Changes: Queen of the Slayers

Revision as of 01:51, 15 January 2020

The subject of this article is non-canonical.
While created as part of licensed material, it has not been confirmed as part of the "real" Buffyverse continuity.

Queen of the Slayers is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel. Written by Nancy Holder, it was originally published on May 31, 2005 by Pocket Books.

Synopsis

No vacation. No benefits. And the only retirement is an early death.

With the closing of the Hellmouth and the awakening of hundreds of potential slayers, Buffy Summers thought she had overturned the Slayer's self-sacrifice and earned herself a much-deserved break. But the thrill of victory is short-lived. The Forces of Darkness are not ones to graciously accept defeat, and the collective rage unites disparate and powerful parties more eager than ever to reclaim dominance.

Willow's magickal distribution of the slayer essence left girls across the world discovering their latent power. Giles races to reorganize the now much-needed Watchers Council, and the Scoobies relocate to Europe. And there in Rome, Buffy is drawn to the Immortal — a charismatic, if inscrutable, figure. But then comes word that a number of the fresh slayers are being coerced to join an army of slayers — governed by the mysterious "Queen of the Slayers," an awesome evil determined to claim the intoxicating slayer essence for herself.

Xander is sent to Africa to learn more about the origin of the slayer essence. Instead, he returns to report that, alarmingly, there's not enough good in the world to counteract the overabundance of evil, and that the deciding apocalypse is drawing much too near. Alliances are formed and loyalties betrayed as it comes down to slayer versus slayer, leading to an ultimate battle of champions — from Buffy's past and present. And then an unimaginable gift arrives...

Summary

Following the Hellmouth's closure, hundreds of potential slayers have been activated. Buffy hoped that overturning the Slayer's self-sacrifice would result in her earning some relaxation following seven years of fighting. However, the victory is short-lived. Dark forces are arising to fill the gap left by the First Evil.

Willow's Slayer activation spell has resulted in girls everywhere discovering their new power. The Scoobies, after having a traumatic night in a small town involving shapeshifters, resolve to travel to Europe. In London, Giles races to reorganize the remnants of the Watchers Council, hoping to overcome the shortcomings of its previous incarnation. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Dawn, and her new best friend, a young slayer named Belle, travel to Rome to train new Slayers that are drawn to the Immortal, whom Buffy's attracted to but does not fully trust. They soon hear of a mysterious "Queen of the Slayers" who is getting a number of the fresh slayers to form a mystical army. This likely evil seems determined to claim the slayer essence for herself, and viciously murders any Slayers that don't cooperate with her and betray Buffy.

Faith and Robin take a group of Slayers to the Hellmouth in Cleveland, which has gone supernova with evil, to stabilize the hell there. They suffer casualties, among other things, and experience strange projections of the Legion of Three, three deadly hellish gods.

The Legion attempts to break through the dimensional barriers of Earth in order to rip Buffy's head off. Meanwhile, Ornella, the self-titled "Queen of the Slayers," is advised by her lover Antonio Borgia, a sorcerer under the employ of the Immortal, who attempts to bring forth his ancient vampire ancestors from their hell dimension, who desire to taste the blood of the true Slayer.

Xander travels to Africa, hoping to find more about the origins of the slayer essence. He discovers instead that the good in the world is not enough to fight the bad, and that the deciding confrontation is drawing far too near. It will be slayer against slayer, as an ultimate battle of champions approaches. While there, he meets the spirits of past Slayers, as well as Tara, who brings him Anya as a temporary gift.

Dawn goes into a coma, as she was the Key and has a link to the Earth, which is crumbling because of the ensuing evil. Willow also seems to go into a coma because of this, but is somehow woken up by a kiss from her lover Kennedy when she, Faith, and Robin are called back to Rome, after realizing that the fight in a deserted Cleveland was pointless.

Buffy, Willow, Kennedy, Belle, Vi and Rona head to Brazil, under the orders of Tara, to get the Death Orchid, which has healing abilities, but they are attacked by the Queen of the Slayers. They are saved from poison darts by one of the rogue slayers, Haley, who realizes what she has done and gives them the antidote. They then go to Tibet to meet with the infamous sorcerer, the Golden One, and are reunited with Oz, who is now one of the werewolves that protect the Golden One. After the Golden One is killed, Oz and his pack decide to head to Rome, to help Buffy and her Slayers against the upcoming battle.

