Selfless

[Bangelxx]

So ya'll remeber this ep? I thought it was AMAZING! when you watched it for the first time did you think Buffy was really gonna kill anya? I wasn't sure...but I thought it was definitely a possiblility. I felt so bad for Xander and Anya there at the end! i wish they'd just stay together!!! *sigh*

[VisionGuy]

This episode was really good. I just couldn't stand Xander's hypocricy in the whole situation. He was all for killing Angel when he was Angelus but not for killing Anya when she was a vengeance demon. Especially since she knew exactly what she was doing unlike Angel who wasn't himself. Other than that, great episode. I loved the Buffy and Anya showdown.

[UlaGan]

Yeah, I was afraid that Buffy was going to actually Kill Anya too.
Felt relieved when Buffy cooled down.

Actually, did you notice?: Anya's probably the least fortunate character in last 2 seasons. Too much fell down on her: broken wedding, disgrace from fellow demons for softheartness, return to mortality again, severals attempts of killing her, and final very brutal death. Poor Anya.

Well, after their break-up at the wedding I didn't believe in whole Xanya future. Sunch things mostly happen in bad soaps and Buffy's way better series, ain't them?

[GATEGOD]

One of her best episodes, She speaks swedish, turns someone into a troll!! sings, crys, kills, sacrifices, I loved it, it was very sad for Xander/Anya, Buffy definitely not a great friend. Anya was great kicking B's ass. haha Anyway I thought this was one of her best episodes,"You're apologizing to me what fight are you watching? or is this one of your pop culture references I don't get because I'm a vengou.."Then she gets stabbed and the scene ends :cry: The ending when she was willing to sacrifice herself was beautiful and sad :cry: After that when they talk but don't get back together made me even sadder :cry: But at least Anya was alive, so I could deal. I love Anya, always and forever!

[Randy Giles]

Buffy was a bitch in this episode. She was a lot less harsh on a lot of other people for doing things just as bad. I was almost hoping Anya would seriously cripple her...in a way that would have her down for two or three episodes at least.

[GATEGOD]

Buffy was a bitch in this episode. She was a lot less harsh on a lot of other people for doing things just as bad. I was almost hoping Anya would seriously cripple her...in a way that would have her down for two or three episodes at least.

: king : I like you :) haha

But then we might not like Anya as much for hurting Buffy and we can't have that! Everything Anya did, besides Spike, I loved!

[Randy Giles]

Buffy was sort of asking for it. :)

[Blondie Bear]

I think this arc (like so many in Season 7) went a little too fast, but the whole problem had been building for awhile. It wasn't like Buffy woke up one day and said, "I think I'll kill Anya today!" Anya had been the cause of the death of a whole fraternity most recently, and before that a lot of other chaotic stuff that led to pain and suffering. If it had been just another demon--Hallie, say--killing her wouldn't have been a question. Buffy had the right perspective, but didn't handle the whole thing quite as well as she might have.

[TabulaRasa]

Definitely an amazing episode. I thought so from the first time I saw it. I also really think Willow looks adorable in it. Back to school and cute. And not to mention black eyes again. Oh how I do love those wicked black eyes.

[BuffyBloke]

Actually I thought Buffy came across hypercritical herself, she's made allowances for Spike and Angel then yet when Anya goes on a killing spree she's all "She has to die."

I can see both sides of the argument and I still to this day, not entirely sure which side I am on. I love Anya, but Buffy did have a point - Anya chose knowingly to go back to her old ways and look what happened. With Spike and Angel it was sort of the same thing, but they were both being used by evil, so had no control over their actions if you get my drift.

[GATEGOD]

Actually I thought Buffy came across hypercritical herself, she's made allowances for Spike and Angel then yet when Anya goes on a killing spree she's all "She has to die."

I can see both sides of the argument and I still to this day, not entirely sure which side I am on. I love Anya, but Buffy did have a point - Anya chose knowingly to go back to her old ways and look what happened. With Spike and Angel it was sort of the same thing, but they were both being used by evil, so had no control over their actions if you get my drift.


