Was Willow Evil or Mentally unstable?

[Xin Rong]

Xin Rong, I'm not saying this about you, you stated you don't agree with it but some
folk might choose to accept Willow as a drug addict, I don't and never will.
The quest for knowledge in a given subject does not make a person a drug addict, take that line of thought to the extreme. Buffy was all about learning more about slayers of the past, could she be descibed as a drug addict?

I agree that a quest for knowledge is not the same as an addiction, but we are given many cues that point to using magick becomes an addiction- not the study of magic, the actual usage.

Riley's Wife talks about it to Willow.

The girl in Rack's place, and those around her, all add to the idea of Rack's place being some kind of metaphysical crack house.

References to going 'cold turkey'

There are many others, but my main point is that although the drug addict analogy doesn't make perfect sense, it is definitely alluded to throughout season 6 and we are supposed to see Willow as having an addiction. It's a bit of a cop out to preserve her character a little, but it's intentionally done by the writers (including Joss) so we are more than encouraged to see it that way.

Again, I don't like it either, but I think it is definitely there and should be acknowledged as valid, as the script intends.

 

[SRMarx]

About Buffy, Dawn, Xander not being told what Willow did that is more about making a TV show than not telling them. You just have to assume that Giles told them because there is no point repeating it in a short episode, especially when so much more needs to be covered.
So if you take it as said that they knew Willow was taught by those who knew what they were doing. They would feel safer than Willow having taught herself.
I do not accept or like the analogy that Willow was some kind of drug addict, she liked magic and wanted to know more, that is all.
Other ways of looking at that drug addiction analogy, if a person wants to be a doctor, that person learns what they can on the subject then goes to others to be taught. Does the thirst for knowledge make them a drug addict? No it doesn't it just means they want to be better at what they do/ know.
As for the analogy of Willow being taken by Giles to be taught by the coven being likened Willow being in a mental hospital. As far as I am concerned that is just an abhorrent notion.

I assumed Giles told them. That still isn't my point.

You might not agree with the drug addict analogy, and personally, I see a lot of problems with it myself. But the show did decide to portray Willow's magic use as an addiction.

And so my point is, that when dealing with a recovering addict, it isn't always enough to be told he/she is recovering (or has recovered), especially when that person has hurt you while being under the influence. And I just think that notion could been portrayed better.

It wouldn't need a whole episode either. Just subtle hints throughout the season. I feel like the Scoobies could have had better reactions when Willow's magic use was referenced. Most of the time it was turned into a joke.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Xin Rong, SRMarx,
'kay I concede, I accept that the show likens Willow's use of magic is portrayed by the show as a form of drug addiction. I'll stick to my guns here and state I don't agree with it.
Quite a few people here have hopped on the drug addict bandwagon too easily, my defense of Willow has been a bit over the top at times, I admit. My problem with the whole 'drug addiction' thing is that I view(ed) that as a person who gets addicted does so because of a physical or mental dependancy, initially by choice or by need. That the 'drug' is an inanimate object.
In Willow's situation I saw it as the evil decided to set up home in Willow, that the evil is a living thing and saw Willow as easy prey. Also that Willow was near to the slayer who was the evil's target.
Throughout the series Willow was shown to use a bit of magic here and there, but then the show highlighted it. But the writers didn't know how to portray her getting to grips with the situation apart from a few clips of her and Giles in Westbury.
So, getting back to the main questions, it wasn't that Willow was evil. Willow was still Willow it was just that evil itself began to take control of her. And that answers if she was mentally unstable.
Going off topic here, Giles was a watcher so would he have had need to be friends with a coven? Did he become friends with them after his days when he was known as Ripper?

 

[timbitsmama]

I definitely think that she was mentally unstable, because, well, she's Willow! Good, cute, kind-hearted Willow. I feel like that she was always Buffy's sidekick a little and that maybe the writers decided to spice things up a bit. I don't think that they meant for her to be evil--they just wanted the viewers to say 'wow, look at that character change'.