After healing Dawn, Buffy goes on patrol along with Faith, and the two meet a rogue Slayer, who they believe is leading them into a trap. Their belief comes reality when she leads the Slayer sisters right into the hands of Ornella and her demons. Buffy and Faith waste the demons easily and escape back to the Immortal's place, where he betrays them, knocks them out, and chains all of the Scoobies up.

Buffy, unconscious, is visited by Whistler. The Powers That Be have sent him to the Slayer for her to see the battle in Los Angeles that has Angel, Spike, and the Angel Investigations team fighting against the hell that Wolfram & Hart has sent upon them. Buffy cries in horror as she believes that both the vampires will die again. She is then joined by both Angel and Spike's souls, and together they create an angelic daughter with all of their features, who gives Buffy the strength she needs to wake up, gather her friends, her team, her Slayers, and defeat the Legion of Three.

Buffy wakes up the morning after the battle to find her friends building her funeral pyre, believing her to be dead again. She finds her friends safe and sound, though Faith was forced to kill Slayers who wouldn't surrender. Buffy has a confidential conversation with Willow, who reveals that she also saw Buffy's future daughter. Buffy looks into the sunset, declares her love for all of her friends (including Andrew), and vows to see Angel, Spike and the little girl again.

Continuity

The events of this story occur in place of the canonical series Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight.
Buffy living in Rome and her attraction to the Immortal are based on episode "The Girl in Question". However, The Long Way Home, Part One reveals the girl had been a decoy instead.
Faith and Robin guard Cleveland's Hellmouth, as it's indeed revealed in No Future for You, Part One.
Xander parts to Africa while Willow and Kennedy go to Brazil, both as mentioned in "Damage".
Dawn being in coma due to her magical connection to the world is an event that indeed happens during the end of magic (The Core, Part One).
Buffy witnesses the Team Angel's fight against Wolfram & Hart that begins in "Not Fade Away".

Appearances

Individuals

Ambrose-Bellairs
Angel
Aram
Belle
Bey
Antonio Borgia
Cesare Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia
Eo
Rupert Giles
Golden One
Charles Gunn
Haley
Lucy Hanover (Only in visions)
Alexander Harris
Illyria
The Immortal
Janus
Anya Jenkins (Only in visions)
Kennedy
Faith Lehane
Lisa
Tara Maclay (Only in visions)
Malfeo
Marie
Ornella
Daniel Osbourne
Rona
Willow Rosenberg
Shri-Urth
Spike
Sineya
Buffy Summers
Dawn Summers
Violet
Andrew Wells
Whistler
Nikki Wood (Only in visions)
Robin Wood

