Spoiler Slayer

I've gotten some new information on Angel Episodes 16 and 17. In addition to that, there is a report at the Angel's Soul Spoiler Board about a possible return of a familiar face. Are they connected? Read on to find out what I think. Let me start with the information provided by one of my sources (who, I should add, has yet to be wrong). I should however note that I'm interpreting minor details, like order of events and locations, so this may not exactly match the finished product.

Mainly, the information provided deals with the aftermath of Fred's death.

Illyria rises, and although Fred seems to have died, some part of her lives on. Wesley and Illyria go to Wolfram and Hart, where Knox is eagerly awaiting the return of the 'goddess'. His joy is short-lived, as Wesley shoots and kills him (revenge for killing Fred). He also injures, but does not kill, Gunn. This is what I expect to be the big battle at the offices, and Illyria does throw Angel out of one of the office windows. Essentially, nobody is a match for her.

However, she is not as strong as she could be, and needs to return to her base of power in another dimension. She opens up a wormhole, and goes through with Wesley right behind her. At her temple, she discovers all of her followers have been destroyed. She and Wesley return to Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, back at Wolfram and Hart, Angel and Spike are the only two left to address the issue (Lorne's there, but he's not really a fighter). They need an edge against the Senior Partners, someone with inside information. Which means that they have to find Lindsey. They manage to track him down, the Senior Partners have imprisoned him in an alternate dimension/reality. He is being guarded by spirits, who are taking on the role of the perfect wife and son.

Unfortunately, they can't just take Lindsey out of there without alerting the Senior Partners. A guilt-ridden Gunn volunteers to remain behind, and impersonate Lindsey, if it will help Fred. This explains the necklace that he was wearing in the repeat of the Lindsey scene from earlier in the episode.

I'm beginning to see the pieces being tied together. It makes sense that Illyria will retain Fred's memories. The 'Old Ones' were responsible for creating vampires, who effectively use the human as a host vessel, and have all the memories of their previous lives as well. This also could explain why Wesley is still assisting her, but there may be other factors causing this as well. There are strong echoes between this story arc and Glory's story arc (host body, from another dimension, nearly invunerable, etc.).

I'm also getting the feeling that this may all be part of one episode, 'Shells'. While it's a lot to put into one episode, there is room to do it. Plus, the info for 'Hole In The World' was originally attributed to Episode 16. However, it may not fit the shooting schedule. But since these two roles are for limited scenes (only the alternate reality), these could be filmed last in the schedule.

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Which brings me to the report at the Cross and Stake - Angel's Soul Spoiler Board, that Julie Benz has been signed for Episode 17 on. According to the info, she will be the 'wife' of Lindsey in that episode, and will thereafter return as Darla.

So is it a 'foiler'?...

Normally, I would say that it's probably false without much thought, as I've heard nothing to independently verify this information. I think that overall the storyline with Darla is done. If they did go with this, I would think it would be more along the lines of how she appeared last season in the Connor storyline. Which strangely enough, could almost fit the above information. Since Lindsey is in a fantasy-reality, and his guards are 'spirits' or something along those lines, why not have it be Darla.

But while there may seem to be a possibility is there, I have to take into account that this is a completely new source, and there is no confirmation on this. Plus, in terms of story, having Darla in this scene would have no impact on the actual events happening in the Real World. To me, it's too much effort for such a small scene. I see nothing at all in the upcoming storyline that would require an actual return of Darla, so I'm doubtful that if she did come back, it would be for more than this one episode.

So while my gut says that it's 'foilage' (albeit very clever 'foilage'), with all the events that have happened this season I can't rule it out as 100% false. But I think the safe call is that it's false, and if I had to rank it, I would go with an 'Unlikely'.