 

[Xin Rong]

Xin Rong, SRMarx,
'kay I concede, I accept that the show likens Willow's use of magic is portrayed by the show as a form of drug addiction. I'll stick to my guns here and state I don't agree with it.
Quite a few people here have hopped on the drug addict bandwagon too easily, my defense of Willow has been a bit over the top at times, I admit. My problem with the whole 'drug addiction' thing is that I view(ed) that as a person who gets addicted does so because of a physical or mental dependancy, initially by choice or by need. That the 'drug' is an inanimate object.
In Willow's situation I saw it as the evil decided to set up home in Willow, that the evil is a living thing and saw Willow as easy prey. Also that Willow was near to the slayer who was the evil's target.
Throughout the series Willow was shown to use a bit of magic here and there, but then the show highlighted it. But the writers didn't know how to portray her getting to grips with the situation apart from a few clips of her and Giles in Westbury.
So, getting back to the main questions, it wasn't that Willow was evil. Willow was still Willow it was just that evil itself began to take control of her. And that answers if she was mentally unstable.
Going off topic here, Giles was a watcher so would he have had need to be friends with a coven? Did he become friends with them after his days when he was known as Ripper?

I agree with you, I think the drug addiction metaphor is dangerously close to a Deus Ex Machina style excuse for Willow's behavior. I think Anya, insightful as ever, describes Willow's dependency on magic best, she has always been the responsible one, and now that has had a taste of a power it's allowing her to be a little reckless. It's a shame that his recklessness has to become a 'addiction' that almost ends the world.

I agree about evil preying on Willow, although I prefer to think of it as more of a darkness rather than some kind of sentient force. Willow opens herself, in a very small way, to darkness when she begins to abuse magic. However, she is still Willow, and her good side wins out, under normal circumstances. However, when Tara dies, it leaves a hole, and opens the way to darkness. Willow literally fills this hole with darkness from the magic books she absorbs, and from Rack. I believe this is why she does the thing she does, not because she is evil, but because darkness has preyed on her vulnerability and her grief has overshadowed her sense of right and wrong... aka mentally unstable

 

[ILLYRIAN]

And I agree that Tara's death was the turning point, that is when Willow started to be Dark Willow as she had let her guard down. I don't think Willow ever really got to grieve Tara as when she tried to the Dark in her was able to get a footing, and the Dark could walk in. The Dark side then built itself up by sucking the contents of the books into her.
When she visited Rack that last time I was of the opinion that the Dark of Willow killed Rack, took his powers.
The Dark and Willow were struggling for control of the body and mind, that is when Willow needed help. Had Giles given the help from the coven at that point it would have been more beneficial to Willow.
In the Magic Shop the Dark in Willow was flexing its muscles culminating when it told Anya what to do. That is when Giles and Buffy spoke to Willow and got the reply Willow doesn't live here anymore.
Not long after that Giles put the spark of humanity into Dark Willow, that brought the responce that Dark Willow wanted to save 'those poor bastards' ie the spark had begun to show humanity. Not something the Dark in Willow would have said or even bothered with. and that enabled Xander to tap the growing humanity.
The mentally unstable thing was when Willow needed help from her friends to beat the rising Dark in her. So the 'mentally unstable' thing didn't exist as that was when Willow was being possessed.

 

[Vorchan]

As you people will find out in reading Willow Wonderland, she didn't kill Rack- she darn near did, but he survived.
If a demon is possessing you, they Will try to render you mentally unstable- why? Because they Are Mean! Beings like that Are Psychopaths who really Don't want to change!
Furthermore- addiction Can be a form of induced mental instability! Such is the case with Willow when she's dark.

 

[Blaze]

If a demon is possessing you, they Will try to render you mentally unstable- why? Because they Are Mean! Beings like that Are Psychopaths who really Don't want to change!

I've seen a few comparison like this on the board lately. Personally I don't understand this comparison at all. Willow wasn't possessed by a demon. I prefer saying Willow was consumed by magick, but it was never implied that magick was a demonized entity. Especially in the world of Buffy where demons are usually very concrete.

 

[Black Eye Guy]

I've seen a few comparison like this on the board lately. Personally I don't understand this comparison at all. Willow wasn't possessed by a demon. I prefer saying Willow was consumed by magick, but it was never implied that magick was a demonized entity. Especially in the world of Buffy where demons are usually very concrete.

This, a thousands times this!!