Organizations and titles

Locations

Los Angeles, USA
Rome, Italy
Tibet

Behind the scenes

Production

The cover features a promotional picture taken for Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 6.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Queen of the Slayers''}}
 {{Noncanon}}
+{{Book
+|title     = ''Queen of the Slayers''
-{{Buffybooks
-| image       = Queen_of_the_Slayers_(Buffy_Novel).jpg
+|image     = Queen of the Slayers.jpg
+|tagline   = Sunnydale was only the warmup...
-| author      = [[Nancy Holder]]
+|type      = Novel
-| illustrator =
-| date        =
+|author    = [[Nancy Holder]]
+|date      = May 31, [[2005]]
-| publisher   =
-| isbn        =
+|pages     = 352
+|publisher = [[Pocket Books]]
+|isbn      = 1416502408
 }}
-'''''Queen of the Slayers''''' was a novel written by [[Nancy Holder]] based on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''.
+'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' is a [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels|''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' novel]]. Written by [[Nancy Holder]], it was originally published on May 31, [[2005]] by [[Pocket Books]].
-== Synopsis ==
+==Synopsis==
+No vacation. No benefits. And the only retirement is an early death.
-Following the [[Hellmouth]]'s closure, hundreds of potential slayers have been activated. Buffy Summers hoped that overturning the Slayer's self-sacrifice would result in her earning some relaxation following seven years of fighting. However, the victory is short-lived. Dark forces are arising to fill the gap left by the First.
+With the closing of the [[Hellmouth]] and the awakening of hundreds of [[Potential Slayer|potential slayers]], [[Buffy Summers]] thought she had overturned the [[Slayer]]'s self-sacrifice and earned herself a much-deserved break. But the thrill of victory is short-lived. The Forces of Darkness are not ones to graciously accept defeat, and the collective rage unites disparate and powerful parties more eager than ever to reclaim dominance.
-Willow's magical spell which sent the slayer essence across the world has resulted in girls everywhere discovering their new power. The Scoobies, after having a traumatic night in a small town involving shapeshifters, resolve to travel to Europe. In London, Giles races to reorganize the remnants of the Watchers Council, hoping to overcome the shortcomings of its previous incarnation. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Dawn and Dawn's new best friend, a young slayer named Belle, travel to Rome to train new Slayers that are drawn to [[The Immortal]], an infamous, ambiguous yet charismatic character, whom Buffy's attracted to and does not fully trust during the whole novel. They soon hear of a mysterious "Queen of the Slayers" who is getting a number of the fresh slayers to form a mystical army. This likely evil seems determined to claim the slayer essence for herself, and viciously and cruelly murders any Slayers that don't cooperate with her and betray Buffy.
+[[Willow Rosenberg|Willow]]'s [[magic]]kal distribution of the slayer essence left girls across the world discovering their latent power. [[Rupert Giles|Giles]] races to reorganize the now much-needed [[Watchers Council]], and the [[Scooby Gang|Scoobies]] relocate to Europe. And there in Rome, Buffy is drawn to [[the Immortal]] — a charismatic, if inscrutable, figure. But then comes word that a number of the fresh slayers are being coerced to join an army of slayers — governed by the mysterious "Queen of the Slayers," an awesome evil determined to claim the intoxicating slayer essence for herself.
-[[Faith Lehane]] and [[Robin Wood]] take a group of Slayers to the Hellmouth in Cleveland, which has gone supernova with evil, to stabilize the hell there. Unfortunately, they suffer casualties, among other things, and experience strange projections of The Legion of Three, three deadly [[Glory|Hellgods]].
+[[Alexander Harris|Xander]] is sent to Africa to learn more about the origin of the slayer essence. Instead, he returns to report that, alarmingly, there's not enough good in the world to counteract the overabundance of evil, and that the deciding [[apocalypse]] is drawing much too near. Alliances are formed and loyalties betrayed as it comes down to slayer versus slayer, leading to an ultimate battle of champions — from Buffy's past and present. And then an unimaginable gift arrives...
-While the Legion attempts to break through the barriers of our dimension in order to rip Buffy's head off, Ornella, the self-titled "Queen of the Slayers," is advised by her lover, Antonio Borgia, a sorcerer under the employ of The Immortal, who attempts to bring forth his ancient vampire ancestors from their hell dimension, who desire to taste the blood of the true Slayer.
+==Summary==
-Xander travels to Africa, hoping to find more about the origins of the slayer essence. He discovers instead that the good in the world is not enough to fight the bad, and that the deciding confrontation is drawing far too near. It will be slayer against slayer, as an ultimate battle of champions approaches. While there, he meets the spirits of past Slayers, as well as [[Tara]], who brings him [[Anya]] as a temporary gift.
