"You'll never have to..."

[Impy]

In "Empty Palces" Willow says to Xander:

"Yeah, and you'll never have to..."

I was wondering if this is a refference to Xander calling Willow's face pasty in "The Pack" or something completely different?

Thanks

[redrevo]

I saw it as just Willow trying to make a joke but being unable to do so. IMO that's what makes the scene so sad - not Xander's eye as such, but the fact that they can't joke about it. It (and the whole buildup of bad things of the season, really) was so devastating and cruel that the ruling class of humor in the Buffyverse can't even find one single positive, one single joke.

...although a link can be made to "I'll never have to look at your pasty face again." It could be Willow trying to bring that up as a "positive," then failing because of the bad memories, or a kind of twisted, melancholy nostalgia for "back in the day" when those were the worst problems they had.

[KingofCretins]

I agree with red, she just wanted to keep the jokes going but was just too hurt to see him like that to do it. They also both seemed to look a little abandoned by Buffy not staying longer.