There's no point comparing Willow going dark to mental instability.

We literly know what happened, she absorbed the physical dark magic out of all the dark magic books in The Magic Box, she didn't learn all that magic. She physically removed the magic from the books and absorbed it, that magic has physical implications, the Dark magic inside her changed her perspective, it wasn't Willow in control. We know that becasue Giles plan involves Willow draining the good magic out of him in order to give Xander the chance to break through the Dark Magic, presumably Xander couldn't have gotten through to Willow had Giles not done that. There is more at play with Dark Willow then just Willow deciding to be bad.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Blaze, about your reply #68,
your quote of what Vorchan stated. Have a look at what the quote is, ' if a demon is possessing you it(they) will they will try to render you mentally unstable ' , As far as I can tell that has nothing to do with the show.
What you said is about the show, and I agree with what you said.

 

[Vorchan]

Consider what she did... she virtually signed a pact with the First Evil in order to get revenge on Warren for killing Tara (by accident- she didn't care.). 'He' didn't either (I used the masculine default gender (English grammer), that entity is sentient and has no gender, so 'it' is a more appropriate catagory.), all that psychopathic sadist cared about was getting her soul! 'He' got 'himself' a minion! THAT'S what it wanted- someone to do it's dirtywork., and take the fall for it! Coward!
She probably wasn't aware of the signing of the pact at the time, I doubt that she would be... that's the thing about evil, people, it's deceptive and sneaky! Think Rack's dealer, the being that was supplying him with all the drugs he was giving people (the link is Very Clear in the episodes: "Smashed", and "Wrecked"- Racks IS A Drug-den, of the worst sort; the addicts are expected to trade their bodies for a dosing! And I say that that link is made on purpose!), he himself can be said to be an addict- and his words confirm that idea in Wonderland!
About Wonderland: it's a semi-series in season 9, about Willow's attempt to restore magic to the world, of course she almost always goes wrong with such things... thereby making it sort of comical (humorous). NOT A ONESHOT!
Many times a drug-dealer himself/herself is an addict themself! This situation would be no different, think how high she was when she came out of Rack's bedroom- Willow was high as a kite! Gal was thoughally stoned! Poor woman had gone Way Too Far that time!
Of course: mental instability, and drug addiction, often have something to do with demonic possession (and in Angel the Series, a boy is litterally possessed By a demon (who's actually scared of what he saw in the child by the end of the story) so, it Does happen in that story/series), of course, said beings (the gangsters in such a 'overspecies' (spirit is the overspecies, gangster referrs to the behavior of the bad ones) Are sadistic!
That's one thing I like about Joss's work: he probably doesn't believe or know this; but his work Does distinctly say that it's the Choices that determine weather someone is good or evil... NOT the way they are made! Just as in Harry Potter (it's not your gifts, it's what you Do with them!)!

 

[Black Eye Guy]

Consider what she did... she virtually signed a pact with the First Evil in order to get revenge on Warren for killing Tara (by accident- she didn't care.). 'He' didn't either (I used the masculine default gender (English grammer), that entity is sentient and has no gender, so 'it' is a more appropriate catagory.), all that psychopathic sadist cared about was getting her soul! 'He' got 'himself' a minion! THAT'S what it wanted- someone to do it's dirtywork., and take the fall for it! Coward!

She probably wasn't aware of the signing of the pact at the time, I doubt that she would be... that's the thing about evil, people, it's deceptive and sneaky!

What?!? This had NOTHING to with that, The First Evil had nothing to do with Willow going evil, Willow chose to seek vengeance on Warren, D'hofferyn would have more to do with Willow then The First did in this case.

Think Rack's dealer, the being that was supplying him with all the drugs he was giving people (the link is Very Clear in the episodes: "Smashed", and "Wrecked"- Racks IS A Drug-den, of the worst sort; the addicts are expected to trade their bodies for a dosing! And I say that that link is made on purpose!), he himself can be said to be an addict- and his words confirm that idea in Wonderland!

You have taken the metaphor way to literally. Rack doesn't have a dealer, he didn't do actual drugs (that we know of) his "drug" was magic. Racks place is metaphorically a drug den, it isn't an actual drug den, it's a magical drug den.

