Guarded, Part Three is the thirteenth issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine comic book series. Written by Andrew Chambliss and illustrated by Georges Jeanty, it was originally published on September 12, 2012, by Dark Horse Comics.
Synopsis[]
Acting as bodyguard for her first-ever client, Buffy has found herself entangled in some nasty demon business with ties to Angel and his time in LA. Through the social network Tincan, some demons have been able to connect to our world, and any attempts to sever that connection will lead Buffy and her client into increasingly dangerous territory.
- Executive produced by Joss Whedon!
Arc finale![1]
Summary[]
Eldre Koh bargains with the Conduit to the Senior Partners to find out who imprisoned him. The Conduit orders two demons to find out this information as well as to kill Koh and the others who know about the demonic truth about TinCan. Buffy tries to reason with Koh that Wolfram & Hart cannot be trusted and that there is no need to kill Theo. Koh argues that TinCan offers the only connection to other dimensions, and he tells Buffy he will kill Theo right away if she won't leave. Theo urges Buffy to leave so she can destroy TinCan, and so she does.
Buffy finds Kennedy and explains that Koh betrayed them and is now holding Theo hostage. Kennedy is angry that Buffy left Theo's side and is still not aware of the danger she's putting normal humans in, like she did with Giles. Buffy punches Kennedy, but they decide to finish the job together. Because of the security cameras, Buffy and Kennedy go underground into where the Teuth demon came from.
Meanwhile, Theo tries to ask Koh why he was imprisoned, but Koh tells him nobody needs to know.
Although the server room is protected by reinforced concrete, the Teuth demon already got through it with its tentacles. So Buffy and Kennedy manage to get in.
Wolfram & Hart finds out who imprisoned Eldre Kob, and the Conduit tells him that the betrayal was not surprising as well as that the one responsible is still on Earth. Wolfram & Hart tells Koh to kill Theo before they reveal the name, but Koh demands to know first, and the Conduit agrees. While the file is being transferred, Kennedy and Buffy attack and overpower Koh, freeing Theo. Theo quickly runs to the server room to destroy it. The Conduit insists Koh kill both Slayers as well as Theo.
Kennedy runs after Theo to drag him out, but he insists to shut the server down. She allows him two minutes, and he pulls a switch which will cause the server to overheat.
Meanwhile, Buffy and Koh engage in combat; Koh wins, and he goes into the server room. There, Kennedy break off the switch, meaning the destruction cannot be undone. They run out and want to get Buffy out as well, but she insists she will see to it that the servers are destroyed. She confronts Koh and shows him that the connections are already breaking up. Buffy tells him to let go of his vendetta, but he says that it's about much more than honor and that he can never let it go.
A little later, Buffy, Kennedy, and Theo watch the server building burn down from a safe distance.
Later still, Buffy was called into Kennedy's office at Deepscan. She is certain she will be fired, but instead Kennedy offers her a promotion. Buffy says that, even though the money is amazing, she cannot accept the job. She realizes she would be doing it just for her and she's just not wired that way: she's the Slayer meant to protect the world.
Continuity[]
- Kennedy criticizes Buffy for focusing too heavily on the big picture and forgets about just one person; Buffy later laments this as true. Faith also points out this problem for Angel in Family Reunion, Part Three.
- Koh's obsession with vengeance and his conflict with Buffy will be resolved in The Core, Part Two.
- Buffy receives a scar on her forehead from Koh's weapon. It will be healed by a newly magical Willow in The Watcher.
Appearances[]
Individuals[]
- Buffy Summers
- Eldre Koh
- Theo Daniels
- Kennedy
- Willow Rosenberg (Only mentioned)
- Rupert Giles (Only mentioned)
Organizations and titles[]
Species[]
- Demon
- Nitobe
- Saarinen demon
- Teuth demon (Only corpse)
- Human
Locations[]
- San Francisco
- White Room
- Saarinen
Objects[]
- Seed of Wonder (Only mentioned)
Death count[]
None.
Behind the scenes[]
Distribution[]
- Guarded, Part Three was the 85th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 25,864 sales in September 2012 at comic specialty stores.[2]
Collections[]
Pop culture references[]
- Theo references N.S.A.
Gallery[]
Covers[]
Cover artwork[]
Preview[]
Quotes[]
| Koh: "Don't get close to me! I know your kinds' tricks! You will attempt to talk me out of what I must do." |
| Theo: "If you're going to kill me, I think I get to ask why." |
| Koh: "Leave us. Or I will blacken your other eye." |
| Kennedy: "This? You didn't do this." |
| Buffy: "I did." |
| Kennedy: "Buffy! We're getting out of here!" |
| Buffy: "Go on without me. I didn't mess up by bringing traitor Koh on board only to let Wolfram & Hart win." |
| Buffy: "Let it go." |
| Koh: "Easy for you, Slayer." |
| Buffy: "Nothing's worth all of this. Not for some ancient code of honor." |
| Koh: "It's more than honor!" |
| Buffy: "What...?" |
| Koh: "...It's something you will never understand, Slayer." |
| Buffy: "I can't do it." |
| Kennedy: "Is it because of what I said about Giles? 'Cause I was out of line. You made a tough call, and we need someone who can make decisions like that." |
| Buffy: "But you were right. I keep trying to save the world when sometimes I should just save a single person. It was different when I was younger. Something's changed. But I don't think that's a bad thing. And if I took this job, I'd be doing it for just one person. Me." |
| Kennedy: "After all you've been through, don't you think you deserve that? To finally have the kind of live you want." |
| Buffy: "Maybe. But that's just not who I am. I'm the Slayer." |
References[]
- ↑ "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 #13 (Phil Noto cover)." Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved on May 26, 2022.
- ↑ "Top 300 Comics Actual--September 2012." ICv2, October 8, 2012.