Willow’s falling further into the darkness and truths are about to emerge. The delicate balance of magic is slowly collapsing and there are many victims in the process.
Note: This recap may contain spoilers!
As we kick off the issue, Faith confronts Willow over her magical snooping and the difference in personality. She tries to appeal to her through the fact Buffy needs her, that the scary version of Willow is freaking everyone out. But appealing to Willow’s sense of friendship doesn’t work. Willow is too far gone. She believes Buffy’s better off without them and they’re better off without her. Willow even says that Buffy only gets in the way. Time to change tactics.
Faith tries to pull rank as the senior Slayer, but Willow’s having none of that. Willow starts using magic and mental manipulation to tear down Faith. She tells Faith she’s weak, pathetic, powerless. And once she’s torn down Faith mentally, Willow uses her magic to toss her out of the house. The direct approach is not going to work in this situation. She’s going to need back-up.
This is where Faith takes control and tries to end the façade, which will likely be best for everyone. She goes to see Buffy at her mother’s house. Joyce uses a cross and Latin to make sure Faith isn’t a monster before she lefts her inside. Smart woman. Buffy is still feeling run down by her attack, but Faith tries to rally her by saying Willow needs her. While Buffy cleans up Faith’s wounds, Faith tells her about Willow’s situation. Giles had said to give Willow more time, but Faith thinks he’s wrong, that something has gone haywire with the magic.
And then Faith reveals they need to get Buffy’s Slayer powers back, which sets Buffy off in determination. The secret is out. Faith follows behind as Buffy stalks over to Giles’ place. Xander and Giles are debating about Baby Crab while Spike looks on. The gang’s all there! When Buffy and Faith arrive, Buffy confronts Giles, asking when he was going to tell her he stole her powers. Spike reveals they never were. Always trust Spike to get right to the truth, even if it hurts. They all knew pretty much the whole time, but had different motivations for not revealing the situation to her.
Faith tries to calm Buffy down, says they need to work together. While it may be the best course of action, it doesn’t mean Buffy is quick to forgive. Buffy says she will work with Faith and Spike, since they respect her. Xander’s in the maybe pile, but Buffy does not want to work with Giles. He was the reason for this whole situation to begin with. He’s the reason Buffy has been feeling disconnected and lost all this time. And while his motivations might have been good, with trying to protect her, it all went wrong. Even though Buffy’s wiling to try and save Willow, forgiveness may be a long time coming.
Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