Many times a drug-dealer himself/herself is an addict themself! This situation would be no different, think how high she was when she came out of Rack's bedroom- Willow was high as a kite! Gal was thoughally stoned! Poor woman had gone Way Too Far that time!

You know she wasn't actually stoned right? She did no drugs that we have in the real world in there. She was pumped up on magic, using magic in the way she was using it seemed to have a similar effect as getting stoned, but no actual drugs were taken.

Of course: mental instability, and drug addiction, often have something to do with demonic possession (and in Angel the Series, a boy is litterally possessed By a demon (who's actually scared of what he saw in the child by the end of the story) so, it Does happen in that story/series), of course, said beings (the gangsters in such a 'overspecies' (spirit is the overspecies, gangster referrs to the behavior of the bad ones) Are sadistic!

Metal instability may be a side effect of possession, for some people, but drug use and mental instability dont immediately mean demon possession. Yes demons in BtVS can possess, but we saw very little of them.
Neither Willow or Rack were possessed by demons, FACT. Demon possession has zero to do with that storyline.

 

[Blaze]

Consider what she did... she virtually signed a pact with the First Evil in order to get revenge on Warren for killing Tara (by accident- she didn't care.). 'He' didn't either (I used the masculine default gender (English grammer), that entity is sentient and has no gender, so 'it' is a more appropriate catagory.), all that psychopathic sadist cared about was getting her soul! 'He' got 'himself' a minion! THAT'S what it wanted- someone to do it's dirtywork., and take the fall for it! Coward!
She probably wasn't aware of the signing of the pact at the time, I doubt that she would be... that's the thing about evil, people, it's deceptive and sneaky!

The First Evil had absolutely nothing to do with the storyline, I don't really see how anyone could say otherwise. Willow didn't sign a pack with anyone, the soul reason for her going evil was because Tara died and Willow was consumed by grief. Add the fact that she was extremely powerful and you got yourself dark Willow. Even Willow herself knows that nothing possessed her, it was 100% her that decided to exact revenge (until the point where she absorbed magick from that book, at which point it could be debated if it was Willow or not).

On top of that, why would The First care at all about Willow killing Warren, why would he care about one little evil human, I'm sure he didn't. We do see that the First tries to be deceptive and cunning in CWDP where he tries to eliminate Willow, not make a minion out of her. And even then Willow does not agree with the term of the contract, and from what we know this is the one and only time the First ever tried to "recruit" Willow.

Think Rack's dealer, the being that was supplying him with all the drugs he was giving people (the link is Very Clear in the episodes: "Smashed", and "Wrecked"- Racks IS A Drug-den, of the worst sort; the addicts are expected to trade their bodies for a dosing! And I say that that link is made on purpose!), he himself can be said to be an addict- and his words confirm that idea in Wonderland!

Yes, Rack is suppose to be metaphorically a drug-den. I agree that the metaphors they gave was pretty obvious, just like every other obvious metaphors in s6. But it's more complicated than just that. For example, when Willow goes evil at the end of s6 and in s7, it's very clear that the drug addiction metaphor goes out the window, even if it was present earlier that season. Willow got high on magick at the beginning, but the events of the final three episodes have nothing to do with her getting high, it's about her using her powers.

Many times a drug-dealer himself/herself is an addict themself! This situation would be no different, think how high she was when she came out of Rack's bedroom- Willow was high as a kite! Gal was thoughally stoned! Poor woman had gone Way Too Far that time!

A drug-dealer is not always an addict himself, in fact most I've met were not. Yes Willow was "high" when she left Rack's place. That's what they were trying to show with the metaphor, and then they cornered themselves because they realized magick had to be a part of Willow. The events of early s6 and late s6 are very separate when trying to figure out what the writers were trying to say. Addicted Willow from early s6 is simply not the same Willow we see as Dark Willow. At that point it's way beyond and addiction storyline. Dark Willow is not longer getting "high" if you will.

Of course: mental instability, and drug addiction, often have something to do with demonic possession (and in Angel the Series, a boy is litterally possessed By a demon (who's actually scared of what he saw in the child by the end of the story) so, it Does happen in that story/series), of course, said beings (the gangsters in such a 'overspecies' (spirit is the overspecies, gangster referrs to the behavior of the bad ones) Are sadistic!