But Anya becoming a 'Demon' again then makes her controlled by evil and D'Hoffry. The choice she made to become a vengeance demon was brought on by the actions of others onto her. If she wasn't in pain with no one to turn to she would never have made that choice. But by choosing to become a demon again, that may be debated that just because of that she was worse then Angel/Spike but I disagree. While she was evil she felt sorry for her victims. While she was evil she wanted to help people. The women scorned she wanted to help them in a way and after she saw what she had become she wanted to go back and change what she did, all while she was evil.

[kanani]

But Anya becoming a 'Demon' again then makes her controlled by evil and D'Hoffry. The choice she made to become a vengeance demon was brought on by the actions of others onto her. If she wasn't in pain with no one to turn to she would never have made that choice...


One of my favorite cliche-y phrases in life: 10% of life is what happens to you, 90% is how you choose to deal with it.

The most used word in your post is "choice". Watching this Anya arc is hard, 'cause you just love her and feel for her so much and yeah, a part of me says "I can see why she went vengence-y again..", but, she chose it. Anya chose to re-vengence. Anya chose to sick a gnarly spider on a whole fraternity. No one else. And as a comment on this whole thread and not just your post, Gategod, I didn't see Buffy as a bitch at all in this episode. I actually felt the opposite - this was a hard ass thing to come to terms with for The Slayer and I have little doubt it tore her up inside knowing what she had to do.

This being the same Slayer who when asked if she'd sacrifice her life again for Dawn, said "No". The Slayer is a slayer, it's all about the mission... 'n stuff.

[angeldork]

I liked this episode because it's finally outed that Xander lied in 'Becoming Part 2' of season 2. But I think what I didn't like about it was that there was no discussion of it afterwards. I would've expected that Buffy, Xander, and Willow would've discussed it further; cause I know if I was Buffy and found out that Willow and Xander were having a disagreement about Willow had said pertaining to Angel....I would've wanted to know what the hell was going on.

[Starlet]

I really loved that episode. Finally Anya got one:) It was great to see her old times and hear that beautiful song:) I only wish they had shown how it happened that she got that bunny phobia. When she originally was a human, she loved bunnies!
In some ways I can understand how Buffy acted in this episode. She wanted to save people that might have been hurt by Anya, but I still don't think she did a right thing. She shouldn't just go to kill Anya, she should let Xander talk to her or just do it herself!
I agree with Gategod here, Anya didn't want to be evil, she wanted to help wronged women. She thought what she was doing was good, she believed vengeance is the same as justice. Because of it, I think she can't be compared to Angel and Spike when they were evil.

[FeastOnScraps]

I remember crying during the break they took after she was stabbed, I thought she was dead for good cause I knew Emma had said she was leaving the show so I thought that was it for her. It was an amazing episode too a true highlight of season 7.

[TrueVengeance]

I agree with Gategod here, Anya didn't want to be evil, she wanted to help wronged women. She thought what she was doing was good, she believed vengeance is the same as justice. Because of it, I think she can't be compared to Angel and Spike when they were evil.

Sure she can. She hurt/killed/tortured way more people than they did. She was demon and so were they. She hurt people so did they, and they all enjoyed it. Anya may have enjoyed it because the women were wronged, but never the less, she very much enjoyed it.

I think the second time 'round as a demon she was almost worse than Angel/Spike because she once again after learning to be human chose to become a demon. But, I loved her in early season seven with the guilt factor! She felt guilty about it, and wanted to stop and change it back. Which says something right there

[bob6666]

when angel lost his soul xander wanted to kill him becouse jenny said the soul spell is lost even to my people so there was know why to bring angel back

willow was good (got dark magic went bad) and xander brought her to good

anya was good (got demony went bad) xander help brought good she was even willing to give up her soul to bring those kids back

in Season 7 spike was good ( first took control) xander stood with buffy on the not killing him. he become good again.

xander killed his best friend jease,, took about killing ben was willing to kill vampire willow. and i belive would have kill anya if he had to he just wanted one chance to save her.

xander is not as bad as people think, most of the time

[Starlet]

Sure she can. She hurt/killed/tortured way more people than they did. She was demon and so were they. She hurt people so did they, and they all enjoyed it. Anya may have enjoyed it because the women were wronged, but never the less, she very much enjoyed it.

