Retreat

"Retreat" is the sixth story arc that spreads from the twenty-sixth to the thirtieth issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight series of comic books, a continuation from the television series of the same name.

Retreat, Part 1 (Issue #26)
"I like the other way we did this better."

Three seagulls fly above a seaside cliff. The middle seagull has a fish in its grasp, and to make things bizarre, the seagull and fish are speaking to one another. They talk about how they need to be sneaky now that people are on the lookout and report sightings of witches and Slayers. They hover over what appears to be an unoccupied island, and as they touch down, the seagull and fish transmogrify into Willow and Buffy. The island is the site of their new Slayer HQ, a medieval castle covered by a magical illusion of dense forestry to throw off any attacks. Inside the control room, Buffy mulls about, wondering if they are truly doing all they can to ward off attacks by allies of Twilight, who now has every demon in Scotland on his side; Willow assures Buffy that they're magic is all across the grid, and that all that can be done is being done--to which Buffy questions Willow and how she is with the temptation and control of magic--which Willow just brushes off as being clingy. Buffy reminds her troops that the best thing they can do now is disappear until the anti-Slayer movement is over--this causes Satsu to ask how long it will take for that to happen and wonders what the judgment of history will be.

Meanwhile, in Berlin, Faith and Giles are hiding underground in Hitler's bunker, talking about how hiding underground doesn't feel right. Suddenly, they are attacked by demons and Faith fends them off enough for her and Giles to escape. Cutting to Rome, Andrew and six of his Slayers are wandering through underground catacombs, and one of these Slayers, Posey, stops to read an old Latin inscription carved into the stone walls. The rest of the Slayers and Andrew go down the staircase and find a large circle of bones and skulls from early Roman martyrs. Above, something with red eyes watches them, and Andrew's further investigation uncovers skinless Warren laying in wait. Warren tries to trick Andrew into joining him by apologizing for having him kill Jonathan. All at once, the Slayers begin to yell "Goatmen!" and Andrew turns to see Posey, now dead, being thrown to the ground and a literal goatman standing above her. Warren reveals that his sentiment was all a trick and that the Goatmen were a trap set up by him and Amy. Andrew and his Slayers fight the goatmen with the bones of the martyrs and escape the catacombs. We cut to a boxcar carrying Faith and Giles through the mountains, taking them to Buffy, and in Rome, Andrew and his badly beaten Slayers are riding in truck bed to Buffy as well.

Back in Scotland, Willow wakes up startled, and rushes to Buffy's room. She, along with Kennedy, Xander, and Dawn, alerts Buffy that Giles and Faith, Andrew and five Slayers, and every demon in Scotland are separately on their way to the castle. After Willow uses her magic to allow their friends in, Buffy runs to and hugs Giles, telling him she's happy he's there, and Andrew marvels at how Dawn has shrunk. Buffy asks Xander to review their defenses, dumbfounded, he begins to babble. Willow informs Buffy she has the Wiccans working shields, traps and mystical mirages, though Satsu reveals that the demons are already working their way through the shields. Soon, Buffy and Faith see the army destroy their security cameras and the group is forced to head for the roof, where a group of Wiccan-Slayers are working the defense shields. On the roof, Buffy sees that the army is miles long, with all sorts of medieval tech, catapults and military tanks. Willow alerts the Wiccans to drop the bridge illusion, and the path to the castle disappears. As Xander gloats about triumph, the demons load what appears to be a flaming stone at the castle. As the castle explodes, one of the Wiccan-Slayers dies from a fried brain due to magic overload.

Willow interrogates a demon that Satsu has taken prisoner. As Faith and Giles try to advise Buffy on battle tactics, Buffy notices that in the fray below, the demons are winning and Slayers are dying. Willow returns and informs the group that Twilight is tracking the Slayers through their use of magic. With their last defense shield destroyed, the entire Slayer HQ escapes in the submarine Satsu commandeered in Swell. Buffy and Giles converse, first about Buffy turning Willow into the future Dark Willow she killed by making Willow use strong magicks, and then about trying to figure out how to keep themselves guarded from all their enemies. They realize that because Twilight is able to track them through magic, even if Willow were to stop using magic, the Slayers themselves are mystical, since their power came as the result of Willow's spell and originated from the Shadow Men's spell that created the Slayer. When Faith enters and wonders if Buffy has decided where they're going, Buffy comes up with an idea, but it will mean Willow will have to perform one more big spell before stopping with magic. Cut to a monastery in the yak-filled mountains of Tibet. Oz is sitting and meditating, when he hears a bell chime. He stops and looks out ahead of him -- seeing a smoking submarine at the base of the monastery steps.

