#also scythe in middle because her deal is. complicated to me

[charting-phighting]

more canon-focused one this time

chart of how sympathetic the phighters are to medkit’s whole plight and whether theyd act in medkits best interest or their own best interest (<-- i had to shorten that for the chart because that’s a mouthful)

[avengersrewatch]

E16: Widow's Bite

Speaking of lady superheroes, here is something else I don't like about this series (and it seems like I have a lot of complaints even though I am rewatching this cartoon because I like it better than other versions): the Hawkeye and Black Widow subplot.

Since the beginning mini-episodes, Hawkeye has thought Black Widow betrayed him to Hydra and that she was a double-agent. And that's fine, even though everyone watching knows she's not evil by now because Black Widow has appeared in the movies at this point. So she's actually more familiar than Hawkeye to a lot of viewers.

So he has been hunting her down and this episode is a lot of continuation of that. I think it makes Clint look stupid that he hasn't figured it out. Because it is definitely made clear in this episode, as if it wasn't set up before, that she is still working for SHIELD and trying to protect him while she is undercover.

I feel like Widow should be part of the Avengers team by now, but instead both Widow and Mockingbird continues to work for SHIELD and Janet remains the only lady on the team. I can't quite figure out why this should be.

Of course this is also the era of "Marvel thinks girl toys don't sell" so maybe that is why?

It's also unclear exactly what the Avengers are at this point. Tony points out that they are supposed to be dealing with the Breakout (the super villains who escaped prison which is the whole start of the series) and Widow isn't one of them. Which would make sense as a reason the organization exists. But they also do other missions, like the alien robot we just saw in the previous, so why can't Barton try to bring this criminal to justice. Nick Fury tries to say because HYDRA is too complicated, but... is it? It doesn't seem that way on the show.

What I like about this episode:

Captain America and Black Panther duo. It's such a fun dynamic. Steve and T'Challa go after Hawkeye, but without permission from Tony. Steve says no one can take on HYDRA alone and T'Challa says he knows what it is like to be blinded by vengeance. So together, they know better than Hawkeye but don't actually stop Hawkeye, just hover like parents hoping their kid will make friends at pre-school.

I repeat T'Challa and Steve are acting like they are Clint's two dads, hoping he and his new bff Bobbi, beat all the Hydra agents up but if he doesn't, they will swoop in and rescue him. (Which they do.) Meanwhile, they are secretly high fiving in the Quinjet that Hawkeye made a "little friend."

After Mockingbird pops up and Hawkeye decides to team up with her, T'Challa says "at least we know his weakness now if he were to turn on us." Like that's a thing he's been worried about. T'Challa is going to fling women at Clint if he goes rogue. I don't know why this makes me laugh so hard. (It's kind of a Batman thing to say.)

There's also a funny bit when they lose Hawkeye, Tony is mad and says he told Hawkeye not to go after Hydra why did they help him? And T'Challa and Steve are both like "I didn't hear you say that." (Steve says it sounded more like a suggestion than an order, and T'Challa says in Wakanda the words of avenge and revenge are the same. So you guys were just confused about the definitions of words, I get it.)

Just when Steve is freaking out that Hawkeye's signal is lost, T'Challa's like "I have faith he will contact us," and an unknown signal appears in the middle of the ocean. Hawkeye's location. T'Challa's like, "That's my boy."

Cool shots of everyone running at the hydra guys. Panther shreds Grim Reaper's arm scythe.

Odd thing:

Madam Hydra (Viper edition) is introduced and there is a scene where she pulls the pin of a grenade out with her tongue, that is cool but also weirdly suggestive for a kid's cartoon.

Unless this cartoon isn't intended for kids in which case Hawkeye is REALLY dumb.

[laora-inn]

Supernatural - Some speculations about the last 7 episodes of 15th season

Well, after 2 trailers, episodes descriptions on IMDB and some unfinished plot-lines of SPN story I’d like to share my own speculations. Some of them are definitely wrong. 

Destiel positive, happy end positive, don’t like - don’t read. 

