ext_3602 ([identity profile] thismaz.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] buffyversemeta 2016-08-28 07:51 am (UTC)

That is interesting. I enjoyed your analysis. I enjoy reading meta that is clearly reasoned and concise, and this was both.

It is a very long time since I watched any Buffy episodes, but I know that this question can still cause all sorts of disagreements between fans, so I am commenting in a spirit of pure speculation. And in fact, I am not sure my interpretation is not compatible with your analysis. Back when I watched season 6 and 7, I saw his conscious motivation as a desire to simply get the chip removed, that the demon make him what he was before.

Yes, a human surgeon could take it out, but he had tried that route and failed. At that point, as I remember, he was desperate. He hated what his unlife had become and his quest was for a return to the old certainties and simplicity of season 2. He wanted rid of all that internal conflict and confusion, and Buffy with it. If he got the chip out, he thought he would be a proper demon again and his obsession with Buffy would revert to a healthy desire to kill her without concern, as he had killed the other two slayers.

But he was deluding himself and the demon granted his true wish, rather than the one he could admit to, to himself, but which was betrayed by his postscript to his wish, "...so Buffy can get what she deserves."

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