The Very Heart of Me: Timeline
How Ethan's involvement with Rupert and the Scoobies fits into Season 2. Since I worked it out while writing the story, figured I'd post it.
Story index is here.
Season 2
Halloween:
Corresponds to my prologue. Rupert and Ethan get back together.
Lie To Me:
At end, Giles asks Ethan to stay behind while he joins Buffy at Ford's grave because Giles knows that Buffy doesn't trust Ethan and wouldn't want him there. Ethan interprets this to mean that Buffy is more important to Giles than he is.
The Dark Age:
Ethan makes a big production out of enjoying Buffy's aerobics. They bicker banter a bit over it.
After seeing the demon, Ethan wants to flee but Giles refuses to leave with him. When Buffy asks why Giles didn't show up at the hospital, to keep the blood donations away from the vampires, Ethan tells her about the demon even though Giles wants to keep her out of it. Ethan earns a bit of trust from Buffy by being honest with her.
What's My Line?:
Ethan, never one for the rules, is sympathetic to Buffy's desire for freedom. When he and Giles argue over it, Ethan tells Giles, “You had a choice.” When Giles denies that he ever had a choice about being a Watcher, Ethan brings up his rebellious youth.
Ethan picks up on Xander and Cordy's relationship immediately.
Bad Eggs:
Because Xander had boiled his egg, Ethan decides that Xander has an intuitive awareness of demons. He'd taken the most appropriate action he could with the egg even before knowing it was a demon egg. Giles does not agree with this assessment and thinks Xander was just being lazy about the egg and happened to get lucky. Ethan starts working on gaining more trust from Buffy and Willow so he can get some stories about how Xander has acted in the past in relation to demons.
Ethan starts teaching Willow magic but the more formal Wicca rather than chaos magic.
When Giles is late getting home, Ethan goes looking for him at the school only to run across Buffy and Xander as they stumble out of the closet. He fills them in on the beozar demon and is part of the group that infiltrates it's nest.
Surprise:
Jenny, since she's not strongly connected to Giles, has sent accurate reports back to her relatives and there are more gypsies in town, than just her and her uncle, when Angel loses his soul. No difference to the overall plot; just a few more for Angelus to kill.
Innocence:
Ethan is impressed by Xander's plan, with the rocket launcher, but also feels a sense of irony because if he hadn't tricked them all at Halloween, Xander wouldn't have the soldier experience to have come up with the plan.
Phases:
Giles laughs at Xander's moon pie joke because Xander and Ethan have been bonding so he's trying to be friendly with Xander OR realize Ethan right that he's been denigrating Xander OR Ethan invite Xander over, Cartoon Network, as a subtle way of telling Giles he's too busy with his books.
Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered:
The love spell is not gender specific so that straight women and gay men fall for Xander. Ethan always has a spell on himself to protect himself from outside spells so he does not fall for Xander but Giles does. This is the basis for Ethan's idea that Giles plans to seduce Xander; he knows Giles only attracted because of a spell but seeing his lover lusting after someone else leaves him feeling wounded. He later tells Giles, “I thought it had opened your eyes to his... abilities.”
Cordy does not take Xander back at the end of this episode.
Go Fish (shifted episode order):
Ethan doesn't want to go with Giles and Buffy into the sewers and even makes an excuse that he has to watch the shop but then he worries that Giles might get hurt so he does go with them. Buffy, thinking he's doing it for all the right reasons and not just to protect Giles, says that he's a better man than he pretends to be. She regrets her words and considers taking them back when Ethan complains the entire time they are in the sewers.
Passion:
Giles' snark about Xander taking a “complex thought down to it's simplest possible form” is because Ethan and Xander spend time together and Giles is feeling jealous.
Ethan buys and starts running the magic shop about a month after it's owner is killed by Drusilla.
Becoming:
Ethan performs the spell to restore Angel's soul in his shop, instead of the library, which he, being a careful man, has warded against vampires. Since Angel has his soul back, he does not try to end the world and they get the Acathala statue out of town before some idiot can use it to end the world.
