A Beautiful Sunset

"A Beautiful Sunset"
	Cover of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight: A Beautiful Sunset; Art by Jon Foster
Publisher	Dark Horse Comics
Publication date	February 2008
Genre	Action/adventure, horror ; Based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer ; Vampires in comics ;
Title(s)	Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #11
Main character(s)	Buffy Summers ; Xander Harris ; Dawn Summers ; Satsu ; Renee ; Twilight ;
Creative team
Writer(s)	Joss Whedon
Penciller(s)	Georges Jeanty
Inker(s)	Andy Owens
Colorist(s)	Michelle Madsen
With respect to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise
	The material covered in this article is a continuity issue in the canon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer .

Last updated October 10, 2019

"A Beautiful Sunset" is the eleventh issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight series of comic books, a continuation of the television series of the same name. It is written by series creator Joss Whedon.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2007 to 2011. The series serves as a canonical continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and follows the events of that show's final televised season. It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote or co-wrote three of the series arcs and several one-shot stories. The series was followed by Season Nine in 2011.

Joseph Hill Whedon is an American producer, director, screenwriter, comic book writer, and composer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), Angel (1999–2004), Firefly (2002), Dollhouse (2009–10), and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–present), as well as producing, directing, and/or writing several especially successful films.

Plot

Buffy reflects on her long history of being a Slayer and awakening the thousands of other girls around the world. In flashbacks of her narrative it is clear that in each battle the Scoobies and the others have fought came with sacrifice, but in a way, came with connection as well. Buffy admits that while it can be a bother sacrificing her life as well as others, it has always been done for the better. She has grown, she has moved on to the better and potential she always knew that she could live up to. Next, Xander and Buffy discuss a major problem: Simone Doffler. Xander tells Buffy that they tried to remove Simone from her rough, urban environment, but see her on a security tape stealing ammunition and other things in a robbery, the unconscious bodies of two guards are also found in the tapes. Buffy feels worried that she is not making a big change in the Slayer community and feels that what the government and everyone else thinks is true, slayers are acting above the law and she is not making the difference she says she is making. Xander comforts her and reassures her that things are going to be all right. The two then reflect on the revelation that Buffy stole from a lucrative bank to support her and the Slayer army and how she and Willow are having complex issues. Xander suggests that she ease her worries by going on a vampire hunt; Buffy decides to bring a "date", namely Satsu.

Buffy Summers lead character of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy Anne Summers is the title character of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name. The character has also appeared in the spin-off series Angel, as well as numerous non-canon expanded universe material, such as novels, comics, and video games. Buffy was portrayed by Kristy Swanson in the film, and later by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the television series. Giselle Loren has lent her voice to the character in both the Buffy video games and an unproduced animated series, while Kelly Albanese lent her voice to the character in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight motion comics.

A Slayer, in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, is a young female bestowed with mystical powers that originate from the essence of a pure-demon, which gives her superhuman senses, strength, agility, resilience and speed in the fight against forces of darkness. She occasionally receives prophetic dreams in the few hours that she sleeps.

Alexander Lavelle Harris is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003). He was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the television series by Nicholas Brendon and in two episodes by his twin brother, Kelly Donovan. He was conceived as an everyman and a male character for series heroine Buffy Summers to interact with, and to provide comic relief in the series. Xander is one of several friends of Buffy who assist her in saving the world against numerous supernatural events that plague Sunnydale, California, a town built over a doorway to hell.

While the other Slayers and giant Dawn are celebrating at a huge party to ease their recent stresses, Buffy gears up to go on her vampire hunt. Satsu follows and Buffy forces her into the vampire lair. While the two are slaying, Buffy discusses how she knows that it was Satsu who gave her the kiss of true love when Buffy was bound in a magical sleep. While Buffy appreciates the gesture as kind and sweet, she isn't interested in Satsu in a romantic way. Buffy tells Satsu of her romantic history and how all of her relationships, be it romantic, family, or friends, end with someone being hurt. Buffy states that there is something wrong with her, that everyone notices that something around her is wrong, that she can never really love, and like all Slayers, will be alone. She breaks down in tears but the moment is interrupted with a surprise attack from the malevolent Twilight. Satsu is knocked out, while Buffy and Twilight have a brawl in the air. Twilight bests Buffy in battle with moves she has never witnessed and takes her fear of flight to a whole new level by taking the fight into the air above the town. When he is about to throw the steeple of a church at her, Buffy tells him that killing her will only bring more Slayers to the call, that there will only be more to deal with. It is revealed that Twilight doesn't want to kill Buffy, yet. He wants to talk to her. He reveals that one Slayer in the world was enough to deal with, thousands is not tolerated. Specifically, he states that the world cannot contain them and eventually everyone will suffer for their existence. Twilight further feeds Buffy's insecurities by stating that they haven't changed the world or made a true difference. He flies off before the rising of the Sun, while Buffy rushes back to the graveyard that she and Satsu were in to help Satsu. While Satsu feels she has failed Buffy, Buffy comforts her.