+Following the Hellmouth's closure, hundreds of potential slayers have been activated. Buffy hoped that overturning the Slayer's self-sacrifice would result in her earning some relaxation following seven years of fighting. However, the victory is short-lived. Dark forces are arising to fill the gap left by the [[First Evil]].
+Willow's [[Slayer activation spell]] has resulted in girls everywhere discovering their new power. The Scoobies, after having a traumatic night in a small town involving [[shapeshifting|shapeshifters]], resolve to travel to Europe. In London, Giles races to reorganize the remnants of the Watchers Council, hoping to overcome the shortcomings of its previous incarnation. Buffy, Xander, Willow, [[Dawn Summers|Dawn]], and her new best friend, a young slayer named [[Belle]], travel to Rome to train new Slayers that are drawn to the Immortal, whom Buffy's attracted to but does not fully trust. They soon hear of a mysterious "Queen of the Slayers" who is getting a number of the fresh slayers to form a mystical army. This likely evil seems determined to claim the slayer essence for herself, and viciously murders any Slayers that don't cooperate with her and betray Buffy.
-[[Dawn]] goes into a coma, as she was The Key, and has a link to the Earth, which is crumbling because of the ensuing evil. Willow also seems to go into a coma because of this, but is somehow woken up by a kiss from her lover [[Kennedy]] when she, Faith and Robin are called back to Rome, after realizing that the fight in a deserted Cleveland was pointless.
+[[Faith Lehane|Faith]] and [[Robin Wood|Robin]] take a group of Slayers to the Hellmouth in Cleveland, which has gone supernova with evil, to stabilize the hell there. They suffer casualties, among other things, and experience strange projections of the [[Legion of Three]], three deadly hellish gods.
-Buffy, Willow, Kennedy, Belle, [[Vi]] and [[Rona]] head to Brazil (under the orders of an angelic Tara), to get The Death Orchid, which has healing abilities, and they are attacked by The Queen of the Slayers. They are saved from poison darts by one of the rogue slayers, Haley, who realizes what she has done and gives them the antidote. They then go to Tibet to meet with the infamous sorcerer, The Golden One, and re-meet [[Oz]], who is now one of the werewolves that protect The Golden One. After the Golden One is killed, Oz and his wolf-pack decide to head to Rome, to help Buffy and her Slayers against the upcoming battle.
+The Legion attempts to break through the [[dimension]]al barriers of [[Earth]] in order to rip Buffy's head off. Meanwhile, [[Ornella]], the self-titled "Queen of the Slayers," is advised by her lover [[Antonio Borgia]], a sorcerer under the employ of the Immortal, who attempts to bring forth his ancient vampire ancestors from their hell dimension, who desire to taste the [[blood]] of the true Slayer.
-After healing Dawn, Buffy goes on patrol along with Faith, and the two meet a rogue Slayer who they believe is leading them into a trap, and their belief comes reality when she leads the Slayer sisters right into the hands of Ornella, the Queen of the Slayers and her demons. Buffy and Faith waste the demons easily and escape back to The Immortal's place, where he betrays them, knocks them out, and chains all of the Scoobies up.
+Xander travels to Africa, hoping to find more about the origins of the slayer essence. He discovers instead that the good in the world is not enough to fight the bad, and that the deciding confrontation is drawing far too near. It will be slayer against slayer, as an ultimate battle of champions approaches. While there, he meets the [[spirit]]s of past Slayers, as well as [[Tara Maclay|Tara]], who brings him [[Anya Jenkins|Anya]] as a temporary gift.
-Buffy, unconscious, is visited by the good demon, [[Whistler]]. [[The Powers That Be]] have sent him to The Slayer for her to see the [[Not Fade Away|battle]] going on in L.A. that has Angel, a resurrected Spike, and their [[Team Angel|team]] fighting against the hell that [[Wolfram & Hart]] has sent upon them. Buffy cries tears of horror as she believes that both the vampires who loved her will die again. She is then joined by both Angel and Spike's souls, and together they create an angelic daughter with all of their features, who gives Buffy the strength she needs to wake up, gather her friends, her team, her Slayers, and defeat The Legion of Three.
+Dawn goes into a coma, as she was the [[Key]] and has a link to the Earth, which is crumbling because of the ensuing evil. Willow also seems to go into a coma because of this, but is somehow woken up by a kiss from her lover [[Kennedy]] when she, Faith, and Robin are called back to Rome, after realizing that the fight in a deserted Cleveland was pointless.
+Buffy, Willow, Kennedy, Belle, [[Violet|Vi]] and [[Rona]] head to Brazil, under the orders of Tara, to get the Death Orchid, which has healing abilities, but they are attacked by the Queen of the Slayers. They are saved from poison darts by one of the rogue slayers, [[Haley]], who realizes what she has done and gives them the antidote. They then go to Tibet to meet with the infamous sorcerer, the [[Golden One]], and are reunited with [[Daniel Osbourne|Oz]], who is now one of the [[werewolf|werewolves]] that protect the Golden One. After the Golden One is killed, Oz and his pack decide to head to Rome, to help Buffy and her Slayers against the upcoming battle.