Season 15 | Episode 14. Last Holiday

A filler - that’s how we anime fans call episodes which have no deal with the main plotline, though can contain some interesting moments and nuances. In “Supernatural” these episodes usually have no Cas in them. Sometimes they are very good... but mostly not. They are “just for fun”, and fans enjoy them, because they can be really funny. No angst.

Like this one - no angst, no Cas, a wood nymph who looks like Mary Poppins to me (or Mrs. Marple whatever). Some British origin of the character. 

That’s the episode which shots with Dean in purple nightgown are from (trailer short version).

I suppose the shot with Dean, Sam and Jack flying in the air could also be here from. But maybe not.

I don’t know where Cas may be. His absence should be explained to us in some way. In episode 10th he was missing because of talking to the angels. What’s now? Some preparations for the next Jack's trial? 

In this episode Dean should come closer to Jack’s forgiving.

Season 15 | Episode 15. Gimme Shelter

I have NO IDEA what this episode is about. Maybe the next trial for Jack? Or not?

I think the shot from the last trailer with Cas protecting Jack on the truck bed is from this episode. Also, some tortured person on the bed with the “lust” written above could be from it. 

And what about Sam and Dean? Where are they? 

I think they may have their own journey here, separate from Cas and Jack. Possibly the epic shots with them entering some building are this episode from. Possibly not. 

Season 15 | Episode 16. Drag Me Away (From You)

I don’t like this episode title. It looks like Destiel mocking to me - maybe, I just don’t have enough faith. I want to trust SPN writers but can’t. Somebody help me to believe, we all need that now! :)

THE ONLY episode in ALL THE SHOW except this one that had brackets in the title was 12x12, Stuck in the Middle (With You). Yahoo. 

Obviously, 12x12 was a parody to the Reservoir Dogs, a movie by Quentin Tarantino. Parody in a good sense of this word, but still. The plotline, the scenes (oh, this lunch scene from different points of view!), the scenes’ order, the roles, though changed - all of them. In case you didn’t watch Reservoir Dogs, just go and watch it, and then re-watch 12x12. You will understand. 

"Stuck in the Middle with You" is Stealers Wheel song which was in the OST of this Tarantino’s movie. This allusion should deal with boys’ and Mary relationship - because it’s her who betrayed them involuntarily, and now they are stuck in the middle with her. 

But somehow this episode title also deals with Destiel relationship. Maybe ‘cause that’s Cas who is dying, not Mary. Maybe ‘cause even on his deathbed he doesn’t confess something important - not about his betrayal, there was no one, but about his feelings. He says "I love you”, but then adds “I love all of you”, and Dean is literally stuck in the middle with Cas here. 

Back to the brackets in the episodes titles. Because of them I suppose that 12x12 and 15x16 could be connected. But how exactly?! That’s the question. I want them badly to be connected in Destiel way, but know too little. 

Back then I supposed that Dean could be dying in this episode and it would be his turn to confess something to Cas. But now I don’t know if there will be Cas in this episode at all, I just don’t have enough information. 

I hope he will. 

Btw, the words “Drag Me Away (From You)” are in Toto’s song “Africa”. And in case you didn’t know, in 2018 this song was used for half-an-hour Destiel video made by fan here. It covers ALL the Destiel moments then far. Link for this video is in Supernatural wiki, in the Destiel article. Half an hour, 10 repeats of the song, author’s comment: 

Along the way it stopped being funny and started getting insulting because this has been a literal decade (as of 2018 the vid features seasons 4-13) and the show has explored ALL of the tropes and yet and yet and yet...

I mean the fangirl shipper part of me also loves it. And then I get mad because I love it. I have a very complicated relationship with Supernatural but that's okay.

Have you heard the good news about Tragic Widow Dean?

TLDR: Have a supercut of all the DeanCas stuff set to Toto's Africa.

We can speculate a bit about this fact, but the truth is we know only about young Sam and Dean, who certainly will be in this episode. 

I think shots with Billie talking to Dean from the last trailer also belong to this episode, as well as shots with young Dean with Samulet, who is a ghost now. But these assumptions could be totally wrong. 

What circumstances will take us to the young Sam and Dean? Time travelling? Flashbacks? The parallel world?

