Author: Joss Whedon
First published in 2011
Thickness: 160 pages
Personal rating: 3 stars
In short
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Following the events of Twilight, Spike arrives with his crew to assist Buffy Summers' battle against Angel. He explains to her that the Twilight realm, created from Buffy and Angel's lovemaking, demands the Seed, the source of all magic found deep in the Hellmouth below the fallen Sunnydale. Angel is possessed by Twilight and tries to retrieve the Seed, while Earth is invaded by demons from other dimensions. The Scooby Gang believe the best course of action is to protect the Seed, as destroying the Seed or handing it over would return the demons to their respective dimensions but also rid the world of all magic. As Slayers from all over the world engage in a mass battle against the demon armies, Buffy and a select few reach down into the Hellmouth and encounter the Master who is guarding the Seed: a red, egg-shaped ball of energy. Willow confiscates the Seed from the Master and feels more powerful and more connected to the universe than ever; now able to destroy hordes of extra-dimensional demons above ground with ease.
Underground, Angel arrives and exchanges blows with Buffy. Observing the couple's fight from afar, Giles, realising that Buffy would never kill Angel and is allowing herself to get distracted from destroying the Seed, takes the Scythe from Faith and charges toward the Seed. Angel, seeing what Giles intends to do, snaps his neck. Horrified by the death of her mentor, Buffy grabs the Scythe and uses it to smash the Seed before collapsing to the ground in tears beside Giles, causing all magic on Earth to vanish. All of the world's witches, such as Willow, find themselves completely powerless. Warren Mears, who had been kept alive by Amy's spell, dies once again. The invading demons are returned to their own dimensions and the Twilight realm is vanquished. Angel is freed from his possession and, suddenly conscious of what he has done, turns catatonic with grief.
Four months after the battle, Buffy is living a quiet and modest lifestyle in San Francisco and is staying at Dawn and Xander's apartment while waitressing by day and vampire slaying by night. The Slayers are viewed as social pariahs, for which they blame Buffy. Simone, in particular, wishes to kill her. Like other former witches, Willow is struggling with the loss of magic, and feeling powerless, ends her relationship with Kennedy. Finally, after inheriting Giles' estate, Faith takes Angel with her to bring him back on to the righteous path.
(www.wikipedia.org)
My two cents
This comic book adaptation of Buffy The Vampire Slayer has been interesting to say the least. With being blown away by the first and second installment, the ones after that kind of took my interest, bedazzled me and left me wondering what happened. Sometimes it was a little too much and over the top and I didn't recognize a lot from the tv show. What remained was a little frayed, like coffee after using a pad one time to many.
Pretty much like the first season of Angel, the Buffy The Vampire Slayer spin-off, had to learn and get rid of those growing pains, so did these graphic novels.
Of course for budgetting reasons, this kind of action could never be translated onto the big screen and I don't mind them seeing it big, but there is a saying I truly believe and that's "Less is more" and I hope that for the next season Joss will be more true to the series instead of having a Bueller's Day Off.
This final installment takes the implication of having 'f*cked' an entire dimension between Angel and Buffy and reintroduces reality and what it entails.
Angel turns for the worst, in order to set Buffy on the right path, and Spike (who doesn't love that Blondie Bear) turns up helping Buffy save the world (Again!).
Of course things are set in motion and since this time the world saving has been noticed by a lot more people, she is up for judgment, betrayal and pretty much the usual heart ache.
We do love our Buffster, don't we and I'm curious to what she will get into in Season 9.
