Spoiler Slayer

Follow-Up

Before I head onto the news of the day (and this is the first of many warnings, there are Angel spoilers in this update), I did want to touch on some things I mentioned yesterday.

I've gotten a great deal of mail on the comment that I made yesterday about not understanding what 'The First' was up to in 'Sleeper'. Unlike what many would probably suspect, I rarely watch any of the new season's episodes more than once. Unless I want to go back and clarify a detail, which is probably something I should have done yesterday.

As many have pointed out, 'The First' was not expecting Spike to bring Buffy to the basement in 'Sleeper'. However, I still feel that the encouragement to 'Taste her, take her, weaken her' was a bad idea, especially in light of Spike's inability to follow directions up to this point. If Buffy is crucial to the plans of 'The First', it's being more than a bit careless. While the Ubervamp was pulling its punches to some extent, Buffy still was at risk of being killed. The Bringers, as I mentioned yesterday, are certainly not pulling their punches.

The goal that 'The First' seems to be pursuing at this point is to weaken the Scooby gang. Spike and Buffy are the two strongest, so it's been focusing on them. Likewise, in 'Conversations With Dead People', it singled out Dawn and Willow. As for Xander and Anya, an argument could be made that Anya was only recently brought back into the fold, and it simply does not see Xander as any threat at all (which I have a feeling is going to be a big mistake in the long-run).

The point that I was trying to make, is that not all of the actions of 'The First' are making a lot of sense. If the goal is merely to kill all of the SIT's, then Faith, then Buffy, I don't understand why the Scoobies are even of concern to it at this point. Perhaps it's merely a way to pace the storyline through the season, but I would point out that a season-long 'Big Bad' didn't work the last time this was attempted (Season Five), and the swap from Little to Big Bad in Season Six was perhaps a bit too late for my tastes. But that probably explains why so many of the episodes this season, while interesting episodes, seem to be either spinning their wheels or treading ground already covered. Take for example, the entire point of the seal in the Sunnydale basement. This has been built up for most of the season. But after dragging the remaining members of the Troika up from Mexico, killing Jonathan, risking a frontal assault on the Summer's house to retrieve Spike, we are presented with a threat which Buffy still is able to deal with. Not only that, but in a few episodes we'll discover that none of this was even necessary (as anyone it seems can raise an Ubervamp with just a little blood).

But I appreciate all the feedback and everyone who took time to point out that 'The First' didn't want Buffy to be killed in 'Sleeper'. No matter what, a lot seems to be hinging on Buffy and perhaps Faith at this point. Because of this, I'm paying more attention to Angel spoilers than I had in the past. I also think that in certain cases, I can't avoid mentioning them here on the site. So be forewarned (This is warning number two), Angel spoilers follow in the next section.

Angel Spoilers (Warning Three)

If you want to be unspoiled about 'Angel' and you're still reading at this point, don't blame me.

Because Faith's return is obviously going to play a big role in the final part of Season Seven, I've been having to track 'Angel' spoilers a bit more than I normally would (in the normal course of events, I try to stay unspoiled). I do want to continue to relate Faith spoilers as they deal with that show, as they could have importance to when and how she will return to 'Buffy'.

I am going to handle it differently than I do 'Buffy' spoilers. I'm only going to post spoilers that I can specifically verify through either industry or media channels. Even though reliable sources might be reporting information from scripts or other means, I'm only going to pass along Faith spoilers that I've been able to confirm through my own sources. For those who want more details on both Faith and Angel spoilers, I highly recommend Spoiled Rotten.

That being said (the explanation is going to be longer than the spoilers), here's the pertinent information. Note: I'm not tying these to a particular episode and there is obviously known info that I'm not mentioning, but again I haven't been able to confirm it on my own.

Faith will be attacked in prison by another inmate. The inmate will use a dagger, supposedly one similar to those used by 'The Bringers'. Faith will disarm her attacker and the guards will take care of the rest.

Faith gets out of prison (and this is where I can't confirm how, so I'm not going to comment), and joins the others in their fight to restore Angel's soul. Faith battles Angelus on one, if not two occasions.

After all is said and done, it would appear that Angelus has tried to either kill or vamp Faith. She's in a near-death state, and somehow her an Angelus are connected. Both of them are reliving events that happened in the past, after Angel was souled for the first time. So it appears that Buffy will not be the only Slayer doing some time-travelling in an upcoming episode.

The big question mark is whether or not Faith has been vamped. The others are watching over her while she's in this state, so I would presume that if she is turned they would stake her. Then again, we have no idea what kind of power a Vamped Slayer would actually have. Whatever the case, I will be keeping an eye out for any other Faith spoilers and pass them along as they come out.

Things are going to get very interesting...