Anya finally gets back into her old vengeance demon ways by helping a girl get revenge on an entire fraternity by having a spider demon tear their hearts out. Willow, returning to college, discovers this and she, Buffy and Xander fear the worst of Anya.

While Buffy is determined to kill Anya, Xander cannot believe she could do such a thing, as he is still in love with her. Anya, meanwhile, is feeling deep remorse about the event - even though Halfrek tries to convince her that what she did was a work of art.

Buffy and Xander track Anya back to the Frat house, where the two women fight. Buffy stabs Anya, seemingly killing her, but Anya's demon side prevents her from dying. Xander begs Buffy to stop, and Anya realizes that she does not want to be a demon anymore. Willow has called forth Anya's boss D'Hoffryn, using the amulet he gave her while trying to recruit her as Anya's replacement. When he interrupts the fight between her and Buffy, Anya begs him to reverse the spell she did - even though she knows the cost of reversing such a spell is the life and soul of a vengeance demon.

Anya is ready to die, even if Xander does not want her to, but D'Hoffryn instead summons Halfrek and kills her. He wants Anya to feel the pain and suffer for leaving him. A distraught Anya leaves, Xander attempting to follow her. She now is alone.

Flashbacks:

880, when Anya first became a demon, after turning her lover Olaf into a troll
1905, when Anya and Halfrek were involved in the onset of the Russian Revolution of 1905
2001, a few months before Anya and Xander's failed wedding. Part of "Once More, With Feeling" (see below).

[edit] Expanded overview

Dawn helps Willow move into her new room at the Summers' house while giving her advice on how to fit in with people at school. Buffy and Xander contribute to the effort as well while talking about Anya. Buffy wonders about Anya's evil intentions, but Xander thinks she's getting better and isn't a threat. At a frat house, dead male bodies litter the room, each one with his hearts ripped out. Anya sits on the floor, covered in blood and in complete shock by the violence she's caused. In Sjornjost, Sweden, 880 A.D., a pre-demon Anya, then named Aud, cares for her Viking husband Olaf after he returns home from a hard day of fighting trolls. She feeds him and talks about, instead of bartering the rabbits she's breeding, giving some away "for goodwill and the sense of accomplishment that stems from selflessly giving of yourself to others" (both attitudes the opposite of her current view), but worries about whether he's been faithful to her.

In the school basement, Spike talks to Buffy about his mental struggles and Drusilla. Buffy is kind and reassuring that she'll help him get through his struggles. But it is an illusion, later in the series revealed to be the First Evil, and the real Buffy comes downstairs and tells a tearful Spike to get out of the basement and away from whatever is making him so crazy down there. Willow talks with one of her professors about returning to class and then she runs into Anya leaving one of the fraternity houses wearing a trench coat. Anya's very distant and claims she's dating one of the frat boys before quickly rushing off. Willow spots a streak of blood on Anya wrist before she runs off and goes to investigate the building.

Willow finds the frat house covered in blood and a young woman cowering and crying in the closet. The woman explains how she wished the fraternity boys could feel how if felt to have their hearts ripped out after one of the boys took her there just to break up with her in front of them all. She didn't intend for it to really happen, but then a giant spider — a Grimslaw demon — showed up and ripped out the hearts of all the boys in the house. Willow uses dark magic to hold the spider at bay and loses control for a minute, snapping at the cowering woman before tossing the spider through a window and apologizing for her outburst. Back in Sjornjost, 880, as a newly turned troll, Olaf runs from a mob of villagers who intend to kill him. Aud watches the proceedings along with D'Hoffryn who appreciates her fine magic. She had turned Olaf into a troll after he cheated on her with a barmaid ("bar matron"). D'Hoffryn convinces Aud that she should go into the vengeance business and that her true destiny is as Anyanka, Vengeance Demon.

