Xander's Hook-Up

[Curiouswolf]

I am going to speculate on who the writers are going to have Xander hookup with. I don't think it's going to be in issue 25 since that apparently will concentrate more on Buffy and Dawn. Yet, if it happens in the last fifteen issues I feel that it must be dramatically vital. I don't think there is enough drama in a Buffy/Xander or Buffy/Dawn pairing at least not the kind Joss is looking for in this comic series. I also don't think there is enough build-up for it. I also feel that Joss would not do another pairing for Xander this season unless it's plot relevant. So, I think whoever it is would be someone high up in the Twilight organization though I do have another alternative there.

Here are the candidates:

1) Xander/Saga Vasuki: I think there is evidence in the Wolves at the Gate arc at least that the snake lady god is aligned with Twilight. I think Twilight was manipulating the Slayers and Toru and crew to fight each other. Saga Vasuki was all over that with Kumiko. Willow more or less jilted the snake creature who still seems infatuated with her. I could see Saga get revenge by seducing one or both of her friends. Xander did express an interest in all the dirty details of Willow's fling with Saga.

2. Xander/Lt. Molter: She is another of Twilight's military followers and I suppose there is a possibility she is related somehow to Renee. I felt that the original Xander/Renee storyline was kind of pointless. Maybe, this pairing could be a way to follow up on that and make Renee's existence and death meaningful. In the end, I think this pairing isn't likely though it is plausible.

3. Xander/Spider : This will be a controversal suggestion for there are season 8 fans who don't believe After the Fall is canon or people that are indifferent to and just plain don't like Spider. But Spider has been established in the two ATF series as morally ambiguous, unpredictable, and she was apparently made part spider because of "Wiccan tampering" which would give anyone a good grudge against magic. She could easily be manipulated by Twilight and the writers have shown that supernatural creatures are willing to work for him. Xander, perhaps while infilterating Twilight's stronghold, comes across her. She seduces him or he seduces her and he is able to convince her to spill the beans on the whole operation. And there could be plot parallels between whenever this happens and Time of Your Life when a little spider monkey helped free Buffy from Future Dark Willow. So maybe she helps free Xander from being captured by the masked Twilight.

4 Xander/Riley: This isn't very likely but the writers did do Buffy/Satsu so... I'll throw this one in for fun.


Here is the one alternative that I doubt will be related to Twilight:

5. Xander/Illyria: The only room that I could see for this would be as a comic relief subplot in the Oz arc. Spike and Illyria stop by the new grubby Slayer HQ for that long awaited reunion. Illyria accidentally reveals Spike's sexual activities with Spider and Harmony while Andrew accidentally reveals the whole Immortal dating a decoy scheme and Buffy sleeping with Satsu. While Spike and Buffy argue, Illyria, still seething from having to share her living space in "ATF" with a harem, decides to get revenge on Spike by using Xander to begin her own harem. So she drags a semi-protesting Xander off to consumate the deal . Not very likely but it would be funny and Joss does loooove Amy Acker..


There you have it! What do you think?

[sueworld]

Well there's always Xander/Spike of course. That great pairing popular with a multitude of slash fans on the net.

[vampmogs]

To be honest, without trying to spoil the fun I don't see any of your options as being likely. I think it's more likely that Xander will hook up with either Buffy or Dawn than any of those listed. Bander's been teased throughout the season, heck, I remember that people got the vibe the second they saw the Buffy/Xander cover in 'The Long Way Home' and that's before they even saw the Buffy/Xander sexy dream inside. You also have both Buffy/Xander being incredibly close and cosy all season, Xander calling her bank robbery "sexy" Buffy falling asleep in Xander’s bed during ‘After These Messages’ and that scene between Buffy/Xander in 'No Future For You' as Buffy eyes a shirtless sweaty Xander working out. General rule of the series- the second the guy starts getting shirtless around Buffy is pretty much the moment he's established as her love interest for the season. It's been true for Angel, Riley and Spike.

The Xander/Dawn idea has also been toyed with, though more for laughs than Buffy/Xander. 'Time of Your Life' is rife with sexualised puns and jokes, Xander drops into Dawn's "frilly" clothing items in 'Anywhere But Here' and is sitting (albeit with his back turned) with a completely nude giant Dawn as she bathes in 'The Long Way Home.' He's also been Dawn's confidant all season and someone whom she can relate to. And they also have the history of Dawn having a crush on him, calling his army training sexy in ‘Potential’ and Xander being shocked that he finds Dawn incredibly hot in ‘Him.’

I think it’s likely it’s one of the Summer’s girl for the Xand-man.

