Dark Willow has a forever home within my heart. And yes...this is another post about Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Although I can't really pinpoint a specific episode to share with you. Willow's decent into darkness occurred over the course of the show. It is one of the best, well done story arch's that I have seen. With that being said, I'm just going to share her story with you.
First I have to start by telling you that Willow is the sweetest, most adorable soft spoken little wallflower. I mean...she once described evisceration as taking the white part out of an Oreo cookie. And her clothes reflect her personality- fluffy sweaters, cute T-shirts, tights with sneakers etc.
Willow becomes interested in magic early in the show. But it's not until season 2 that she really attempts to work some serious spells. Her intelligence and precision make her well suited to practice magic. Although she has something more within her, a hidden power that she slowly discovers. Willow is not just good at magic. She was born to do it.
The first time we see a hint of her potential is in season 2. It's the series finale and Willow attempts a complex spell in a final effort to save Angel and restore his soul.
She first tries the spell at school, in the library. A group of Angel's vampire's attack. Their goal is to take Giles, and Willow ends up severely hurt in the process. She is admitted to the hospital, in a coma. When she finally comes to, Willow insists on trying the spell again, despite being hurt. Her friends give in and bring her supplies to the hospital.
This scene is amazing because it's the first glimpse at what she is capable of.
Willow recites the spell but soon her words start breaking up. Her voice gets a little breathy and you get the impression that she is going to pass out...maybe she was too weak to try it again. But then her head snaps up, as if some power has risen within her. Her eyes become level again and the words of the spell flow from her mouth, her pronunciation perfect. She doesn't even need to read the words. And bam...Angel has his soul back.
Willow continues to dabble in magic. As the seasons progress, she grows in her skill and confidence. Her abilities really take off when she goes to college and meets Tara.
Tara is a witch who has already developed her powers. The two of them practicing magic together is explosive. They also fall in love and adopt a kitten, which is adorable. <3 Two witches in love <3
As the story progresses, Tara kind of plateaus in her powers whereas Willow begins to steadily surpass her. Tara also is more level headed. She respects magic and only uses it as a last resort. And this is where our dear Willow begins to change. The way she approaches magic becomes a bit reckless. It's like this big pool available to her and she can't help but drink from it, constantly. Willow sees no limits, and she cannot separate herself from it. And she doesn't want to. The magic is her and she is the magic.
Tara tries to lovingly talk to her about it, guiding her with a gentle hand. It's not enough. Willow is set on her path. And what really seals her destiny, in my opinion, is when she brings Buffy back from the dead.
Buffy dies at the end of season 5- but it's kind of a mythical death. I'm not going to get into the details. But it's enough to say that Willow deeply believes that Buffy is caught in a hell dimension, or some alternate plane where she is suffering (Buffy is actually in heaven and Willow rips her out, which is a whole other can of worms).
Willow's conviction that Buffy needs to be rescued makes her...well, dangerous. She is so sure, so desperate to save her friend, that she will do anything. In this spell, Willow calls on Osiris. And the spell requires the blood of a sacrifice. Willow proceeds to slaughter a deer for its blood. She slits the poor thing's throat. The ritual itself is intense. Osiris tests her. Snakes form underneath her skin, eventually crawling out of her mouth.
Although I can't really pinpoint a specific episode to share with you. Willow's decent into darkness occurred over the course of the show. It is one of the best, well done story arch's that I have seen. With that being said, I'm just going to share her story with you.
First I have to start by telling you that Willow is the sweetest, most adorable soft spoken little wallflower. I mean...she once described evisceration as taking the white part out of an Oreo cookie. And her clothes reflect her personality- fluffy sweaters, cute T-shirts, tights with sneakers etc.
Willow becomes interested in magic early in the show. But it's not until season 2 that she really attempts to work some serious spells. Her intelligence and precision make her well suited to practice magic. Although she has something more within her, a hidden power that she slowly discovers. Willow is not just good at magic. She was born to do it.
The first time we see a hint of her potential is in season 2. It's the series finale and Willow attempts a complex spell in a final effort to save Angel and restore his soul.
She first tries the spell at school, in the library. A group of Angel's vampire's attack. Their goal is to take Giles, and Willow ends up severely hurt in the process. She is admitted to the hospital, in a coma. When she finally comes to, Willow insists on trying the spell again, despite being hurt. Her friends give in and bring her supplies to the hospital.
This scene is amazing because it's the first glimpse at what she is capable of.
Willow recites the spell but soon her words start breaking up. Her voice gets a little breathy and you get the impression that she is going to pass out...maybe she was too weak to try it again. But then her head snaps up, as if some power has risen within her. Her eyes become level again and the words of the spell flow from her mouth, her pronunciation perfect. She doesn't even need to read the words. And bam...Angel has his soul back.
Willow continues to dabble in magic. As the seasons progress, she grows in her skill and confidence. Her abilities really take off when she goes to college and meets Tara.
Tara is a witch who has already developed her powers. The two of them practicing magic together is explosive. They also fall in love and adopt a kitten, which is adorable. <3 Two witches in love <3
As the story progresses, Tara kind of plateaus in her powers whereas Willow begins to steadily surpass her. Tara also is more level headed. She respects magic and only uses it as a last resort. And this is where our dear Willow begins to change. The way she approaches magic becomes a bit reckless. It's like this big pool available to her and she can't help but drink from it, constantly. Willow sees no limits, and she cannot separate herself from it. And she doesn't want to. The magic is her and she is the magic.
Tara tries to lovingly talk to her about it, guiding her with a gentle hand. It's not enough. Willow is set on her path. And what really seals her destiny, in my opinion, is when she brings Buffy back from the dead.
