It is interesting. I've since cooled in the comics, though I did like season eight at the time, but I do still like the earlier issues, and especially the issue where the demon reveals to Buffy and Willow a conversation Willow had with Kennedy, where Willow says that they were happy, that she and Tara could have taken Dawn and moved away from the Hellmouth, set up a nice life, and left Buffy at peace -- that Willow chose Buffy over Tara, ultimately, that her not letting go got Tara killed. Which is not fair, but is psychologically plausible. And there are different ways of reading it. Part of the question is, how happy was Willow, really? And how close to falling apart were the gang? And the town? I think it's important that comics-Willow mentioned that they could have moved away from the Hellmouth -- because basically the town is depicted in Bargaining as being just a hair's breadth from disaster, with the Buffybot as the first and one of the only lines of defense. The Scoobies in general, and Giles in particular, seem content with this (he is content enough to leave town), but I think Willow maybe recognizes it's only a matter of time.
And so some of the issue is about missing Buffy herself, and believing that Buffy would rather be alive -- while I think Willow was overselling the "Buffy's in hell" idea as rationalization, I do think she believed Buffy would rather be alive than dead, given how important it was for Buffy for years to stay alive. I also don't think that Buffy's depression at being returned is necessarily a sign she should have stayed dead -- any more than any person's depression is necessarily a sign that they would be better dead. But Willow has multiple reasons for wanting Buffy back, and some of them are to save herself, and to prove herself to Buffy, some of them are that she wants to do her best for Buffy, as Buffy's friend, many of them just that she is unwilling to cope with the idea of Buffy being gone.
But also, something interesting happens in part 2 -- when Willow finds out from Xander that the ritual (apparently) failed, she breaks down in tears, and says "Buffy's gone. She's really gone" -- as if the grief is only just hitting her. She has been avoiding it for months, having a fake Buffy to fill in until Willow could bring the real one back to life. But now she realizes her friend is actually dead. And Willow steps up. The others want to stay in the Magic Box where it's safe, but Willow says that they have to go out and find Dawn and Spike, and along the way they fight off the demons -- though it is Buffy who ultimately saves Dawn. So it's a bit of an open question. Willow had a bravery inside her, an ability to take on the challenge of living without Buffy -- which was not expressed until she gave up on the idea of the resurrection. But would this have been enough? We don't know.
But it is also interesting that Willow's falling apart is linked to Buffy, just not always obviously. Giles and Willow's argument is about Buffy. The argument with Tara in All the Way is about Willow's excessive use of magic, but Willow is mostly overusing magic (IMO) to cover for her fears that she was wrong in bringing Buffy back -- to prove Giles wrong, to prove that she did the right thing, that Buffy is okay, and thus that Willow is okay. And she erases Tara's memory after the argument because she cannot deal with conflict...which is a trait that existed before Buffy, of course, but which most recently was made worse when Glory mindsucked Tara after Willow and Tara's first-ever argument, looking for Buffy's sister. She erases Tara's/Buffy's minds again. And then she brings Amy back from being a rat -- another "resurrection" -- as if to prove again to herself that her resurrection was a success.
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And so some of the issue is about missing Buffy herself, and believing that Buffy would rather be alive -- while I think Willow was overselling the "Buffy's in hell" idea as rationalization, I do think she believed Buffy would rather be alive than dead, given how important it was for Buffy for years to stay alive. I also don't think that Buffy's depression at being returned is necessarily a sign she should have stayed dead -- any more than any person's depression is necessarily a sign that they would be better dead. But Willow has multiple reasons for wanting Buffy back, and some of them are to save herself, and to prove herself to Buffy, some of them are that she wants to do her best for Buffy, as Buffy's friend, many of them just that she is unwilling to cope with the idea of Buffy being gone.
But also, something interesting happens in part 2 -- when Willow finds out from Xander that the ritual (apparently) failed, she breaks down in tears, and says "Buffy's gone. She's really gone" -- as if the grief is only just hitting her. She has been avoiding it for months, having a fake Buffy to fill in until Willow could bring the real one back to life. But now she realizes her friend is actually dead. And Willow steps up. The others want to stay in the Magic Box where it's safe, but Willow says that they have to go out and find Dawn and Spike, and along the way they fight off the demons -- though it is Buffy who ultimately saves Dawn. So it's a bit of an open question. Willow had a bravery inside her, an ability to take on the challenge of living without Buffy -- which was not expressed until she gave up on the idea of the resurrection. But would this have been enough? We don't know.
But it is also interesting that Willow's falling apart is linked to Buffy, just not always obviously. Giles and Willow's argument is about Buffy. The argument with Tara in All the Way is about Willow's excessive use of magic, but Willow is mostly overusing magic (IMO) to cover for her fears that she was wrong in bringing Buffy back -- to prove Giles wrong, to prove that she did the right thing, that Buffy is okay, and thus that Willow is okay. And she erases Tara's memory after the argument because she cannot deal with conflict...which is a trait that existed before Buffy, of course, but which most recently was made worse when Glory mindsucked Tara after Willow and Tara's first-ever argument, looking for Buffy's sister. She erases Tara's/Buffy's minds again. And then she brings Amy back from being a rat -- another "resurrection" -- as if to prove again to herself that her resurrection was a success.