Drusilla is furious that they stole her Daddy from her but Spike convinces her to leave town with him, glad to have his girl back to himself.
Story index is here.
Season 2
Halloween:
Corresponds to my prologue. Rupert and Ethan get back together.
Lie To Me:
At end, Giles asks Ethan to stay behind while he joins Buffy at Ford's grave because Giles knows that Buffy doesn't trust Ethan and wouldn't want him there. Ethan interprets this to mean that Buffy is more important to Giles than he is.
The Dark Age:
Ethan makes a big production out of enjoying Buffy's aerobics. They bicker banter a bit over it.
After seeing the demon, Ethan wants to flee but Giles refuses to leave with him. When Buffy asks why Giles didn't show up at the hospital, to keep the blood donations away from the vampires, Ethan tells her about the demon even though Giles wants to keep her out of it. Ethan earns a bit of trust from Buffy by being honest with her.
What's My Line?:
Ethan, never one for the rules, is sympathetic to Buffy's desire for freedom. When he and Giles argue over it, Ethan tells Giles, “You had a choice.” When Giles denies that he ever had a choice about being a Watcher, Ethan brings up his rebellious youth.
Ethan picks up on Xander and Cordy's relationship immediately.
Bad Eggs:
Because Xander had boiled his egg, Ethan decides that Xander has an intuitive awareness of demons. He'd taken the most appropriate action he could with the egg even before knowing it was a demon egg. Giles does not agree with this assessment and thinks Xander was just being lazy about the egg and happened to get lucky. Ethan starts working on gaining more trust from Buffy and Willow so he can get some stories about how Xander has acted in the past in relation to demons.
Ethan starts teaching Willow magic but the more formal Wicca rather than chaos magic.
When Giles is late getting home, Ethan goes looking for him at the school only to run across Buffy and Xander as they stumble out of the closet. He fills them in on the beozar demon and is part of the group that infiltrates it's nest.
Surprise:
Jenny, since she's not strongly connected to Giles, has sent accurate reports back to her relatives and there are more gypsies in town, than just her and her uncle, when Angel loses his soul. No difference to the overall plot; just a few more for Angelus to kill.
Innocence:
Ethan is impressed by Xander's plan, with the rocket launcher, but also feels a sense of irony because if he hadn't tricked them all at Halloween, Xander wouldn't have the soldier experience to have come up with the plan.
Phases:
Giles laughs at Xander's moon pie joke because Xander and Ethan have been bonding so he's trying to be friendly with Xander OR realize Ethan right that he's been denigrating Xander OR Ethan invite Xander over, Cartoon Network, as a subtle way of telling Giles he's too busy with his books.
Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered:
The love spell is not gender specific so that straight women and gay men fall for Xander. Ethan always has a spell on himself to protect himself from outside spells so he does not fall for Xander but Giles does. This is the basis for Ethan's idea that Giles plans to seduce Xander; he knows Giles only attracted because of a spell but seeing his lover lusting after someone else leaves him feeling wounded. He later tells Giles, “I thought it had opened your eyes to his... abilities.”
Cordy does not take Xander back at the end of this episode.
Go Fish (shifted episode order):
Ethan doesn't want to go with Giles and Buffy into the sewers and even makes an excuse that he has to watch the shop but then he worries that Giles might get hurt so he does go with them. Buffy, thinking he's doing it for all the right reasons and not just to protect Giles, says that he's a better man than he pretends to be. She regrets her words and considers taking them back when Ethan complains the entire time they are in the sewers.
Passion:
Giles' snark about Xander taking a “complex thought down to it's simplest possible form” is because Ethan and Xander spend time together and Giles is feeling jealous.
Ethan buys and starts running the magic shop about a month after it's owner is killed by Drusilla.
Becoming:
Ethan performs the spell to restore Angel's soul in his shop, instead of the library, which he, being a careful man, has warded against vampires. Since Angel has his soul back, he does not try to end the world and they get the Acathala statue out of town before some idiot can use it to end the world.
Drusilla is furious that they stole her Daddy from her but Spike convinces her to leave town with him, glad to have his girl back to himself.