Retreat, Part 2 (Issue #27)
"They drowned."

Amy, using a ritual known as water gazing, reveals to Twilight that Buffy and her allies drowned with the army of demons from the previous issue when the Wicca-Slayers took down the path to the Slayer HQ. Refusing to believe that Buffy would die so easily, an enraged Twilight destroys Amy's gazing bowl. With his other agents, including Warren, General Voll and Riley, Twilight discusses the difficulties that surround finding Buffy now that she has fallen off the radar. Riley assures Twilight that every technological instrument in their arsenal is being used to find Buffy, but it could take weeks to track her simply by focusing on magical usage due to the vast amount of supernatural beings in the world. Suddenly, a tech guy in the background alerts Twilight to something he discovered on the computers, he reveals that when Buffy and Co. escaped, they used magic — lots of magic to do it, and he is picking up a high level of magic in a general area where he believes Buffy may have escaped to...

In Tibet, on the porch of the monestary are Willow, Xander, Dawn, Buffy, Giles, Oz, and a Tibetan woman, who have gathered together to converse over some butter tea while the Slayers and Andrew are being taken care of elsewhere. Buffy and Giles inform Oz of the reason they have come to Tibet: they need to learn how to supress their magical sides, as it has become a liability to their safety as well as the fact that, as Dawn points out, the magic comes from demons. The Tibetan woman simply says to the group that "nobody likes you," prompting Dawn to ask who she is. Oz introduces her as Bayarmaa or "Bay" for short—and that she is, as he puts it, "the rest of me." Bay tells the gang that with the monestary satellites they are able to see the worldwide dislike of Slayers everywhere. Oz goes on to inform the group that he and Bay have a baby, a revelation that, while shocking to Giles, Dawn, and Xander, seems to sit well with Willow. When a baby husky barks, everyone assumes that that is the child, until one of the monestary women brings a human infant, Kelden, to Bay. Giles and Buffy both press Oz to hurry along and give them the information that they need.

Cut to a few years earlier (set during Buffy Season 4) when Oz first arrives at the monestary after being sent there by a warlock in Romania. He begs for help from the monks, and as the full moon emerges, he wolfs out, and is presumed to attack the monks. The next thing seen is Oz inside the monestary in a cage, being tended to by Bay. He goes on to explain that the monks taught him to meditate, and through charms and herbs. Oz believed he had succeeded in supressing the wolf, and was ready to return to Sunnydale, but upon doing so, he realized that he was wrong to return. When he returned to Tibet and tried once more to try the techniques of the monks, he learned that none of it worked anymore, so he was tempted to give in to the temptation of the wolf inside.

At Twilight HQ, Amy and Warren are arguing in the background while the tech guy talks to Riley about his discovery; he says that there was a very big spike in the magical grid, and that he knows that Buffy escaped through means of a teleportation spell. The tech guy tells Twilight that the readings tell him that it appears as though something just popped into existence somewhere in central Asia. Riley attempts to play it off as a glitch, but Twilight tells the tech guy to pinpoint the location so they can go look for themselves.

Back in Tibet, Oz continues his story of how he wanted to lose himself in the wolf, until Bay taught him the old methods of Bon (the original Tibetan religion), specifically those which hadn't been mixed with the Buddhist beliefs — then built upon the practices that would be useful to their cause and mixed with their own traditions. They no longer chanted, but looked at the world through new eyes, realizing they were a part of it, just like the rocks, trees, and the water — they had living spirits. Through these teachings and techniques, they learned to not bottle up the wolf, but by passing its essence through them and into nature, to have a life like a river. Soon, word of their teachings got around and werewolves seeking to be 'cured' began showing up in Tibet, specifically an Englishman named Monroe, who had suffered terribly as a result of being a werewolf, but through their teachings had finally found peace. Back in the present, Buffy and Co. are questioning the methods, as they seem too simple and wonder if there is more too it. Oz continues, saying that when moon is full and the wolf is emerging, they let the wolf pass through them, but not overtake them, then release the essence into the earth. After the group politely refuses another helping of butter tea, Bay and Oz take them on a tour of the grounds. Before departing, Oz comes to Willow and questions their status, knowing she wouldn't be happy about the fact that he moved on — Willow says they will talk later.

