800 slayers in the world in total?

Buffy says 206 girls had been killed since she started the organization, and not by Twilight, in total.

You're also making the same mistake I was before I reread season 8, placing the murders at the hands of Angel - this wasn't the case. Angel took up the mantle of Twilight to steer the direction of the Twilight Group, which had already been established. He did it to focus Buffys hate on him to get her to the point Twilight needed, but also to slow down the amount of Slayers killed.

It was a stupid idea and shows the same kind of stupid decision making that we saw when it came to The Black Thorn, Angel thinking he knows best and taking all responsibility for something. But his intentions were to minimize the amount of slayers targeted by the group.

Angel also didn't kill the slayers, he was leading the organization that did, when Willow teleports around the world and sees the slayers bodies, she finds a girl chained to the floor, another in a storage container with hate slayer speech written all over it, and the last place she visits she find one alive who say they were attacked by a mob - if Angel had killed any of those, he would have just squished them with his new powers no chains, hate speech or mob necessary.

He may have been aware it was happening, but it was part of his stupid plan for the greater good.

(under Twilight's influence, of course. Can't hold Angel responsible for all that death and mayhem. nope, no way, no how)

See this is whats great about Angels "excuse" it's given to us. We know Twilight had a power over him and Buffy, eventually it takes complete control over him, to the point were Angel doesn't even know whats happening.

But like I said, thats given to us, it's fact. Angel was under Twilights thrall, and wasn't in control at all when he killed Giles.

We, the fans, don't have to speculate and make up our own excuses to excuse his actions -- which by the way no one actually does, Fans and Characters alike, Buffy wont speak to him, Even Angel takes the responsibility, as far as I'm aware in Angel & Faith he's now thrown all the Twilight guilt on top of himself and is working for redemption for that do.

But all Angel is actually guilty of is letting it happen, being aware of how bad it was and justifying it to himself that it was for the greater good.
If we're passing out blame for being aware, then Spike should share a hand in that, he knew it was Angel from the moment he saw Twilight, he could have fired off a text to Buffy, "btw Angel is Twilight, getting Ben is Glory flashbacks, lol, good times, you love me yet?"
He didn't, because he decided to do the same as Angel, he decided to hold out on telling Buffy so he could go find out everything he could and ride in with a load of answers, he decided he knew what was best for her and choose to keep her in the dark till he was ready to reveal himself.
Clearly that time spent with Angel in LA rubbed off on him.
 
Well 1794 probably would have since you made them up. There was only 1800 slayers in the world in total?


[/QUOTE]

You're right, I used the wrong number for the Slayers killed. I could blame it on the sticky keyboard on my laptop, but it's ultimately my fault for too much writing and not enough proof reading. You got me.

Now, I've voiced my opinion about how Angel got off with nothing more severe that a guilt trip, and a renewal of his well used promise to really try and not do it again, and you've pointed out that Spike should have spilled the beans about the Angel/Twilight connection sooner. Ironic, since I'm the one who has the reputation for dragging threads off into the Angel/Spike morass.

Now, back to the original question. Was Twilight good or evil?

And my answer, in a shorter form this time, is still, "Evil. Period". Planning to destroy a world and (in theory) transport its entire population onto another world where they will most likely live under its care, protection, and control (and that's ultimately where something like that would have to end up) is nothing more or less that stealing the liberty and freedom of an entire race. And if that ain't evil, I don't know what evil is.
 
How was it a hell dimension, it looked more floaty clouds and garden of Eden like?
 
[MENTION=5973]Black Eye Guy[/MENTION]
How was it a hell dimension, it looked more floaty clouds and garden of Eden like?

Marketing.

Here, those lines make it pretty clear what Twilight really is:

I will be more monstrous, more beautiful than anything she has ever feared or fantasized.

The world's this close to being swallowed by a hell dimension

You won't let Twilight open the gateway to hell(...)That's what Twilight wants, mother earth destroyed.
 
[MENTION=5973]Black Eye Guy[/MENTION]


Marketing.

Here, those lines make it pretty clear what Twilight really is:


Yeah but the Hell Dimension isn't Twilight.

The barriers between the hell dimensions fall apart and Hell spills into Buffy's dimension, Buffys dimension is ripped apart and swallowed by hell, but this new universe Buffy and Angel created remain safe.

More Monstrous...than she ever feared
-because her world is shredded by hell dimension to finish it.

More beautiful..then she fantasized
-because she would be in a dimension where no evil existed, completely free from fighting.

