Retreat (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

"Retreat"
figure looking at the viewer.
Publisher	Dark Horse Comics
Publication date	July – November 2009
Genre	Action/adventure, horror Based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vampire
Title(s)	Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #26-30
Main character(s)	Buffy Summers Willow Rosenberg Daniel "Oz" Osbourne Xander, Dawn, Andrew, Satsu, et. al Faith & Giles Twilight, Amy, Warren & Riley
Creative team
Writer(s)	Jane Espenson
Penciller(s)	Georges Jeanty
Inker(s)	Andy Owens
Colorist(s)	Dave Stewart
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.

"Retreat" is the sixth story arc of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight series of comic books, based upon the television series of the same name, and is written by television screenwriter Jane Espenson. The story returns the action to the central plot of vampire Slayer Buffy Summers and her friends in the fight against the masked person Twilight, alongside his followers Amy Madison and Warren Mears. This story arc is set features the character of Oz, a werewolf who is Buffy's schoolfriend and Willow Rosenberg's ex-boyfriend, who last appeared canonically in the television series' fourth season.

Plot

Part I (Issue #26)

The arc picks up following from the story of "Predators and Prey", with Slayers on the run in the new pro-vampire society. The issue begins with Willow transporting Buffy to their new base, using heavy amounts of magic; a glamour makes the base invisible, and makes Buffy and Willow appear like a fish and a seagull, while layers of magical force fields and protections surround the base. At the base, flushed out from their regular bases, are Slayers from around the world such as Satsu and Kennedy. Meanwhile, Faith and Giles are forced from their underground bunker in Berlin by demonic assault, and vow to make their way to Buffy and co. Similarly, Andrew and his Slayers are hiding out underground when they encounter Warren, who attempts to distract Andrew while Amy has summoned goatmen demons. They too, vow to escape to Buffy's base.

At the headquarters, Buffy allows her friends entry and is tearfully reunited with Giles. The base soon comes under heavy attack from the local demon population, and the group is forced onto the roof to repel their advances. Magical barriers fall to the demons and their use of conventional modern warfare. There are heavy casualties as Slayers fall to demon attack. Slayers who are also witches become overwhelmed by the pressure of supporting the magical barrier, and at least one has her brain fried by the struggle. After interrogating a demon that Satsu has captured, Willow informs Buffy their heavy use of magic revealing their location to Twilight. The entire Slayer army is forced to retreat via the submarine Satsu commandeered in "Swell". Onboard, Giles expresses his concerns to Buffy about Willow's extremely heavy use of magic; Buffy admits her concerns and relates her altercation with an evil Willow in the future ("Time of Your Life"). Buffy realises that Willow going on a magic ban however would not be sufficient, as every Slayer is magical by nature, but remembers that she knows someone who learnt how to suppress magic. Buffy has Willow do one last spell, and the submarine appears in the hills of Tibet. Oz looks on, and simply says "Huh."

Part II (Issue #27)

At Twilight's headquarters, Amy's spell erroneously indicates that Buffy and her friends all drowned when their submarine was sunk. One of Twilight's workers says that Willow's teleportation spell sent them to Mongolia but Riley tries to persuade Twilight that it is probably a mistake of the scanning technology. Riley, Amy and Warren are intrigued when Twilight lets slip that he "knows" Buffy. Twilight has them teleport to Mongolia along with some soldiers, but upon arrival there and not finding the Slayers there, he opts to bide his time until they slip up and make their location apparent.

Meanwhile, Oz introduces his partner Bayarmaa and their son Kelden and explains how through communing with nature and not "caging" the wolf within they are able to overcome their lycanthropy by having the Earth "absorb" the demon on the night of a full moon. However, he relates that some werewolves have formed a splinter group with an ideology similar to that of Veruca; werewolves like Oz and Bay now carry knives for protection. While he is unsure how their methods will work for witches and Slayers, he offers to help despite the risk to his family Buffy has brought with her. As a first order, the Slayers have been recommended physical exertion and are asked to start burying the submarine.

Part III (Issue #28)

Andrew knocks on Giles' door to announce he suspects there is a spy in their midst, and that anyone is a possibility. Rather than arouse suspicion, Andrew uses a camcorder to secretly interview Oz's family and the Slayer organization in a callback to the Season Seven episode "Storyteller" (2003). This acts as a framing device to shift between several plot threads and sets of characters.

In his documentary, he hears more from Bay about how "redirecting" magic works and learns that some Slayers have been acquiring high-tech weapons in lieu of their magical strength; he hears from "malcontents" Willow, Satsu and Kennedy regarding their displeasure with Buffy's tactics; he overhears Buffy and Faith reconnecting, while Buffy confesses her desire to "not to stand over people anymore". Dawn and Xander talk about the chance to have a life and to "go for what [he] want[s]." Buffy and Xander share a tender moment where they discuss Buffy's feelings of contentedness and connectedness in their new situation, her increased ability to feel, and Buffy killing Dark Willow in the future; Xander convinces Buffy to tell Willow and then to come see him afterwards. On the discovery of Future Dark Willow, Andrew confronts Giles about the possibility of Willow becoming compromised; Giles accepts Andrew's concerns, and instructs him to follow her. Andrew surveys as Willow and Oz disagree about her possibilities for a normal life, and she expresses her resentment of him for settling down and denying his nature, although she is touched that he trusts her with Kelden. Buffy finds Willow with Kelden, where she is feeling optimistic about her chances for a family of her own one day, and is unfazed by Buffy's confession of having killed the future her because she feels that particular future is not set in stone. When she hears Buffy is going to see Xander, Willow reminds Buffy that he is "a good guy" and that even Buffy can have a future. After changing her clothes, Buffy wanders into Xander's room but is stopped "still as a grave" when she sees him kissing Dawn. She orders Andrew to shut off the camera, ending the film.

Andrew makes a confession of his own to the Slayers and to Willow, that he had suspected a spy amongst them but was wrong. The cat on Leah's lap (which had appeared in most scenes from Andrew's documentary) suddenly teleports away and Xander deduces it must have be Amy spying on them, from which Willow surmises Twilight has found them. Buffy faces away from Xander and Dawn and declares they're about to come under attack.