Why Did Angelus Want To End The World?

Kana

Kana

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I apologize if this has been asked before...

In any event, why do you think Angelus tried to destroy the world in Season 2?

When Angelus first meets the Master we have this exchange:

Master: "We live below, giving tribute to the old ones. Awaiting that promised day when we will arise -Arise! - and lay *waste* to the world above us."
The Master laughs.
Angelus: "Why'd you want to do that?"
Master: "Huh?"
Angelus: "Well, I mean, have you *been* above lately? It's quite nice.
Click to expand...

Angelus seems to have a similar position to Spike here. He seems to like the world has no intention of destroying it. However, fast forward a couple of centuries and then he's all, "Let's destroy the world!!!"

My question is why the change of heart.

Possible theories.

Perhaps the mistake is thinking of Angelus as static. Like all beings, he changes and is influenced.

For example, when he was first turned, he seemed like an evil version of Liam, not quite the Angelus we know today. For starters when he kills his father, it's more an act of anger and frustration, than a solid belief in evil itself. This is not so dissimilar to Spike's evil early on as he finally got his own back on the peers who rejected him.

In short, his soul moments influenced his soulless moments.

I believe the possible impetus behind destroying the world, is Buffy for several reasons.

This line really caught my attention:

Angelus: Now Acathla, you will be free and so will we all.

What did he mean by this? Free from what? It seems the humanity that he associated with love was too much to endure for an 'evil purist' like Angelus to endure. Maybe it was an act of utter desperation to rid himself of the feelings he had.

Joss actually said that Angelus still had feelings for Buffy, but for an idealist like Angel(us) love has meaning beyond itself. It's about a higher nobility beyond the carnal. In short he cannot separate it from morality and for his evil to be pure, love cannot abound. Even self-destruction is more preferable than living with these feelings.

Also Angelus is about control. The apocalypse that the Beast seemed to engineering was an affront to Angelus for one main reason: He didn't cause it!

I also believe it has a poetic element to it. Buffy is a champion and a world saver, so better torment than to have her fail. Even if Angelus suffers in hell, as long as Buffy is suffering, it's enough.

What do you guys think?
 
Mhm I don't understand this either because in the Spin-off Angel you get a flashback when he and Darla wanted to join the master in Buffy season 1. Darla wanted to join, Angelous not because he said exactly this. The world is beautifull with all it's scared people and that's why he won't help the Master to destroy it! Really mysterious.
 
I think it was an effort to counteract all the good Angel was trying to do.

He wanted to be as far removed from "Angel" as he could be, and I think he was also disturbed by the fact that he was so taken over by Angel.

I guess when you think about it, it's like Angelus was mind raped. And forced to live in a structured place that he was completely unhappy with. Not to say that he didn't deserve it.

And once he was free of that, he wanted all memory of it destroyed.

And I think that he couldn't stand the idea that if he ever got his soul back, he'd have to live in that way again, forced down inside of Angel.

Destroying the world takes care of that problem. 🙂

I don't know, I've been thinking about this a lot, since I'm near the end of Season 2 in my re-watch.
 
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EvilWillow
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brinkster130
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Sweet J
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wickedtiger86 said:
I think it was an effort to counteract all the good Angel was trying to do.

He wanted to be as far removed from "Angel" as he could be, and I think he was also disturbed by the fact that he was so taken over by Angel.

I guess when you think about it, it's like Angelus was mind raped. And forced to live in a structured place that he was completely unhappy with. Not to say that he didn't deserve it.

And once he was free of that, he wanted all memory of it destroyed.

And I think that he couldn't stand the idea that if he ever got his soul back, he'd have to live in that way again, forced down inside of Angel.

Destroying the world takes care of that problem. 🙂

I don't know, I've been thinking about this a lot, since I'm near the end of Season 2 in my re-watch.
Click to expand...

I've honestly never given this that much thought, but now that I do, everything wt86 said makes perfect sense. I always thought it was just because he was evil and this way he'd get to watch everyone suffer.
 
It may also simply be that Angelus just opposed The Master on principle. He's got an immense ego, and if there's one thing he hates, it's serving any kind of authority... even when their goals would overlap. The "it's quite nice" dialogue may well have been not much more than a "screw you, old man". (Basically, "Ending the world? Fine. But on my terms & schedule." Just as [MENTION=7540]Kana[/MENTION] said with the "all about control" part of the OP.)

Then again, the purification by utter destruction seems a good theory, too. Especially after IOHEFY.
 
wickedtiger86 said:
I think it was an effort to counteract all the good Angel was trying to do.

He wanted to be as far removed from "Angel" as he could be, and I think he was also disturbed by the fact that he was so taken over by Angel.

I guess when you think about it, it's like Angelus was mind raped. And forced to live in a structured place that he was completely unhappy with. Not to say that he didn't deserve it.

And once he was free of that, he wanted all memory of it destroyed.

And I think that he couldn't stand the idea that if he ever got his soul back, he'd have to live in that way again, forced down inside of Angel.

Destroying the world takes care of that problem. 🙂

I don't know, I've been thinking about this a lot, since I'm near the end of Season 2 in my re-watch.
Click to expand...

I like this. The first time that I watched this season I was kind of young, so I didn't give it much thought. I just thought that every evil...thing wanted to end the world. Except Spike of course 😉 but yes, this all makes sense.
 
Good question. To be honest, I've never really thought much about it, but it is a little odd.

I agree with what [MENTION=9037]wickedtiger86[/MENTION] said, I'll add that I think Angelus saw it as a way of getting back some of the notoriety that he lost when he became Angel. By destroying the world he was reclaiming the title of worst vampire ever and clearing himself of the shame he carried as a result of all the time he spent with a soul and living among humans.

It was a win-win-win of sorts. Angelus was in control, he would undoubtedly regain the crown for the most evil monster, and he would never have to worry about being re-ensouled and living with human emotions.
 
Kana
Kana
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My theory is kind of simple (and also likely incorrect), in that Angelus seems to love nothing more than to torture people and he wanted nothing more than to torture Buffy as much as possible for making him feel love. It was explained that when the world would be sucked into hell, every soul would be tortured for eternity... so there you have it. 😛
 
I always thought that Angelus' attempt to end the world wasn't so much an attempt to destroy it as it was to end the world as we know it, the very laws that govern our universe. Every time that either Spike or Angel has traveled into another dimension, the first, most obvious difference between there and "home" is that the sun has no effect on them. If Angelus could bring about a change like that, it would, in affect, end the world, by changing the natural laws that make vampires strictly creatures of the night. If they had free run, both day AND night, no force on the planet could be organized in time to contain them. It would, indeed, be the end of the old world, in exactly the way that the Apocalypse is supposed to end it. Not by literal total destruction, but by the complete rewriting of the very laws of nature, probably a return to what the world was before the first humans, when demons were in total control.

At least, that's always been my take, not just on Season 2, but on every apocalypse Buffy stopped. The apocalypse is a basic "rebooting" of the universe, with changes both drastic and subtle. Buffy and her crew, by averting it, are simply keeping everything running the way that we have always known it to be.
 
Well I never really thought about it until now,but the one thing that pops into my mind is Drusilla. There always seemed to be a little competition between Spike and Angelus as regards to Drusilla, so maybe wanting to get one up on Spike played a small part in it.
 
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