Sunday Morning Brain Fever

[thedeadlyhook]

This is a total crack theory I'm posting just for the hell of it, because yesterday Toys and I were discussing the Greatest Hits of Retcons and Fakeouts in the World of Comic Books (No, there's no list I can point to right now, but it's not impossible that we'll make one. Someday), and based on that discussion, here's the genius (insert snort here) idea we came up with about how the Buffy Season 8 Willow vs. Amy storyline ought to go.

For starters, let me state up front that I'm really skeptical about Warren's story. It sounds hugely implausible, based on what we see on screen, but it's coming from a dude who was tortured, and so does not have the most unbiased view, and who may also turn out to be some kind of trick. So let's set Warren aside for the moment and focus on the one thing he's really useful for here: providing a clue that this storyline is really about Willow, and Amy's vendetta against her.

So what do we know about Amy?

1. Well, up until the comic, where she's suddenly able to do all sorts of stuff (flying, summoning zombies) that seemed well beyond her in the TV show, she was a relatively small-time magician with certain specialized skills - illusions (as we see in "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered," in making a teacher believe she's turned in imaginary homework), turning herself and others into a rat ("Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" again, plus "Gingerbread"), a tendency to abuse power (getting magically high with Rack in "Wrecked", toying with the Bronze crowd in "Smashed," etc.), and casting a very effective hex on Willow in which she believed she was turning into Warren. So aside from the rat thing - a transformative spell - most of her powers concern manipulation of your perceptions. Now let's think about Amy's first appearance in "The Witch," and the very first spell she was a part of.

2. That's right! Body-switching! Her mother switched bodies with her because she wanted to be a teenager again, a cheerleader like she'd been back in the day. Only it doesn't work very well, because Amy is not who her mother was, and doesn't have that level of coordination. She's still a powerful witch, but can't get what she wants, even in Amy's body.

3. So, now it's Amy who's looking at Willow with jealously (see the dialogue in "The Killer in Me," and check out powerofthebook's Meta on Amy, for a good analysis of her character as seen in the show) and wants what Willow has - acceptance, a gang of friends, and a worshipping daughter-figure in the form of Dawn (not a stretch to think that Amy has some parental issues, because what Jossverse character doesn't?) - then why wouldn't Amy....

4. ...body-switch with Willow!! Yes! Think of it - discount Warren's story, because who cares, it might not even be him, and instead imagine Willow in "Chosen," all by herself in the principal's office in the aftermath of casting the Slayer spell. High as a kite on all that magic. Lying on the floor giggling. Amy busts in, and while Willow is helpless and drained, casts her spell. The Hellmouth falls in, Amy-in-Willow escapes on the schoolbus and Willow-in-Amy is buried in the Hellmouth, traumatized and loaded up with a high-quality hex that makes her believe that she is Amy.

Why do I love this theory? Because it fits what we know about Amy's powers from the show instead of reinventing her as a mega-powerful eyes-in-the-sky nemesis who can fight Dragon Ball Z-style with Willow and summon armies. Willow could probably do all that, but Amy? If Amy IS Willow, then the whole equation changes. Plus, she would be taking away from Willow all the things that Amy herself wants, just like her mother did to her, and discovering in the same way that it's not that easy. (Remember that Willow has been missing for awhile. Maybe she found the masquerade tougher than she thought? Plus, then we add an extra layer of angst and betrayal for Dawn, if the "Willow" she bonded with post-series turned out to be Amy.)

I warned you it was a crack theory. If this actually happens in the book... well, I don't know what I'd do. Get a job in comics! *g*

Comments

[toysdream.livejournal.com]

You know, at first I was just thinking of this as an example of the kind of cracktastic plot complications you'd get if the Buffy comic were operating under full-bore comic logic. But on reflection, it could actually help rationalize some of what we're seeing; not only would it explain how "Amy" got so powerful, but it also means that the resurrected Warren is really just a projection of Willow's guilt-ridden subconscious (as in "The Killer In Me") and the fact that he's now taking a knife to "Willow" while ranting about her infamous "bored now" line is a case of displaced self-hatred just like Faith's projection onto Buffy in "Who Are You," or Buffy's projection onto Spike in "Dead Things." Plus we also have an explanation for her long post-Chosen absence, the callous comments about Dawn and Kennedy, her taste in clothing, and anything else you like.

This isn't something that desperately needs explaining, mind you, but it would certainly make for a funny little complication. :-)

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

I do love the idea of it being all about Willow's misplaced guilt. I did think "The Killer in Me" was a weak patch on that, a bit of a la-di-dah that had possibilities that weren't followed up on. I mean, if we take the events of TKIM at face value, then Amy's hex uncovered an internal fear of Willow's that she still had all that in her, not just to be a villain, but specifically a Warren-style villain who's weirdly misogynist and sadistic. If this story turned out to be about that - something rich and pyschological dealing with Willow's feelings about having committed murder - then I will happily eat at least some of my criticisms of the comics.

The Slayer army being a collection of anonymous redshirts, though - that's still on notice.

[toysdream.livejournal.com]

(Reposting to fix another HTML error. No more coding for me today!)

If this story turned out to be about that - something rich and pyschological dealing with Willow's feelings about having committed murder - then I will happily eat at least some of my criticisms of the comics.

Well, the beauty of the rolling retcon is that even if the story isn't about that right now, it could always be retconned accordingly at a later point. :-)

The Slayer army being a collection of anonymous redshirts, though - that's still on notice.

Maybe this will come in handy, then. "Redshirt Slayer Army" fits on the board just fine.