I get that overall Twilight was evil because it's actions lead to the destruction of Buffys world in order to create a new one, but it's an embodiment of the universe, it propbably saw that as a small consequences, it's intension weren't evil, it was to create a new better world, but the price of that was the destruction of the old world, and the price of that was to high for Buffy.
 
It's the fate of every revolution. People who start it believe that they do the right thing and that they save people from oppression, but the process inevitably ends in blood and death.
 
The Twilight arc at the end of Season 8 made no sense to me. The whole thing was never explained except that it was "the universe's grand plan." This came across as lazy writing, and I think we deserved better.
 
Well, I finished S8 not too long ago and aside from being one of the single most confusing and muddled major concept arcs ever, I...still don't know if Twilight was truly "good" or "bad".

Seriously. I don't think you can possibly say, all things considered, that it was "evil". I mean, it was intending to transport the peoples of Earth to this new dimension or whatever it was (I think anyways). I really, really wish it had been explained better. That the "grand plan" of Twilight had been more thoroughly delved into. There was so much about that entire arc that I didn't understand.

(Just as a side bar, how the hell did Spike know all of that crap? Seriously, that was one of the most underwhelming returns ever. I was stoked to see Spike again and everything fell flat. It was like he showed up solely because the writers wanted him there, not because he served a purpose. He was used simply as an expository tool, and there was virtually zero explanation offered as to how he knew all that he knew. I mean, they even made a joke about how it made no sense)

I view it a little differently than Jasmine. As far as I can discern (and granted, that's not very far), Twilight is/was an abstract universal grand plan for evolution (which, pretty much by default, would make it neither good nor bad), focused through Buffy and Angel. Jasmine was a failed Power-That-Was who wanted the universe to worship her. That seems pretty different to me.

Following "After the Fall" and "Not Fade Away", I didn't really understand why Angel would have followed the plan without asking more questions, although it does mesh that he trusted Whistler. Up until that point everything Whistler had told him had been pretty valuable. But by the end of the arc it's very clear that he's operating totally under Twilight's influence. They have a whole page designed entirely to convey that. I know the anti-Angel crowd likes to use Twilight as some sort of "proof" that he's really not fit for Buffy or something ridiculous like that, but the situation is essentially the same as Spike being brainwashed by The First. If you think Angel would have killed Giles in his own frame of mind then you don't understand the character.
 
brinkster130
brinkster130
[No message]
When it comes to Twilight, I get muddled because Twilight seems to refer to many different things: the new universe, the organization, Angel. And where Whistler comes into all of this adds more layer.

I agree with [MENTION=11975]Robb Stark[/MENTION] here:
"I view it a little differently than Jasmine. As far as I can discern (and granted, that's not very far), Twilight is/was an abstract universal grand plan for evolution (which, pretty much by default, would make it neither good nor bad), focused through Buffy and Angel. Jasmine was a failed Power-That-Was who wanted the universe to worship her. That seems pretty different to me. "

Except that the similarity was that they were both ego-centric. They both wanted their ideas of how their worlds should be that they were willing to destroy others in able to attain that. OK, maybe I don't agree with Robb lol.
 
When it comes to Twilight, I get muddled because Twilight seems to refer to many different things: the new universe, the organization, Angel. And where Whistler comes into all of this adds more layer.

I agree with [MENTION=11975]Robb Stark[/MENTION] here:

Except that the similarity was that they were both ego-centric. They both wanted their ideas of how their worlds should be that they were willing to destroy others in able to attain that. OK, maybe I don't agree with Robb lol.

But the thing is that Jasmine was an actual being, Twilight wasn't. Twilight, from what we're told (and be aware, this is my shaky understanding of it all), isn't a "being" at all. It's the universe itself. It has an avatar in the form of that Aslan-Lannister looking thing, but it's a force of nature, not some ego-maniacal fallen demi-god.

And really, was Twilight trying to destroy people? From what I read into, I thought Twi-Angel was trying to bring everyone into the new plane of reality?
 
[MENTION=11975]Robb Stark[/MENTION]
the situation is essentially the same as Spike being brainwashed by The First.

I disagree. I think the situation is more similar to Willow's trip in season 6. Angel took an alien power an ran with it until the power took over him. He wasn't controlled, that's why he murders Giles in the same way he murdered Jenny. An alien wouldn't care about something like that but Angel does.

If you think Angel would have killed Giles in his own frame of mind then you don't understand the character.

I think it's irrelevant because, in his own frame or not, Angel is still responsible. Nobody forced him to put on that ridiculous costume, he decided to do it on his own without considering the consequences and wasn't strong enough to stay in control.

