WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Buffy the Vampire Slayer #22 by Jordie Bellaire, Jeremy Lambert, Ramon Bachs, Raul Angulo & Ed Dukeshire, on sale now
The modern Buffy the Vampire Slayer has taken lots of liberties with the original television show's continuity by changing the timeline and introducing radically altered versions of classic characters. And now, it might be about to throw its wildest curveball yet.
The Giles from BOOM! Studios' Buffy the Vampire Slayer might not be long for this world, with the former Slayer Morgan seemingly poised to take his life.
The Scoobies of the current Buffy the Vampire Slayer series have been dealing with troubling times as of late. Although they are technically stronger than ever thanks to having three active Slayers in Buffy, Kendra and Faith, the rest of the group has been largely splintered: Willow's exploration of magic has opened her up to potential conflict with her friends, Xander has been turned into a vampire and taken up the mantle of the new Big Bad, and the young Watchers Robin and Wesley have been butting heads with the more seasoned Giles. The Scoobies are straining to stay on track, with Buffy especially feeling adrift. She confesses as much to Giles, which leads the pair to have a heart-to-heart conversation about their partnership.
It's a sweet moment between the pair, but it might also be their last. After Buffy leaves, it's revealed that Giles is being targeted by Morgan Palmer. The Slayer who came before Buffy, Morgan was betrayed by her own Watchers and sent into a suicide mission years earlier. But thanks to the efforts of Anya, Morgan was restored to life and able to take her revenge against the Watchers. Now working to bring about the end of the ancient council and give the Slayers their freedom, Morgan's next step seemingly requires another dead Watcher, Giles. Anya recruits Morgan to handle it herself, as Anya can't risk exposing her demonic form to Willow and the rest of the Scoobies quiet yet.
To Morgan's credit, it's clearly an act she has no interest in carrying out. While she believes that the Watcher's Council must be dismantled and took some joy out of getting her revenge against the people who betrayed her, Morgan is shaken by the revelation that Giles is a good man and a fitting mentor to Buffy. Watching Giles console his troubled young charge brings tears to Morgan's eyes, as she was unaware someone could end up with a Watcher that cared that much about them instead of just seeing them as a weapon in the war against the demonic forces in the world. She still needs to bring down the Watchers though, setting and that sets her up to sneak into Giles' home with a blade at the ready.
As things stand, Giles could escape death through plenty of means; Buffy or Willow could save him, or Morgan's conscience could gnaw at her enough that she spares him. But there's also the chance that Morgan's mission will drive her to kill Giles before he can get in their way any further. This would remove one of the stabilizing forces within the Scoobies, further setting them against each other. It would also likely put Robin and Wesley next on the chopping block, as they would suddenly become the primary Watchers for the trio of young women who protect Sunnydale. It wouldn't be the first version of Giles who died, but would come much sooner and be potentially far more devastating as a result. The Scoobies still need Giles to stay together, but they may have to adapt to his loss a lot sooner than any of them were expecting.