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by Milky
So what do you think and how wrong do you think I am..Spill

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Hmm. Well, let's do this backwards. First, where do I think you are ways off base...

Only one thing really, which is that - tragically - I don't see Oz making a return. The character reasons aren't really there, but more importantly, he's film career guy. Unless he isn't.

How's this for fan action: Never mind internet petitions; no-one go see films with Seth Green in them, then he'll have to go back to Buffy.

Okay. My post-Grave thoughts.

Spike - I maintain he should be human if he has a soul, and I agree that he should be Spike as human, not reverted to William the BAP. This gives him a lot of possible directions, but hopefully they won't go down the lines already trod by Darla and Angel, and this leaves me with the option of Spike trying his damndest to be a good man.

See, he could try to get Buffy to take him back, but if he's all soul-having, he must realise how utterly he nixed that possibility in Seeing Red. Not only that, but he'll realise that direct confrontation with any Scooby would result in the spectacular kicking of his ass. He might try to get vamped again, but unlike Darla, he wasn't a bitter, angry sociopath before his Making; just bitter and angry. He's likely to be horrified by his vampiric acts as much as anything.

So where does a newly-human Spike turn for help then? Well, I'd hazard an old flame. No; not Drusilla: Cecily/Halfrek. I see much fun in that possibility, and much possible pain and fury besides.

Buffy - Buffy will be beginning to return to her social butterfly self, with her recovery from Season 6's self-involved bipolar period. Not that I'm saying she didn't have reasons for that, but it's in the past. Buffy will be more confident than we've seen her since early Season 5, which will of course affect her relationships. She may well quit the Doublemeat Palace, but will of course have to find something equally non-taxing to earn a living; preferably a job where patrol-interfering night-shifts are less of an issue.

We'll see Buffy get back in the flirting game, although she'll be shy still of dating, given her past record. There may be a special someone coming into her life, who will then die or turn out to be evil, because the writers like to see Sarah Michelle Gellar do a) weepy, and b) angry, in equal abundance.

More importantly, this season will see Buffy grow into a more maternal role, not only with Dawn but with Willow, as she becomes more comfortable as the older-sister-forced-to-be-the-mother. In this respect, she will bond more closely than ever with older-brother-forced-to-be-the-father Xander. The two will not become involved, but they will attain a relationship which transcends mere 'friend' status, and she may overreact when Anya begins to return to Xander's life, fearing a spoiling of that closeness.

Xander - Xander will remain the solid core of the group. I foresee him continuing to move up in the world of construction, and transferring to a larger home; perhaps something in a manorial fixer-upper, with a library, which can serve as the Scoobies new headquarters without being so cosy that everyone moves in and it all becomes terribly sitcom.

Xander will continue to court Anya's forgiveness, and it shall all be terribly sweet. He'll be hoping - of course - that she'll quit vengeance, but she won't want to, and this shall keep them apart for at least half a season. In other relationship news, Xander will cement his big brother role, and become very much the glue which holds Willow together. He will also be important to Buffy's continuing high morale, and Dawn's progress along the straight and narrow.

At some stage, he will be briefly arrogant, before his confidence is undermined, leaving a chastened, more mature, and ever-so likeable Xander.

Willow - Major crisis mode, what with the being a murderer and all. Willow will be struggling to come to terms with the loss of Tara and her own slide into darkness. She will also be striving to re-establish her place in the group now that she can not access her magical power. We'll see Willow flirt with becoming a net-savvy shut-in, with only her close friends to balance her, and this will serve to ensure that all is not _too_ happy and bright in the Buffyverse.

Eventually however, a new Willow will begin to emerge from the cocoon, stronger and more confident in herself, and less reliant on an external prop for her self-esteem. Thuswise, she will become the kind of vibrant, powerful personality that attracts attention, which will result in new love, either good or bad. The fall-out from this will determine Willow's personal arc for the rest of the season, but hopefully we won't see yet another run of relentless attempted self-transformation.