Personally I think it will be the third option. Because how the hell young Dean can be a ghost in “our” universe? Unless it’s not Dean, though I doubt it. But if it’s not Dean, it can be a flashback, you know, with the young boys. Yep? 

We’ll wait and see.

I don’t think that Sam’s appreciative words to Dean refer to this episode. 

Also I don’t think Sam is going to sacrifice himself AGAIN (I’ve heard such an opinion). But maybe it’s my hope that makes me think in a wrong way.

Season 15 | Episode 17. Unity

I think some of Chuck’s shots are from this episode. Maybe the red lights in the bunker too. Maybe not. 

There also should be Amara and some angels. I saw Uriel in the cast! Maybe there also be some light lit on the all situation in Heaven now, when Jack made new angels. 

Some interaction between all of them + Sam, Dean, Cas and Jack should take place. Here the shot with sigil could be taken from. 

What side the angels will take? How it happened that Uriel is alive? Was he resurrected by Chuck or Amara? What plans does Amara have, how is she planning to deal with Chuck?

And what’s for Naomi? Will she come back or not? I think she won’t, not in this episode for sure, and I’m already disappointed ‘cause you know, she should be alive. Dumah said she is. For me Naomi is an important figure considering Destiel, and I think she’d be the best Heaven runner. 

All in all, in this episode should happen something that will make Cas happy. I suppose by the end of 15x17 or in the beginning of 15x18 they all will be sure that they have won the game, and Dean will forgive Jack for Mary.

The episode title may refer to angels’, Winchesters’ and Amara unity. 

Season 15 | Episode 18. Despair

Well, in Supernatural wiki I also saw “The Truth” title for this episode. 

Most of us are convinced that in this episode Cas will tell Dean about his deal with the Empty and will be taken by it. I believe the same. 

I think shot with Billie knocking with her hand rotten belongs to this episode. 

I have some doubts, but also think a shot with Dean leaning on Cas is from here. 

I’m sure that “You fought for this whole world” and Dean’s crying scene belong to this episode. ‘Cause you know. Despair. And the truth - about Cas’s deal and possibly about their fake win. 

Billie’s with her scythe and bunker intrusion symbols could also be from here (or from one the previous episodes ends, especially for Billie - as a cliffhanger). And it should be the case for Sam and Jack, I suppose. Because there is no other way for Dean and Cas to face Cas’s deal with just two of them. 

Destiel confession will be here, in more explicit form that it could be in 15x16, because there will be A TALK, but I don’t think we’ll see something real explicit. 

Maybe, Dean’ll say he loves Cas. Maybe not. I’m sure only about the fact that we’ll cry by the end of this episode. And that will be AN UGLY CRYING, just as Jensen said.

Well, maybe there will be a hint that Cas can be brought back, but I think it won’t. So prepare yourselves, my friends. 

Season 15 | Episode 19. Inherit the Earth

Here I think Sam’s appreciative words to Dean are taken from. They are definitely comforting. ‘Cause you know, Cas is dead, Chuck is alive. Possibly Cas was in his way and Chuck erased him by making him believe in their win.

I also think Dean’s crying words “this whole mission, saving the world” belong to this episode and will be in conversation with Sam. 

They still need to fight Chuck, and Jack is still alive. Here Michael will appear and helps. And there is one moment Sergey mentioned in 15x07, about the key to the Death’s library. He even described what it looks like! Cas heard that as well as Eileen. Well, if Cas is taken, then Eileen should return to the Winchesters, maybe with Sam and Jack, or just tell them about this key. 

I don’t know what they are going to do after. Open this library? How? Find how to kill God? Or not? Will they try to save Cas?

I think they will not talk about Cas’s saving. And he will be dead in this episode for sure.

Also I think they’ll deal with God in this episode, one way or another.

Season 15 | Episode 20. Carry On

This is a land of unlimited speculation!

I hope Dean’ll have Cas back by the end of episode. I think Cas’ll save himself from the Empty, ‘cause, you know, he has a big goal there. The Empty tortures all the dead angels and demons, as far as we know. It should be fixed - Cas’s already made a promise to Ruby. And we know that Cas has no problem with ruining something and messing it up - he is basically THE GREAT TRICKSTER of this show. 

