Mini epiphany of the day.

[elisi]

Have been discussing 'what did Spike ask for - the chip out or his soul back?' in the AOQ 'Grave' thread, and the nay-sayers keep going on about the stupid dialogue and saying that there's no hint that Spike has asked for a soul (the fact that the thing was written to be as fuzzy as possible is lost on them). But... (from 'Villains'):

The Lurking demon says: "...and you have the audacity to crawl in here and demand restoration?"

The gypies re-souling spell is called 'The Ritual of Restoration.'

Now that is just... neat. :)

Comments

[elisi]

It works if he went to get his soul of his own accord and it works if he was tricked into his soul.
Well I don't really think so - because the end result isn't as important as the motivation. If his response to the AR really truly was 'I'm going to get this chip out of my head so I can destroy Buffy's life', then Spike is as awful as Angelus, if not worse. And it would be at odds with his growth over the last 3 years on the show, and at odds with his love for Buffy and his overriding need for her to love him.

It works in a "Ha, ha, another one of Spike's plans blows up in his face. Dumb Spike." and it works in a "He got the soul for her, so he could be complete. *swoon*"
Ah, but it does that anyway - it's the most wonderful catch-22: He knows that Buffy will not love him without the soul (he's beneath her), but once he has it he finally understands how awful he is (he's even further beneath her). He's complete - and it blows up in his face!

It's a matter of what you think about Spike. That's it.
Oh absolutely! :)

[(Anonymous)]

"If his response to the AR really truly was 'I'm going to get this chip out of my head so I can destroy Buffy's life', then Spike is as awful as Angelus, if not worse. And it would be at odds with his growth over the last 3 years on the show, and at odds with his love for Buffy and his overriding need for her to love him."

Exactly. And then there's what he says when he gets back to his crypt: "What have I done? Why didn't I do it?" He had failed at being a man and at being a monster (well... relatively for the second one). Getting the chip out would neither help to prevent the AR from happening again nor change the fact that when Buffy kicked him across the room, he didn't get back up and attack her again. He wouldn't be closer to humanity or to the Spike of season 2 who showed up in Sunnydale ready to kill his third slayer. In the context of that line, it doesn't make sense for removing the chip to be his plan.

[elisi]

Getting the chip out would neither help to prevent the AR from happening again nor change the fact that when Buffy kicked him across the room, he didn't get back up and attack her again.
::nods a lot:: I love this line of Xander's:

"He doesn't have a soul, Buffy. Just some leash they jammed in his head. You think he'd still be all snuggles if that chip ever stopped working?"

Because Buffy knows the truth of it, which is that Spike *is* all snuggles without the chip (when she lets him). The chip is not a factor, really. Guess the writers were just too good at misdirecting for their own good.

(Also thanks for reading and commenting, all this time later!)