[nyrk]

Does he have to hook up with someone?

Is the Buffy fandom a bit obsessed with 'ships or am I just being crazy?

[sueworld]

No you're not crazy, they are.

[vampmogs]

Does he have to hook up with someone?

Is the Buffy fandom a bit obsessed with 'ships or am I just being crazy?

*No* you're not crazy. It's very obsessed with ships, I think they get talked about a hell of a lot, and sometimes they can take over any conversation. I'm actually pretty resentful of shipping, it's kind of like religion. Everyone's entitled to their faith but it's also caused the world so much unnecessary grief. And man am I just gonna get burned for that remark

As for Xander though, the reason he's been given a thread on this is because it's been specifically stated by the creative team that he will be hooking up with someone in upcoming issues, which is why there's interest there.

[Rowan Hawthorn]

*No* you're not crazy. It's very obsessed with ships, I think they get talked about a hell of a lot, and sometimes they can take over any conversation. I'm actually pretty resentful of shipping, it's kind of like religion. Everyone's entitled to their faith but it's also caused the world so much unnecessary grief. And man am I just gonna get burned for that remark

Not to worry, you're gonna get positive rep'd for it, too... (ETA: Well, when I can, anyway.) Yeah, that can be a serious problem. I've been on forums where literally every single thread got taken over at some point by 'shipper factions. I get that everybody has a different "hook" that draws them into a show, but there's no sense in that.

[nyrk]

cool, I'm not crazy. That's new!

Anyway, if it's a done deal that he will hook up with someone, I just hope she (or he or it: let's keep his options open) won't die a couple of hours after their first kiss. Because that was brutal. If expected.

[vampmogs]

According to Allie apparently Renee's death was to set up Xander emotionally for his next development.. which if you think about it, sounds rather ominous.

[nyrk]

yeah, I just read the whole Q&A over at SlayAlive. Interesting stuff. And you're right, it is rather ominous. Whether to be scared for Xander or of Xander, now that's the question, isn't it?

[vampmogs]

Excellently put

You've certainly encapsulated what I was feeling when I read that quote. Is Xander a possible threat this season? I just don't know, I haven't really seen much to think he will be but I can't shake the feeling that he could be. It'd odd. He seems too complacent in what Buffy is doing to really go against her, I'd say Willow has a better chance of doing that as she had the benefit of being an "outsider" coming in and viewing how Buffy (and Xander) were running things from an outside's perspective.

[Koos]

Excellently put

You've certainly encapsulated what I was feeling when I read that quote. Is Xander a possible threat this season? I just don't know, I haven't really seen much to think he will be but I can't shake the feeling that he could be. It'd odd.

Look at it this way vampmogs,

if any character had the same stuff as Xander had with Renee, wouldn't that have been written for the character's next development?

[vampmogs]

Yes, but it's just that I can't see anything good possibly coming from that development which has me worried in a season all about "betrayal, the closest, the most unexpected" and a big bad that's easily able to manipulate the masses and a slayer who's doing some morally dodgy things. Twilight is more than just the name of the big bad, it's quite possibly the end of one story and the dawn of a new one, anything is possible with all these shifting scenarios.

[DannyDanger]

I always got a Xander/Dawn vibe since like season 6 I think; or 7, i forget, around there though. Anyway, the use of Dawn and Twilight in the last sentence there got me thinking. What if Twilight is a created being, similar to Dawn?

[sunnydale_alumni]

Yes, but it's just that I can't see anything good possibly coming from that development which has me worried in a season all about "betrayal, the closest, the most unexpected" and a big bad that's easily able to manipulate the masses and a slayer who's doing some morally dodgy things.

At this stage in the season, I'm getting the impression that Buffy is the one who will do the betraying. I know I've seen similar theories earlier but I'm now really thinking that may be the case. The message was a bit vague. No "You'll be betrayed". Just a "betrayal" and we see Buffy in what appears to be in the aftermath of some showdown and she's in tears.

Also this theory appeals to me more than the "Xander is the betrayer" one because we've seen Scoobies go against Buffy before. It's not that shocking to me.
Hmm, so maybe Xander being the closest to Buffy, since he's been in her corner all this time will be betrayed by her and that would be something unexpected. Just throwing in my 2 cents.

[vampmogs]

I think the most likely options for a betrayal are;

1) It's Buffy betraying herself and her morals- the beat down scene is just to make us think the betrayer is the same person who attacks her

2) Xander. He would fit, "closest and most unexpected" and it would certainly make Buffy weap.

