Spoiler Slayer

Schroeder Spills

A new source appeared at Television Without Pity yesterday, and provided extensive spoilers on 'Lessons'. They have an early copy of the first episode, which I have no reason to doubt. Though there are some minor differences between the information I've received and what they've posted, much of that could be chalked up to changes in either shooting or editing (and I doubt this will be the only time this happens this season). It's also possible that they didn't post these details for one reason or another, so they could still be present in the episode.

I don't want to post Schroeder's info word for word, as there are specific lines of dialogue included. You can go to Television Without Pity for all the details, it's in the New Spoiler Topic. I'm going to summarize all the major points here.

The episode begins with Buffy giving Dawn pointers on Slaying, there is also a brief segment in Istanbul, where we see what appears to be a Slayer-In-Training attacked, then the opening of the new High School.

Xander's company did build the school, with construction still ongoing. It appears that the Hellmouth is now located under the principals office. On the first day of school, Xander's working on the site, Dawn's off to class, and Buffy's hanging around the school (apparently looking for trouble, which she finds).

The Monster of the Week are three undead creatures (not sure what they are exactly), two students and a janitor. Dawn and Buffy both see them, along with Kit and Carlos. The creatures all seem to be blaming Buffy for their deaths (they feel that she was 'too busy' to save them). Buffy eventually ends up in the basement with Dawn and the others, which is where she runs into Spike (it seems the basement is a bit of a maze).

Spike looks like hell. Not only has his hair grown out a bit and the roots are showing, but he's also got all these cuts and scars on his chest. It seems that he got more than he bargained for, and has been trying to cut out his soul. Spike passes along the info that Buffy needs to stop the creatures (which is a talisman). Buffy can't get to it, so she calls Xander on her cell-phone (the Scoobies have all gone wireless now) and he takes care of it.

The gang now heads back upstairs and this is where Buffy is offered a job by the principal.

Willow and Giles have a few scenes. As I suspected, magic has now become a part of Willow's being. Now instead of going cold-turkey, she has to learn to control her powers. She does, at the end of the episode, mention that she can feel trouble brewing in Sunnydale (a great disturbance in the Force, perhaps).

Anya is in the episode briefly, discussing her not so smooth transition back to being a vengeance demon with Hallie. Apparently her heart might no longer be in the really nasty wishing.

The episode ends with Spike, huddled in a corner in the basement. He has a hallucination, which features all the rumored Big Bads from the past. It starts as Warren, then morphs into Glory, Adam, The Mayor, Drusilla, the Master and then ends with a character that Schroeder did not name. I don't know why they chose not to reveal this on the board, but I'm hoping to get some more information on this. All of them seem to be berating Spike for his love for the Slayer, and what it's done to him. But they are also passing along tidbits that there's much to come in the next few months.

As I mentioned earlier, I really have no reason to doubt anything that they posted. Still want to hedge my bets a bit and move these spoilers to 'Nearly Confirmed', but essentially I think we've gotten the Wildfeed a couple of weeks early. Since most of these spoilers have been floating around in one form or another, I really don't have that much to add to them. I do have a couple of thoughts though...

- Anya's scene does further confirm spoilers that we have for later episodes. Obviously, things are not going well for her. Her heart just doesn't seem to be in the vengeance business anymore.

- I like the parallel in the comments made by the creatures and Spike's vision. The creatures harass Buffy about her 'lack of time or effort', which caused them to die. Likewise, the vision does berate Spike for his feelings for Buffy. It seems that they are focusing on what the character's perceive as their flaws.

- Which begs the question, what is this vision? Is it a shapeshifter demon, or is it something else. My gut feeling is that it could be an extension of the Hellmouth, or spirits which have been caught in or died on the Hellmouth. While it can take any form (which would explain why Spike can see Drusilla), I'm wondering if the 'Big Bad' is in reality something which itself is non-corporeal, but can manifest itself as anything.

- Does this mean it's the 'First Evil'? Probably not, though I could be wrong on this count. While I still feel that the 'First Evil' and the Powers That Be are more firmly rooted in the Angel-mythos, I can't ignore that this is exactly what the 'First Evil' did in 'Amends'. However, if that is the case, then why is there the connection with the Hellmouth? Why come back now?