The way I see it, Angel's redemption arc makes no sense if the soul means anything. Any crimes he committed without a soul can't be attributed to him with the soul returned. If he wasn't responsible for those crimes, he doesn't need redemption. Thus, the Standard Theory can't be operative in AtS.
Spike's arc is difficult to explain as consistent with Angel's as it stood on BtVS. One explanation is that the chip changed Spike in some fundamental way, leading him to get a soul. That's possible, though it's probably inconsistent with the premise of S4 (and probably S3 as well). Another is that vampire love, however you might interpret that, caused Spike to seek the return of his soul without really understanding what he was getting. This probably makes the most sense and is consistent with the rest of the story. The third option is inconsistent writing to meet the needs of the particular story at that moment. I'd like to avoid that conclusion, but it's always possible.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2015-09-01 12:59 am (UTC)Spike's arc is difficult to explain as consistent with Angel's as it stood on BtVS. One explanation is that the chip changed Spike in some fundamental way, leading him to get a soul. That's possible, though it's probably inconsistent with the premise of S4 (and probably S3 as well). Another is that vampire love, however you might interpret that, caused Spike to seek the return of his soul without really understanding what he was getting. This probably makes the most sense and is consistent with the rest of the story. The third option is inconsistent writing to meet the needs of the particular story at that moment. I'd like to avoid that conclusion, but it's always possible.