User blog:EdLittlestone/Willow and Illyria

Willow and Illyria are two of the most prominent characters in the Buffy universe. Willow was a shy, mousy, young academic who grew into, arguably, the most powerful witch on Earth. Illyria was one of the pimordial demons that ruled the Earth before man's time, being banished from the Earth and kept contained within a sarcophagus in the Deeper Well, only to return in the body of Winifred Burkle, experiencing a deep struggle with who she is and what she is meant to do until resolving to become a champion of good. These "women" (I say this because Illyria is female, but not a woman in the slightest), though not the main characters in their respective sides of the spectrum, somehow have become such an integral part of the Buffy universe because of the impact they left behind. Willow grew over the years, becoming stronger than any witch who has born with her powers, eventually being deified for them. Her struggle with her powers are heavily featured in both the TV series and the comics and thus, her development has become a significant point of interest in general. Illyria, on the other hand, believed herself to be invincible, until she was slammed by the realization that her powers have become limited since her return and the army she vowed to raise has been destroyed with time. This revelation destroyed Illyira, causing her to question the reason why she was brought back and, as such, affecting the lives of the remaining members of Angel Investigations. Since then, Illyria has reached an epiphany, wishing to do good and make the world a better place, especially since the world has lost all magic and Zompires are running rampant and there has to be someone other than Buffy to handle the situation. So, she formed this council of remaining mystical beings on Earth that vow to protect what's left of Earth's magic. Since Willow and Illyria are two very big protuberances in the Buffy universe, I hoped to see them together. Gladly, I got my wish through the newest issues of the comics where Illyria joins Willow, along with Buffy, Xander and Eldre Koh, to restore magic to Dawn, Buffy's little sister. However, it was somewhat disappointing as Willow and Illyria have little to no interaction because of the nature of their tasks: Willow must go deeper into the Well to discover the Key to restoring magic not only to Dawn but also to the world. Illyria, on the other hand, must find a way to defeat not only the Siphon, who's draining the Well of its power to rewind time to bring his girlfriend back (causing the universe to tear itself apart if he's successful), but also Maloker who was released from his sarcophagus to keep the council from interfering in Simone Doffler's plans to become a vampire to kill Buffy. I hope to see more of them together as the season draws to a close.