review
angearia wrote a very interesting analysis of the current arc on DH forum (where she posts as Emmie). I asked her to repost her thoughts in this community and she gave me the permission to post them while she learns to use her LJ account.
Ok, I have a whole jumble of thoughts I'm going to share about the issue. Which I thought was fantastic.
My take on this is that Willow had to live long enough to bring Buffy to the future, to show her the fall-out and then let her go back. That was her mission - to create the temporal fold and ensure that Fray's future *would* exist. That's why she lived on for over 200 years. To play her part in showing Buffy that the "'Fate of the world' made sense when there was only one". Which solves the troubling question of the time paradox. This temporal fold doesn't upset the future and the past, it is a part of how the future comes to be.
Time drudged on and Willow became weary, as immortals often do. The desire for rest grew and she wanted to die, but the only thing keeping her alive was Buffy's trip to the future. She held on, waiting. And eventually came the realization that after Buffy was sent back to the past, she (Willow) could finally be at peace. Lie down and die. The years also enlightened her to the fact that everyone dies, but the difference lies in *how* you die and *who* kills you. Willow lived for centuries to do this service for Buffy - it's only fair that in return, her best friend put her out of her misery.
J'adoube - I touch, I adjust. So Willow orchestrates her plan, manipulating Fray and Harth into a confrontation. Moving the players into place so that "Dark" Willow becomes a threat to Buffy. The intention was always to send Buffy back to the past after showing her the future. Willow just needed Buffy so pissed off that she'd kill "Dark" Willow before going back into the portal. And it worked. Mission accomplished, Willow. She sacrificed her life, sacrificed her time to be at peace, so that she could save the world and save the Slayer line - "She truly was the best of us".
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The temporal anomaly doesn't create a time paradox, but rather fulfills it's purpose in keeping the timeline on track. Future Willow is responsible for the temporal anomaly, which brings Buffy to the future and Present Willow brings her back. Future Willow already has memories of this temporal anomaly, it *already* happened in her past. She already knows that Buffy will return to the present because it has already happened just as both Future and Present Willow know that Willow is the one responsible for bringing her forward.
Willow doesn't want Buffy dead. She shows Melaka a vision that makes it seem like Buffy needs to die, then in this issue Willow reveals that she's "lying to someone. Would [Fray] bet her whole world" and let Buffy go back into the past, perhaps ending Fray's existence. This is the threat Willow uses to cause Fray to attack Buffy. Yet we learn that Buffy goes back to the past and Fray's world continues to exist. This shows Willow was lying to Melaka - Buffy's return to the present doesn't end Fray's existence and future.
Willow creates a situation that puts Buffy in slay mode. Willow lies to both Fray and Harth, manipulating them into an over-wraught situation - both Fray and Harth are attempting to attack, even kill, Buffy.
Willow stands in Buffy's path through the portal, forcing Buffy to attack her. Yet Willow makes no attempt to defend herself, merely lowers her head sadly and says "It's a long story." She stands there meekly and accepts Buffy's attack. The close-up panel of her eyes after Buffy stabs her with the scythe shows no surprise. She was *expecting* this to happen, anticipating it.
Saga Vasuki demanded that Present Willow promise to not look when she goes to bring Buffy back through the portal. The end result is that Present Willow doesn't see her future self dying. Vasuki was contacted by a "someone [she] trust[s]" and this is how she knows the portal will reopen by itself. I believe this "someone" was Future Willow and Vasuki asks Present Willow not to look because she knows that Future Willow is planning to have Buffy kill her.
It really all boils down to two main points for me. Willow planned this for centuries, carefully and methodically. The end result is two-fold:
1) Buffy returns to the present without destroying Fray's existence.
2) Future Willow is killed by Buffy.
If all Future Willow wanted was to show Buffy the future, enlighten her and then send her on her merry way, there would be no need to involve Fray and Harth. No need for the elaborate lies and manipulation. The result of this manipulation is that it puts Buffy on her guard, makes her believe that she has to fight her way back "to save [her own world]." Willow's plan brings Buffy to the future and allows her to get back home, but it also manipulates everyone so that Buffy will kill Willow.
_______________________________________________________________________
I think the purpose of this arc was to validate Fray's existence and show that while that future is dark, the "fate of the world - made sense when there was only one" - I think this is a play on words meaning that it made sense when there was only one world to save, but that it also made sense when there was only one *slayer* to fight the forces of darkness. Buffy hasn't had her epiphany yet that so many slayers without proper guidance are a bad thing (i.e. Simone, Gigi), but future solicitations show that it's only going to get worse for the slayers (issues 21 thru 25). While Buffy isn't completely enlightened by her trip to the future, I think we the reader are supposed to begin to understand that it's leading towards taking the line back to one girl. That the events of Chosen and the consequences of the Slayer Spell have to be dealt with.
This arc actually accomplished what everyone was puzzling over - was Fray's future going to be erased? It shows us how Joss will presumably reconcile the events of Chosen with Fray's future world. I'm predicting the Slayer Spell will be reversed somehow (or at least the slayers will be reduced back to one girl, maybe two...) and this will reconcile the present with the future.
_______________________________________________________________________
Also, how BEAUTIFUL is that one close-up panel of Fray's face as she says "'Fate of the world. Made sense...when there was only one."
I loved how the Buffy/Fray fight played out. How Fray was stronger because it was her turf and her belief in what she was fighting for, but Buffy has the slayer line and the connection making Fray ulitmately "outnumbered". Loved how Buffy uses her ingenuity in fighting to slice open the water tower and take down Fray. That's classic fighting for the Buffster, making the most of her surroundings.