Dawn Summers fictional character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Dawn Summers is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and introduced by Marti Noxon and David Fury on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, portrayed by Michelle Trachtenberg. She made her debut in the premiere episode of the show's fifth season and subsequently appeared in every episode of its remaining three seasons. Within the series, Dawn is the little sister of main character Buffy Summers, a girl chosen by fate to be a vampire Slayer. Whedon introduced Dawn to the series because he wanted to introduce a character with whom Buffy could have an intensely emotional non-romantic relationship.

In an unknown base, Twilight tells his comrades that to truly defeat the Slayer, one must strip her of her greatest armor, her moral certainty. They must twist her view of right and wrong, or twist the views of the ones she helps. Back in Scotland, in an infirmary, a bedridden and bandaged Satsu expresses her disappointment to a bandaged Buffy. Satsu understands Buffy's view on love and ask if she is hurt, Buffy states that she will eventually heal, that together they will heal. Buffy talks to Xander of her confrontation with Twilight and how he was stronger than anything she has encountered so far. She expresses the fears that Twilight released in her, that she wasn't making a difference. Buffy feels that she isn't making a difference, that the girls she awakened weren't and that she didn't have any connection with them. Xander assures her that Buffy awakened confidence and purpose that the girls never had before. Buffy jokes that Xander should just ask Renee out already, while Xander jokes that she shouldn't state the obvious and that she shouldn't change the subject. He assures to Buffy that what she created is more than a monster-fighting army, it is a connected state. Buffy still feels she has no connection amongst the girls, Xander replies that it is not she that is supposed to, the person who brought all of it together gave up her connection so that the others would feel it, so that the other chosen girls could feel like they had a place to fit in, a place where they belonged. Buffy agrees, and in contrast to the opening sees that what she did truly was for the better.

Production

Writer Joss Whedon continues as writer from the last issue. Georges Jeanty returns as penciller since the No Future For You story arc.

Drawing sequences from the episode "Chosen" are used as flashbacks in the beginning of the story. Including the Slayer who was playing baseball, Willow tapping into the essence of the Slayer Scythe, Rona and Vi being chosen, and Buffy fighting Caleb.

Canonical issues

This series has been described as 'canon' by both Whedon and various commentators. As the creator of Buffy, Joss Whedon's association with Buffyverse story is often linked to how canonical the various stories are. Since Whedon is writing this story, it will be seen as a continuation of the official continuity established by Buffy and Angel.

Season Eight contradicts and supersedes information given in the paperback novels set after Season Seven, such as Queen of the Slayers and Dark Congress , which are described as being set in an unofficial "parallel" continuity.^[1]

Queen of the Slayers is an original novel based on the American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Twilight references Buffy killing Caleb in "Chosen" using the scythe by slicing him in two from the crotch up.

"Chosen" is the series finale of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the 22nd episode of season 7 and the 144th episode of the series. It was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon and originally aired on UPN on May 20, 2003. The Buffy story would not be continued beyond this point until "The Long Way Home", a comic book, in 2007.

The mud on Satsu's face mirrors the sequence in "Restless" in which Buffy spreads mud across her face.

Intended to be set after BtVS's seventh season. The precise timing of this arc is currently uncertain.

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Andrew Wells fictional character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Andrew Wells is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, played by Tom Lenk. The character also appears in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, the canonical continuation of the series.

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References

↑ Mata, Shiai, "CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN INTERVIEW 2 Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine ", SlayerLit.us (2007).

Preceded by "Anywhere but Here"	Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight storylines 2008	Succeeded by "Wolves at the Gate"

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[Golden-1] Mata, Shiai, "CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN INTERVIEW 2 Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine ", SlayerLit.us (2007).

v t e Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
Creator	Joss Whedon
Story arcs	"The Long Way Home" "No Future for You" "Wolves at the Gate" "Time of Your Life" "Predators and Prey" "Retreat" "Twilight" "Last Gleaming"
Stand alone stories	"The Chain" "Anywhere But Here" "A Beautiful Sunset" "After These Messages... We'll Be Right Back!"