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Why the soulquest *couldn't* have been a ret-con.
Look! A fandom post! I've been meaning to write this down for ages, and suddenly remembered today. And then thought - why not? It is after all why I'm here.
Also, if I remember correctly, I have![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
stormwreath to thank for this flawless proof.
So, let's look at some dates. 'Seeing Red' aired on 7th of May 2002 and tried to make us think Spike blamed the chip for everything:
SPIKE: It's the chip! Steel and wires and silicon. It won't let me be a monster. And I can't be a man. I'm nothing.
'Villains' aired on the 14th of May and it was this episode that more than any other tried to make people believe that Spike wanted the chip out:
SPIKE: Thinks she's better than me. Ever since I got this bleeding chip in my head, things ain't been right. Everything's gone to hell.
DEMON: And you want to return to your former self.
SPIKE: Yeah.
So, did they change the outcome at the last minute? Or is it just that the execution of their mislead was rather clumsy? Well, lets look at the script for 'Grave', dated 27th March 2002 - that is MORE THAN A MONTH before SR aired:
SPIKE (cont'd)
So, give me what I want. Make me
what I was... so Buffy can get what
she deserves.
VOICE
Very well.
A GNARLY DEMON HAND reaches out to Spike's bare chest
VOICE (cont'd)
Your soul is returned to you.
As the hand touches him, Spike throws his head back and SCREAMS in agony...
QED (Unless of course Joss can travel in time...)
Also, if I remember correctly, I have
stormwreath to thank for this flawless proof. So, let's look at some dates. 'Seeing Red' aired on 7th of May 2002 and tried to make us think Spike blamed the chip for everything:
SPIKE: It's the chip! Steel and wires and silicon. It won't let me be a monster. And I can't be a man. I'm nothing.
'Villains' aired on the 14th of May and it was this episode that more than any other tried to make people believe that Spike wanted the chip out:
SPIKE: Thinks she's better than me. Ever since I got this bleeding chip in my head, things ain't been right. Everything's gone to hell.
DEMON: And you want to return to your former self.
SPIKE: Yeah.
So, did they change the outcome at the last minute? Or is it just that the execution of their mislead was rather clumsy? Well, lets look at the script for 'Grave', dated 27th March 2002 - that is MORE THAN A MONTH before SR aired:
So, give me what I want. Make me
what I was... so Buffy can get what
she deserves.
VOICE
Very well.
A GNARLY DEMON HAND reaches out to Spike's bare chest
VOICE (cont'd)
Your soul is returned to you.
As the hand touches him, Spike throws his head back and SCREAMS in agony...
QED (Unless of course Joss can travel in time...)
no subject
Sure he did. And therein lies the possible retcon.
The thing is, they worked it all out backwards. JM had a filmrole coming up and said he'd not be around much towards the end of the season. So they thought - maybe we could send Spike off somewhere? Oh - maybe he could go get a soul? But why? What could motivate him to do that? And so the AR was born...
(Also if he'd wanted the chip out he could just have gone to W&H. He knew they were there and what they were capable of!)