Spoiler Slayer

I've gotten a couple of e-mails from people who don't feel that the foreshadowing of the Willow/Tara story arc, necessarily points to her death. Which in truth it really doesn't, I probably should have worded a few parts a bit differently. What I should have said, was that there were themes that seemed to foreshadow the issues in the Willow/Tara relationship. This foreshadowing, to me insinuates that the culmination of the 'Willow/Tara - Magic' storyline had been planned for some time. If it was something that happened solely this season, then I might feel that the decision was made this season. The truth is that not only has Willow's magic storyline been a constant since Season Three, it wasn't until 'Something Blue' that we got a glimpse of where it might be going. It was here where we saw the first signs that Willow could have a problem with magic, especially when she became too emotionally involved. It revolves around her anger, and the situations that bring that emotion to the surface. Most of which ties back into her own self-image, specifically how she felt she was seen in High School. It can be as simple as someone she is close to questioning her magic use, or more complex, such as feeling that she is being attacked through her loved ones. She can't fight back either physically or mentally, so she resorts to magic. When she gets emotional (Doppelgangland, Something Blue, Triangle, Tough Love, Tabula Rasa), she begins to lose the ability to control her magic.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that it was my feeling that the entire "Tara dies/Willow becomes the Big Bad" were dependent on each other. I have always felt that in order for any chance for Willow to become the 'Big Bad', it would have to be through Tara. Willow doesn't need any encouragement to delve into areas of magic she should be avoiding, but in order for her to become completely dark, something drastic has to occur. We've seen the hints of this at least twice this season. There was no real need to pull Buffy out of heaven, but for some reason Willow felt that it was her duty to do so. Likewise, a simple argument where she felt she was being attacked, caused her to again use magic for selfish reasons. The point is, that neither the death of Buffy or Tara's leaving were enough to cause her to completely surrender to the power of dark magic. The only time that we've seen her real darkness surface has been when a loved one is threatened. With Oz, she was stopped before she could do any real damage. With Tara and Glory, we had a glimpse of what she might be able to do. Going toe to toe with a god, even if only for a few moments, is nothing to sneeze at. If Willow is going to finally succumb to the darkness and become a major threat, something just as dark would have to trigger it. There is only one thing that could fit that profile, and that would be Tara's death.

The question now becomes not one of 'Who dies', but one of 'What happens next?' If Willow, in all her rage lashes out and kills Warren, and perhaps even endangers the other Scoobies, how do you bring her back? How can you bring back Tara?

On a side note, I think I may have figured out what might cause Willow to go after the Scoobies. If she had been able to use magic, she could have stopped the Troika before Warren killed Tara. The time-consuming nature of their non-magical tracking (including Buffy with the listing of recent rentals in 'Normal Again') has been hinted at several times.

Right now, the current thought seems to be that somehow a 'reset or reversal' will occur. Even I have considered it to be a possibility, as all of those pieces needed to do this are already in play. We could have several episodes of angst, with Tara dying, Willow being consumed by dark magic, Spike attacking Buffy, etc. Then in the season finale, everything is shifted back to normal with a 'reset or reversal'. What that means, is that through some means (magic, timewarp technology, a wish), the show will somehow reset or reverse back to a point before everything bad started happening. Tara will come back to life, Willow will not go dark, and everyone will have a happy ending. Which is a great idea, except there's only one problem with this scenario. It goes against everything that this season has been leading to.

The point of the entire season, is that you have to 'grow up'. You have to make choices, not all of which will be the right ones. You have to realize that your actions have consequences. There is not quick and easy path to becoming an adult. The entire purpose of the 'Troika' is to demonstrate the dangers in attempting to do this the easy way. Sometimes, in order to put food on the table, you have to take a job that you hate. You can't just go out and rob a bank. Taking shortcuts, whether through magic or technology, is avoiding the reality and responsibilities of life. Looking back, it was an important theme in the past with both Jonathan (Earshot, Superstar) and Warren (I Was Made To Love You). Neither of them learned from those lessons, nor have most of the Scoobies. If they had, they wouldn't have felt the need to bring Buffy back to life. She was gone, yet they couldn't deal with that reality.

The funny thing is that one of the Scoobies has already gone through this, and realized that the easy way wasn't the right way. Spike got a taste of this last season, when he asked Warren to build the Buffy-bot. He discovered that it wasn't everything he expected. This was perhaps the first moment when he truly began to show signs of changing. He began to really differentiate between right and wrong, or at least admit when he was wrong. He felt shame and guilt over what he had done, an entirely new concept to Spike. This theme continued into this season, when both Giles and Spike (the more responsible of the Scoobies) were not told about the resurrection. Although he missed Buffy as much as the others, he accepted that she was gone. Just like Giles, he realized that what the Scoobies did was not right (more on Spike in a moment).

If the writers decided to use a 'reset/reversal', then nothing is learned. If it's a wish, nobody will have the memories of what transpired. If some kind of time-device is used, then only the person who makes the change will have the memories. There has to be consequences, there are no shortcuts in real life. Which is not to say that the writers might come up with something along these lines, but I think it's going to have to fit the tone of the season.

Closing out this speculation, I want to talk about Buffy and Spike. With the spoilers that he's heading to Africa to have the chip removed, it would appear that he might be look to return to his old ways. I'm not sure if that's going to be the case, because in a way, the Spike story fits the theme of the season. I've already mentioned how I think that Spike, out of all the Scoobies, has a headstart on the 'grow-up' theme. Having the chip removed may likely be another piece of the puzzle. If he wanted to hurt Buffy, he doesn't need to have the chip removed. He's been able to do this since she returned, and he's known about it since 'Smashed'. Nothing is stopping him from killing her and then going to Africa for a chipectomy.

Having the chip removed in order to become bad again, doesn't make sense. The chip storyline this season has only shown one thing. Spike can hurt Buffy, but he has no desire to do so, not even when she was beating him bloody. There is a reason for Spike wanting the chip removed, which makes sense in terms of the season's theme. The chip itself is a shortcut, a bit of technology that keeps him from doing harm. While it may now be a decision of his own choosing, nobody is going to believe him as long as the chip is in his head. If there truly is going to be some kind of redemption with his character, it's going to have to be through his own freewill, not because he's prevented from hurting others. Which still doesn't guarantee that he won't go bad again, but it will take his character to a new level. Now, instead of having the responsibility for all of his behavior moderated by a chip, it's all going to come down to what he decides to do.

As usual, it's going to be interesting to see what happens.