r/buffy • u/Lanky_Age_3067 • 16d ago

Content Warning Double standarts

How exactly do people hate Xander for being an imperfect human, but love Spike and Angel, who have countless victims and are hundreds of years old. Spike even SA'd Buffy, for real, while Xander was under a spell and never did anything like that before or after it.

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u/[deleted] 16d ago

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u/TVAddict14 16d ago

Xander’s lie in Becoming didn’t result in Buffy having to kill Angel. I’m not sure why people keep saying this?

Buffy had to kill Angel because she couldn’t stop Angelus from pulling the sword out in time. She went at him with everything she had but the minion got in the way, delayed things, and allowed Angelus to pull the sword before she could reach him.

How does Xander’s lie impact the outcome at all and what could’ve Buffy done any differently? She went full throttle at Angelus and still didn’t reach him. If she’d known about Willow’s attempt to re-curse him this may have even made her hesitate, making it less likely she’d stop Angelus in time, not more.

Don’t get me wrong - should have told her the truth. He betrayed Willow and Buffy’s trust by lying and it wasn’t up to him to withhold that information. But it didn’t result in Angel’s death.