Willow's conviction that Buffy needs to be rescued makes her...well, dangerous. She is so sure, so desperate to save her friend, that she will do anything. In this spell, Willow calls on Osiris. And the spell requires the blood of a sacrifice. Willow proceeds to slaughter a deer for its blood. She slits the poor thing's throat. The ritual itself is intense. Osiris tests her. Snakes form underneath her skin, eventually crawling out of her mouth.
The spell works and Buffy comes back from the dead. But Willow doesn't think things all the way through and Buffy actually reanimates inside of her coffin and has to punch her way out. It's brutal. Again, another can of worms.
But it's this moment, bringing her successfully back from the dead, that tips Willow over the edge. Her confidence level increases exponentially, almost to the point of indifference and disrespect for the dark arts. Giles calls her out. He tells her that she is a stupid girl, and she doesn't have the faintest idea of what powers she is playing with. Willow snaps, showing the growing evil inside. She tells him that she is powerful and maybe it isn't such a good idea to piss her off. It's a flash...a quick moment that she apologizes for and immediately brushes off. But the look on Giles' face. He knows. He knows what she is becoming. Ugh! It's so juicy.
I don't want to fall down the rabbit hole that is season 6. There is a lot of content and I want to stay focused on Willow. I will summarize it and say that a group of nerds has decided to pester Buffy and are really more annoying than they are dangerous. But their leader, Warren, is pretty unstable. In a moment of anger, he shows up at Buffy's house with a gun and fires wildly. He hits Buffy. But a stray bullet crashes through the upstairs window and hits Tara. At that moment, Tara and Willow were talking. When Tara gets hit, her blood sprays onto Willow's face. It's a fatal wound. Tara dies immediately, right in front of Willow's eyes.
Up until this point, Willow has tried to renounce magic. A lot happened, between bringing Buffy back and Tara getting shot. Again, it's a lot of content. But essentially Willow recognizes that she needs help and that she is going down a dark path. She asks her friends for help, and tries to stop doing magic all together. Tara even left her for a little while, hoping she could get it under control.
The morning that Tara dies, she and Willow had just gotten back together and Willow was on the road to recovery. That all changes, real quick. Willow's eyes turn totally black and she calls on Osiris, demanding he bring Tara back. I think this moment is interesting because it shows how powerful she is at this point. She doesn't need a ritual. Or a sacrifice. This girl straight up calls on Osiris and he responds. He denies her request but still...it's pretty damn impressive.
Willow is beyond distraught. And pissed. All of her progress goes out of the window. She makes a decision to hunt down Warren and kill him. But first she needs more power. Willow goes to the Magic Box and grabs books that are filled with black magic. Willow plunges her hands inside the books and the script leaves the pages and swirls up her arms and face.
At this point Willow is a creature to be feared, a force that cannot be stopped as she hunts Warren. Buffy, Xander, and Giles of course try to stop her. They try to get through to her and bring her back to her senses. But she is way too far gone. The dark magic changes her appearance. Her hair turns black, her eyes are pitch black, and spidery veins appear on her skin. I would greatly encourage you to watch a few episodes featuring dark Willow. Its bone-chilling, bad ass, and also heart breaking.
Willow's character development is extremely effective and I have to take a moment to applaud the writing. Willow's story is something that progresses over time. And it is handled so well. Witnessing her decent into darkness is difficult to watch but it is expertly handled. It doesn't happen overnight. It is a slow progression that is believable. By the time she plunges her hands into those spell books, you understand how and why she got there.
The final showdown takes place at the Magic Box. A witch coven in England gives Giles their power so he can fight Willow. Buffy also tries to stop her by force. This part is so damn hard to watch. Willow really hurts them, especially Giles. And then she leaves to find Warren. She tracks him down in the woods. And yes, she tortures him first. Warren begs for his life. Willow shows no mercy. She flays him alive...rips his skin off of his body, leaving nothing but charred muscle. Yeah-this is the girl that use to wear fuzzy sweaters and compare evisceration to cookies.
Willow then attempts to raise a Satanic temple which will essentially end the world. Buffy at this moment (again too much content) is trapped in a sinkhole with Dawn and they are fighting animated corpses. Giles is hurt. There is only one person left to save the world and stop Willow: Xander.
Again this shows the brilliance of the show. Xander is Willow's oldest friend. This scene is so powerful. He essentially tells her how much he loves her. And that he won't stop loving her. Ever. Willow lashes out at him, cutting his skin with magic. Xander won't stop. He keeps getting closer, taking everything she throws at him. But even in her darkest hour...she couldn't kill Xander. He is able to get to her and wraps his arms around her. They sink to the ground and Willow starts sobbing. Her appearance goes back to normal, she lets go of the anger, and finally allows herself to mourn for Tara.
Willow is a character that I love, from beginning to end. She is a strong feminine presence in the series, and in the comics. She has that nature/goddess thing going on. She follows her heart and intuition, she is vulnerable, she is confident in her sexual orientation, and she is powerful as hell. But she also has a darkness inside of her, one that she had to conquer. She has known heartache and loss, yet she is so very loyal. Willow embodies so much of the female spirit. I love how the writers handled her character arch. She succumbed to her pain and anger, allowing it to transform her into a monstrous being. But love and friendship saved her. In the end, light always triumphs over darkness and our Willow...our fuzzy sweater, cute T-shirt wearing Willow...rose from the ashes.
Thank you for taking the time to read about Dark Willow! If you would like to check out my debut novel, Dark Touch, it will be available on 11/29. You can order it through the B&N website. It is fast paced, dark, and features a big bad that you will love to hate. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-touch-elle-lewis/1129755237?ean=9781684331765
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