We may at some point see Willow go to Anya, or even a less reputable mystic such as Amy (in an attempt to keep her friends from realising what she's up to) in order to allow her to confront the spirits of her victims. Alternately, Warren and Rack might pull some deal from Hell to the same effect. Either way around, what would result would be a trial for Willow's soul and life, with her friends having to defend her, when Willow won't, because what she really wants is to be punished.

Dawn - Dawn will grow as a character now that she has Buffy's attention. Being allowed to come on patrol from time to time, she will naturally not want to do so very often, but will train with Buffy and help out full-time with the research, albeit grudgingly when it cuts into her social life. She'll still be the irritating one, but in a more S2-3 Cordelia way.

Anya - Anya will be torn between her decision to return to the Vengeance gig and her strenghtened ties to humanity. She will have difficulty completing some of her 'contracts', since she will be able to see both sides more clearly, and because she knows that her friends - and especially Xander, whom she now knows not to be craven and weak, but a man of true heart - would disapprove. Yet she still feels that vengeance is deserved by her 'clients'. How she deals with this could be another source of much amusement.

Anya and Xander will balance between friendship and a deeper relationship for some time, until Xander realises that he actually no longer cares that Anya is a demon; he loves her for who she is, not what. By taking Xander back and forgiving him however, Anya will forfeit her powers (although possibly only the wish, not her demon nature) and Xander will thus incur the impotent wrath of Halfrek.

Hally - failing to talk Anya round - will turn to Spike for her vengeance, leading William to make a final and informed choice between the road to redemption and the path back into darkness. If the former, he may seek reintegration, or try to protect Buffy and co discretely. If the latter, his wished-for vengeance will come in the form of re-vamping, or some other demonic power to transform him into Halfrek's avenging (fallen) angel.

Either option could be a lot of fun.

Hopefully, we'll see a little of Giles before the year is out, but maybe not in the finale, because that would only reiterate the parental dependence of which Grave effectively purged our heroes. Possibly, we'll see him return to help Xander through his crisis point, effectively giving us the father helping the son who is now himself a father theme.

Hopefully more Clem, and through him a few questions about why it's okay to kill evil demons and not evil humans, when there are demons like Clem in the world.

(Edited by The Prophet 01/06/2002 19:12)

(Edited by The Prophet 02/06/2002 19:01)

No offence Milky, truly, but I hope nothing you said comes to pass for one reason, we've already been there. My esteme of Joss Whedon, which has dipped due to 'Grave', will plumet if he re-does everything i.e Spike becomes big bad vampire (or helper HELLO ADAM), Xander and Anya as a couple, Dawn growing up.

Personally I think Dawn was very mature in season 5, and became spoilt child in season 6, what's with that???

My views:


Buffy - dies killing big bad, learns to love and lose Spike, grows closer to Xander

Xander - will help Willow come to terms with what she's done, Tara's death and her failing friendships. He will in the end live.

Willow - is never the same, disgusted with any who use magic, lashing out at Anya. Becoming a recluse, in the end dieing, by using one last spell to contain a great, dark force, as penace for what she did

Spike - who cares, hope he dies early, unlikely. He and Buffy will get together, finally (yawn) and he will sacrifice himself to save Dawn

Anya - forgives Xander, but has stopped loving him. Grows close with Buffy, best mates, first person killed by big bad near the end of the series

Dawn - becomes new slayer, kind of, grows up (thank god)

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by KieranFrost
No offence Milky, truly, but I hope nothing you said comes to pass for one reason, we've already been there. My esteme of Joss Whedon, which has dipped due to 'Grave', will plumet if he re-does everything i.e Spike becomes big bad vampire (or helper HELLO ADAM), Xander and Anya as a couple, Dawn growing up.

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There's a fine line between thematic resonance and outright repetition. While many - indeed most - uses of Spike would be a straight return, Xander and Anya as a couple would not be, and Dawn growing up is inevitable, unless the character gets stifled by her friends and family (Dawn in S6) or regresses due to her own inability to face the world (Willow S6). So in fact, growing up is the only thing that wouldn't be repetitive.

