As we reach the midway point of the Willow miniseries, and issue 17 of Buffy, we find ourselves learning more about the sinister underbelly the Slayer and her friends must face...
Buffy issue 17
The first thing to be noted about Buffy issue 17 is that it’s another little stand-alone or background issue, much as issue 13 was. But rather than focusing on Kendra or another Slayer, we are finally properly introduced to the Watcher’s Council in its brand new, shiny format. And not only are we introduced to the Council, but a familiar-looking Watcher by the name of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.
The most striking thing about this new Watcher’s Council is that council head Quentin Travers is conspicuously missing. In his place, we have a new female head of the Council quite possibly introduced to move away from the majority of the Council being female as they were in the show. Despite the exception of a few female Watchers mentioned in passing, or appearing in season five, it was very much implied that the Council was a male-dominated environment, perhaps prompting this change. But while Travers is missing, the Council’s rules don’t seem to have differed all that much. They are still intent on keeping the Slayers under the Council thumb, believing that Slayers should simply follow orders and be controlled by the elite (and still mostly white) Watcher’s Council. It seems that even with a woman in charge, the Council are still as insufferable and controlling as on the television show.
Another thing that this issue brings up is that Kendra entering the Hellmouth activated another Slayer. I’d already suggested this as a possibility back when I reviewed Hellmouth issue 5, and while Faith wasn’t named in this issue it looks increasingly likely that she’s the most recently called Slayer, particularly as Wesley is sent to deal with her.
But what I enjoyed most about this issue was getting to meet the new Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, along with his unlikely but welcome ally in the ghost of a certain Ethan Rayne. This unexpected pairing was certainly a delight to read, with Wesley wanting to be the golden boy of the Council even as Ethan incites him to break the rules, and it’s certainly a team-up I can’t wait to read more of.
With Ethan having died young before he could become a Watcher, he now apparently haunts the Council halls, and particularly enjoys taunting Wesley. We don’t yet know how Ethan died, but he has a deep disdain for Giles, suggesting that his death is linked to Giles’s past, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we found out that the Eyghon situation happened in the comics with Ethan dying instead of Randall. It’s also worth noting that a Diedre was mentioned during the Council meeting, and of course a young Giles practiced magic with Deidre alongside Ethan and Randall. While it could be a coincidence, it could also be that a group of young Watchers in training accidentally got Ethan killed during training, or by messing about.
Meanwhile, Wesley disagrees with how the Council is handling matters, particularly as it’s revealed that Watchers are in danger. Yet again, we have a storyline that feels very similar to that of the First Evil story of season seven, and the fact that the First Evil was mentioned in Hellmouth to have vanished makes me suspicious about what the Scoobies could be facing. With the Council wanting to keep the Slayers in the dark, Wesley has concerns about whether that’s the best policy but finds that he cannot voice his fears out loud. Just like on screen, he wants to make a good impression, and seems very reluctant to break the rules even when his gut is telling him that something bad is happening. In fact, even a frustrated Ethan telling him to stand up for himself doesn’t convince him, which is particularly intriguing seeing as dead Ethan seems a lot more interested in justice than chaos.
I particularly enjoyed the allusions to the show, as well as to other plots in the comics, in this issue. While Ethan likens Wesley to Giles much the same way the two were compared on screen, we are also faced with the possibility of Anya and Ethan knowing one another. In the final issue of Hellmouth, Anya referred to Giles as ‘Ripper’, and has also said that she trained as a Watcher. Does that mean that she trained with both Giles and Ethan? Or did she simply stumble across Giles in his Ripper phase? And was Ethan a part of that? This issue has raised a lot of questions, and thankfully they’re the sort that are exciting rather than frustrating.
The issue finishes with Wesley being shipped off to the states in order to track down and train the new Slayer, with Ethan deciding to follow him. Closing on a panel of Wesley being attacked by his taxi driver- much the same way the episode Sleeper closed with Giles being attacked by a Bringer, it seems like he is definitely going to be thrown into active duty at the deep end. And I’m not sure Ethan’s sarcastic wit can save him...
