The Slayer and the rest of the gang go to the future to find out how to stop Harth. After arriving there, Buffy has an encounter with the future slayer and an old enemy.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 12: The Reckoning # 2
Writers: Joss Whedon (plot) Christos Gage (plot and scripts)
Artist: Georges Jeanty
Inker: Karl Story
Colorist: Dan Jackson
Cover Artist: Stephanie Hans, Phil Noto (Variant)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
What You Need to Know:
A vampire from the future has come to the past to take advantage of what seems to be Buffy’s last adventure. The vampire is called Harth and is the twin brother of Melaka Fray, the slayer in the future. For some reason, he got the memories of the past slayers instead of Fray. The gang barely survives a fight with Harth and his allies, which include the Mayor, who has put himself back together since season 3. Buffy and friends take a trip into the future where they hope to find out what Harth knows. As soon as they arrive they are confronted by Fray and her sister, Erin.
What You Will Find Out:
Buffy and Fray engage in combat again. It seems to be fated that every time a Slayer encounters another slayer that they have to duke it out. Buffy soon convinces Fray to stop fighting after she tells her that Harth is causing problems in the past. They find that Erin has already stopped fighting the others, mostly because she thought Angel and Spike were hunks.
They go to Fray’s library in the hopes that they will find enough information to stop Harth. Giles finds some information, but not as much as they were hoping for. He does find mention of an immortal madwoman. Willow reveals that madwoman was her. This story is detailed in Season 8 when Buffy first meets Fray and slays the future Willow. This brings up the idea that maybe somebody else from Buffy’s present could have survived.
Fray asks Gunther, her fence, for help. It turns out that there is someone known as the Queen from that era. The gang goes to meet the Queen and it turns out to be Harmony. Harmony is a girl Buffy, Xander, and Willow went to high school with, and she was later turned into a vamp. Harmony was in a relationship with Spike and eventually worked with Angel and his allies for a while. Harmony tells them what happened at the Reckoning, or at least what she heard.
The demons were threatened by what Buffy and Willow were doing by uniting and training the slayers and witches. So the demons united and attacked. Somehow during the fight, all the Slayer but Buffy lost their powers and even their memories of being a slayer, possibly even Faith. The odds looked bad for them until the Slayer had Dawn open a portal to a hell dimension. Willow used her magic to create a mystic hurricane that blew the demons into the portal. Buffy went through the portal to make sure the demons could not come back. So, Buffy was trapped in hell fighting the demons off. It is possible that Angel and Spike went with her, but nobody knows for sure, because they were never heard of again.
Willow and Giles made sure that all the portals were sealed. With the Slayers and demons gone, there was only Willow to ensure that the world was safe. Willow used her magic to stay young so she could always be there to prevent the demons coming back. She outlives all the others. She survives until Fray’s time. It turns out that, she had Buffy come to the future to kill her since she was no longer needed because Fray had been called as a slayer.
Harmony finishes her tale and Fray asks her about Harth. She tells the future Slayer that either Harth got sucked into hell or he does become all-powerful and is due back in the future any second. They debate whether to wait for him to come back and stop him or go back to the past and stop him during the Reckoning. They decided to go back and invite Fray to join them. If they win, it will change the future and her world will be different. Melaka agrees as long as she can bring Erin, Gates ( a purple monkey looking creature), and Gunther. Gunther declines to go and says a tearful goodbye to Fray. They then head back to the past using the powers of Illyria, Willow, and Dawn.
Meanwhile, Harth is aware of everything that has happened in the future, because he has Buffy’s memories. He prepares his allies to attack.
What Just Happened:
This issue was mostly an exposition piece to tell what happened during the Reckoning. This idea first appeared in the Fray series when Fray was trying to figure out about being a slayer. This issue has some great moments. I loved the line with “Fifth Element Barbie”. The scene where Fray tells her sister that having sex with lurks/vampires was deviant in front of Buffy was hilarious. Whedon and Gage do a great job with tying the threads of Season 8 and Fray’s future into this tale. It answers some questions while creating others. Jeanty’s art still feels rushed and not as good as I have seen him do before.
Rating: 8/10
Final Thoughts:
I feel that this issue was as strong as the first one on a narrative level. I am only deducting points because the art is disappointing. The writing, however, is very much on point.
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