Rebelling against Heaven and ruining angels’ plans? Check. Stopping Apocalypse? Check. Opening Purgatory? Check. Becoming a new God? Check. Bringing the Leviathans? Check. Casting all the angels out of Heaven and burning their wings? Check. Becoming human? Check. Becoming an angel by devouring other angels’ grace? Check. Getting an army of angels? Check. Giving up this army for one human? Check. Kidnapping angels’ prisoner? Check. Letting Lucifer in? Check. Helping “an abomination”, Devil’s son, to be born? Check. Annoying Empty so much that it brought him back to life? Check. Making a deal with the Empty? Check. 

It’s very dangerous to mess with Cas, you just don’t know what he could do for the greater good, and yep, in some way Dean was right when he said that Cas is “something that’s always going wrong”. So I think the Empty is in trouble here, not vice versa.  

Also, there is one more thing that bothers me. When Nick in 14th season was praying to Lucifer, he woke him up in the Empty. Theoretically, Lucifer can be awake by now. It could be a dead end, but still. Lucifer’s “true face” is similar to the Empty’s, sooo... 

I don’t know what to think about it and the fact that Nick could reach Lucifer and return him from the Empty, so let’s move on.  

I hope for the happy end for Sam (maybe with Eileen) and for all the hunters we know. They are family. 

NO MCD here! If someone’ll die - they shouldn’t be Sam, Dean or Cas. I don’t want to see Eileen’s death either. I don’t know what about Jack. I don’t want him to die, but he is 100% supernatural being, and I am not sure what it means for him to die. 

Monsters should stay, hunters should hunt them. We’ll see that the “family business” thrives.    

There should be an order on the all levels - in Heaven, Hell and on Earth. There should be the new Death - of they should return Billie. Rowena running the Hell would be perfect. Wonder if Naomi could run Heaven. Maybe it will be Chuck? If he will be redeemed. Or Michael. 

I don’t know what’s for the Empty and Amara. 

I don’t know what the end for Jack will be. I’d like he will be alive, but I just don’t know. He can’t be a human. That will be right thing for Cas, but not for Jack. 

I hope for Destiel endgame, as well as for Sam/Eileen. Cas should become a human, maybe, with some supernatural skills left.   

I doubt that we have proper scenes of these ships together or Cas’ humanity. Just hints. But they can be very obvious - especially if we’ll see Dean’s reaction to Cas’s returning. 

So, I hope to see them. 

But, as I said, it's a land of unlimited speculation. We’ll wait and see. 

What else should be resolved:

- Kevin can’t stay a ghost! It’s my main point here. He also can’t go to Hell. What will happen with him and in which episode? I don’t know. I just hope they won’t forget about him. 

- There is the shot with Bobby from? 15x20? He should be somewhere. 

- Also, there should be Charlie in this season unless something’s changed. Where is she?

- What are they going to do with alternative!Winchesters from 15x13? They will rest? They will make another HunterCorp? They will be gone?! Come on, something needs to be done with them! Of course, they are not so important here, so the writers can forget about them, but still, I’m interested.

What am I going to do:

I'm going to watch all the last episodes of the season. AND THEN, if there will be no happy end for the Winchester boys and Cas won’t be with them, I'm going to rebel. :) In every possible way - petitions, letters, actions etc. We are grown-up people here. We can fight for our rights, and it's my crucial right - to be happy about my favorite show ending. :) 

__________________

Feel free to ask me anything or to comment. My ask is working!

[douxreviews]

Supernatural - ‘Moriah’ Review

"Writers lie."

Holy wow. Pun intended.

Did they just make God the ultimate final season bad guy? Did they really? How meta is that?

Before I get into the heavy stuff, let's start with the funny. That explosion of harmful truth at the facial recognition company was classic comic Supernatural from beginning to end – from the stolen yogurt to the stapler queen to the President's deal with Crowley. After all of the recent grimdark, I most certainly did not expect such hilarity to ensue. "I'm Dean Winchester and I'm looking for the Devil's son. This badge is fake." Liar Liar on steroids.

And I totally did not expect Chuck to show up, even after the set-up of Castiel's prayer not that long ago. At first I thought this was a good thing, of course, because Chuck showing up is usually a good thing. Not this time.