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Personally I think Dawn was very mature in season 5, and became spoilt child in season 6, what's with that???

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In latter S5, everyone was protecting Dawn because she was the Key. Between S5 and S6, they continued to smother her, because they had to look out for her for Buffy. Then, through S6, she was still treated in a very stifling, over-protective manner. Because she was being treated as a younger kid than she was, Dawn acted out, and because she _is_ very young, she did so in a bratty fashion.

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Willow - is never the same, disgusted with any who use magic, lashing out at Anya. Becoming a recluse, in the end dieing, by using one last spell to contain a great, dark force, as penace for what she did

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I disagree, as part of what saved Willow was magic. While I think she will see that _she_ can't go back to the magic, with the nature of the power that Giles gave to her, she shouldn't be able to see all magic as inherently evil. I think she is more likely to despise herself, although I agree that she should become a recluse, at leats to start with.

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Anya - forgives Xander, but has stopped loving him. Grows close with Buffy, best mates, first person killed by big bad near the end of the series

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Again, I don't see a renewed relationship between Xander and Anya as a reversion. What they had before was young love, if they get back together it will be a more mature, and more bittersweet relationship. I also feel that, more than anyone else in the Buffyverse, these two are meant for each other.

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Dawn - becomes new slayer, kind of, grows up (thank god)

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Dawn acquiring any kind of superpowers - or indeed any of the Scoobies gaining any kind of new power at this stage -would be immensely yawnsome. I hope to God that Dawn will become - shock, horror! - a normal teenage girl.

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by The Prophet
Dawn acquiring any kind of superpowers - or indeed any of the Scoobies gaining any kind of new power at this stage -would be immensely yawnsome

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Oh I totally agree with you, I was just saying what I think will happen, not what I want to happen. Yes Dawn getting super powers would be bad, but I think it is a definate for next season.

After reading all of these ideas, I will be sorely disappointed if some of them *don't* come to fruition!

I have a couple of questions, though. You've clearly thought about all this a lot, so are probably the best peeps to answer them ...

1) Warren killed someone. Jonathan and 'the other one' tried to steal money, they went to jail. All well and good. But Warren *killed* someone. Had Willow not got to him, he would have served time, possibly life, if caught.
Shouldn't Willow? (Think of Faith, think of Willows own guilt, think of what her friends saw and know)

2) Angel - The Prophecy - 'The vampire with a soul will become human'. Now, yay, great for Angel and all that, but hang on ... all of a sudden there's more than one vampire with a soul (possibly - glowy eyes never said he was making Spike human, right? Just returning his soul)
Will the writers of BTVS ignore this? If not, where can they go with that? Considering how adamant certain peeps are about no more crossovers?

All replies, theories, speculation gratefully received

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by Red

2) Angel - The Prophecy - 'The vampire with a soul will become human'. Now, yay, great for Angel and all that, but hang on ... all of a sudden there's more than one vampire with a soul (possibly - glowy eyes never said he was making Spike human, right? Just returning his soul)
Will the writers of BTVS ignore this? If not, where can they go with that? Considering how adamant certain peeps are about no more crossovers?

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Okay I'm pretty certain that Spike will be human and not a vampire with a soul for the reason that it would confuse the prophecys..although wouldn't it be cool if the vampire with a soul who would turn the apocalypse turned out to be Spike and not Angel

As I said though I think Spike will come back as a human and will be more like Angel was in 'I Will Remember You'

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by Red

1) Warren killed someone. Jonathan and 'the other one' tried to steal money, they went to jail. All well and good. But Warren *killed* someone. Had Willow not got to him, he would have served time, possibly life, if caught.
Shouldn't Willow? (Think of Faith, think of Willows own guilt, think of what her friends saw and know)

