I don't believe we are meant to see Angel as a big damn hero at the end of this arc. Nor is the arc over, Lynch has one more issue before handing the reigns over to Kelley Armstrong (who I have mixed feelings above - I'm not all that familar with her writing and what I've read in bookstores isn't that appealing to me, but I am impressed with Whedon and IDW for choosing a female writer to continue Angel. And looking outside the boys club of comic writers to do it. Her voice may or may not gell, I don't know. I'll have to see. If I don't like her, I'll stop.)
From the beginning - Angel sees himself as the big damn hero. This was all "his" fault, no one else was involved, it is all about him. No one else chose it. No one else made any mistakes. And he is the only person who can save them and get them out of it. He's the only hero here.
LOL! If he wasn't so adorable about it, you'd want to strangle him.
Note - that Gunn has decided the same thing. Except that it is about Gunn not Angel. That Gunn is the hero. That this is all about Gunn! Gunn is really not that different than Angelus or Angel. The only difference is when Angel becomes Angelus - he's the biggest bad on the planet, the biggest villain, worse than anyone ever. A conciet that Jasmine played on with great effect via evil Cordy in S4. She was able to manipulate Angel through his own ego. And she understood it - because she was much the same way.
We see all of those insecurities in Gunn's delusions and insanity. Gunn believes he will save the world. And much like Angel in S5 - he attempts to do so by machiavellian means. He rationalizes that stabbing Fred, killing Connor, etc - is the ends justifying the means. It's meant as a mirror to what Angel did. Angel did the same thing. Does Angel get that? Not really. One of the most frustrating things about the character of Angel is he never seems to learn. Jasmine screams it at him in the streets of LA after he reveals who she is and sends everything into Chaos, not that her orderly world was any better. And Gunn screams it at him. Heck, Wes keeps saying it as does Spike. "Oh, right, I forgot, it's always all about you." But Angel truly believes that.
If he was a bit more self-aware - he'd notice a few things. Like the fact that while he'd been going after The Dragon! Gunn was bleeding to death and about to be turned by vampires. Spike was wounded and struggling to help Illyria. He attempts to remedy that when they get time-shifted back. Except it's not a do-over, everyone remembers everything that happened to them. The dragon does. Connor does. And so does Gunn. It's not a reset, the slate isn't wiped clean.
Note how Angel reacts to Spike. Compare Spike:After the Fall to Angel:After the Fall. They look a bit different. What we see from Spike's pov regarding what Spike is going through, Illyria, and Connor - is not what Angel saw. Angel sees a well-adjusted young man in Connor who doesn't need any help or assistence, and he's a bit jealouse of Spike who is "working" with him. In Spike:After the Fall and First Night - it's revealed that Connor needs a lot of help and assistance. Spike saves Connor's life twice. That's why he's working with Spike. Spike is "training" Connor, because he knows if he doesn't Connor will get himself killed. Connor is also insecure about Gwen - he asks Angel about it twice and Angel ignores him. I'm not even sure Angel hears him.
Then we see Gunn - who is similarly myopic. He doesn't really care about his underlings unless they met his purpose. The Fish is for a purpose. He's all about the mission - even if he's deluded regarding it. He's also a bit myopic. Just like Angel.
Illyria is going nuts. Angel sees this and ignores it. Spike asks for Angel's help with Illyria several times, and he ignores him. Because you know, Angel has to save the world and single-handedly, because it is all his fault.
Angel is completely utterly unaware of anything that doesn't directly revolve around him.
Angel...-and Gunn
From the beginning - Angel sees himself as the big damn hero. This was all "his" fault, no one else was involved, it is all about him. No one else chose it. No one else made any mistakes. And he is the only person who can save them and get them out of it. He's the only hero here.
LOL! If he wasn't so adorable about it, you'd want to strangle him.
Note - that Gunn has decided the same thing. Except that it is about Gunn not Angel. That Gunn is the hero. That this is all about Gunn! Gunn is really not that different than Angelus or Angel. The only difference is when Angel becomes Angelus - he's the biggest bad on the planet, the biggest villain, worse than anyone ever. A conciet that Jasmine played on with great effect via evil Cordy in S4. She was able to manipulate Angel through his own ego. And she understood it - because she was much the same way.
We see all of those insecurities in Gunn's delusions and insanity. Gunn believes he will save the world. And much like Angel in S5 - he attempts to do so by machiavellian means. He rationalizes that stabbing Fred, killing Connor, etc - is the ends justifying the means. It's meant as a mirror to what Angel did. Angel did the same thing. Does Angel get that? Not really. One of the most frustrating things about the character of Angel is he never seems to learn. Jasmine screams it at him in the streets of LA after he reveals who she is and sends everything into Chaos, not that her orderly world was any better. And Gunn screams it at him. Heck, Wes keeps saying it as does Spike. "Oh, right, I forgot, it's always all about you." But Angel truly believes that.
If he was a bit more self-aware - he'd notice a few things. Like the fact that while he'd been going after The Dragon! Gunn was bleeding to death and about to be turned by vampires. Spike was wounded and struggling to help Illyria. He attempts to remedy that when they get time-shifted back. Except it's not a do-over, everyone remembers everything that happened to them. The dragon does. Connor does. And so does Gunn. It's not a reset, the slate isn't wiped clean.
Note how Angel reacts to Spike. Compare Spike:After the Fall to Angel:After the Fall. They look a bit different. What we see from Spike's pov regarding what Spike is going through, Illyria, and Connor - is not what Angel saw. Angel sees a well-adjusted young man in Connor who doesn't need any help or assistence, and he's a bit jealouse of Spike who is "working" with him. In Spike:After the Fall and First Night - it's revealed that Connor needs a lot of help and assistance. Spike saves Connor's life twice. That's why he's working with Spike. Spike is "training" Connor, because he knows if he doesn't Connor will get himself killed. Connor is also insecure about Gwen - he asks Angel about it twice and Angel ignores him. I'm not even sure Angel hears him.
Then we see Gunn - who is similarly myopic. He doesn't really care about his underlings unless they met his purpose. The Fish is for a purpose. He's all about the mission - even if he's deluded regarding it. He's also a bit myopic. Just like Angel.
Illyria is going nuts. Angel sees this and ignores it.
Spike asks for Angel's help with Illyria several times, and he ignores him. Because you know, Angel has to save the world and single-handedly, because it is all his fault.
Angel is completely utterly unaware of anything that doesn't directly revolve around him.
Which brings me to...Illyria and Angel.