Am I the only one who thinks Wesley wasn't actually planning to die? Or part of him wasn't, anyway; though part of him found it a relief.

Nope. I've agreed with everything you've said. Just picture me in a corner, nodding and smiling and going "what Micole said!"

I also like the idea (though it didn't occur to me till I read it here) that he has known for some time that this was coming, and he was not looking forward to it.

I forget which episode it was, the one where it opens with Lorne in a bar and the bartender asks him to read his aura? Lorne does, and then complains that he's tired of lying to his friends, but he'd go out and do it some more. I've got a feeling that Lorne knew since Fred sang right before she died exactly what was going to go down and he was resisting it with all his might.

I want Wesley's father to hear the story of how he died.

In my mind, the gang isn't dead. They're stuck in an infinite time loop where they're continually fighting, hanging on the edge of death, but still fighting, and they fucking love it.

If the heroes fight to the death and it doesn't appear on millions of TV screens, do they still hit the ground?

I want Wesley's father to hear the story of how he died.

And I want Illyria to tell it to him. (What? She can survive! Someone gets to tell the tale!)

And I want Illyria to tell it to him.

Oh, I like that. Someone should write it. Hint, Plei, hint.

Am I the only one who thinks Wesley wasn't actually planning to die? Or part of him wasn't, anyway; though part of him found it a relief.

Nope. I've agreed with everything you've said. Just picture me in a corner, nodding and smiling and going "what Micole said!"

Yes and no. I think in Power Play, when Angel explained to the MoG what the deal was, and asked them to sign on for this battle, the look on Wesley's face was the look of a man who is welcoming (if not actual death, or a chance at it, then) the opportunity to fight the battle of a lifetime, without little-to-no concerns for his mortality.

That said, if we're speaking purely within the context of Wesley's mindset in Not Fade Away, I completely agree with Micole. I don't think Wes intended to die. I just think he entered the battle living only to accomplish his mission.

RIP you prettiest man, you.

I want Wesley's father to hear the story of how he died.

And I want Illyria to tell it to him. (What? She can survive! Someone gets to tell the tale!)

I want to tell him! (I may have problems separating fact from fiction).

(jumping on the Micole's spicy braiiiins bandwagon)

Yesss, join us. It's a fun, fine place to be.

Love love Micole's comments on the Anne subplot. Well said!

Oh, hell yeah. Having Anne make one last appearence almost makes up for the zero Lilah this season (doesn't make up for Eve, but, eh). And she does tie the two shows together in a way that doesn't seem even remotely forced. In her Buffy appearences, she was in "searching for an identity, any identity" mode, which fits in with Buffy's journey to a degree, but on Angel, she was just fighting the good fight, and that's blatantly what this episode was all about.

I was always a bit upset that they didn't at least acknowledge that Angel and Chanterelle (and Buffy) had crossed paths just a little, but, in the end, I now like that she was just her own character on Angel.

In wartime, it seems there's a big difference between going on a mission that's "almost certain death" and going on a kamikaze mission.