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Well, I doubt any of her friends will want Willow to go to jail. Buffy wanted to suffer and be punished, but she has a martyr complex, and would thus make excuses for her friends that she couldn't possibly make for herself. Also, there's no body, and thus even if she confesses, Willow might have a hard time convincing the police that she'd killed someone. Okay, there was Rack's body, but who know what might have eaten that by now, and I doubt he exactly showed up on official records. Moreover, this is Willow we're talking about; the police are likely to be skeptical if this little redhead - who bears only a minimal resemblance now to the raven-tressed berserker who smashed up the cop-shop in the middle of the night - comes in, and meekly claims to have killed someone in cold blood, and completely destroyed all the evidence.

You actually raise a good point though, and there may be some tension in that area. Willow may well feel she should go to jail, while Xander and Buffy don't want her to, and Anya, now that it's over, would probably feel she was justified. Moreover, she's a recovering addict, and needs support, which would provide another reason not to let her do time.

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by KeiranFrost
Oh I totally agree with you, I was just saying what I think will happen, not what I want to happen. Yes Dawn getting super powers would be bad, but I think it is a definate for next season.

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Wow. You really are bitter about Grave, aren't you.

I don't see it happening - distinct from not wanting it to happen - because this year has been largely a stripping off of powers, and a celebration of the mundane. With Giles returning to England and Willow back on the wagon, if not voluntarily neutered by the Devon coven, the spellcasters are all gone now, and I don't think they'll immediately try to rack in a new set of superpowers.

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by Milky
As I said though I think Spike will come back as a human and will be more like Angel was in 'I Will Remember You'

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In nature, sure; in temperament...no. Spike has never made a real effort to redeem his dark deeds, so as a human he would have to either do so, or embrace the darkness and turn to a very human kind of evil. He would be unlikely however to become the kind of laughing euphoric that Angel was, especially as Buffy won't be greeting him with open arms.

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by KieranFrost
Buffy ... learns to love ... Spike

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I would be sickened if this happened. Spike tried to RAPE Buffy. In all seriousness, I couldn't be in the same room as someone who'd attacked me like that without trying to permanently mutilate them. The Buffy/Spike sexual relationship should be OVER. Any trust she had for him would have been destroyed by those two minutes in the bathroom. I don't give a damn how distraught he feels about what he has done, he cannot be trusted to be alone with her.
If there is any resurrection of the Buffy/Spike relationship I would be sorely disappointed with Mr Whedon. He's never disappointed me before. I've disliked some of the plot twists he's included, but I could see why he did them. To bring this B/S thing back would just be wrong.
Incidentally, Spike should *suffer* in nasty and extreme ways. (My personal opinion.)

Well I'm glad someone mentioned jail for Willow!

I see her desperately trying to turn herself in but struggling due to lack of evidence. Sunnydale police have never been the brightest, and for them to see any resemblence between "black veiny Willow" and Willow is asking too much!
She will just have to punish herself, which could lead to an interesting scenario of her being duped and led into mischief in an unknowing way by a Big Bad.

The final end should be Buffy dying. But as I said before "it's been done to death already".
I have the impression that Buffy is supposed to be the best and longest lived Slayer ever. So maybe there's a birthday event that the Powers recognise that when reached the Slayer can pass on her powers without dying! Buffy deserves one happy birthday! She wouldn't even have to agonise about condeming another girl to Slayer life (and death) 'cos the Powers might simply match the event with Faith's release from prison!

Hope we do see Faith's return - that kind of closure is needed.

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by RedWitch
(quotes)
I would be sickened if this happened. Spike tried to RAPE Buffy. In all seriousness, I couldn't be in the same room as someone who'd attacked me like that without trying to permanently mutilate them. The Buffy/Spike sexual relationship should be OVER. Any trust she had for him would have been destroyed by those two minutes in the bathroom. I don't give a damn how distraught he feels about what he has done, he cannot be trusted to be alone with her.

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I can appreciate your strong feelings, which are no doubt at least partly because of the uncomfortable 'realness' of the whole incident.

