Did Angel actually die in "Becoming, pt. 2"?

[Wyndam]

ethros said:

Why would the First Evil bring Angel back, only then to try and get him to kill himself???

It was the Powers That Be, who brought him back. I always thought it was made pretty clear at the end of "Amends" with the snow storm.
And plus Angel himself says so in 'In The Dark' (I quoted it a few posts above)

The Mayor makes a similair remark in 'Choices'-
"Is that what you came back from Hell for? Is that your greater purpose?"


And also the official Buffy/Angel companion books "The Monster Book" and "Angel: The Casefiles" both make it pretty clear Angel was sent back from a reason, a higher purpose


The First Evil was just lying to mess with Angel, and which from Season 7, we know he likes to do a lot

I think originally it was The First that brought Angel back. It wasn't until later on in "Angel" when we had the inclusion of the PTB and the whole "everything is shifted into place for our grand scheme" that the story was shifted to make it so Angel was brought back for a higher purpose and grandiose scheme.

[Ethros]

Maybe, but I thought the snow storm was a big clue

It had NEVER EVER snowed before in Southern California, and the weatherman says at the start of the episode "It's going to be sunny and warm with temperatures continuing in the high 70s throughout the holiday weekend."

And then right at the end, just as Angel is seconds away from being a ball of flames, a sudden cold front comes out of nowhere, directly over Sunnydale (and only Sunnydale)

"And while most of Southern California is enjoying a balmy Christmas, an extreme cold front has sprung up out of nowhere around Sunnydale, where they are reporting heavy snowfall for the first time in, well, ever."

Thus saving Angel. I though that was a pretty huge sign with neon lettering from the Powers That Be about the importance of Angel.
If they needed him so badly, why would they let him stay in Hell forever?

[commandercool]

I thougth it was snowing because Edward Scissorhands was in town...

[BuffyFanOne]

I think that when Buffy said she killed Angel, she meant it. She fought him and stabbed him in the gut, knowing that he has his soul back. If he had been anything othe rthan a vampire, he would have been dead. I believe she knew that he didn't die form the stab wound but she had no idea she was sending him to a hell deminsion. I think she thought he was destroyed when he was sucked into Acathla. She set out to kill him and she thought she succeded, even though it was not in fact her sword that did the deed.

[barryshaft]

Buffy herself belived to have killed Angel but in actuality she just damned him. Angel essentially had the same happen to him that later happened to Buffy in Anne, Connor in Sleep Tight and as far as I can see all of L.A. in After The Fall.

As for what brought Angel back? Honestly there really is no real answer for that. He believes to have been brought back for a higher purpose, but we're never quite sure whose purpose that is. As for The Powers The Be... that term in general is pretty vague and I'd say in essence refers to the other dimensional beings that seem to hold power over ours... So in essence that's a lot of groups...The Senior Partners, The First Evil, and whatever, if any benevolent forces there are out there... We know somebody brought him back, we're just not sure who...and I doubt they'll ever really explain it. Whatever they come up with probably wouldn't fill in all the blanks anyways.

[MawdurnBukanier]

barryshaft said:

Whatever they come up with probably wouldn't fill in all the blanks anyways.

Exactly, that's why I'm sticking with my "Hell spat him back out" idea.