Especially when it's matched by the inner conflict we saw much more of once Angel moved to his own series – the fact that while he regrets his actions, Angel himself still enjoys causing pain, and some parts of him remember it fondly, and even miss it.
While it was never brought up in the context of Giles specifically, it seems entirely plausible to me that Angel remembers torturing Giles with pleasure – which would, of course, only add to his guilt and paralyzing self-consciousness when forced to interact with him. We saw a little of that, when Angel returned to Giles' house in the Thanksgiving episode and on other occasions, but there's much more there to bring out.
This is fascinating, Mer...you do a wonderful job of pulling together all the strands of Giles/Angel interactions. The parallels with Buffy/Faith, Wes/Faith, Buffy/Spike etc. make all kinds of sense.
One additional aspect that might be interesting to explore (and which I only thought of after reading your essay) was Angel's taking on of Eyghon in "The Dark Age." In a very real sense, Angel knows Giles's youthful demons - from the inside. It's another instance of Angel having intimate knowledge about Giles.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-27 10:30 am (UTC)While it was never brought up in the context of Giles specifically, it seems entirely plausible to me that Angel remembers torturing Giles with pleasure – which would, of course, only add to his guilt and paralyzing self-consciousness when forced to interact with him. We saw a little of that, when Angel returned to Giles' house in the Thanksgiving episode and on other occasions, but there's much more there to bring out.
This is fascinating, Mer...you do a wonderful job of pulling together all the strands of Giles/Angel interactions. The parallels with Buffy/Faith, Wes/Faith, Buffy/Spike etc. make all kinds of sense.
One additional aspect that might be interesting to explore (and which I only thought of after reading your essay) was Angel's taking on of Eyghon in "The Dark Age." In a very real sense, Angel knows Giles's youthful demons - from the inside. It's another instance of Angel having intimate knowledge about Giles.