Anya
(her Scooby Gang nickname) Emerson
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Anya was a vengeance demon for about 1120 years, she was known as Anyanka, the patron saint of scorned women. Anya answered woman's wishes ('I wish ...), when a man has scorned and betrayed them, by using her powers to carry out the wish. She became a vengeance demon in 880 when her husband Olaf has an affair and in her anger she turns him into a troll.
During 'The Wish" (S3,Ep9) she came to Sunnydale to answer Cordelia's wish, "I wish Buffy Summers had never come to Sunnydale." (see clip below, The Wish - S3,Ep9) An alternate really is created where vampires rule Sunnydale because Buffy never came to the Hellmouth to fight them. Willow and Xander are vampires, Gile's and Oz are 'White Hats' fighting the vampires and Cordelia gets killed by the vamp versions of Willow and Xander. This alternate reality is destroyed when Giles grabs Anyanka's necklace, her center of power, and destroys it by smashing it. The destruction of her power center transforms Anyanka into Anya, a human female. During the course of her life as a vengeance demon she tortured and killed thousands of people and started many wars. From 'The Wish' (S3,Ep9) up to her marriage ceremony with Xander, she was a regular, if not quirky human. When Xander leaves her at the alter due to his own fear of the future, she once again becomes a vengeance demon when D'Hoffryn sees her pain and asks her back into the fold. Much to Anya's surprise, being a vengeance demon isn't as fun as it once was. Up until this point Anya doesn't show any signs of regretting anything she did as a vengeance demon and she did a great number of heinous things. She existed as a vengeance demon for about 6 to 7 times the number of years that Angelus reigned terror across Europe and the Far East. She existed 9 times longer then even Spike and his killing spree with Angelus, Darla and Drusilla. I do not recall her ever, up to the wedding, showing any sense of guilt for what she had done. All of her actions as a vengeance demon was by her own choice. Anyanka was conscious of her choices to grant the wishes no matter how extreme a reaction the scorned women had. Regardless of this and her being a demon Xander and Buffy except her. Xander has given both Angel and Spike a great deal of hassle over their pasts and that's for a fraction of the time that Anya lived. Even Buffy hardly had any real problems about it until 'Selfless' (S7,Ep5). So why did Xander give Spike grief over his past when he didn't choose to be a vampire? How could he sleep at night next to Anya and never feel any guilt or grief over her actions? Up to this point she is not a 'fallen angel'. During 'Selfless' (S7,Ep5) Anya carries out a young woman's wish and so brutally kills several college students by releasing a spider demon that rips out their hearts. Anya is in shock because of what she has done, it haunts her, so much so that she wishes to reverse what she has done. (See clip below, Selfless - S7,Ep5) D'Hoffryn hears her and offers her a solution, in exchange for the sacrifice of the life and soul of a vengeance demon everything she did would be reversed. Anya thinks that D'Hoffryn means that her own life and soul would be forfeit, but that is not what happens. Those that died where brought back to life, but one of her only friends, Hallie another vengeance demon, was killed instead of her. From this point Anya is once again a normal human being, without any powers. She now has to live with everything she has done and come to terms with it. It is only after 'Selfless' (S7,Ep5) that she can be described as a kind of 'fallen angel'. We will see if she tries to redeem herself in the coming episodes. Just like with any of the vampires on BtVS and AtS (Angel, Spike, Darla and Drusilla) it's a tricky thing for any of them to become redeemed for their actions. Even if their 'good' actions are done selflessly and if they saved millions of lives, how can you ever make it up to the thousands that they hunted, tortured and killed? In the case of Anya the tens of thousands that she reigned vengeance on or who died during one of the many wars that she had a hand in? They can be 'fallen angels' and try to redeem themselves, but they do so with the knowledge that nothing could make up for their past.
During End of Days (S7, Ep21) Anya and Andrew talk frankly about why they are staying for the final confrontation and potential Apocalypse instead of running away. Anya speaks in great detail of her feelings and thoughts about life and humans. We get to see that she has actually started to think a bit more instead of just being in the 'now' and not thinking about the future or her past actions. During Chosen (S7, Ep22) we see Anya at a loss for her patented jokes and sense of humor, she's scared and knows something is going to happen. She made a stand with her friends and died honorably. But can we say that by dying she has wiped away all of her crimes and the blood of all the people she killed as a vengeance demon. Even with a characters death and their willing self-sacrifice, the past wrongs cannot be erased, Darla and Angel know that. I was proud of Anya for finally starting to grow up and be part of the world around her instead of just passing through and using her own hate and pain, the very things that got her the position of vengeance demon. Anya might look to be in her early twenties, but she has lived nearly 1200 years, about the same number of years as if you combined Darla, Angel, Spike and Drusilla's unlifes together. She wasn't cut down in her youth like all of the potential Slayers (they were generally about 15), but in a way she was still a child that only just discovered life and the joys of living. I will miss her wit, bluntness and simple view of life. Would you like to send me some feedback about what I've written or on my site? COMMENTS |
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Anya: I don't have a date for the prom. Xander: Well gosh. I wonder why not. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with your sales pitch? Anya: Men are evil. Will you go with me? Xander: One of us is very confused, and I honestly don't know which. Anya: You know, this happens to be all your fault. Xander: My fault? Anya: You were unfaithful to Cordelia so I took on the guise of a twelfth-grader to tempt her with the Wish. When I lost my powers I got stuck in this persona, and now I have all these feelings. I don't understand it. I don't like it. All I know is I really want to go to this dance and I want someone to go with me. Xander: Be still my heart. Oh wait, it is. Anya: For a thousand years I wielded the power of the wish. I brought ruin upon the hands of unfaithful men. I offered destruction and chaos for the pleasure of the lower beings. I was feared and worshipped across the mortal globe, and now I'm stuck at Sunnydale High as a mortal! A child! And, I'm flunking math. Clips from the Buffy Dialogue Database ANYA:
Here. I think you need this more than I do right now. The Wish (S3,Ep9) Olaf
(shouts): I am Olaf! Selfless (S7,Ep5) Wishes Broken, Payments Made D'HOFFRYN:
Oh, please, don't mind me. Continue with whatever it was you
were doing. Oh, breathtaking. It's like somebody slaughtered an
Abercrombie and Fitch catalog. (Buffy stands and grabs her sword)
Easy now. I'd be gone before you could swing. Isn't that just like
a slayer. Solving all her problems by sticking things with sharp
objects. I talked to your friend, Miss Rosenberg. She's a firebrand.
I have high hopes for her. Selfless (S7,Ep5) |
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Why She loves Humans ANDREW:
It’s going to be bad, isn’t it? End of Days (S7, Ep21) |
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The Final Fight and the End ANDREW:
I think they’re coming. Back at the bus, Xander turns to Andrew as he steps off. Chosen (S7, Ep22) |
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