Xander centric part 2

SpikedBuffy

SpikedBuffy

Love Isn't Brains
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Starting up the second part of our discussion about Xander. We couldn't quite get enough of the Xan-man, so we're revving up again!

Please base your discussions on the following Xander-centric (or related) episodes:
1. Restless (What exactly does it mean?
2. The Replacement
3. Hell's Bells
4. Snippets from "Grave" (The ending) and "Potential" (Speech to Dawn)

Get talking! 🙂
 
Personally my favourite of those would be Potential for obvious reasons. Just the speech he gave to Dawn showed another side to Xander that I hadn't seen before I think it showed how deeply he cared for Dawn also.
 
Also, that he had really matured beyond the clown that he was in the earlier seasons. Dealing without having any power and then providing the words of wisdom that Dawn really needed to hear.
 
In these seasons I liked Xander because he didn't have that pesky crush on Buffy anymore. When he started dating Anya, he kinda grew up a bit.
 
Agreed.

The cool thing is though, that even though he was growing up, he was still fun-loving and interesting. And still laugh-worthy!
 
Yeah, and a lot more likeable in my opinion. I also kind of understand why he left Anya at the altar. He'd rather hurt her now then hurt her even more in the future. That was kinda noble of him. Although, he shouldn't have gone all homicidal when he saw Spike and Anya doing it.
 
SpikedBuffy said:
Agreed.

The cool thing is though, that even though he was growing up, he was still fun-loving and interesting. And still laugh-worthy!
Click to expand...

yeah, i love that about him. if he just stopped growing, it wouldnt make sense, but if he wasnt fun-loving, interesting, and laughworthy, i dont think id like him as much. and as for the leaving anya at the alter thing, i think a lot of people hate him for that because they think it was bad/wrong to hurt her like that and/or out of character. though i dont love it, cause anya is one of my favourite characters, i agree with VG and think it made sense. for one, there's that whole relationships cant last in the buffyverse thing, but also, i see where he was coming from. he really didnt like the people his parents were, and he was worried his relationship would turn out like theirs, and as VG said, he'd rather hurt her now, then hurt her like that later. plus, you can tell he was worried about how the marriage would work out pretty early on, like when he cast the spell in omwf. it didnt seem like he was ready to take such a big step. although i think that, as he said when he proposed to her, it would be hard to picture his life without her in it (hey, she was still around after he left her, and probly wouldve stayed had she not died. and plus, i like her character, dont ruin my picture of it in my perfect little bubble 😛), and they probly wouldve have been together and been good, it was a big change, that may have been in a little ways brought on by the whole glory ordeal. and plus, i think i cant be angry at him for this. somewhere along the line, i developed a liking for xander so strong that i cant hate him...at least i havent so far. one upside of no live season 8, he will never do anything i will hate him for 😉.

you guys likely disagree with everything i just babbled on about, but go ahead and say something. its part of what keeps these discussions going. and speaking of which, in relation to the joke of me being a thread-killer a few threads ago, did anyone notice i hadnt posted here yet, and lots of people did...???
 
Xander dram in Restless was brilliant, especially the parts with Joyce, they were so funny!
And I love the episode The replacement, It's one I always forget about though. Seeing the two Xanders was brilliant, and it was done so well considering it could have been so cheesy. But the two xanders were so different, Nick did a great job at displaying two very different types of characters.

I have only actually seen Hell's Bells once, I liked it. I loved the ending when Anya gets offered her job back, I was totally shocked. But seeing the fake future was kind of cool.

I also don't really agree with, or get, Xanders reasons for not marrying Anya. As he was clearly in love with her. I think it has something to do with Buffy, I think the fact that the fake anya mentions that he still loved Buffy had something to do with why the real xander broke it off!

Then the Parts of Grave were he makes his Crayon speech are just excellent, It was so good to see Xander save the world. It was also perfect to have him stop willow, as we know their bond and how much they love each other.
His Dawn speech is another classic Xander moment, I just love it.
 
I love Xander. I think the only episode Xander annoyed me or I didn't like in was The Zeppo. I found that a very awkward and unimporant episode. As much as I love Xander, I would have liked to have seen more of the apocolypse and less of him in that one. But that's not what I'm here to discuss.

WILLOW: You can't stop this.
XANDER: Yeah, I get that. It's just, where else am I gonna go? You've been my best friend my whole life. World gonna end ... where else would I want to be?
WILLOW: (scornfully) Is this the master plan? You're going to stop me by telling me you love me?
XANDER: Well, I was going to walk you off a cliff and hand you an anvil, but ... it seemed kinda cartoony.
WILLOW: Still making jokes.
XANDER: I'm not joking. I know you're in pain. I can't imagine the pain you're in. And I know you're about to do something apocalyptically (glancing back at the statue) evil and stupid, and hey. (spreading out his arms) I still want to hang. You're Willow.
WILLOW: (angry) Don't call me that.
XANDER: First day of kindergarten. You cried because you broke the yellow crayon, and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far, ending the world, not a terrific notion. But the thing is? Yeah. I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow and I love ... scary veiny Willow. So if I'm going out, it's here. If you wanna kill the world? Well, then start with me. I've earned that.
WILLOW: (upset) You think I won't?
XANDER: It doesn't matter. I'll still love you.
WILLOW: (angry) Shut up.
XANDER: I love you.
XANDER: (panting) I ... love y-
WILLOW: Shut up!!
XANDER: I love you, Willow.
WILLOW: Stop!
XANDER: I love you.
WILLOW: Stop.
XANDER: I love you.
(Willow starts to cry and, as Xander gets right up to her, she starts hitting him with her fists. Xander just stands there and takes it. After a moment she stops hitting and starts to cry for real. She falls to her knees and Xander kneels with her, puts his arms around her and holds her while she sobs.
As Willow continues to cry in Xander's arms, the veins fade away from her face and her hair returns to its usual red.)
Click to expand...
(script from Buffyworld)

Amazing scene. 'Bout to make me cry just copying/pasting it. Anyway, it really shows how strong Xander is (not to mention Willow). It doesn't seem like much, but hey, he saved the world. Makes a difference. It's probably Xander's most memorable moment.

...(writer's block, sorry) Xander has always had a thing for Willow. Literally. always will. Not necessarily like he wants her or anything, he just loves her (who wouldn't?). This is probably the first scene where we actually find out how deep that "thing" he has for her really goes. Since the 6th season was the first one I watched, this episode made a huge impression on me, which luckily, was a great one. Gotta love this scene... it would be interesting to hear everyone else's opinions. 🙂
 
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