Yes, we've been told over and over that Chuck is all about the storytelling. He's the one that writes paperback books in his underwear. It's funny (interesting, not funny ha-ha) how Dean, Sam and Castiel had pretty much had it with Chuck, all at the same time. Note their exasperated expressions as Chuck did everything he could to sell his new magical plot twist gun that could kill anything but would also kill the one who pulled the trigger. Everyone remember the Colt?

But what gave me chills was when they were all in the cemetery ("Swan Song," anyone?), Dean was standing over a kneeling Jack with that gun in his hand, and Chuck had this absorbed little grin on his face. As I said in the opener, holy wow. The Winchesters aren't real people to Chuck, after all. They're just characters in his favorite show. We sort of knew that, without really considering the implications. Archangel Michael told us that Chuck tosses worlds away like failed versions of a book, and he wasn't lying. How about that.

God is their showrunner. He has literally been playing with Dean and Sam their entire lives. They're chess pieces to him, and nothing more. Chuck actually offered to bring back Mary if Dean killed Jack, like, sacrifice your knight and pawn, I'll give you back your queen. When Dean refused to kill Jack and Sam (understandably) lost his temper and shot Chuck with the magic gun, that was it. His squirrels were fighting back. How dare they.

Story's over. Welcome to the End. That final scene as the darkness fell, the monsters rose from hell and the dead from their graves was set to the song, "God Was Never on Your Side." I thought this conflict over Jack would blast Dean and Castiel apart, with Sam in the middle, but instead, this episode ended with the three of them back to back to back, ready to fight off the dead together. So at least there's that.

With the last season approaching, I've been thinking lately that the perfect end for the series would be for Dean and Sam to knock on Mary's white door and join their parents in their special heaven (there'll be peace when you are done). But is Heaven even a thing any more? Will it still exist when the series ends?

If this world of Supernatural isn't what we've been led to believe, what about the Empty? That last shot of Jack was with Billie and the Black Cloud of Lucifer (was that Lucifer?) who made the creepiest smiley face at Jack. Does Billie have the answer to all of this? We've been told that Death can reap God. Can she?

Bits:

— Title musings and various names: "Moriah" is the place where Abraham was supposed to sacrifice Isaac, like Dean was supposed to sacrifice Jack. That cemetery looked a lot like the apocalyptic season five finale. Chuck wanted to name the gun Hammurabi, or The Equalizer. And Amara is in Reno playing Keno.

— Mirror Universe, the name of the facial recognition software company, was just about perfect: a reminder of all of Chuck's discarded universes, as well as all of the alternate universe characters we've been meeting these days.

— Note that Jack was never a threat to Chuck. Jack also didn't kill his grandmother.

— Castiel was thinking that Lucifer's cage might contain Jack. That's actually a pretty good solution.

— Yet another mention of souls. Why is Chuck powerless to change or restore them? Must be important.

— Poor Celine Dion. She's the punchline of a joke, much like Barry Manilow.

— I loved how Chuck critiqued season seven with the Leviathans and season twelve with the British Men of Letters.

— "God Was Never on Your Side" is by Motorhead. Last week, Dean, Sam and Castiel were agents Kilmister, Clarke and Taylor.

— The reference to Crowley and the universe of squirrels reminded me of Moose and Squirrel. Is Crowley in the Empty, too?

— Rob Benedict's credit was at the end. Gold acting stars for Mr. Benedict, by the way. Or possibly "God acting stars." Playing God isn't exactly easy, especially when he's become such a complicated character.

Quotes, the Mostly Chuck edition:

Dean: "Nerds." Sam: "Takes one to know one." Dean: "What?" Sam: "You. Come on, man. You're always calling me a geek, but you know every word to every Led Zeppelin song backwards and forwards, you can discuss in detail every major rock drummer between '67 and '84 and… you watch Jeopardy every night." Dean: "Yeah, okay. But I'm nothing like this gaggle of Zuckerbergs."

Dean: "I'm Dean Winchester and I'm looking for the Devil's son. This badge is fake." That made me laugh like a loon.

