Okay. This is kind of a prequel to the Wolves at the Gate arc, just giving us something to think about as we go forward.
A Beautiful Sunset
Flashback to THE spell at the end of season 7 with a voiceover by Buffy. "Once upon a time I did something good." She goes on to consider how she not only shared her strength with the other potentials, but also meant to give them purpose and meaning. (Of course, purpose and meaning without reflection and a sense of history don't do you much good as we'll soon see.) Oh, and she gave them connection.
"Saving the world means keeping the status quo." (Assuming the status is quo.) "But apocalypses come because the world is trying to change. It has to." This can be read many different ways I think. In some sense it's a repudiation of everything Buffy's worked for, saying trying to stop the apocalypse is trying to disallow change. But while I think that crosses her mind, I think right now she's thinking how she tried to not stop change, but initiate it. Her saving the world by changing the slayer status quo was intended to be a positive redefinition of the ways things were, not an attempt to keep things as they always had been.
This time wasn't just about stopping an invasion, it was Buffy being proactive, riding the change the world wished to enact and guiding it to a better resolution. So casting that spell was not just an act of desperation in the face of overwhelming odds, which is certainly was, but also a game-changing move to make whatever world is left afterwards a better place.
A lot has been out of balance in the Buffyverse since she was brought back. Her returned overbalanced the good side, allowing the First a stronger foothold in reality. Then it upped the ante and Buffy responded, and then some.
But what can you do? Balancing the forces of good and evil in the world isn't like balancing your ratio of exercise to TV viewing, it's a so much larger scale, and so much harder to see in its entirety. All Buffy knows is evil is always out there, and it's always coming back bigger and badder than the last time. She couldn't know her masterstroke would tip the balance so heavily and send the world into chaos. Just as none of us know when a choice we make will have unforeseen consequences. Not all of it is in our control, but we still have to make the choice.
Ahem. Anyway.
All this is behind Buffy's eyes as she watches her monitor screen. The Buffyster is bummed because the less positive results of her choice are playing out on a security feed of a weapons storage facility. The not-so-lovely Simone (Doffler, for what it's worth) is flipping off a camera as she and a few other slayers go rogue in a big way, collecting some major firepower. We hear that she's been a known problem to some extent, having been shipped out of Chicago by Rona -- so Rona is in charge of the Chicago squad -- to Italy to cool her jets away from the big city. That "plan" didn't really do much good apparently.
One of the other girls with her is from Andrew's Italy squad, but the rest are newcomers who didn't come up in the Buffy organization. Xander is concerned about Twilight and others learning about slayers with guns.
Buffy is blaming herself, not just because of the spell, but the robbery she committed initially to fund their endeavors, like we learned about in her side adventure with Willow. Xander asks if that's why Will didn't stick around, but Buffy says it's complicated, not going on to say that Willow doesn't want her loved ones to die anymore because they fight near Buffy.
To change the subject, Xander lets Buffy know he found and was saving a vamp nest for her. She decides to take Satsu with her so they can talk. Then we see there's a big party going on in the castle, even giant Dawn is there, along with tons of slayers and many kegs of beer. Buffy won't be joining in, but she looks on as they enjoy each other's company, connecting.
Xander says Buffy spends too much time alone. Surrounded by slayers, she's still in charge and separate. But she doesn't make speeches anymore, so there's that. (I think) later she'll say she created this connection but she doesn't feel it herself. Some of us are just like that, Buff. No big.
Buffy and Satsu head to a cemetery for a vamp fight slash girl talk scenario. Buffy tells her she's the best fighter and could be a great leader someday, but she needs to remember she's always in danger. The particular danger right now is Buffy figured out from the lip gloss that Satsu is the one who kissed her awake, who is in love with her.
Buffy says knowing someone feels that way about her makes her feel a little bit less lonely, but, fresh from her talk with Will, goes to the Doomed place. Says there's something wrong with her that makes her friends and lovers all die or leave her. Ironically, enter Twilight.
He takes her for a fly, roughs her up a bit, says he came to talk but hates to see her cry. He also gives her some info on his motivations, saying the world can't contain all these slayers and they'll suffer for that. Which he intends as a fact, not a threat I suppose. He says his only gift to her is not killing her now, but she's brought disaster to the world that he has to deal with. If he's trying to get a message to her, I don't see it. "Have you made a difference? Have your slayers helped change anything in this world? Have they helped you?"
VERY SPOILERY PARAGRAPH
He didn't really tell her anything she didn't know, just bummed her out some more. I guess I'm not sure where's he at right now and whether it stays consistent or changes throughout the series. He told his crew he was stripping her of her moral certainty, which is exactly what he did while they were completely alone. Very Angelus kind of talk/fight really. Was he just being cruel to get her to think about the ramifications of her actions? I know ultimately he's trying to help by gathering her enemies together under his banner, and presumably he's still acting as a champion for the greater good, but I still can't see the through-line of his thoughts.
Quick scene with Buffy and Satsu in the infirmary, where she seems to get the message about people near Buffy being targets for pain.
Buffy and Xander talk again in the ramparts, in a bookend scene to the beginning. Buffy asks if they're really doing good. There seems to be ever more demons to fight, and is that their fault? Xander thinks all these girls filled with purpose is pretty rad and says they're just starting out, beginning to make a difference. Maybe they're cleaning up messes now, but they can change the world for the better later. And who's to say he's wrong? I'm not even sure if the season says he's wrong or not conclusively.
Aha! This is where Buffy mentions she doesn't feel the connection. Xander says maybe that's the mystical price of leadership as well. Buffy looks down on the slayers below training together and repeats the words she said in the beginning while watching Simone at her finest. "Yay me." She may have a very different view this time, but she doesn't look any happier as she says it.
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