OK after a few viewings, I've got a question. When Faith jumps Buffy is she protecting Lady G, or is she actually protecting Buffy from Roden's magic blast which apparently is coming from the balcony?
Initially, I also thought it was obvious that Faith was trying to save Buffy from Roden's blast. But the more I think about it, the more I feel there's a duality to Faith's actions.
Why did Faith try to talk Gigi out of attacking Buffy? Was it because she was afraid Gigi might hurt Buffy? Or the other way around?
Did Faith save Buffy from Roden's blast? Or did she save Gigi from a pummeling by Buffy?
Which feelings are stronger in Faith; the sense of right (Buffy) and wrong (Gigi/Roden)? Or her hatred/jealousy of Buffy combined with her pity for Gigi, who like Faith, has been betrayed by an older man?
I think Faith is ultimately going to do the right thing, but whether that means actually killing Gigi, I really doubt. I recall the scenario from Sanctuary, but here Faith takes Angel's place and Gigi takes Faith's place.
I really like how this arc is playing out. In my opinion it is so much better than The Long Way Home and The Chain.
I think the most important question about this issue is: Who is the mysterious anonymous benefactor? My first and only guess would be Riley, Riley's wife and the Initiative
I don't think this is the most important question, but it's a very interesting question nonetheless. I have a feeling this isn't one that's gonna be answered quickly.
What's left of the Watcher's council?
I would think that this new Watcher's Council has usurped all the previous incarnation's funds, that hardly makes it a benefactor.
We still don't know if they are even around any more. In 'As You Were' it didn't seem like the Initiative was active any more and if it was, it appeared to be no more than a handful of black ops. And in the 'Killer in Me' the group that removes Spike's chip might not be the Initiative either, but rather a regular part of the army. The same goes for the base at Drextalcorp. It might just be a regular part of the army, investigating the 'terrorist' attack on Sunnydale.
Kennedy's Parents were rich, but Willow would be in on that one, you'd think.
Given Willow and Kennedy's split, maybe she doesn't. But that would probably mean the benefactors have only recently approached the Council, since after the break-up.
The Immortal, but that's not plural, is it?
No, but who said that it couldn't be The Immortal and somebody else, maybe even an unrelated group of people all given donations.
Somebody new they've brought in like Trafalgar's people, or the underground dwellers from The Chain, or the great bearded wizard of Northampton ?.
All very valid guesses I would say. I personally feel that it might somehow be linked to Giles' meeting in The Long Way Home, Part 3.
Oz, who has been absent for ages and could have got some money in that time.
He's been away for about four and a half, maybe five years when this story plays. Now, I'm not saying it's impossible to amass the wealth that is needed to run the Council, but it's pretty darn tricky. Besides, if he went back to the Tibetan monastery I somehow doubt that he's there to work on a get-rich-quick-scheme.
Or Spike, who doesn't exactly seem poor on the cover of the second issue of After The Fall, and it would explain the secrecy.
However, LA was sucked into hell and we don't know if they've gotten back out yet when this story plays. Also, since the story is set somewhere around November 2004, they can only have gotten funding from Spike for half a year max.
"Look, I've had older guys in my life before too." "ooh, naughty." "It wasn't like that. They... they used me, Gigi. Told me what i wanted to hear to get me to do their dirty work for them." Who's she talking about? At first i thought she was talking about Giles sending her there to save the world, when she was really just there to save his golden girl, but the more i thought about it, the more i thought it could be explaining a lil about what happened to make her and Wood split up...
I think here the plural is really important. Like N4H, I don't think she's talking about one man in particular, but rather a combination of men she met Pre-Sunnydale, as well as the Old Council in its entirety, plus of course Giles. I don't know if she maybe also means Mayor Wilkins and/or Wesley, but I doubt it. I certainly don't think that she means Angel.
As for our purple narrator, I don't think it is the voice of "Dark" Faith, but rather the voice of unsure, hurt, betrayed, and thus mistrusting Faith.