Are you talking about the real world of the series here? Cause in the real world I doubt that mental instability and drug addiction have anything to do with the devil.

If you're talking about the series, the example you gave is poor. That boy might have been possessed by a demon, but the demon made him neither mentally unstable nor addicted. The boy was missing a soul, he was already evil all on his own.

I'm not saying that on the show demons can't possess people and make them evil, obviously that is very much possible, but I'm saying that it wasn't the case for Willow, and it wasn't the case for that boy.

That's one thing I like about Joss's work: he probably doesn't believe or know this; but his work Does distinctly say that it's the Choices that determine weather someone is good or evil... NOT the way they are made! Just as in Harry Potter (it's not your gifts, it's what you Do with them!)!

I don't agree with this. We don't see one vampire on BtVS that does good by choice. Every single one of them does evil, no exceptions, and that is 100% caused by the way they are made, their nature. I also don't see how this relates to Willow since you claim that she was possessed.

 

[Kana]

Going back to original question, I'd contend that it's a bit of both.

I've always understood from Joss that Season 6 was about exploring the dark side of power and how we can be a prisoner of our own choices.

If the earlier seasons were full of metaphors about life problems, then Season 6 takes a decidedly literal direction showing that people's obstacles and problems can be their own doing.

Willow's addiction was to power and spawned from the insecurities she always felt. It wasn't magic per se that was addictive is, it's the sense of identity it gave her. Her powerlessness that stemmed from her being bullied meant that she wanted to control everything around her.

Was she evil? Well, human evil can come in many shapes and forms. Grief and being drunk on power may be the cause of her actions, but she is responsible for her actions and she responded to her grief.

 

[Robynrainbow]

I've always made this sort of comparison in my head when dealing with the dark willow/addiction storyline.

So at some points in the show it's stated that the magic comes from within her, and at other times she seems to be buying it from a creepy magic dealer, and being 'high on magic' which is a bit inconsistent. Well, with drugs like ecstasy (and I think most amphetamines) when you take it you release a flood of a natural chemical (seratonin I think?) into your brain. You already had that chemical, it's teh happiness brain chemical, but the drug causes you to release it all at once rather than slowly over time, resulting in a high and then a crash, and for many a psychological addiction when they don't like the crash and want to take more..and more... and more. I'm not saying drugs aren't dangerous btw guys, don't do drugs, but could it be that the magic was naturally in her, but this dark magic drug stuff she was getting was sort of like magical adderall? It gave her an edge for a while?

And in that sense, was she evil, metally unstable, blah blah... well I think she definitely wasn't posessed, and I don't think she was truly evil, but she was caught in a cycle of ups and downs and consumed with grief, about as mentally unstable as anyone who has an interesting relationship with their happy brain chemicals which is everyone from addicts to people who suffer the odd bout of depression. And that's quite a lot of people so we should talk about it kindly.

---------- Post added at 04:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:50 PM ----------

I also agree with 'human evil comes in many forms'. She wasn't pure evil, like the first or a soulless demon.

---------- Post added at 05:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:56 PM ----------

Aha so more postings because I feel like I could still explain this better. Adderall, the "study drug"- many students use it to stay up all night studying and it can help you get better grades, I read Willow like a brilliant student who takes on too much work and starts using a study drug to get an edge, only it has an effect and she gets all the side effects. maybe a little like Hermione and the time turner?

So when she starts doing magic again, I read that as being like learning to study again without the study drug, you know? In that context, her friends were helping her take baby steps to becoming more self reliant. If you're a brilliant student who stops taking drugs that make you more brilliant, you're not then suddenly not smart just because you don't have the smarty drugs. You just have to learn to cope off your own steam.

 

[Black Eye Guy]

I've always made this sort of comparison in my head when dealing with the dark willow/addiction storyline.