Walking across the river, Oz tells the group that their 'cure' takes about a year's worth of full moons to accomplish, and he continues his story, telling of how Monroe left Tibet and travelled the world, sending werewolves seeking help to the monestary, but he got tempted by the power of the wolf. Monroe soon began sharing the same ideology that Veruca had—that she was the wolf all the time, and that her human face was a secondary part of her. Dawn pipes up and says that's just how the world sees Slayers now, as demonically powered women and forgetting that they are still humans as well. Meanwhile, Oz tells that most of the werewolves that had gone to Tibet to be cured, soon fell under the same beliefs that Monroe did, and soon formed a pack. Under the light of a full moon one night (when they were at their strongest, as well as knowing Oz and Bay were at their weakest), they attacked the monestary and killed the monks, and when the wolves confronted Bay and Oz, they showed nothing but saliva covered glistening fangs. The story abruptly pauses and Dawn says the story is just getting full of suspense, not seeing a glowing pair of red eyes in the trees behind them.

Meanwhile at Twilight HQ, everyone watches as Amy uses magic to locate the Slayer army. Riley explains to the confused tech guy that she is going off of the general location given to her and using enchanted human bones to zero in on where the greatest concentration of magic is located. The tech guy is confused as to why they themselves are using magic when their mission is to destroy it, but his comment goes unheard as Amy informs Twilight that she now knows where the Slayers are.

Back in Tibet, the sun begins to set as the group overlooks the monestary from atop a cliffside, and Dawn continues to be amazed at how suspenseful the story is. Oz simply points to his throat, and Buffy queries what happened next, to which it is revealed that Bay wolfed out and savagely killed Monroe by tearing his throat out—causing his followers to flee and prompting Oz and Bay to carry knives from then on. Bay says that she has now made Monroe a martyr for his cause. Meanwhile, Oz and Willow are in the back of the group talking, and Willow explains that she is jealous because Oz has everything she wants: a family, a future and a good life and that she apologizes for being jealous. Buffy bluntly states that she, Willow and her Slayers need to learn not to be magical—a comment to which Bay says it was a bad start teleporting a submarine to the monestary if magical suppression is what they truly desire. Giles questions if they can actually help them, and Buffy adds that Slayers, unlike werewolves, are magical all the time, so she ponders if the ways Oz and Bay used will work on the Slayers. Oz says it might; while it would be a good way to fix some things, they have to want it, and if they begin this course and don't complete it, then they will be worse off than had they not tried at all. Suddenly a werewolf attacks from the trees, and Bay draws her dagger and cuts him, causing the werewolf to run away injured. Oz stresses to the group that he is taking a huge risk at the expense of his family and making his home vulnerable to attacks by Twilight, so they need to follow what he tells them.

In Mongolia, atop a cliff, Twilight and his group of followers, including Warren and Riley, look over the expansive landscape as Amy performs more magic, assuring Twilight that they should be in the right place. Twilight realizes that they had been led astray, and that the Slayers are not there. Warren remarks to Amy that now she is as much a screw up as he is. Riley tells Twilight that there was a lot of interference in their reading and that the information they have doesn't have enough data to pinpoint their exact location.

Inside the monestary Oz and the Scoobies stand before Andrew and the rest of the Slayers. Oz explains that they need to, as of that moment, refrain from using their Slayer powers in any and all situations. Bay tells them that they will start their retreat through physical exertion, which will in turn lower their resistance to the mental process; Oz puts one question to the Slayers: "Who wants to help bury a submarine?"

Back in Mongolia, Warren asks Twilight how they will find the Slayers, to which Twilight replies they will simply watch and wait for them to slip up, which they are bound to do at one point or another. Twilight then orders the execution of the tech guy, and says that this battle won't end with Buffy laying down her sword, but by turning it on herself.

Retreat, Part 3(Issue #28)
"I knock. I knock with determination" The issue opens with Andrew knocking hurriedly on Giles' bedroom door. Giles, visibily tired warns Andrew that he better have a good reason, like a demon attack, to feel the need to disturb him. Andrew replies that yes there could possibly be a demon attack then goes on to explain to Giles his theory about how there is a spy for Twilight amongst them, remembering his encounter with Warren in the Italian catacombs and reinforces his theory describing Twilight's hold and influence over others. Giles warns Andrew that this accusation better have some real hard evidence to back it up, or all of the finger pointing and accusing could divide there ranks and blow up in his face. After Giles dismisses him, Andrew rummages through his belongings and finds his video camera that was given to him as a gift from Xander. Andrew has now fallen back into narrator mode, complete with the plushy armchair, pipe, and smoking jacket (i.e. "Storyteller.")

