Angel Finale

[Kobold Avenger]

They said the devil's name was Azrael...

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

They said the devil's name was Azrael...

I heard it as something like Azuriel, but it could have been Azrael.

 

[AuroraGyps]

That does, however, bring up a question I meant to ask. Every member of the Circle seems to be someone we've seen before in this season, but I can't for the life of me recall ever seeing the Satan-looking devil in any previous episodes. Can someone jog the memory? Or was he the only member who was new to the plotline?

I think I remember him walking around in the background at Wolfram & Hart a few times during the season.

 

[Vocenoctum]

I mean she's really a first. First, the show actually goes into the existence of Lovecraftian elder gods/demons, something you rarely see on TV.
Then, it has one of them on the show...and more than that, the ancient demon thing becomes a real character. Not just a villian, or a curiosity. And thats actually a double first. I have never before seen them take either an ancient Lovecrafty god-thing and make he/she/it into a real character...and rarely do you see a TV show have any character that is either extremely powerful, or extremely alien in mindset, become a real living character.

Demon from White Wolf pretty much captured the character Illyria. In it, Demon's (the fallen angels) are burning with hatred imprisoned within the Abyss, and a crack appears. The one's that manage to get out are forced to take over near-death humans (dying, coma, whatever) in order to resist being pulled back to the Abyss.
The PC's in the game are Demon's that come to inhabit a loving caring person. The personality is all Demon, but tempered by the feelings of the host, including sharing the feelings the Host had. The Demon knows the feelings aren't it's, but doesn't have much control over it.
Very interesting game.

Speaking of which, I would really liked to have learned more about the Wolf, Ram, and Hart. Are they like THE supreme evil of everything and everywhere, or just that one world? We know that they were little more than ants in Ilyria's heyday. We know they have influence in Pylea.

Angel mentioned that the Oldies had been beat before, they used to rule the world and then they.. didn't. No real details that I recall. I tend to think something wiped them out, and only a few of the really minor types remained (like an ice age wiping out all the dinosaurs but leaving little squirrels to survive... or something.
Either that, or they're Earthbound from Demon.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

My problem with Wes' death is that I'm not sure why Angel believe Wes could kill the warlock. I doubt he'd do it with the intention of provoking Illyria into doing it, since she'd be happy enough to smash him anyway. If Wes had gone in with explosives, maybe I could see it.

Angel points out that the warlock already believed Wes was going to betray Angel, and so under the premise that he *was* going to betray Angel he was able to arrange a meeting with the warlock. That's the only way he had an in, presumably. And since there's no way the guy would have allowed him to bring any weapons to the meeting, they only had one way to attempt to kill him- magic. No one but Wes could have done it (except maybe Angel). The guy wouldn't have met with Spike, or Gunn, or Lorne, or Lindsey. And, except for Spike, none of those other guys would have stood a chance against the warlock anyway. Only Angel and Wes could possibly have arranged a meeting and had any sort of chance to take him out, and Angel was already planning on a showdown with Hamilton (another opponent that couldn't have been handled by any of the 'average' joes.)

Now, I suppose Illyria *might* have been able to break into the warlock's house and get past his wards and such and kill him (she certainly doesn't seem to have any problems at the end- though maybe he was distracted), but a) Angel didn't trust her enough, I don't think, and b) she was already taking out (as someone else pointed out) 4 members of the Circle all by her lonesome- something Wes probably couldn't have done alone.

So Wes was really the only choice. And, as he repeatedly stated, Angel didn't expect anyone to survive the night, but Wes was their best chance against the warlock.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Angel mentioned that the Oldies had been beat before, they used to rule the world and then they.. didn't. No real details that I recall. I tend to think something wiped them out, and only a few of the really minor types remained (like an ice age wiping out all the dinosaurs but leaving little squirrels to survive... or something.
Either that, or they're Earthbound from Demon.

The ancient demons have been brought up before, in Buffy originally (I want to say during season 3, with the Mayor's ascension and all- but I think they were mentioned more than once). They're not something that Angel made up from whole cloth, but I agree that it was kind of cool to see something more done with them than had previously been done, and that they seemed to be more Lovecraftian than I recall them having been previously described.

 

[Merlion]

Very much so. There seem to be several phases or groupings. In the very early days of Buffy Giles said that powerful demons once ruled the earth. And then in season 3 of buffy we discover that what we think of as demons arent "real" demons...that all the real ones were destroyed or banished way back.
And then we have Glory who's supposedly a demon-"god" thing. And Jasmine was something similiar, also from another reality.
But when the Mayor became a "full" demon, he was basically just a really big snake...nothing to write home about. Jasmine and Glory were both obviously far more powerful beings.
But then with Illyria and her catagory of "Old Ones"....they seem to be something else all together...from the way she talked they existed in a primordiam where reality hadnt even "cooled down" yet so to speak. Basically, much more Lovecrafty. Especially the picture of the statue of Illyria in her natural form.

Of course that again also brings about those interesting questions about the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart who in Illyria's day were little more than ants, but now seem to be the supreme evils of the buffyverse (with one would think the exception of the First).


But the really new thing about Illyria is having a being like that, and having them really and truly be a true character.

 

[DanMcS]

I think I remember him walking around in the background at Wolfram & Hart a few times during the season.

He was the one Angel was playing squash (or racketball, I get my pseudosports confused) with an episode or two back.

 

[Nighthawk]

Meh! Apparently, I'm the only one non-plussed...

I didn't expect much, expected no resolution, and maybe a cliff-hanger of an ending... I didn't get much, didn't get much in the way of resolution, and not even much of a cliff-hanger...

All pretty anti-climactic, to me. Not bad, as an episode, but not an ending, at all...

snip other comments

You are not the only one. It was an ok episode, being neither bad or good. Some cool lines. Overall, worth watching, but only notable for being the series finale.

 

[Wolf72]

I'm telling you, that guy is Smith!

FINALLY!!!

just got to finish watching it ... (wolf passed his VCR Skill check)

... now to read ya'll's comments.

I liked it, ... and I think the Wolf (Me!), the Ram, and the Hart got hurt a lot more than they would like to admit.

... is it just me or does anyone get images of wolves, Rams, and elk/deer in their head when they think of the law firm?