Female newscaster: "In what was supposed to be a speech on farming subsidies, the president instead spent more than two hours disclosing his entire tax history, his deep ties to Russia and North Korea, and the, quote, demon deal he made with someone called Crowley. Back to you, Chet. Chet?" Male newscaster: (looks directly at her) "I love you. I have always loved you."

Dean: "When people can't lie, the internet gets real quiet."

Chuck: "I'm a writer. Lying's kind of what we do."

Dean: (to Chuck) "Where the hell have you been?" Dean may be the only person I can think of who can look God in the eye and say something like that.

Chuck: "So! How's things? Okay, look, I get it. I'm the deus from the machina, and you have questions."

Sam: "Where have you been?" Chuck: "It's hard to explain. Everywhere and nowhere. Edge of the universe and beyond. And I saw Springsteen on Broadway. Man's a genius."

Newcaster: "… and it's been confirmed: the Queen of England is, in fact, a lizard." What episode is that from? I can't remember!

Chuck: "Look, the point is, the kid did all that with two words. What's next? He sneezes, and whoops, there goes India?"

Chuck: "Ugh. Billie. I liked the old Death better. He was all about fried pickles and tickle porn. This new Death, she's always sticking her scythe where it doesn't belong." Echoing the fans again.

Sam: "So how many are there? How many other worlds or universes or realities, or whatever?" Chuck: "I don't know. Kinda lost count. Most of them are boring, one's in reverse, in one there's no yellow, one of them's just all squirrels." I'm thinking a world without shrimp.

Sam: "Do you watch us? When you're not here, are you watching us?" Chuck: "Yeah. (Sam gasps) I mean, you're my favorite show."

I could write a few more pages about this episode, but I think I'm done for now. And I am totally impressed. Four out of four squirrels, and what did you guys think?

Billie Doux has been reviewing Supernatural for so long that Dean and Sam Winchester feel like old friends. Courageous, adventurous, gorgeous old friends.

[spuffyverseonthecomics]

BtVS S12 - The Reckoning #4 Finale

And so it ends...

The battle continues, the heroes are losing, so Dawn opens the portal to where Harth and the demons must be sent; for that to happen, it's necessary for Willow to conjure a whirlwind, but she is too weak because of the spell she has just cast on the Scythe. Things seem to be lost when suddenly Illyria decides to take matters into her own hands: she tosses Buffy into Spike's arms and goes to Angel, determined. Angel, confused about what his girlfriend are trying to do, says to her to fight the “energies from the hell dimension that are affecting” her (as it happened to himself in Pylea and Quor'toth), and is surprised when she kisses him, says he is “half right”, and pushes him away, telling him not to come after her (although she knows he will want to), and giving him a last piece of advice: “know happiness”.

Angel, confused about what his girlfriend are trying to do, pleads with her to fight the “energies from the hell dimension that are affecting” her (like it happened to himself in Pylea and Quor'toth), and is caught by surprise when she kisses him; then, Illyria says he is “half right”, and pushes him away, telling him not to come after her (although she knows he will want to) and giving him a last piece of advice: “know happiness”.

Illyria then takes her Old One monstrous form and with her many tentacles, grabs as many as demons she can reach and dives into the hell dimension, saying goodbye to her friends and asking Dawn to close the portal. Angel is desperate; he yells “Illyria! No!” and repeatedly begs Dawn for her to reopen the portal – but she is too weak for that.

Neither Harth, nor The Mayor were among the demons Illyria has just taken with her to hell, though; and soon the human-turned-Old-One begins blabing how she has done them a big favor, diminishing the crowd they will have to share the world with. And Harh thinks it is a very good point – and cuts The Mayor’s head off!

Buffy goes to Harth, but now she is no opponent to him; however, when she is about to be bitten, the super vampire starts yelling: he is in great pain. He thinks Buffy has done something to him, but she is as clueless as him. The thing is, Harth is having a rush of Slayer memories, all at once – and he is not being able to endure it. Buffy figures out that Harth has always had the memories, but now, after taking the Power, he is all Slayer and is feeling all of them. Weakened by the pain, Harth is an easy target; Melaka grabs him and asks Buffy to stake him, freeing his brother at last. Buffy does, but Harth starts dusting in slow motion (due to the Power), which gives time for an interaction between the two twin siblings. Melaka, crying, says she is sorry – and Harth says the same. And he, before vanishing for good, passes to her the Slayer memories, for her to be “complete”. The battle is finished, the world is saved, the heroes have won.