Ok, I have a whole jumble of thoughts I'm going to share about the issue. Which I thought was fantastic.
My take on this is that Willow had to live long enough to bring Buffy to the future, to show her the fall-out and then let her go back. That was her mission - to create the temporal fold and ensure that Fray's future *would* exist. That's why she lived on for over 200 years. To play her part in showing Buffy that the "'Fate of the world' made sense when there was only one". Which solves the troubling question of the time paradox. This temporal fold doesn't upset the future and the past, it is a part of how the future comes to be.
Time drudged on and Willow became weary, as immortals often do. The desire for rest grew and she wanted to die, but the only thing keeping her alive was Buffy's trip to the future. She held on, waiting. And eventually came the realization that after Buffy was sent back to the past, she (Willow) could finally be at peace. Lie down and die. The years also enlightened her to the fact that everyone dies, but the difference lies in *how* you die and *who* kills you. Willow lived for centuries to do this service for Buffy - it's only fair that in return, her best friend put her out of her misery.
J'adoube - I touch, I adjust. So Willow orchestrates her plan, manipulating Fray and Harth into a confrontation. Moving the players into place so that "Dark" Willow becomes a threat to Buffy. The intention was always to send Buffy back to the past after showing her the future. Willow just needed Buffy so pissed off that she'd kill "Dark" Willow before going back into the portal. And it worked. Mission accomplished, Willow. She sacrificed her life, sacrificed her time to be at peace, so that she could save the world and save the Slayer line - "She truly was the best of us".
_______________________________________________________________________
The temporal anomaly doesn't create a time paradox, but rather fulfills it's purpose in keeping the timeline on track. Future Willow is responsible for the temporal anomaly, which brings Buffy to the future and Present Willow brings her back. Future Willow already has memories of this temporal anomaly, it *already* happened in her past. She already knows that Buffy will return to the present because it has already happened just as both Future and Present Willow know that Willow is the one responsible for bringing her forward.
Willow doesn't want Buffy dead. She shows Melaka a vision that makes it seem like Buffy needs to die, then in this issue Willow reveals that she's "lying to someone. Would [Fray] bet her whole world" and let Buffy go back into the past, perhaps ending Fray's existence. This is the threat Willow uses to cause Fray to attack Buffy. Yet we learn that Buffy goes back to the past and Fray's world continues to exist. This shows Willow was lying to Melaka - Buffy's return to the present doesn't end Fray's existence and future.
Willow creates a situation that puts Buffy in slay mode. Willow lies to both Fray and Harth, manipulating them into an over-wraught situation - both Fray and Harth are attempting to attack, even kill, Buffy.
Willow stands in Buffy's path through the portal, forcing Buffy to attack her. Yet Willow makes no attempt to defend herself, merely lowers her head sadly and says "It's a long story." She stands there meekly and accepts Buffy's attack. The close-up panel of her eyes after Buffy stabs her with the scythe shows no surprise. She was *expecting* this to happen, anticipating it.
Saga Vasuki demanded that Present Willow promise to not look when she goes to bring Buffy back through the portal. The end result is that Present Willow doesn't see her future self dying. Vasuki was contacted by a "someone [she] trust[s]" and this is how she knows the portal will reopen by itself. I believe this "someone" was Future Willow and Vasuki asks Present Willow not to look because she knows that Future Willow is planning to have Buffy kill her.
It really all boils down to two main points for me. Willow planned this for centuries, carefully and methodically. The end result is two-fold:
1) Buffy returns to the present without destroying Fray's existence.
2) Future Willow is killed by Buffy.
If all Future Willow wanted was to show Buffy the future, enlighten her and then send her on her merry way, there would be no need to involve Fray and Harth. No need for the elaborate lies and manipulation. The result of this manipulation is that it puts Buffy on her guard, makes her believe that she has to fight her way back "to save [her own world]." Willow's plan brings Buffy to the future and allows her to get back home, but it also manipulates everyone so that Buffy will kill Willow.
_______________________________________________________________________
I think the purpose of this arc was to validate Fray's existence and show that while that future is dark, the "fate of the world - made sense when there was only one" - I think this is a play on words meaning that it made sense when there was only one world to save, but that it also made sense when there was only one *slayer* to fight the forces of darkness. Buffy hasn't had her epiphany yet that so many slayers without proper guidance are a bad thing (i.e. Simone, Gigi), but future solicitations show that it's only going to get worse for the slayers (issues 21 thru 25). While Buffy isn't completely enlightened by her trip to the future, I think we the reader are supposed to begin to understand that it's leading towards taking the line back to one girl. That the events of Chosen and the consequences of the Slayer Spell have to be dealt with.
This arc actually accomplished what everyone was puzzling over - was Fray's future going to be erased? It shows us how Joss will presumably reconcile the events of Chosen with Fray's future world. I'm predicting the Slayer Spell will be reversed somehow (or at least the slayers will be reduced back to one girl, maybe two...) and this will reconcile the present with the future.
_______________________________________________________________________
Also, how BEAUTIFUL is that one close-up panel of Fray's face as she says "'Fate of the world. Made sense...when there was only one."
I loved how the Buffy/Fray fight played out. How Fray was stronger because it was her turf and her belief in what she was fighting for, but Buffy has the slayer line and the connection making Fray ulitmately "outnumbered". Loved how Buffy uses her ingenuity in fighting to slice open the water tower and take down Fray. That's classic fighting for the Buffster, making the most of her surroundings.