I think the second time 'round as a demon she was almost worse than Angel/Spike because she once again after learning to be human chose to become a demon. But, I loved her in early season seven with the guilt factor! She felt guilty about it, and wanted to stop and change it back. Which says something right there

I'm not saying Anya wasn't evil. I just think that she wasn't as evil as Angel and Spike because they were killing people to feed or only for fun. Anya was sure she was doing the right thing, she thought she was helping the women. It's true she enjoyed it, but for me it still isn't the same as what vampires did. But it's only my opinion:)

[bradlee]

This and potential are probably my favorite season 7 episodes. It was nice to just see Anya for who she was. I really believe that she wants to be good. She felt bad for killing the frat pack, but she was resolved to stay evil. It was like a fallback. If you cant beat em join em. But inside she hated everything she did. I think that's why she was so ready to take her own life when The hoff gave her her last wish.

[The Kinslayer]

One of her best episodes, She speaks swedish
She does. But not so good I´m afraid. I don´t want to ruin it for you but it´s just one sentence that I could understand without subtitles. Other words was ok, never whole sentences. But I love that they tried. The more swedish things the better. And as swedish being a difficult langage I was impressed they got a sentence just right. Awesome.

A good episode indeed. Anya get to be more than just funny and crazy. People with memory of course knew that a sword in the gut wouldn´t kill her (Older and far away) but of course I`d forgotten. And to kill Halfrek instead of Anya is a much "better" punishment than just to kill Anya. Now she has to live with the guilt. Even if D'Hoffryn sends demons to kill her afterwards.

And the thing about Xander wanting to kill Angel in the beginnig and not killing Anya now isn´t much of a stretch. First of all he loves Anya which cloudes his judgement. But on the other hand, now he has seen that you can rescue people who has gone bad. Angel, Willow, Spike (?). So why not try to rescue Anya too? And Xanders biggest problem with Angel wasn´t that he was a vampire (my opinion), he was simply jealous. Angel being a vampire just made it 1000 times worse and gave a "better" reason. And can you truly blame him för not liking vampires? Just found out they existed and knowing of Angelus past?

[Vampmogs]

And the thing about Xander wanting to kill Angel in the beginnig and not killing Anya now isn´t much of a stretch. First of all he loves Anya which cloudes his judgement. But on the other hand, now he has seen that you can rescue people who has gone bad. Angel, Willow, Spike (?). So why not try to rescue Anya too?

I agree that it became far more complicated with Xander and Buffy later on. I've seen some fans accuse Buffy of being hypocritical because she couldn't kill Angelus straight away, but I disagree. She's simply grown. She saw what damage resulted in allowing Angelus to remain alive because of her feelings, she wasn't going to make that same mistake again. And she shouldn't, she was right, Anya chose to become a demon *twice* and had just murdered twelve people. She's the slayer, she would have been irresponsible to not go after Anya.

But I'm glad Xander finally got to feel a little of what Buffy was feeling when Angel lost his soul. Because it's something he'd never really dealt with well concerning Buffy, and something he hadn't had to experience until it happened to him.

And Xanders biggest problem with Angel wasn´t that he was a vampire (my opinion), he was simply jealous. Angel being a vampire just made it 1000 times worse and gave a "better" reason. And can you truly blame him för not liking vampires? Just found out they existed and knowing of Angelus past?

I agree that jealousy played a big part in it, but I do think being a vampire made his hatred a lot worse. I've never enjoyed Xander hating Angel because he's a vampire. At first, sure. They didn't know the full story and it's perfectly within a character's rights to hate vampires, the show proved a point of how stupid the people were in 'Lie to Me' for pretending vampires were something they were not. They're killers, they deserve the hate. But after the gang found out about Angel's soul I felt Xander's hatred was unwarranted. He even states I 'Passion' that he desveres a little something for not saying "I told you so" in regards to Angel, which always worried me a little. If he honestly can't differentiate between Angel and Angelus, there's a big problem there. He never really understood Angel's character.

[InsaneMystic]

I just think that she wasn't as evil as Angel and Spike because they were killing people to feed or only for fun.
I disagree with the "to feed" part. Killing for food isn't "evil" at all in my book, much as we understandably find it uncomfortable to think of humans being food for someone. A "sensible" vampire who'd only kill as many people as he needs to survive on their blood may be discomforting, but is just barely "morally grey" for me (grey only because a "champion of light" would certainly change diet to the leftover blood of pig & cattle who had already been killed for humans' food). Killing for vengeance (especially vengeance in the name of someone else) is much, much darker.