As I had predicted in my last review (for #3), Harth's hunger for power ends up being his own undoing.

In the middle of the battle – with all fighters puzzled about how a man could have the Power of Slayers – Giles explains that yes, it is possible and it already happened, but men never could endure it, because the Power drives them mad; what protects Harth, concludes Giles, is the fact he has no soul (Giles adds that if he hadn't been turned a vampire, Melaka's twin brother would surely have gone mad).

To me, this outcome is at the same time fine and disappointing.

Fine, because I like that the Staff (used to create the First Slayer) made a non-expected apparition, that Harth had a plan (flawed, but anyway) to avert the first outcome (when he propably was sent to hell and conquered nothing), and how it gives us a closure for Melaka and her twin brother.

Disappointing also by my own fault, due to my (wrong) idea that the many repetitions of “Harth knows everything that will happen, he remembers everything” could mean something (I wrote about it here), that there was a plan thought by the Scoobies to trick Harth's memories of the Reckoning. But no, there was no plan besides going to battle and hoping things could happen differently from what was predicted, so... the disappointment. In the end, it is Harth who changes the future, who cancels The Reckoning, as he himself proclaimed in the last issue. The members of the Scooby Gang end up being just witnesses of History.

Days later, Willow and Dawn open a portal to the future, and Melaka, her sister Erin and Gates go back home. But home is no more – their world has changed, for the better. Much better. They don't exist there anymore, but there are plenty of Slayers who know (having the Watchers files as their source) who they are and what they did in the past, reassuring them they have a family in this future.

Fray's future went from a dystopian world to an utopia. However, the girls and Gates go to visit Gunther, and he not only exists (but doesn't know who they are), but also is still a mutant. How such a radical mutation could have happened in that perfect world?

Back to the present, two weeks later, Buffy and Faith have graduated from Police Academy; they will soon join the Supernatural Division.

This bit is a call back to Season 2 (What's My Line, Part 1), when Buffy's career day tests suggested she should become a police officer. In the comics, they have hinted it a few times – in Season 11, when Buffy and Spike were working as consultants, Buffy had already been approached by the Police to join them definitively:

BtVS S11 #1 - The Spread of Their Evil (Christos Gage/Rebeka Isaacs)

as well as in the beginning of Season 12:

BtVS S12 #1 - The Reckoning (Joss Whedon-Christos Gage/Georges Jeanty)

So, in the end, she finally has found a career to follow, after doing a bit of questioning about her whole life...

BtVS S11 #1 - The Spread of Their Evil (Christos Gage/Rebeka Isaacs)

BtVS S12 #1 - The Reckoning (Joss Whedon-Christos Gage/Georges Jeanty)

At first, I didn't see any conflict between who Buffy is and what she represents, and joining the force, the Supernatural Division. At 30, she has decided to make her Calling yet more useful by being a part of an institution that, in the past few years, has learned a lot about how to deal with the supernatural, and holds Buffy in high regard. 

Or... is it something Buffy would never do (join the Police)? Or... has she just given up? Has decided to settle down to avoid upsetting the fine balance her group has achieved by escaping that terrible predicted future? I read so many different opinions about that... but of one thing I'm sure: Buffy has enough experience and character to make things work and change what she comes to perceive as wrong, even if it means to leave the force.

Faith's reasoning? Maybe she, more than Buffy, needs to feel a part of something, have some respect and security, I don't know.

At Dawn and Xander's home, a barbecue is happening. The gang is in the backyard, except for Spike and Angel. Buffy goes to the living room with a glass of blood (which she still thinks is disgusting!), where Spike is waiting for the sun to go down, and there they have a nice, warm conversation. Spike is worried about Angel, tells Buffy he tried to insult him in order to provoke a fight and thus cheering Angel up, but it didn't work and that's all his “repertoire of therapy”... Buffy says she will check Angel later, adding that what she wants to know is if “they are OK”. Spike says they are always OK, and Buffy is happy, because after seeing everybody fighting so hard, caring so much and willing to give up everything, it “filled her heart”; and as it could happen again (a new battle against evil), it's important that they remain together and happy, without anything getting in the way. Spike says she's the one who will die of old age and that he isn't going anywhere. They  hug; the vampire says he is best around her (and all of his friends), and nothing will change that. And Buffy says it back to him  – calling him William Pratt.