However, I'm really not sure that, as bad things go, it was any worse than dealing in demon eggs that, had they hatched and Buffy and Riley not been there, probably would have, at minimum, killed everyone in Sunnydale, attempting to cover up Katrinas murder, attempting to go straight back to his murderous ways the moment he thought his chip had stopped working (twice), teaming up with Adam to help create a race of demon/human hybrids, having Angel tortured, kidnapping Xander and Willow, attempting to kill Buffy more times than I can think of from 'School Hard' onwards, killing 2 other slayers, or, y'know, a whole century of murder and mayhem during which he probably killed several thousand people.

In short, I find it disappointing that it took this particular scene in order for people to reach an entirely obvious conclusion about Spike.

On top of all this, if, as seems to be the case, he has had his soul returned, we really have to treat him as a new and somewhat different entity to the one who carried out the acts detailed above, otherwise we have big problems with the character of Angel...

In a State of Dan: While I agree that objectively there are worse things that Spike has done, rape is not something that can realistically be treated objectively. What really counts in this is that Spike tried to rape _Buffy_.

Even if she could forgive him, could she really ever bear to touch him again? Moreover, her friends will certainly find it almost impossible to forgive this, because he hurt their friend in the most hideous way possible.

I don't agree that Spike deserves special plot suffering for what he did. He has his soul back, and now has to live with what he almost did. But I do believe that it would be wholy unrealistic to expect any of the Scoobies to ever really forgive him, and for Buffy to take him back would be almost wholy unbelievable.

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by The Prophet
In a State of Dan: While I agree that objectively there are worse things that Spike has done, rape is not something that can realistically be treated objectively. What really counts in this is that Spike tried to rape _Buffy_.

Even if she could forgive him, could she really ever bear to touch him again? Moreover, her friends will certainly find it almost impossible to forgive this, because he hurt their friend in the most hideous way possible.

I don't agree that Spike deserves special plot suffering for what he did. He has his soul back, and now has to live with what he almost did. But I do believe that it would be wholy unrealistic to expect any of the Scoobies to ever really forgive him, and for Buffy to take him back would be almost wholy unbelievable.

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The best comparison I can come up with is Angelus' murder of Jenny Calendar. I would count this as worse than what Spike did on any level, objective or not.

In that instance, Xander possibly excepted, they all forgave Angel eventually...

(Edited by In a State of Dan 06/06/2002 16:52)

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by The Prophet
But I do believe that it would be wholy unrealistic to expect any of the Scoobies to ever really forgive him, and for Buffy to take him back would be almost wholy unbelievable.

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I certainly wouldn't expect it to happen in any hurry. However, I agree with Dan that there are parallels both with Angelus's murder of Jenny Calender and, I think, also with his torture of Giles in 'Becoming'. Buffy was willing to forgive the resouled Angel the acts of his demon side. Even Giles eventually came to develop a level of trust for Angel, and he was the person who was most hurt by Angelus.

Also, and I'm not making any excuses for Spike because I do agree he overstepped the mark by a mile, I don't think he realised what he was doing at the start of the incident. Remember Crush? 'I do beat him up a lot. For Spike, that's practically third base.' Remember Smashed? Spike and Buffy's 'relationship' consisted of beating each other up as foreplay. While he should have stopped as soon as she didn't respond, the initial approach was one that had been consensual in the past. (Although having discussed this one before my view may have been coloured by only seeing the cut Sky version, because in that it seemed to be over almost as soon as you realised something was wrong.)

I'm not at all sure I want Spike and Buffy back together, but that seems to be a likely direction. I can't see why else he has his soul back. After all, there's no prophecy about the coming of one who will save the world from a chronic shortage of bad poets

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by White Hart
(quotes)

Also, and I'm not making any excuses for Spike because I do agree he overstepped the mark by a mile, I don't think he realised what he was doing at the start of the incident. Remember Crush? 'I do beat him up a lot. For Spike, that's practically third base.' Remember Smashed? Spike and Buffy's 'relationship' consisted of beating each other up as foreplay. While he should have stopped as soon as she didn't respond, the initial approach was one that had been consensual in the past.

