The Powers That Be (Buffyverse)
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The Powers That Be is a title for the enigmatic and ancient forces that assist the side of good in the WB television series Angel.
The first mention of The Powers That Be (or, "the Powers" for short) comes in season one of Angel, when a half-human, half-demon named Doyle makes contact with Angel and claims that the Powers send him visions of people in trouble who need Angel's help. The visions are extremely powerful, come at random times, and cause extreme pain in the recipient.
Though Angel never makes contact with the Powers themselves, he does communicate with them in a number of manners.
- The Visions. The visions are first given to Doyle, pass to Cordelia and finally pass to Angel where they end. The Powers send roughly 30 visions over the course of the series. The visions tend to have double meanings. There is a micro-purpose and macro-purpose to each vision. For instance, the Power's first vision tells Doyle that "we have a common enemy." On a micro scale, the Powers mean the Scourge. On the macro scale, they mean the Senior Partners or evil itself. While helping people, the visions tend to make Angel meet the right people who are useful to plans and prophecies later.
- The Oracles. Angel visits the Oracles on four occasions (once to find if he really was human, once to turn back time after becoming human, once after the death of Doyle and once after their murder by Vocah). The Oracles, a pair of Greek-god-like entities, one male and one female, give Angel prophecy-like advice. They are murdered by Vocah in the Season 1 finale but the female Oracle is able to manifest in spiritual form to speak to Angel one last time.
- The Host. Through the Host, Angel and the gang find their destiny by singing. Though this connection is rather indirect, it is strong enough for Lorne to recognize visions from the Powers as opposed to visions from Wolfram and Hart in "That Vision Thing". Lorne's knowledge also allows Angel to speak to the Powers through the Trials and the Conduit.
- The Trials. Through the Trials, Angel asks the Powers to give Darla a second chance. The Trials are referred to as the Powers later by Angel and Wes when speaking about their inaction.
- The Conduit. Midway through season three, in the episode "Birthday", Cordelia has a vision which knocks her into a coma and while unconscious, is visited by Skip who reveals that humans are not strong enough to bear the visions. After learning the deadly effects of the visions, Angel seeks to communicate with the Powers That Be, which he accomplishes via The Conduit (which shouldn't be confused with Wolfram & Hart's Conduit of the White Room). It is not made clear whether the Conduit is an incorporeal entity or merely a channel of communication that allows speaking with the Powers That Be themselves. Nevertheless, Angel enters an empty cave with a bonfire in the middle and speaks with an entity or entities which sound like the disembodied voices of a man and a woman speaking almost in synchronicity.
- Ghosts. On two occasions, the Powers send ghosts to speak to people. During season 4, the Powers send a vision of Darla to Connor to convince him not to kill an innocent girl. He doesn't listen and Jasmine is born. During season 5, the Powers send Cordelia to Angel to reorient him and pass him the visions.
The Powers that Be are also referred to by Fred as "The Powers that Screw You" and "The Powers that Sit on Their Be-hinds" by Gunn, due to their apparent inaction during many times of crisis that Angel Investigations face. Angel and Jasmine also complain about their lack of interest in important events. Doyle, Cordy, Wes and Lorne are much more concerned with doing their will.
The last mention of the Powers occurs in season five, when Cordelia wakes from her coma, in the episode "You're Welcome", thanks to an incredibly powerful vision from the Powers. At the end of the episode, Cordelia comments that the Powers "owed her one".
And then again in the last two episodes of the series when Angel reveals that after a kiss good-bye with Cordelia shortly before her death he received one final vision from The Powers That Be concerning the Circle of the Black Thorn, the leading enforcers of the Senior Partners’ will on Earth.
[edit] See also
- Buffyverse chronology - List of Buffyverse stories (episodes, comics and novels) in chronological order.
- List of Buffyverse-related topics - Index of articles relating to Buffy and Angel.