So at some points in the show it's stated that the magic comes from within her, and at other times she seems to be buying it from a creepy magic dealer, and being 'high on magic' which is a bit inconsistent. Well, with drugs like ecstasy (and I think most amphetamines) when you take it you release a flood of a natural chemical (seratonin I think?) into your brain. You already had that chemical, it's teh happiness brain chemical, but the drug causes you to release it all at once rather than slowly over time, resulting in a high and then a crash, and for many a psychological addiction when they don't like the crash and want to take more..and more... and more. I'm not saying drugs aren't dangerous btw guys, don't do drugs, but could it be that the magic was naturally in her, but this dark magic drug stuff she was getting was sort of like magical adderall? It gave her an edge for a while?

This is kid of what I believe.

Basically Willow was using magic to alter those brain chemicals, exactly like a drug, just say like the spells Rack cast released endorphins into her brain. Where the difference comes in, while drugs are drugs, magic isn't a drug. Willow floating a pencil didn't have the same effect that Racks magic did. Using magic normally doesn't seem to have the same effect that Racks magic did.

The drug can't be the magic, it's how Willow was using it that is her addiction. Willow really got addicted to two things, she got addicted to the way Rack was showing her how to use magic, though it was only for 2 episodes, that wasn't normally how Willow used magic.
But the other side of Willows problem was using magic out of convenience and laziness, thinking she could erase memories and even change her clothes, those two things were in the same league for Willow as it was just how she was using magic - and how she was using magic, and the power (place in the team) it gave her was something she liked and that was her real problem.

The reason Willow is able to use magic again is cuz it's not really a drug, the addiction is how Willow used magic, Giles and the coven were showing her a better way to use magic and that was the problem Willow had in season 7, she was afraid of using magic, as she thought she would end up depending on it, but she still uses magic from time to to time, if magic was a drug she couldn't have used it at all again.

The best thing to do to really to see it, the way I believe the show intended it to be shown, is to ignore the Rack storyline (just for this example, not like ignore it from canon), the Rack storyline just really puts Willow into the place of a junkie for the viewer, it's were they went to far into the metaphor for me, cuz if you take away the junkie story, Willow still had a problem. But the solution for pre-junkie Willow is to readdress how she's using magic, not that magic is a drug that she needs to give up cold turkey. Yet they gave her the junkie problem but the solution in season 7 is to readdress how she using magic, not magic rehab like it would be for a junkie - I've used the example before that if this was another show, It's like having Willow be an alcoholic in season 6 then casually having drinks with dinner in season 7.

---------- Post added at 05:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:28 PM ----------

So when she starts doing magic again, I read that as being like learning to study again without the study drug, you know? In that context, her friends were helping her take baby steps to becoming more self reliant. If you're a brilliant student who stops taking drugs that make you more brilliant, you're not then suddenly not smart just because you don't have the smarty drugs. You just have to learn to cope off your own steam.

This is a fantastic example! I've struggled with finding examples before, any time I though of one involving drugs or alcohol the answer is always completely giving up.
This is great!
Magic is study, the Adderall is a convenient way to study(like how Willow had been using magic) that can have negative side effect, you can quit studying that way without having to give up studying all together (Willow in season 7)!

I wanna rep you like 5 more times!

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Robynrainbow,
About the ' her friends were helping her take baby steps to becoming more self reliant'
were they? Buffy was all I'll help you then a few episodes later it was I'm going to be fighting a war I need you to do more. What did she say to principal Wood on the verandah.
As far as I'm concerned it was all about Willow keeping the magic within her control.

Oh, and about the smarty drug (tube of smarties anyone?) Would the smarty drug last only while the smarty drug was being used, because if you wanted to make its effect last longer you could ask Willow to do her magic on it, or am I missing something here?
tee hee

 

[Vorchan]

I think both Black Eye Guy and Illyrian are correct on this page: mysiticsm (prayer and meditation included), learning, these have a Good effect on the human brain chemicals... drug abuse (chemical abuse- smoking, shooting heroine and such)- have a very Bad effect on the human brain... in addition, Rack sounds similar to Crack (as in Cocaine), and that's probably not so much a co-insidince; When Willow comes out of the 'drug-brothel-room' she's clearly high!
This is not a safe entertainment for Miss Rosenberg to do- at all! I also see her conduct as 'contacting the Mafia of eternity and calling in favors', and when she cannot even get the curtains to close- that's so clearly akin to "insufficiant funds" that it's not even funny! (this is backed up by the Angel and Faith comics- the situation with Giles' Aunts).
It's like she got addicted to spending money too... the "pitty poor Willow, she's addicted" arguement, however, falls dead real fast! Eventually the person (and that's what everyone- even any addict IS! A Person!), has to take responsibility and climb out of the hole, and the sooner- the better!
Unfortunately with anything addictive- you never really know you are addicted until way too late!- that's the way modern slavery works, people, they sell themselves to get high. Think: Rack's costomers- they'll sell everything to get a jolt of magick from him!