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Well, I entirely agree that Spike did not at first realise that he was doing anything wrong, which was more or less the point. That was what Buffy meant about asking why she could never love him: She can't love a man who doesn't have it in him to just _know_ that what he did was way out of line.

As to Smashed, I knew that there was something niggling me about the comparison, and I realised what it was about a minute and a half after I got of the phone after speaking to White Hart about it.

In Smashed, Buffy and Spike beat each other up as foreplay.

In Seeing Red, Spike attacks Buffy.

And she doesn't hit back.

Buffy struggles. She tries to get free, and she pushes him away, but she _does not hit back_. Where as the drubbing in Smashed was - for want of a better word - consensual, this was not, at any point. Moreover, far more than we usually see, Buffy was...

Well, what it made me think of was Sanctuary, when Buffy confronts Faith on the roof, and tells her: "I've lost battles before. But no one else ever made me a victim."

In Seeing Red, Buffy _was_ the victim, and if she stays true to form, that is not something that she could forgive.

On another topic, which I have devoted way too much thinking time to, my one solid prediction for Season 7 remains the Willow trial.

As I said above, I believe that in some fashion, Willow will be called, spiritually, to account for her crimes while in Dark Pheonix mode, probably in the first six episodes of so, in order that we not be left to sit through most of a season of mopey Will (which is justified, but would get old).

My current theory opens with the set-up: Either Willow attempts to contact Tara's spirit (probably through an intercessory, as I don't see her using magic again); or Rack and Warren (maybe through a contact on the mortal coil, possibly Andrew) attempt to engineer their revenge.

In either case, the upshot is that Willow is drawn into a perilous spiritual trial, in which she is called to account for her misdeeds before a hooded and ominous judge. Her friends will be called as witnesses, with the prosecution (probably Warren) trying to make them condemn Willow for what she did. Xander will be called upon to defend his best friend, and Buffy and Dawn will have to go on a quest to bring Tara to tesitify on Willow's behalf while Anya stalls.

Tara's presence would be key, because Willow's guilt is primarily focused around her failure to save Tara. Deep down, she wants to be condemned, punished and killed rather than carry on without Tara.

Tara's testimony will break through this barrier, allowing Willow to defend herself, and she will win the day when it becomes clear that the hooded judge is none other than herself: As their deaths were entirely deserved, the only forces that could have condemned Willow were mortal justice, and her own guilt, you see.

So that, in the end, is my one big prediction, and I will stand by it until it becomes clear that I am way off.

A few general thoughts about S7 as a whole, plus a couple of character specific thoughts. Some of this is what I expect will happen, some is perhaps what I'd like to happen; it's probably easy to tell the two appart.

Much lighter in tone than S5/S6, back to S1-4 feel.
Personally I'd like to see BTVS a bit darker & grittier, but realistically (especially given how half-heartedly dark & gritty has been done in S6) Angel's the darker, grown up show, Buffy's the lighter, younger show, so I'm resigned to more perky pink candyfloss in S7.

Speaking of his broodiness - Angel is Angel, and Buffy is Buffy, and never the twain shall meet. No crossovers, or loans of characters to each other. The closest I can envisage to any crossover effects is possibly killing off Faith.

S7 will I expect be the last season with SMG fulltime - if there is an S8 I would expect her to either only be in it PT , or not at all. I would expect the end of S7 to be a S4 style finale-then-epilogue.

Buffy - permenantly killed off or otherwise retired by the end of S7; a significant chunk of the season to be building up to this - getting her life in order, and realising that the world, and her friends, can survive without her - accepting that even Dawn is growing up and has to deal with her own 'big bads' herself. She'll die/leave knowing that things will basically be okay.