Yet another conversation (the first being in issue #3) with Buffy and Spike pledging to be in each other's life forever: till death do us part. Adding to what Buffy said before – or what the writer Christos Gage made sure to address TWICE:

BtVS S11 #1 - The Spread of Their Evil (Christos Gage/Rebeka Isaacs)

BtVS S12 #1 - The Reckoning (Joss Whedon-Christos Gage/Georges Jeanty)

reaffirming the problem has never been Buffy and Spike, I believe it wouldn’t take much time for these two to be back together.

But I feel that in this last conversation, Buffy is still overwhelmed by all that happened in the battle; she got immensely touched by the effort all her friends made to try to revert her predicted horrible demise (as Harmony put it), and, although having figured out about what she wants as a career, putting aside her fear of being in a normal job and “screw things up”, I see her still a little bit afraid of screwing up a normal relationship, and that is linked to the happiness they all (except for Angel) are immersed now: Buffy talks like this precious moment is fragile, temporary (due to the world they live, things can go wrong again at any minute) and so it shouldn't be disturbed by anything, including “relationship stuff complicating things” – which she kind of hinted in issue #1:

So – as much as Christos Gage says “Buffy ended up in a good place” – by what he himself wrote I think Buffy still hasn't gotten entirely rid of that feeling that love should come with pain, that she is good at “just” stressful and scary 

BtVS S11 #12 - One Girl in All the World (Christos Gage/Rebeka Isaacs)

– things she didn't have with Spike, stress and scare; what I'm trying to say is that Buffy still needs some “Buffy-time” to realize and learn fully how to deal with “normal” in a relationship, and finally lose the fear of “something getting in the way” of her group’s happiness, the fear of inevitably “screwing things up”. And then, when it happens, she will sure find her way back to the manpire she has proclaimed her love to: Spike.

The panels are bright, the vibe is good; they look directly into each other's eyes. Buffy opens her hearth to Spike, she is about to cry.

Buffy goes to Angel; he looks completely miserable, 

sitting alone in a dark room. Buffy tells him everybody is ready to go after Illyria, but Angel says she asked him no to because it's dangerous to reopen the portal; besides, she wants time to kill as many demons as she can. Angel is worried, though; he thinks that by the time they get to Illyria, she may want to stay (the force of evil from that place being a great pull). The vampire accepts Illyria's decision though, adding he can wait because they are immortals. Buffy wants to know, in the meantime, if Angel intends to go back to England, and he says that, if she doesn't mind, he would like to stay in San Francisco “for a while”. Buffy hugs him and says “who doesn't want the people they love around?”

I just love the whole conversation – how it shows that the relationship between Angel and Illyria is something important to both of them, how it shows Angel has moved on and now is in love with Illyria, how he is broken about having losing her now, and worried he may lose her later. But it doesn’t matter: he tells Buffy that, being both immortals, he will wait for Illyria, which means forever. And of course he prefers to stay in the USA: Dawn is there to reopen the portal, his son Connor is there, Faith is there, Gunn is there; a little to do with Buffy nowadays. And Buffy's words – Angel is now just a person among the people she loves, and how she hugs him, without any passion, it feels protective, almost... motherly. Love it!

In the last panel, we have the whole gang together in the back yard, having a barbecue: Buffy, Spike, Angel, Xander, dawn, Joyce, Willow, Faith, Giles and Andrew. Buffy wonders what the future holds for them; she herself has the answer:

A Happy Ending. Which, sometimes, feels so weird, because, you know the old saying:

*I don’t know who created this meme above, I’ve seen it forever on the net; if you are the creative person, please let me know!

The Reckoning #1

The Reckoning #2

The Reckoning #3

Panels:

BtVS S12 #4 - The Reckoning (Joss Whedon-Christos Gage/Georges Jeanty)