I wholeheartedly agree with the "for fun" part, though. A killcrazy vamp "playing with his food" and gorging himself on blood even though he's consumed more than he needs, is deeper in darkness than vengeance demons who can (though twistedly) rationalize what they're doying as a form of "serving justice".

[Atren]

Concerning comparing Angel and Anya -- one could be reasoned while other not really. Also while both of them inflicted pain, only one of them did it for pain itself for amusement. And i do not considering feeding as part of amusement. Most of all -- one was trying to destroy the world while other helped to save it!

That said, Anya was no angel (as in saint). She had her flaws and weaknesses. She returned to vengeance and tried to pretty much wipe Xander off the world which in itself is understandable (but still clearly wrong). But i think the confrontation with her, Xander, Spike and Buffy ended her blind rage at end of "Entropy". Still events slowly were building up for final conflict ("Beneath you" (hope i remember the name correct) being a very small version of it). Over the episodes leading to this it was clear that her heart was not in it anymore and she knew it. Instead of quitting she tried to put up a facade showing she has no regrets or doubts.

Overall definetly Buffy was handling it wrong imo. The confrontation was inevitable, but it did not have to be swords first type. Especially as Anya recently, and with Halfreck in last season, had already shown earlier that wishes can be undoed (i hope thats a real word and i am not butchering english :P).

Concerning Anya and Buffy fight i do not think either of them really wanted to kill each other. Anya definetly seemed to want to die to me and Buffy seemed to be rather down as well. My only shame about the actual fight is that Anya was no longer capable of teleporting, darn Buffy for interfering Anya vs Spike earlier.

About the result, i was happy that Anya survived it. She also dropped the facade and took actions which she actually believed instead of trying to force herself to believe in other. Killing of Halfreck was genius move by D'hoffryn i have to admit, one i did not see coming until she was summoned. Altough most of the effect was diluted by what happens in next episode, for me at least.

[scarybunny97]

Interesting discussion. Well, if the only way to un-do what Anya did was to pay for the exchange with the SOUL of a vengence demon, then Anya is fundamentally different from Angelus right there. Anyanka had some kind of internal compass to guide her with the whole vengence thing. Earlier in S7 we saw her buddy Halfrek ragging on her for dishing out "soft-serve" vengence in fact. She makes choices about who to punish and how to punish them. And it seems that when she doesn't have the stomach for it, she passes on the whole blood and gore of it.

I think that before Anyanka became Anya in S3 of Buffy, she really felt like she was serving a good cause--avenging wronged women. She took pride in a job well done, not delight in carnage. Again, in the flashback to 1907(?) Russia, it was Halfrek who wanted to stroll the streets and revel in the carnage . . . while Anyanka wanted to sit back and be satisfied with the quality of her work. It's morbid, but she's like Demonic FedEx--reliable delivery of what you ordered! I think in her second incarnation as a demon, she knows her heart isn't in it anymore, but she doesn't want to know it. When she finally went full-on with the vengence and got those frat boys slaughtered, it was her desperate (and failed) attempt to prove to herself that she was the same Anyanka, that her time as a human had not mattered or changed her. What Anya did to those boys felt wrong to her because she had become Anya. In the end of Selfless, she was ready to give up her own soul to take back her mistake. So while it was Buffy's job to go after any demon that harms/kills humans . . . Anya saved herself when she offered up her soul. Something that Angelus would never have done.

[Violette]

Definitely one of my favourite season 7 episodes. I liked how they finally dedicated at least one episode on Anya. Since she first appeared on the show in season 3, she always seemed to just be one of the sidekicks, I'm glad that parts of season 7 finally focussed and shone the lights on her.

My favourite part in the episode was the argument between Buffy and Xander in Buffy's living room. Buffy's realization that she had to kill Anya resurrected a similar choice that she had to make in "Becoming Pt 2". Buffy's mention of killing Angel during that argument with Xander was a moving moment.. and I also liked the way the end of the episode was played out. It showed that Xander really did still love Anya, although they knew that they still had to part ways.

[hyperballadbrad]

This is one of my all time fave episodes. Anya is just heavenly but this ep, takes her to a new level! brilliant

The musical reprise gives me goosebumps!