+After healing Dawn, Buffy goes on patrol along with Faith, and the two meet a rogue Slayer, who they believe is leading them into a trap. Their belief comes reality when she leads the Slayer sisters right into the hands of Ornella and her [[demon]]s. Buffy and Faith waste the demons easily and escape back to the Immortal's place, where he betrays them, knocks them out, and chains all of the Scoobies up.
+Buffy, unconscious, is visited by [[Whistler]]. [[The Powers That Be]] have sent him to the Slayer for her to see the battle in Los Angeles that has [[Angel]], [[Spike]], and the [[Angel Investigations]] team fighting against the hell that [[Wolfram & Hart]] has sent upon them. Buffy cries in horror as she believes that both the [[vampire]]s will die again. She is then joined by both Angel and Spike's [[soul]]s, and together they create an angelic daughter with all of their features, who gives Buffy the strength she needs to wake up, gather her friends, her team, her Slayers, and defeat the Legion of Three.
 Buffy wakes up the morning after the battle to find her friends building her funeral pyre, believing her to be dead again. She finds her friends safe and sound, though Faith was forced to kill Slayers who wouldn't surrender. Buffy has a confidential conversation with Willow, who reveals that she also saw Buffy's future daughter. Buffy looks into the sunset, declares her love for all of her friends (including [[Andrew Wells|Andrew]]), and vows to see Angel, Spike and the little girl again.
-== Appearances ==
+==Continuity==
+*The events of this story occur in place of the canonical series ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight]]''.
-*[[Buffy Summers]]
+*Buffy living in Rome and her attraction to the Immortal are based on episode "[[The Girl in Question]]". However, ''[[The Long Way Home, Part One]]'' reveals [[Buffy Summers (Rome decoy)|the girl]] had been a decoy instead.
-*([[Dawn Summers]]
+*Faith and Robin guard Cleveland's Hellmouth, as it's indeed revealed in ''[[No Future for You, Part One]]''.
-*[[Xander Harris]]
+*Xander parts to Africa while Willow and Kennedy go to Brazil, both as mentioned in "[[Damage]]".
-*[[Willow Rosenberg]]
+*Dawn being in coma due to her magical connection to the world is an event that indeed happens during the [[end of magic]] (''[[The Core, Part One]]'').
-*[[Faith Lehane]]
+*Buffy witnesses the Team Angel's fight against Wolfram & Hart that begins in "[[Not Fade Away]]".
-*[[Robin Wood]]
-*[[Kennedy]]
+==Appearances==
-*[[Rupert Giles]]
+===Individuals===
-*[[Rona]]
-*[[Violet|Vi]]
+*[[Ambrose-Bellairs]]
-*[[Andrew Wells]]
-*[[Daniel Osbourne]]
-*[[Marie]]
-*[[Sineya]]
-*[[Whistler]]
-*[[Tara Maclay]] <small>(Only as a ghost)</small>
-*[[Nikki Wood]] <small>(Only as a ghost)</small>
-*[[Anya Jenkins]] <small>(Only as a ghost)</small>
 *[[Angel]]
+*[[Aram]]
+*[[Belle]]
+*[[Bey]]
+*[[Antonio Borgia]]
+*[[Cesare Borgia]]
+*[[Lucrezia Borgia]]
+*[[Eo]]
+*[[Rupert Giles]]
+*[[Golden One]]
 *[[Charles Gunn]]
+*[[Haley]]
+*[[Lucy Hanover]] {{OV}}
+*[[Alexander Harris]]
 *[[Illyria]]
-*[[Spike]]
 *[[The Immortal]]
+*[[Janus]]
-*[[Aram]] (the Immortal's servant)
+*[[Anya Jenkins]] {{OV}}
-*[[Bey]] (the Immortal's servant)
+*[[Kennedy]]
-*[[Lucy Hanover]] <small>(Only as a ghost)</small>
+*[[Faith Lehane]]
-*[[Lord Ambrose-Bellairs]] (Watchers Council)
-*[[Cesare Borgia]]
-*[[Lucrezia Borgia]]
-*[[Antonio Borgia]]
 *[[Lisa (Queen of the Slayers)|Lisa]]
-*[[Belle]]
+*[[Tara Maclay]] {{OV}}
+*[[Malfeo]]
+*[[Marie]]
 *[[Ornella]]
-*[[Haley]]
+*[[Daniel Osbourne]]
-*[[Golden One]]
+*[[Rona]]
-*[[Janus]]
+*[[Willow Rosenberg]]
-*[[Eo]]
 *[[Shri-Urth]]
-*[[Malfeo]]
+*[[Spike]]
+*[[Sineya]]
+*[[Buffy Summers]]
-== Behind the Scenes ==
+*[[Dawn Summers]]
-*Tagline: "Sunnydale was only the warmup ..."
+*[[Violet]]
+*[[Andrew Wells]]
+*[[Whistler]]
+*[[Nikki Wood]] {{OV}}
+*[[Robin Wood]]
+===Organizations and titles===
+*[[Scooby Gang]]
+*[[Slayer]]
+===Locations===
+*Los Angeles, USA
+*Rome, Italy
+*Tibet
+==Behind the scenes==
-*Controversial amongst fandom for daring to follow-up on the conclusion to ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', many fans were perhaps inevitably disappointed. Others appreciated an interpretation of what might have followed. However, this novel's version of events has since been rendered obsolete by the canonical ''[[Season Eight]]'' comics.
+===Production===
+*The cover features a promotional picture taken for [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 6|''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' season 6]].
+[[fr:Queen of the Slayers]]
-*Another post-Season 7 novel, ''[[Dark Congress]]'', was published after this one, though that one does not take place in the same continuity as Queen of the Slayers.
-*The idea of Buffy becoming pregnant would be revisited in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine]]''.
 [[Category:Buffy novels]]