3) Riley. Buffy thinks he's working for her when it's more than likely he's not, and I know people don't think Riley meant all that much to Buffy but I think he still fits that description.

4) Willow. They've been at odds already and 'Time of Your Life' seems to be a foreshadowing of a possible confrontation between them. But this is somewhat less likely as Buffy's already confronted her about it, "is it you?"

4) Angel. It's the least likely IMO, but possible. Given the comments about him appearing.

[KingofCretins]

For me, it's a question of what Joss will do with Xander that looks like something he's done before --

Will he do...

...the Willow thing? Will Xander give in to grief or anger with Buffy or his friends and get crazy while his friends try to save him?

...the Faith thing? Will Joss make Xander the secret traitor, and make Buffy fight him for real?

...the Spike thing? Xander has to give up his life to save the world? If this was done, I suspect it would be him giving up his life to save *Buffy*, and probably right after a romantic relationship starts.

...the Angel thing? Buffy has to let Xander die to save the world?

...the Wesley thing? Xander betrays Buffy with the best of intentions, to protect her and others?

...the Cordy thing? Xander betrays Buffy, but he's being controlled by something else?

Ever since 8.09 and the first "inside man" reference, I have been angrily opposed to Xander being a traitor, because it's very obvious. Way too obvious. Plus, we've seen enough to know that he can't be Twilight without just terrible continuity. So, worse than if he were the Big Bad, he'd just be a... a flunkie. A sidebar villain just like he became a sidebar hero after Season 3 until Season 8.

The quote that will piss me off most if Xander is in any way a traitor is Meltzer's quote about seeing what was there all along. That quote works great if they hook up. It's flat out insulting to the audience if he goes against her. That wasn't there all along.

As far as hook-ups, the best material there right now is Buffy, then Dawn. Aside from the Summers's, I'm going to guess --

1) Faith. Old tension never revisited in Faith's arc. She made up with Buffy, she made up with Wes, a follow-up on their history that leads to a connection would work.

2) Vi. I think the characters would have decent chemistry, and she is, as per custom, a known character who is slightly off to the side of the central story.

3) Rowena. Not likely, but the reasoning there would be similar to with Renee.

If for any reason they make him a villain...

4) Kumiko. Willow's current arch-nemesis, and a vampire in open mockery of his past with Buffy. Harmony would work for this, too.

[vampmogs]

Are we supposed to believe that the "inside man" is now Riley? I guess it'll become more obvious soon but I think we may already have our answer on that one. Buffy contacts him, so it's possible she contacted him after 'No Future For You' and he forwarded this to Lt Molter. Buffy may have also contacted him because "she's living in the past" much like how she dressed up for him, trying to establish some bond after Giles made her feel isolated.

Personally I think Xander's going to be "the prince" and the pivotal word there is "save" so that could fit a number of your theories King. But the prince thing is still in play, that's been confirmed.

I'm not sure I could see Xander hooking up with another slayer other than Buffy, it'd kinda be a case of been there done that so soon after Renee. And Kumiko is a vampire, as is Harmony, so I find that unlikely for the Xandman.. though he did shack up with Anya.

[Charles]

I'm wondering what development Xander was supposed to get after Renee since yeah he took charge when his group was attacked but aside from that he's mostly been either in the sidelines or out of sight. If that was intentional then I would guess his 'betrayal' (such as it is) would have its roots then and not before.

Hook-ups?

Well Faith is the most likely candidate since they've got a pre-established history and from the wording of the statement, hook-up equals sex not necessarily relationship which is both Faith's strong point and why its most likely neither Buffy nor Dawn since that would be a romantic relationship. And in the case in the former, she's got 3-4 lovers and still has an ongoing relationship to resolve with a fellow slayer (at least until Satsu is killed off) IMO.

After Faith... There are Vi (or other generic slayer), Harmony (or Dru/other generic villianess if they want to turn him dark). If they want to really to do something off the wall...

-Surviving Watcher (or older female).
-Marcie or Sam.

[Warlock Angel]

If Xander is waiting on Buffy then he is a pretty pathetic character. Buffy has been with Angel, Parker, Riley, Spike, Satsu and showed interest in various other guys and not one time in the series showed any romantic interest in Xander. To now have Buffy hook up with Xander is really an insult to Xander. I can hear Buffy now, "It didn't work out with everyone else, might as well go for Xander."

I'm with one of the earlier posters, why have a the characters in these constant revolving romantic relationships? This isn't a soap opera. What's wrong with friendships? What's wrong with meeting people outside of your inner circle? Who's next? Wilow and Dawn.