I had to struggle through snow that came halfway up to my knees to get this issue of Season 8. I hope you all appreciate my sacrifice. :-) ( Review of 8.39 'Last Gleaming' Part 4 )
You're the first person I've seen suggest that Willow might have been paralyzed by her fall. Thanks for that, I wasn't quite depressed enough by this issue. :-<
I wonder what Georges Jeanty meant a couple months ago in a Q&A when he said we'd soon have reason to "sing the praises" of Aluwyn. Makes me suspect there might be more of her and Willow's story coming up next issue... I dunno.
Regarding Willow,I may be reading too much into it, but we'll see.
The final issue is apparently all going to be from Buffy's perspective so I'm not sure how they'd fit in an interaction between Willow and Saga Vasuki. It could be that it's simply on the level of "The things she taught Willow help Willow to adjust to what's going on"; or it might be something more dramatic. Probably not "Aluwyn ressurrects Giles" level of dramatic; I think they'd see that as way too cheesy even for 'Buffy'. But maybe Aluwyn is the one responsible for Willow still having access to magic power in Fray's world; she somehow finds a way to restore that link for her even if other people in the world are without magic. If Willow then uses the power to heal her (alleged) spinal injuries, that would certainly be a reason to praise Aluwyn.
Or then again, maybe Georges was just talking about the exposition she gave Willow a couple of issues ago. Maybe in the original story plan that scene was more significant than it ended up on the page?
Reading the issue I did wonder how she's supposed to survive that fall without magic, but her being paralyzed didn't even occur to me. Pointing out the possibility made me flash back to Muffitt, Willow's wheelchaired guide in 'Goddesses and Monsters'...
Probably not "Aluwyn ressurrects Giles" level of dramatic; I think they'd see that as way too cheesy even for 'Buffy'.
Well, they were going to resurrect Tara in season 7, if Amber Benson hadn't shot them down... and that would have been all kinds of cheesy. But no, I'm pretty sure we've seen the last of Giles.
But three things make me wonder...
1. Georges' mysterious statement that I mentioned;
2. The vagina monster. It's pretty clear that one way or another, the path to Aluwyn's world lies through a vagina... look at the way Willow normally gets there, and look at the shape of the portal in #37 that Aluwyn opened to pull Willow in. Now look at the shape of that demon, and the fact that it seemed to be zeroing in on Willow particularly.
3. There's that panel in "Fray" of a woman's arm disappearing into a (vagina-shaped) portal, accompanied by a snaky-type appendage. We still haven't seen that.
Well, they were going to resurrect Tara in season 7, if Amber Benson hadn't shot them down
Sorry to jump in here, but I thought they didn't go with that ending because Amber was too busy with other things, not because she shot them down. The scene where she refused to come back was in 'Conversations With Dead People' when Willow spoke with The First.
Just as there's a danger that anything longer than it is thick becomes a phallic symbol, I think we're in danger of assuming any hole taller than it is wide is a vagina symbol. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. :-)
But yes, it doesn't seem impossible that something else might happen. I mean, with no magic and no new vampires being created, season 9 is going to be pretty boring and unBuffylike unless something odd happens next issue - or maybe in 9.01.
I wonder if Willow loses her magic at all, or whether it will just be more limited.
It sounded to me in the Allie interview that the witches loose access to the other magical realms, and whatever power may be drawn from there. However, it seemed to me that earth magic will continue, much as the demons such as vampires who are tied to this realm continue to exist. Just as the slayers of this realm will continue with their powers. Just as Buffy will continue to have Slayer powers but not the Super-Superpowers. I wonder whether Willow will be powered down but not powered out. Which, frankly, is rather helpful. It's like with Heroes where the problem became that folks like Sylar became so damn powerful that there was basically nothing they couldn't do. Powers need limitations to be interesting. I can swee where they could take Willow where she'll have to learn a kinder, gentler earth magic as opposed to Super-Willow.
The strict logic of the situation gets a bit shaky if you look at it too closely. :-) But we've been told by the Exposition Snake that witches will lose their power if the Seed is destroyed, and that's certainly what we seemed to be watching in the scenes with Willow, Amy and the New York wiccans. I suspect that if Willow does find a way to tap into magic power from this Earth, it'll be something unexpected and unanticipated by the other characters, and probably be the plotline of a mini-arc in itself. After all, by Fray's time she somehow had managed to acquire magic again, even if the rest of the world was purely mundane.
I wonder what Georges Jeanty meant a couple months ago in a Q&A when he said we'd soon have reason to "sing the praises" of Aluwyn. Makes me suspect there might be more of her and Willow's story coming up next issue... I dunno.
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The final issue is apparently all going to be from Buffy's perspective so I'm not sure how they'd fit in an interaction between Willow and Saga Vasuki. It could be that it's simply on the level of "The things she taught Willow help Willow to adjust to what's going on"; or it might be something more dramatic. Probably not "Aluwyn ressurrects Giles" level of dramatic; I think they'd see that as way too cheesy even for 'Buffy'. But maybe Aluwyn is the one responsible for Willow still having access to magic power in Fray's world; she somehow finds a way to restore that link for her even if other people in the world are without magic. If Willow then uses the power to heal her (alleged) spinal injuries, that would certainly be a reason to praise Aluwyn.
Or then again, maybe Georges was just talking about the exposition she gave Willow a couple of issues ago. Maybe in the original story plan that scene was more significant than it ended up on the page?
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Well, they were going to resurrect Tara in season 7, if Amber Benson hadn't shot them down... and that would have been all kinds of cheesy. But no, I'm pretty sure we've seen the last of Giles.
But three things make me wonder...
1. Georges' mysterious statement that I mentioned;
2. The vagina monster. It's pretty clear that one way or another, the path to Aluwyn's world lies through a vagina... look at the way Willow normally gets there, and look at the shape of the portal in #37 that Aluwyn opened to pull Willow in. Now look at the shape of that demon, and the fact that it seemed to be zeroing in on Willow particularly.
3. There's that panel in "Fray" of a woman's arm disappearing into a (vagina-shaped) portal, accompanied by a snaky-type appendage. We still haven't seen that.
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Sorry to jump in here, but I thought they didn't go with that ending because Amber was too busy with other things, not because she shot them down. The scene where she refused to come back was in 'Conversations With Dead People' when Willow spoke with The First.
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But yes, it doesn't seem impossible that something else might happen. I mean, with no magic and no new vampires being created, season 9 is going to be pretty boring and unBuffylike unless something odd happens next issue - or maybe in 9.01.
Reply
It sounded to me in the Allie interview that the witches loose access to the other magical realms, and whatever power may be drawn from there. However, it seemed to me that earth magic will continue, much as the demons such as vampires who are tied to this realm continue to exist. Just as the slayers of this realm will continue with their powers. Just as Buffy will continue to have Slayer powers but not the Super-Superpowers. I wonder whether Willow will be powered down but not powered out. Which, frankly, is rather helpful. It's like with Heroes where the problem became that folks like Sylar became so damn powerful that there was basically nothing they couldn't do. Powers need limitations to be interesting. I can swee where they could take Willow where she'll have to learn a kinder, gentler earth magic as opposed to Super-Willow.
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