The next day, Andrew uses his video camera to keep an eye out for the spy, and to show the viewers life around the compound. He first interviews Bay, and to the camera she explains how through meditation and hard labor, the Slayers and Wiccas can release their bottled up magic into the earth rather than hold it inside where it can be easily tracked. He goes on to film a group of Slayers (including Satsu and Leah) tending garden, churning, and weaving. Bay then shows Andrew/camera a group of Slayers returning to the compound with high-tech defenses, which they recieved from locals who took parts of the mostly buried submarine in trade. Andrew then comes upon Willow, who is milking a yak, and is in no mood for Andrew and his filmmaking antics. Cut to Bay again, she shows the viewers a group of Slayers, overseen by Oz, sparring using defense methods taught to them by Bay and Oz. Through these methods, the Slayers will still be able to defend themselves and fend off dangers, but not to rely so much on their Slayer strength, which as time goes on will fade with their inner magic. Andrew closes up on Leah and Rowena who are still adjusting to fighting like normal girls.

Andrew then narrates that he questions everybody's happiness towards their new way of life. Cut to Kennedy, who is churning and cursing out the experience at hand. Then we cut to Satsu, who is tending to the soil with a yak-pulled plow and she also expresses she doesn't like feeling weak. Andrew tries to film Willow again, but he recieves the exact same reaction as before. Andrew then tells us that he is keeping mental notes of the girls who are unhappy and adds them to his list of suspects and will continue to collect evidence against these girls.

Andrew then climbs high into a tree, where below, Faith and Buffy are moving a large boulder to make room for a garden. Buffy and Faith discuss their decision to diminish they're power, and then the agree that they did the right thing for the sake of the lives of the girls they were meant to guide. Buffy uses a large plank of wood to yank to boulder out of place, and Buffy and Faith kneel next to the hole where the boulder was. The two senior Slayers have a pleasant moment as Buffy tells Faith how lost she feels now that she doesn't have her power--their shared power anymore, but informs Faith that the only good thing about their situation is that it has shown her she doesn't want to command and stand over others anymore. Andrew sounds pleased at the two former enemies bond but states that he still must discover the spy, and will even turn his attention to even the most seemingly loyal figures amongst the group.---(A Siamese cat appears in this sequence, first atop the boulder then perched next to the Slayers on the groud.)

We cut to Xander and Dawn, who are alone together in the armory/control room trying to decipher the meaning of the inscription on a Chinese land mine. They exchanged witty remarks about what it might say and converse about how their present circumstances may allow them the chance to finally be safe from threats. Dawn agrees and says that this is a chance for them to finally get what they want, which she says as she looks lovingly into Xanders eye. Cut to Andrew who says he will continue to investigate Xander. Which he does, and the next time we see Xander, he is sitting with Buffy and a yak under a tree in a vast field at sunset. Xander reveals to Buffy that he knows about what Buffy did to Dark Willow in the future, as he overheard Buffy telling Giles while they were on the submarine. Xander tells Buffy that she needs to tell Willow about it, which Buffy guesses that being told she will be evil in the future will actually cause her to become evil. Suddenly, Buffy gets a splinter in her hand, which she says hurts like she is on fire. Xander attributes the pain of such a small splinter to being a side effect of her fading power, that she can now feel pain more vividly than she ever could before. Buffy questions Xander about her being able to finally feel more. Soon, Xander is tenderly embracing Buffy's hand and realizing that an awkward romantic moment is upon them, they change the subject and Buffy tells Xander that she agrees that she must tell Willow the truth because she loves her too much to keep the truth from her. Xander makes her promise to come tell him how it went as soon as she is finished.

That night, Andrew returns to Giles' room, confronting him about what he had just learned about Willow's future and is angry that it was kept a secret this whole time. Andrew then tells Giles that he is going to monitor Willow's actions closely and that if she is an ally of Twilight, he wants it to be dealt with amongst them, to do whatever it takes to keep the girls and their protectors safe. Giles agrees and tells Andrew to watch her. Andrew then films himself in front of a big white drawing pad illustrating the history between him and Dark Willow. He draws crude stick figures of Jonathan, Dark Willow and himself and tells the camera that his love for normal Willow is what makes knowing her future fate all the more painful. Andrew then regains his composure, picks up his camera and leaves to go find Willow.

