The first Buffy issue of 2021 was certainly an eye-opener, particularly as it focused on everyone’s favourite Vengeance Demon. With Anya Jenkins at the heart of her own issue, it gave us a fun, fast-paced backstory explaining just how she got into the position we saw her in at the end of last issue. We also learn a great deal more about Morgan, the Slayer who has teamed up with Anya in an attempt to take down Giles, Wesley, and Robin.
The first thing we learn is that Anya’s origin story is pretty much the same as in the show; Olaf cheated on her, she turned him into a troll, D’Hoffren offered her a job. But the second thing we learn is that Anya’s stint as a Watcher was actually surprisingly similar in a way to Giles’s. Or at least, Giles’s stint on-screen. Anya is fired by the head of the Watcher’s Council because her behaviour is ‘rebellious and out of line’, leaving Anya to argue that her Slayer would have died had she not acted. She is then informed that the Council is not intending to ‘correct’ her Slayer due to her being the ripe old age of 22. Of course, their attempt to ‘correct’ Faith in the show involved drugging and kidnapping a seventeen year old girl and trying to ship her off to England, so there’s a good chance their ‘correction’ techniques are lacking anyway, but still it’s concerning to hear them apparently write off a 22 year old so fast. They go on to claim that Anya’s Slayer- a girl called Isabelle- is seen as too old, and too ruined by Anya’s training to be of any use. The plan is to send Isabelle into the field and let things run their natural course. They also destroy Anya’s shop and training cellar, which admittedly made me think of the Magic Box and was another nice little link to Giles and Anya.
Fast forwarding to Cleveland, Ohio, in a great nod to Anya’s debut episode The Wish wherein Buffy had ended up in Cleveland instead of Sunnydale, due to the fact Cleveland also has a Hellmouth, we finally get to Anya’s meeting with Morgan. Morgan Palmer is a 25 year old Slayer, the oldest living Slayer it seems, and is sent to stock up on supplies from the Magic Box before going out on a mission. Morgan reveals to Anya that she not only knows who she really is, but also overheard her Watcher Stephen and the head of the Council Dorothy talking about sending her into a trap. Apparently, they have decided- much as they apparently did with Isabelle- that Morgan is too old to be the Slayer, and want her to die so they can get a younger one. Both Stephen and Dorothy plan to send Morgan to her death, telling her she’s going to a vamp nest but neglecting to mention the demon that runs it. Morgan appeals to Anya for help, wanting to make a wish against her Watcher, but Anya stops her and encourages her to think hard about what she wants to do. She could hurt her Watcher, or she could dismantle the entire Council.
What makes this so interesting is that Anya has her own personal vengeance mission against the Council; they killed Isabelle only about a month after firing Anya, and apparently refused to hire another female Watcher after her because they were too ‘emotional’. Even with a female Council head, they’re apparently very patriarchal, and it makes a lot of sense that Anya wants vengeance against them for that. She and Morgan come up with a plan, wherein Anya gives her a ring to wear that prevents her from really dying, and they agree to take the Council back to give Morgan and other girls like her their futures back.
We flash forward again at this point, and once again see Anya prompting Giles to seek out the Slayer before Buffy, before we see Anya and Morgan enact a vital part of their plan; taking down Morgan’s Watcher. With Morgan killing her Watcher while Anya watches, it offers up a chilling prospect for what’s to come. Prior to this, I had assumed that Morgan would be doing the killing, but it seems that there’s a good chance they want to instead encourage Buffy, Kendra, and Faith to kill their Watchers themselves. While I don’t think any of them would exactly go for it, it makes you wonder what plans Anya has up her sleeves. After all, Buffy and Kendra have no reason to distrust her, and she’s helped them out a lot, from Buffy getting things they needed to save Xander from her, to Anya fighting alongside the girls in the Hellmouth. And besides, Buffy and Kendra have both expressed some issue or isolation when it comes to being the Slayer; while Faith might be hard to convince the other two might be able to be swayed.
There were lots of great things about this issue, from learning more about Anya’s time as a Watcher, to the fact that she apparently keeps setting up the Magic Box at different Hellmouths (or, at least, Cleveland and Sunnydale). Morgan also is an interesting character, and having her as around ten years older than the others brings in a new perspective and stops it from becoming a small army of teenage Slayers. Having an older, battle-worn Slayer will be interesting, particularly with both Buffy and Kendra trying to balance relationships with slaying. It was also a nice break from Vampire Xander, who for me can get a little dull at times.
I will say, though, that I’m still uncertain about this storyline. It looks like a few of my guesses in my last review hit their marks, such as Anya going after Watchers who don’t shun the Council, as well as Anya having a hand in Morgan’s survival, but overall I’m feeling pretty in the dark about it all. I think at the moment my main concern is about what could happen once all of this blows over. I would love Anya to stick around, particularly as she and Giles seem to share similar views about the Council, and so I can’t help but be worried that we’re going to lose her once this plot has run its course. Of course, if it becomes a case of her going off to help Morgan, then I’d be happy with that, but I’d still rather keep Anya in Sunnydale. And with my concern being that she is going to try and turn Buffy on Giles, I’m not all that certain I’m going to enjoy every aspect of this plot. We still, of course, have to find out how she and Giles know each other exactly, particularly with her calling him ‘Ripper’. I’d been under the impression they’d been Watchers at the same time, but that’s clearly not the case, and so I wonder if it’s more a case of her deliberately getting close to him in order to take him down. You know what they say, after all; keep your friends close and your enemies closer...
Overall, this issue hasn’t entirely dissipated my concerns for the storyline, and I think it’s going to be a tough one with regards to the fact that the Council is very clearly not good and Giles, Wesley, and Robin, no matter how well-meaning, are a part of that structure. I think there are going to be doubts before things get better, and particularly with Faith it could be easy to persuade her that the random men wanting her to fight vampires might not really care about her. While Kendra and Buffy will be harder to convince, they have their own insecurities and wants and desires. Kendra was denied a family by the Council, while Buffy is desperate to just be a normal teenager. If Anya can offer them those things, there’s a good chance they waver. And if they waver, that could mean trouble for Giles and Robin. I think, maybe, we’re about to find out how powerful Anya Jenkins really is...
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