Willow issue 3
Issue three of Willow unfortunately, for me, felt a little too much like Hellmouth issue three and not in a good way. That is, to say, that the issue very much seemed like a filler one. While necessary to move the plot forward, it didn’t exactly grab me and it very much dulled my enjoyment. This is, I feel, another of those issues that will be perfectly fine in the graphic novel but less exciting when you have to wait an entire month for the next instalment.
With that said, this issue isn’t exactly a waste of time. Although Willow starting to suspect Abhainn’s weird nature isn’t exactly a surprise, it’s obviously an important turning point, and the town is definitely growing creepier now that she’s realised there’s something slightly sinister about the whole thing. There’s a sense of unease that doesn’t quite make sense, and could be easily dismissed if we weren’t in tune with how wrong the thing feels. People are that little bit too friendly, there’s an insistence that Willow belongs there that feels a little like a cult or a hostage situation that our favourite witch hadn’t realised before.
Perhaps the thing I liked most this issue was that there seems to be a border at the edge of town in the woods, almost like a protection circle. The birds won’t cross it, and stay inside the border, and when Willow discovers it she’s quickly found by some overly-friendly witches who offer to show her back to town. We’ve already got the idea that people can’t leave, but now it seems that Willow is starting to pick up on it. And she’s not the only one who perhaps wants out, as the girl who tried to escape at the end of issue one makes a reappearance in the group of witches who find Willow in the woods. Quiet, cautious, and quite possibly scared, she reminds me of a certain Tara Maclay, although I doubt that’s who she’s intended to be.
But that brings me to an interesting point; while this miniseries is perfectly enjoyable, at the moment I’m not sure how much of an impact it would have on the Buffy comic universe as it is. Of course, Willow will likely come back with a better understanding of herself and her magic, and there’s a possibility the cult-like feeling of Abhainn might make her think carefully about her own magic usage and whether she wants to be in a community like that. But on the whole, I think it will only affect Willow as a character, rather than there being an actual physical change, and while that’s perfectly fine I can’t help but wonder if an opportunity has been missed.
As I said, I doubt that girl in the woods is intended to be Tara, but I do think that this would have been a good opportunity to bring her in if they wanted. With Rose and Kendra now seemingly dating or approaching dating, and with Xander gone, bringing Tara in wouldn’t necessarily feel like they’re trying to push Rose out. I think my main reason for feeling like this would be a good time to introduce Tara is because the Abhainn community reminds me of Willow joining the UC Sunnydale Wicca group. After all, neither groups are what Willow thought they were. While the Wicca group was more interested in bake sales and fundraisers, Abhainn is much more sinister than it first seemed.
I am very much feeling like the major factor in Abhainn’s spookiness, whether it’s intended to echo the UC Sunnydale Wicca group or not, is a lingering magic intended to persuade Willow to say. Much like Normal Again where Buffy’s dream is supposed to offer her lots of things that would make her want to stay, it feels like Abhainn is trying to attract Willow with its friendliness and its community spirit and openness with magic. In the same way that Buffy could be enticed to stop fighting in Normal Again by being offered two loving parents who are alive and still together, Willow could be enticed to remain in Abhainn by being welcomed into a community that celebrates her magic and encourages her to use it openly. In Sunnydale, she was having to keep it secret even from her own girlfriend, and while Buffy and Xander don’t raise concerns about it in the same way they did on screen, Willow still couldn’t be all that open about it. In Abhainn, she has supposedly met a group of like-minded women who understand what it’s like to wield such power. For a young woman like Willow, that has to be an attractive opportunity to join them.
Overall, this issue helped move the plot forward and started up towards the wrap-up of Willow’s own series, but on the whole it didn’t raise much in the way of new questions, answers, or information. Enjoyable, sure, but nothing magical.
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