Dawn - more growing up; no superpowers, but she's a Summers girl living in Sunnydale so is going to grow up proficient with the pointy-stick. S1/S2 Buffy trying to reconcile a "moral duty to protect helpless mundanes from horrors they can't comprehend" with shoes, boys, parties etc. Routinely patroling and other scoobyness by mid-season.

Willow - brief rant about S6: I'd like her to have not been redeemed at the end of S6; the whole "destroying the world" thing was too much of a cop out, which combined with the whole magic / drug / addiction thing made a potentially really strong arc depressingly wimpy. She should have killed Warren and left it at that - no appologies & keeping the magic, a darker angrier character who's been hurt by the world but who keeps her OTT magic power even though she knows it's too much for her and that she's addicted to it - because unlike hard drugs it's not simply bad - there are upsides to her wielding magic that powerfull. Okay, back to the future... given that we're not going to be seeing Dark Willow next season, it's got to be back to Willow the Watcher; she failed at mothering the group in S6, but by the end of S7 Buffy and Gyles will both be happy that she has grown into the role successfully, and she will be the leader of the scoobies in whatever form they are post-S7. Cautiously starts practising magic again mid-late season, without significant negative effects.

Gyles - I assume ASH is only involved in the season part time - maybe half a dozen appearances. Most of these will be focused around Buffy, Willow, and Dawn maturing over the course of the season. Also will probably be a key element in any future shows being viable (S8, Ripper or any other spin offs); if S8 dosn't happen, Ripper falls by the wayside, and there are no other spinoffs I'd expect him to die in S7.

Xander - the keystone of the scoobies, the only character the show cannot survive losing. No, I'm serious. He wasn't born to the purple as Buffy and Gyles were - he dosn't do this because it's his Destiny. He dosn't have supernatural powers as Willow or Anya (or Tara, Oz, Angel, Spike) do - putting him above the common herd and onto an even footing with the demons they fight. He fights evil becasue it's the right thing to do and because those he fights along side are his friends; he's exactly the same as the defenceless victim-of-the-week common people they protect from vampires and demons, the only difference is that he's chosen to fight and to not be a victim. By the end of S7 he'll be a clear second-in-command after Willow.

Anya - stays demony, learns how to balance her human and demonic sides - the problem before was that she was all-human. Her and Xander will marry by the end of the season. At the start of the season will be a scooby because it's all that she knows and because her only friends are the other scoobies, but will grow to accept that this is the right thing to do on a grander scale by the end of the season.

Tara - dead, stays dead; but I expect the character to put in brief appearances. The most obvious route would be somebody using her image to taunt Willow (as Willow did to Warren with the image of his ex), or as part of some other trial Willow faces. Alternatives abound, and I'm sure there'll be plenty of S7 fanfic featuring Wishverse Tara, and Dark Willow summoning tara-lookalike succubbi.

Spike - don't know, and I'm finding it hard to care. Another excellent opportunity for darkness in S6 and S7, but watered down by ignoring all the possibilities contained in what do you do if one of the people on your side is unrepentantly evil. A S7 featuring Dark Willow and Spike as unrepentantly willing to do bad things to protect and help their side would be wonderfull, but ain't gonna happen. Whether a goodie or a baddie I expect him to survive the end of the show.

Jonathan, or perhaps some other B-cast character - minor scooby by the end of the season.

Overall, whether or not there's a spinoff or S8, I expect S7 to represent the end of the current show - the characters will have all grown out of the roles they started the show with - the senior characters from season 1, Buffy and Gyles, will be dead or offscreen; the S1 junior characters, Willow and Xander, be the new senior characters - experienced veterans and leaders who've learned from there own mistakes; the junior scoobies, Dawn, Anya, maybe Jonathan or someone else, choosing to fight evil because it's the right thing to do and taking on S2/S3 Willow/Xander type roles.

We're almost at the end of Series 7 now and I was reading back through this...although not accurate a couple of the guesses are pretty close..makes for fun and interesting reading