Rack's the bad one in that season, not really Willow, she's just being played by him in a very bad way!

 

[HushSarah]

As I'm watching the season 6 finale, I'm wondering was Willow really Evil or was she Mentally Unstable with the Magicks inside of her

Definitely unstable. The Magicks was a parallel to real life drug addictions and she just got sicker the more she used it. Even though people are saying magic isn't a drug it still holds a connection to hardcore drugs and substance abuse that all kinds of people battle with every day.

 

[bespangeled]

This, a thousands times this!!

There's no point comparing Willow going dark to mental instability.

We literly know what happened, she absorbed the physical dark magic out of all the dark magic books in The Magic Box, she didn't learn all that magic. She physically removed the magic from the books and absorbed it, that magic has physical implications, the Dark magic inside her changed her perspective, it wasn't Willow in control. We know that becasue Giles plan involves Willow draining the good magic out of him in order to give Xander the chance to break through the Dark Magic, presumably Xander couldn't have gotten through to Willow had Giles not done that. There is more at play with Dark Willow then just Willow deciding to be bad.

I'd say she absorbed dark magic much earlier - when she killed the fawn and used her blood for death magic.

This is from the script:

Mmm. Tell me about this spell you
performed.

WILLOW
(suddenly excited)
Okay. First of all - so scary.
Like, the Blair Witch would
have had to watch like this.
(covers eyes)
And this giant snake came out my
mouth and then there was all this
energy crackling and then this pack
of demons interrupted but I totally
kept it together and the next thing
you know ... Buffy.

She proudly awaits his kudos.

GILES
(sadly, quiet)
You're a very stupid girl.

Beat. Willow blinks, re-grouping ...

WILLOW
What? Giles ...

GILES
Do you have any idea what you've
done? The forces you've harnessed?
The lines you've crossed?

WILLOW
I thought you'd be ...
(swallows)
...impressed, or something.

GILES
Oh, don't worry, you've made a
deep impression. Of everyone
here - you were the one I trusted
most to respect the forces of nature.

WILLOW
Are you saying you don't trust me?

GILES
Think what you've done to Buffy.

WILLOW
I brought her back!

GILES
At incredible risk.

WILLOW
Risk? Of what? Making her deader?

GILES
Killing us all. Unleashing a hell on
Earth. Shall I go on?

WILLOW
No! Giles, I did what I had to do.
I did what nobody else could do.

GILES
Oh, there are others in the world
who can do what you did. You
just don't want to meet them.

WILLOW
Okay, probably not - but they're bad
guys. I am not a bad guy. I brought
Buffy back to the world and maybe
the word you should be looking for
is "congratulations."

GILES
Having Buffy back in the world
makes me feel indescribably
wonderful - but I wouldn't
congratulate you if you jumped
off a cliff and happened to survive.

WILLOW
That's not what I did, Giles!

GILES
You were lucky.

WILLOW
I wasn't lucky, I was amazing.
How would you know anyway?
You weren't even there.

GILES
(almost yelling)
If I had been I'd have bloody well
stopped you! The Magicks you
channeled are more primal and
ferocious than you can hope to
understand, and you're lucky to
be alive, you rank, arrogant amateur.

She crossed the line at the beginning of the season and her need for the high that dark magic gave her grew as her life fell apart. In that way it does mimic addiction. But the addiction metaphor falls apart for me once the magic is the weapon - and even further when we are told that quitting wasn't necessary because magic is part of Willow and quitting is impossible. Then it seems like a dammed flood broke loose.

This is where I blame Giles. Once he encouraged and used her for magic then he was responsible to train her. He berated her, but I doubt that did any good. I'd say he seriously dropped the ball.