Warning: This article contains spoilers for Slayers: A Buffyverse Story.
Summary
20 years after Anya’s careless death in the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a new sequel written by Christopher Golden and Amber Benson finally makes up for it. Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, a new audio adventure for Audible, acts as a sequel to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, picking up just over a decade after the show ended and focusing on James Marsters’ Spike and several returning Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast members. It joins a robust milieu of material that has extended the world-building after the series, expanding canon with comic books that have effectively filled in a narrative for seasons 8 – 12.
Of all the biggest reveals from Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s sequel, Anya’s return is one of the most surprising and exciting. Since Slayers: A Buffyverse Story has several realities, including the Buffy universe from the series, as well as a reality where Cordelia Chase became the Slayer because Buffy never existed, Anya’s fate could be changed. The two worlds meet when Cordy needs to partner with Spike, who’s working undercover in Los Angeles with a group of vampires to defeat none other than Drusilla.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Reveals Anyanka Survived Even Without Anya
Emma Caulfield flexes her acting chops by playing two parts in Slayers; As Anya in one reality, as well as Anyanka, the vengeance demon. This is the same one from the original timeline in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, meaning that Anya’s death in season 7 hasn’t been reversed, but instead built upon with an extra storyline involving the demon part of her actually living on, independent of its human host body, without any of Anya’s humanity. When she returns to the corporeal realm, she explains the revolutionary process that could set a precedent for vengeance demons everywhere:
“I am a miracle. The human Anya purged me, and I returned to the ethereal hell of my people, but my rage burned brightly, and my longing to return to the flesh and blood world gave me such strength that I built a physical body from little more than the dust.”
Given that this is the first time something like this has been done, the possibilities for Anya’s future are endless. Of course, without Anya’s humanity to temper the demon’s rage, there will be a learning curve getting Anyanka under control so that she doesn’t go on yet another killing spree. Still, it’s an impressive feat that highlights the relentless, powerful spirit that always burned so brightly in Anya and made her such a beloved character.
How Buffy’s New Sequel Makes Up For Anya’s Disappointing Death
When Anya died in the series finale, she didn’t get a heroic death like Spike but was instead cut down in battle to set up Xander’s emotional tumult. Frankly, fans have always felt that Anya deserved better, and should have either not died at all, or gone out in a blaze of glory befitting one of the most powerful vengeance demons in the series. Fortunately, Slayers has been able to make up for the crushing disappointment of Anya’s demise by introducing an alternate reality where she can thrive.
Media like Slayers allows for characters to live on in new and interesting ways while at the same time expanding the lore of a popular franchise. Caulfield is able to explore the character of Anya in dynamic ways that diverge from her original performance, not to mention interact with Charisma Carpenter’s Cordelia, who she only shared a single episode with. Most significantly, Slayers: A Buffyverse Story helps rectify one of the few grievous injustices done in Buffy the Vampire Slayer after 20 years.