I know the anti-Angel crowd likes to use Twilight as some sort of "proof" that he's really not fit for Buffy or something ridiculous like that

I'm wondering, what else does Angel have to do to not be deemed fit for Buffy? I think that the list got dangerously short after season 8, I don't know, torture her to death maybe? What else is there? Murder her sexual partner? I am running out of ideas, honestly. I think the notion of star-crossed lovers pretty much stops working when you send assassins to kill your object of affection. Yeah.

And really, was Twilight trying to destroy people? From what I read into, I thought Twi-Angel was trying to bring everyone into the new plane of reality?

Did this thing ask everyone about their opinion? I for one happen to enjoy this plane of reality very much, thank you.
 
[MENTION=11975]Robb Stark[/MENTION]
I disagree. I think the situation is more similar to Willow's trip in season 6. Angel took an alien power an ran with it until the power took over him. He wasn't controlled, that's why he murders Giles in the same way he murdered Jenny. An alien wouldn't care about something like that but Angel does.

There are pretty big differences between Twilight and Dark Willow. For starters, Angel didn't know that the power was corrupting, that it would take him over. Willow did. Angel was informed by a source he had no reason whatsoever to distrust that the universe itself was in jeopardy if Twilight didn't proceed. Willow chose to access powers she couldn't control because she was angry. Angel is told that the concept of Twilight is coming directly from the Powers-That-Be.

It's pretty different.

I think it's irrelevant because, in his own frame or not, Angel is still responsible. Nobody forced him to put on that ridiculous costume, he decided to do it on his own without considering the consequences and wasn't strong enough to stay in control.

Absolutely, he could have and should have questioned Whistler and the Powers more. No doubt in that regard. But thinking he's protecting the evolution of the universe to prevent the planet from literally going to hell is a bit of an extenuating circumstance. And when he's being controlled by the entity of the universe itself, I think you can give Angel a pass for being controlled, especially given that just about every character on the show has been mind-controlled at some point. I mean, do we give Xander crap for not being "strong enough" to resist demon-hyenas once he's been taken over by them?



I'm wondering, what else does Angel have to do to not be deemed fit for Buffy? I think that the list got dangerously short after season 8, I don't know, torture her to death maybe? What else is there? Murder her sexual partner? I am running out of ideas, honestly. I think the notion of star-crossed lovers pretty much stops working when you send assassins to kill your object of affection. Yeah.

Angel makes it very clear in S8 that he's not out to kill Buffy. His plan doesn't make any sense whatsoever if she's dead (although, Twilight doesn't make a ton of sense anyways).


Did this thing ask everyone about their opinion? I for one happen to enjoy this plane of reality very much, thank you.

it's the equivalent of a new Big Bang. You can't really say it's "evil" because it's portrayed, by both Angel and Giles, as a natural universal stage of evolution. I'm not saying for a second that it's "good" either, and I understand why Buffy and Angel fought it. However, I think that's a huge flaw in how the story is written. Really, from what we're shown, there isn't anything hugely "wrong" with Twilight. It's not shown to be "evil" or different than any other force of evolutionary nature. That, to me, is poor storytelling. When the audience has to raise threads like this to even discern if the "big bad" of a season is even bad at all, then what's the point of the heroes battling it at all? I thought they could have been much clearer about that.
 
[MENTION=11975]Robb Stark[/MENTION]
For starters, Angel didn't know that the power was corrupting, that it would take him over.

All power corrupts, always. I can't think of another character in the franchise who should understand this better than Angel. The concept of power and corruption is central to vampirism after all.

It's pretty different.

The circumstances are slightly different but the outcome is identical. Also, I'm not so sure about Angel's noble intentions here. To me it looks like Hey Angel, you want Buffy forever? Become Twilight, OK? I'm afraid that obtaining Buffy was more important to him than actually saving the world.

Damn, are those comics sexist or what?

I mean, do we give Xander crap for not being "strong enough" to resist demon-hyenas once he's been taken over by them?

We don't because Xander didn't agree to become an avatar of the Hyena god or whatever beforehand. He was just brainwashed, that's not the case with Angel. Up till the very end he kept his free will.

Angel makes it very clear in S8 that he's not out to kill Buffy. His plan doesn't make any sense whatsoever if she's dead (although, Twilight doesn't make a ton of sense anyways).

I realize this, it's just his minions obviously don't care about his plan, trying to kill Buffy constantly throughout the season. I don't think Angel's intentions matter seeing as Buffy has to fight for her life.

When the audience has to raise threads like this to even discern if the "big bad" of a season is even bad at all, then what's the point of the heroes battling it at all? I thought they could have been much clearer about that.

Yeah, pretty much. When an editor suddenly becomes the writer you know it's going to be total crap and boy, have they delivered.
 
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