In Oz's room, Oz, Kelden and her discuss her frustration at how difficult it is for her to watch the others finding ease in the supression methods and how she can't do it. Willow then questions that there must be more to it than simply meditating and labor; Oz explains that the techniques will work for her differently, she needs to not supress her magic, but allow it to be released from inside her so its not contained and bottled up. Willow says she is nothing without her magic, she has nothing to offer. She temporarily goes all black eyed at the very thought of Oz being able to pass as normal, have a family and supress the danger that is always inside him, and how she can't ever do that because of the magic inside, it is too powerful now. Oz reassures her that even without the magic, she is still Willow and that she can have that normal life she has always wanted. They embrace, and Willow tries to make a quick exit, but is stopped when Oz asks her to watch Kelden for a while. This causes Willow to tear up and she agrees.---(The mystery cat appears on the bed here as well.)

Buffy comes to Willow's room and witnesses her with Kelden, she appears happy and content with him. Buffy herself seems uneasy about something (Andrew guesses that this may be "the confession.") Buffy tries to get Willow to focus on her, but Willow is easily distracted by Kelden, who renews her faith that she as well as Buffy can have normal lives. Buffy questions this, and Willow explains that for so long she considered herself to be nothing more than a force, not a human or even capable of having babies. Buffy suddenly blurts out that she kills Willow in the future. After hearing the story, Willow reminds Buffy that the Willow she killed wasn't her, and that it won't be her, because she is going to work even harder at living with no magic. Buffy and Willow emrbace, their relationship seemingly stronger than ever. Buffy happily leaves Kelden and Willow to go tell Xander they talked. As she leaves, Willow reminds her that having a normal life is not as much of a fantasy as they thought--that it can indeed happen, even for the Slayer.

Buffy goes to a room where she knows Xander is, and Andrew is hot on her tail. She stops frozen at the doorway, her eyes wide and mouth agape with awe. In the room, she sees Xander and Dawn kissing. Andrew moves in for a close-up of Buffy and she coldly dismisses Andrew and tells him to get the camera away from her. Later, Andrew is in a large room, surrounding by the Scoobies, Slayers and Wiccans alike. He publicly reveals his accusation of Willow to the group, which angers Kennedy. He then begins to apologize for being wrong, and suddenly the mystery cat magically teleports from atop Leah's lap. She calls it to the groups attention, and Xander quickly realizes it was Amy, who had been spying on them in the form of a cat the whole time to avoid being detected. Buffy tells Dawn and Xander to get the high-tech weapons ready for battle, because without their strength or magic, that is their only line of defense--she warns they are about to get hit by Twilight and his army now that they know where they have been hiding.

Retreat, Part 4 (Issue #29)
"Retreat," part 4 of 5. Oz's temple in the Tibetan mountains is no longer a safe retreat for Buffy and her troops. Discovered by Twilight's magical agent, Amy, and bereft of their own magic, the army is preparing for a human war with guns, grenades, missiles. . . and manpads -- it's not a laughing matter. People are about to die. But even without her own magic, Buffy is still a Slayer -- the Slayer -- and she has to lead the way to victory. Or at least. . . live to fight another day.

Retreat, Part 5 (Issue #30)


"Retreat," part 5 of 5. The war between Twilight's minions and Buffy's army rages in the Tibetan mountains. Bereft of their magic, the girls [Wiccans and Slayers] face an epic battle in which they have no hope of victory. Buffy has already done the retreat thing once, plus also put herself and her army into hiding. . . What can she do now that there is no magic to help them escape from another losing battle?

Canonical issues

 * See also: canon

This series has been described as 'canon' by both Whedon and various commentators. As the creator of Buffy, Joss Whedon's association with Buffyverse story is often linked to how canonical the various stories are. Since Whedon is writing this story, it will be seen as a continuation of the official continuity established by Buffy and Angel.

This may mean it contradicts information given in the previously released Expanded Universe Queen of the Slayers, and Dark Congress, which are described as being set in an unofficial "parallel continuity".

Timing
Intended to be set a year and a half after Buffy ' s seventh season and also after Angel ' s fifth, concurrent with Angel: After the Fall. More specifically this arc occurs after Buffy Season eight issues #21-25, Predators and Prey.

Trivia

 * This arc features the return of the character Oz, who will be featured as a central character when the Scoobies flee to Tibet. Oz has not been seen since the season 4 episode Restless. Other returning characters also included in this arc: Kennedy, Faith, Giles, Andrew, Leah, Rowena, Warren Mears,and Twilight.
 * This arc will also return to the continuing storyline involving Buffy and Satsu.