"Death and Consequences, Part Two" is the seventeenth issue of the Angel & Faith Season Nine comic book series. Joss Whedon is the Executive Producer.
Synopsis (spoilers)
In Giles' Ripper days, Ethan was convincing his friend Diedre to get the Mark of Eyghon, but suddenly their other friend Randall underwent radical side effects of magic abuse and he started to turn into a demon. Ethan could not remember the spell to undo this, but luckily Giles arrived and saved Randall.
Many years later, in Giles' former house, Angel and Faith had a heated discussion about how the girls had shunned Faith after finding out she had been working with Angel. Faith claimed she had given up everything to help Angel and that now, she was done; he owed her. Her one request being that he finished his quest to resurrect Giles. Angel agreed to it and proposed they go to the funeral home to search for clues as to who could have stolen Giles' body.
Meanwhile Nadira and the other slayers were in the basement of a mansion in Guildford, where Giles was preparing to resurrect Marianne. When Nadira questioned Giles about how he could perform such a feat, he got angry and accused her of wanting to steal from him. One of the other Slayers calmed Nadira down and then Giles started painting symbols on Marianne's body, among which the Mark of Eyghon.
The security cameras at the funeral home were no help to Angel and Faith, but on their way back home, Faith explained that there had been two viewings. She attended the one for the supernatural folk, while Lavinia and Sophronia attended the regular one. So they went to questions the sisters.
Meanwhile, Giles told the gathered slayers to sit in a group, focus on Marianne and close their eyes. He did not want them in the room with him, because he claimed had to be naked for the ritual. After a few minutes Nadira decided she wanted to know what was going on and just as she wanted to leave the room Giles walked back in with Marianne, who seemed alive and well.
Back at the Giles residence, Angel and Faith questioned Lavinia and Sophronia, but found out little more that they knew, until Sophronia read one of the names from the guestbook: Ethan Rayne. Angel and Faith explained that during the Twilight crisis, Ethan had been incarcerated at a secret government facility near Sunnydale, but that he had been killed way before Giles, murdered by General Voll. Despite this Lavinia and Sophronia insisted that it had really been him at the funeral, although he had been wearing a hat, possibly to cover up the bullet-hole. Angel then revealed he had knew who was behind it all and now he also knew how to find that someone. Then he grabbed a book with the Mark of Eyghon from a shelf.
Meanwhile, the slayers were happy to have Marianne back, but Nadira suspected something was wrong and indeed Marianne could not remember much, not even her own last name. Nadira ripped the bow from Marianne's neck, thus revealing the bite wound, which had not been healed. Quickly Giles turned his head around (more than humanly possible) and called for back-up. A battle began and Giles admitted he was planning to kill the girls in their sleep to use them as host bodies.
Meanwhile Angel finally explained what he had known for a while. The last piece of Giles' soul was in the possession of Eyghon the Sleepwalker, a demon capable for possessing human hosts. Ethan was still dead, Eyghon had just used his body. Now, Eyghon was using Giles instead.
Long ago, when Eyghon had possessed Randall, Giles and Ethan had been able to stop the demon from breaking free, but they killed Randall in the process. Giles then warned Ethan that Eyghon would claim his vengeance eventually.
While Eyghon as Giles and his zombie horde was fighting Nadira and the other Slayers, the girls figured out to cut off the heads. But whenever the zombies knocked one of the Slayers out, the girl would become possessed as well. Nadira figured Giles was not the actual leader, and so she headed toward the basement to find out who was. There she found the posseses Ethan and more zombies, as well as Eyghon the Sleepwalker.
Continuity
The story was set after "The Hero of His Own Story", but before "Spike and Faith".
- This marked the first time Giles' teenage dabble into the dark arts was elaborated on in flashbacks instead of talked about.
- When Faith furiously criticized Angel, she revealed that the main reason she had helped him because he had helped her find redemption in "Sanctuary".
- Olivia Williams was mentioned to be at Giles' funeral, and was said to be devasted. She was last seen in "Hush" in a casual relationship with Giles, supposedly ending it afterwards for unknown reasons.
- Angel and Faith discussed Ethan Rayne, and how he was shot with a bullet and killed in "The Long Way Home, Part Four".
- Eyghon the Sleepwalker was last seen in "The Dark Age".
Appearances
Individuals
- Angel
- Faith Lehane
- Eyghon the Sleepwalker
- Nadira
- Daphne
- Vanessa
- Sophronia Fairweather
- Lavinia Fairweather
- Marianne (remains only; possessed)
- Rupert Giles (only flashbacks; body possessed)
- Ethan Rayne (only in flashbacks)
- Diedre Page (only in flashbacks)
- Randall (only in flashbacks)
- Philip Henry (only in flashback)
- Thomas Sutcliffe (only in flashbacks)
- Twilight (only mentioned)
- Olivia Williams (only mentioned)
- General Voll (only mentioned)
Organizations and Titles
- Boyd & Son Funeral Directors
- Disco Doll Detective Agency (only mentioned)
- U.S. military (only mentioned)
- Watchers Academy (only mentioned in flashbacks)
- Ripper's Crowd (only in flashbacks)
Species
Locations
Weapons and Objects
- Mark of Eyghon
- Tannis Root
Death Count
Behind the Scenes
Collections
Pop Culture References
- Sophronia claimed she had spent time in the Disco Doll Detective Agency during the seventies, an actual agency in England.
- Lavinia likened Ethan Rayne's low hat to Humphrey Bogart, an famous American actor who was revered as a cultural icon.
Quotes
| Ethan: "Yes, of course. 'Here's the key to power. Now don't use it.' That's what all the books say, don't they? We're breaking down the old barriers. Making the occult serve us, not the other way around. I've done it myself. We all have. Actually being possessed ... by a being that was old when the world was young ... it's the most incredible high." |
| Faith: " Shut up. After you killed Giles--after your breakdown, whatever you wanna call it-- y'know why I took you in? Because I owed you. Because when I hit bottom, you helped me. So I helped you. I backed you on this whacked-out mission to resurrect Giles. I lied to the girls about you. Started blowing them off when they needed me, 'cause I was busy almost getting killed. I pissed away any friggin' purpose I had in my miserable excuse for a life. Everything I gave a damn about is gone. Because of you. So y'know what? Debt paid. Now you owe me." |
| Angel: "Of course. Just tell me what--" |
| Faith: "It's easy. You're gonna see your quest through. Come hell or high water. After all you've taken from me, you're gonna give me one thing back. Him." |
| Lavinia: "This is a waste of time. I assure you, when everyone left, Rupert was still snug in his coffin." |
| Angel: "Obviously he was taken after the viewing. Before the coffin was loaded into the hearse. That's a short window. Lots of people around. I checked out the mortuary workers. No criminal records, no money problems, no ties to supernatural. It wasn't them. So whoever did this needed an excuse to be there. Like being a mourner. Okay, can you leave the planning to someone who's actually done detective work?" |
| Sophronia: "Clearly someone isn't aware of my tenure at the Disco Doll Detective Agency in the seventies ..." |
| Faith: "She's got a point, though. If I was gonna steal a body, I don't think I'd sign a guest book." |
| Lavinia: "Oh, I saw to it everyone signed it. Largely because I couldn't recall any of their names." |
| Lavinia: "He'd actually become quite handsome ... cut a dashing figure in that old-fashioned hat. I almost hoped he'd make a pass." |
| Sophronia: "At a funeral? You are a trollop, aren't you?" |
| Ethan: "Well done, mate. I thought we were buggered for a minute there." |
| Giles: "We are, Ethan. Sooner or later ... we'll pay for what we've done." |