Spoiler Slayer

You Think You Know, What's To Come

Note: Since I posted this, I received over 20 emails within the past three hours alone asking me "What is the Shanshu Prophecy"? The answer can be found at City Of Angel - To Shanshu In L.A. (sigh...)

Nothing new, so I've decided to take a few minutes to cover some of the rumors that have been floating around, particularly those about the 'Big Bad'.

There has been a lot of talk of Shapeshifters, the First Evil, and others, in an attempt to explain the reports that many of the 'Big Bads' of the past will be returning this season. However, after much pavement pounding and web surfing, I've been completely unable to turn up any information that would confirm or deny anything. So at the moment, I definitely feel that a shapeshifer could be a potential 'Bad' for the season.

One thing I doubt is that this will be the return of the 'First Evil'. I know it's a popular idea, one that's been batted around more than once in speculation sessions almost every season. While it's a good idea, my issue with it is similar to the thought that the 'Shanshu' prophecy may relate to Spike and not Angel.

Ever since the Angel Series began, the writers seemed to have done a lot of work to create an entirely new mythology for the series. While certain aspects of the Buffy mythology remain, it has grown quite a bit from what we had learned on Buffy. In the Buffy-verse (as opposed the Angel-verse), the forces of 'Good' and 'Evil' are delivered in much smaller packages. It exists in either lone (but powerful) individuals or large (but powerless) groups. The concept of the 'Powers That Be' or 'Wolfram and Hart' really don't fit into the Buffy-verse. There's also much more gray to the Angel-verse, good vs. evil is not as cut and dry as it is at times on Buffy. Warren was completely evil to the core, but can the same be said of Justine or Holtz?

To me, the 'First Evil' firmly belongs in the Angel-verse, which is why I don't think we'll see it return to Sunnydale. It's main purpose was to begin Angel's move from Sunnydale to Los Angeles. It hardly seemed interested in the Slayer, almost like Buffy was just a minor player in the game. Whereas Angel has been made a crucial part of the battle between 'Good' and 'Evil'. If the 'First Evil' were ever to reappear, I would bet that it's going to be in the penthouse of the Wolfram and Hart building.

The point is, that until I get some solid info either way, I'm going to fall back on my usual guess as to what will happen. "E - None of the Above". Even the solid spoilers I'm hearing could suggest a number of scenarios. While many think that the 'Slayers-In-Training' storyline may end up with the 'Council of Watchers' being the 'Big Bad', I wouldn't bet on that just yet. We could discover that for all the build-up, how they are actually used is only a minor plot-point. Perhaps Buffy is researching her background, and is reading the accounts of previous Slayers before they were called? Maybe something is killing them, and the Council turns to Buffy and Giles to help track down the killer? There are too many scenarios to count and it's much too early to tell.

The good news is, according to comments made by Drew Goddard at the Beta Bronze, shooting starts this week. Which means that more spoilage should not be far behind.