If you want a roller coaster ride of emotions, try reading Buffy Season Eight #14. The excruciatingly long wait has been worth it. In my book, Part 3 of the Wolves at the Gate arc has a solid place in the Top 3 issues of this season so far.

Last issue:

A mysterious gang of vampires from Tokyo raided Buffy’s headquarters in Scotland, successfully stealing the Scythe. Buffy takes all the slayers to Japan to retrieve the powerful weapon.

*** SPOILER WARNING ***

“Help me cut her down”

Buffy and her “army” are on the ground. The issue opens with the shocking figure of Aiko, the slayer sent to spy on the vampire gang, dead and hung on the side of a building. To add insult to injury, they used her blood to write “Welcome to Tokyo” for Buffy to read. They retrieve her body and wrap her in cloth. Buffy carries her to a Buddhist temple, which doubles as Slayer HQ - Japan.

It’s a poignant series of panels showing the grief of the slayers who knew Aiko. Buffy herself is visibly shaken at what she saw, sulking in a corner trying desperately to eke out a plan to stop the vamps. Willow is a breath of fresh air here, doing her best to comfort her best friend. After Anywhere But Here, it’s a relief to see that they are, in fact, still best of friends. It’s also a nice touch to see Willow happy at the sight of Xander walking towards them with Dracula. I could feel the Scooby love.

Dracula, the Primadonna

Dracula is dressed in a Victorian gentleman’s suit a la Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (he’s really channeling various movie adaptations, isn’t he?). He intrudes to tell Willow about a spell to bind the vampires so they can’t just turn to fog and vanish, then orders her to get the materials needed. He even tells Buffy to vacate the Master’s Bedroom before he helps them. That guy must really be enjoying this. But wait, he just told the vampire slayers how to kill vampires like him. Either he knows how to counter the spell, or he’s putting an awful lot of faith in Buffy.

The Vampire and the Bait

Buffy goes back to its roots of the little blond girl in a dark alley who, instead of getting killed, kicks the crap out of the bad guy. Though this time, its a black girl. Renee looks positively adorable in a school girl uniform, acting as bait on the streets of Tokyo. A tough-looking guy falls for it, and leads her to the park. Just when he puts on his vamp face, we see Willow, Xander and Buffy converge on him for the trap. I have a minor beef with the way the panels were arranged. The vamp out frame is just beside the “reveal” image of the Scoobies hiding on a tree, about to spring. Whatever little element of surprise that scene could have had was negated by placement. They should have been placed in separate pages, me thinks.

Willow binds him inside a block of force field (see first image above) to prevent the vamp from escaping by turning into fog. He spills the beans on where the Scythe is being kept and other tactical info. Afterwards, in one of the toughest stances I’ve ever seen her in, Buffy burns the vampire and the gang walks away. This is definitely war. I nominate this as the coolest Season 8 scene.

Conversation of Two Non-Lovers

Cut to Buffy and Satsu having a private argument about whether or not the younger slayer will join the fight. Buffy wants her to stay at the HQ to help the girls bury Aiko. Satsu argues that she’s Buffy’s best fighter, and would therefore serve her better on the battlefield. I like how forthright Satsu is on this scene, telling Buffy that she’s confused about her own feelings, because it’s either Buffy’s protecting her or avoiding her. Drama. I’m loving it, especially with Buffy’s “sexy” remark at the end. She’s still attracted to Satsu. Heehee.

My guess is Buffy’s becoming overly protective of her like she did with Riley. It’s refreshing to see Satsu stand up and assert herself. Looks like she’s had enough of Buffy’s attitude to her the past issue. This scene also reveals that perhaps the slayer hierarchy is not as rigid as the military hierarchy is. Buffy may be the general, but in a benevolent sense that allows for her “subordinates” to have a mind of their own, so to speak. I’ve always been bothered about following orders blindly, so it’s great to see Satsu not going down that path.

The way that the Buffy/Satsu interactions have been kept alive until now just proves that the writers are up to something with these two. I feel a mixture of excitement and dread about where it’s all leading to. We all know too well that you can’t stay happy in the Buffyverse. But traitor? Still, I think not.

First Things First

In classic Xander-logic, he tries to persuade an incredulous Renee to consider that night as their first date, to skip past all the awkwardness. But Renee would have none of it, as staking vamps is not her idea of a romantic evening (though I think this would work well with Faith). To quell Xander’s fears, she makes the first move and they share their first kiss. It’s was all very cute and Renee totally won me over. Also, the jealous look on Dracula’s face was priceless.

The Attack of Dawn-zilla

The slayers are in position around the perimeter of the Vamp HQ. The fact that they got this close “undetected” should have been a dead giveaway that it’s a trap, but hey. Willow summons Dawn as a distraction so they could get inside the building while avoiding bloodshed. Dawn’s thundering roar was perfect, setting all those vampires scampering away. It’s great to see “little Dawnie” become an integral part of the group’s operation.

When Buffy’s group got upstairs too quickly in the next frame, you could smell something foul in the air. Buffy tried to grab the Scythe from Toru but her hand slipped through it. A hologram. The next frame is a ghastly image of Renee, ironically staked through the heart with Scythe by a grinning Toru. Worse, her blood splattered on Xander’s face. All that character development since the first issue, just to kill her here, when people were beginning to like her. Joss had us tricked on that one. Everybody was expecting Satsu to go down after sleeping with Buffy, then bam!

Now I fully expect Xander to go the way of dark, brooding Wesley and/or become a monk, what with his awful luck with women. Cordy, Anya and Renee, rest in peace. And I do believe Renee is dead and cannot be saved by Willow due to a sudden attack that will keep her occupied. Disable the witch, and Buffy and company are pretty much helpless, save for giant Dawn. Willow vs Kumiko fireworks, bring it on!

Speculation Central

This is my guess on what will happen on the next issue:

1) Dracula will confront Toru with the way he was cheated. Toru will give an exposition about why they’re doing this, why they know the de-slayerizing spell, and their relation to Twilight, if any.

2) The “robotics division” will keep the Scoobies busy, allowing Toru to escape with the Scythe. Buffy, Willow and Satsu to follow.

3) Some of the slayers on the ground will be stripped of their power, satisfying the “massive hit” scenario. The remaining slayers left in the HQ will come in the nick of time to augment the cavalry.

4) Dawn will do a King Kong and climb the top of the building to destroy the lens. That would be awesome.

5) Buffy and Satsu vs Toru and Raidon. Satsu will save Buffy in some way (but won’t die).

See, here’s the thing. Joss loves to have something bad happen to his characters right when they’re happy. For example, Renee got killed right after the first kiss with Xander. Tara died right after make-up sex with Willow. Satsu and Buffy aren’t in the best of terms, so I’m thinking, Satsu will be safe for now. Which makes me torn about wanting them to get closer or not. Oh, damn you, Joss.

Do you have any ideas how the arc will end? Tell me about it and let’s compare notes!