The Powers That Be (Buffyverse)
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The first mention of The Powers That Be (or, "the Powers" for short) came in season one of Angel, when a half-human, half-demon named Doyle made contact with Angel and claimed that the Powers send him visions of people in trouble who needed Angel's help. The visions are extremely powerful, come at random times, and cause extreme pain in the recipient.
Though Angel never made contact with the Powers themselves, he did communicate with them in number of manners.
1. The Visions. The visions are first given to Doyle, passed to Cordelia and finally passed to Angel where they end. The Powers sent Angel roughly 30 visions over the course of the series. The visions tended to have double meanings. There was 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.
2. The Oracles. Angel visited 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 Voca). The Oracles, a pair of Greek god-like entities, gave Angel prophecy like advice. They were murdered by Voca in the Season 1 finale.
3. The Host. Through the Host (Lorne), Angel and the gang would find their destiny by singing. Though this connection was rather indirect, it was 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 allowed Angel to speak to the Powers through the Trials and the Conduit.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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 Winifred Burkle (AKA "Fred") as "The Powers that Screw You" and the "The Powers that Sit on Their Be-hinds" by Gunn, due to their apparent inaction during many times of crisis that Angel Investigations faced. Angel and Jasmine also complained about their lack of interest in important events. Doyle, Cordy, Wes and Lorne were much more concerned with doing their will.
The last mention of the Powers occurred in season five, when Cordelia awoke 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 commented 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.