At work, Buffy receives a call from Willow about the frat house and the spider demon. Meanwhile, Halfrek praises Anya's violent vengeance while Anya expresses her difficulty dealing with the effect the act has had on her. Willow barges into Anya's place and orders Halfrek out. She tries to offer help, but Anya doesn't want assistance, especially from Willow. Buffy and Xander search through the woods outside the frat house for the spider and find another dead body. The spider attacks them and nearly kills Buffy, but she manages to throw it off and kill it with an ax.

Buffy and Xander return to the house and find Willow waiting with an explanation about where the demon originated and the damage it caused. Xander blows up at Willow because she didn't tell them, but she delayed because Buffy would feel obligated to kill Anya as a result. In St. Petersburg, Russia, 1905, Anyanka and Halfrek drink champagne in a banquet room full of massacred men. Anyanka is clearly set in her ways and focused on Vengeance (and oddly, a committed communist who sees revolutionary success as inevitable, a far cry from her current view). In Sunnydale the present day, Buffy is determined to kill Anya because of the violence she's caused. Xander can't believe she would kill Anya and desperately tries to convince Buffy to change her mind. They argue about their actions with Spike and Willow and Buffy reminds Xander that she killed Angel in spite of her love for him. Buffy thinks Xander's love for Anya is clouding his judgment and encourages him to find another alternative, although she doesn't believe one exists. Xander rushes out to find a way to prevent Anya's death while Buffy sets out to cause it.

Left on her own, Willow rushes to her room and uses the talisman that D'Hoffryn gave her years ago to summon him. D'Hoffryn is happy and impressed that Willow has called him and he knows all about her flaying of Warren Meers several months earlier for his murderous crimes, as well as her consummation with dark magic then, and later that day, and is hoping that Willow will now accept his proposal to become a vengeance demon. But Willow tells D'Hoffryn that she still doesn't want to become a vengeance demon and wants to talk about Anya's recent actions. D'Hoffryn groans and agrees to talk about Anya instead.

Xander finds Anya at the fraternity house and tries to offer help and warning of Buffy's intentions, but again Anya isn't interested in his assistance. Buffy shows up and after Anya turns into Anyanka and knocks Xander out of the way, the girls break out in a fight. They struggle and toss each other around for a while, but armed with a sword, Buffy has a mild advantage and manages to stab Anya in the chest. In a flashback to 2001 when Sunnydale residents were consumed by the desire to sing, Xander sleeps in a recliner while Anya breaks out into song about her relationship, life as a human, and her upcoming marriage to him.

In the present, Anya wakes up from her stabbing-induced unconsciousness and rips the sword out. The fight continues and Xander intervenes when Buffy raises the sword to stab Anya again. Suddenly D'Hoffryn teleports in, interrupting the rest of the battle. He first looks in on the carnage in the other room brought by Anya's granted wish. Buffy raises her sword to strike D'Hoffryn, but he tells her to take it easy, for he didn't come to fight anyone. Plus, he could teleport away in an instant before Buffy could even swing the sword. D'Hoffryn examines the viewpoints that were brought to him of all the Scooby Gang in regards to Anya's future, but wonders what Anya wants to do. She asks to take back her vengeance wish. Unable to believe his eyes or ears, D'Hoffryn says that because of the enormity of the act, a vengeance demon must die in exchange for the reversal of the wish in order to restore the lives of the victims. Anya accepts the high price and is prepared to die to undo what she's done despite Xander's protests. Instead of doing the expected, however, D'Hoffryn calls forth Halfrek to die in Anya's place as a punishment for Anya. "Who did you think you were dealing with? You think it would be that easy to get away?" D'Hoffryn asks Anya. Anya asks why Halfrek deserved to die and not Anya herself, and an angry D'Hoffryn snarls, "Because you wished it!" In a hard and angry tone he states, "Haven't I taught you anything, Anya? Never go for the kill when you can go for the pain!" D'Hoffryn tells Anya that because of her uncertainty with vengeance, her powers of a vengeance demon are immediately revoked, although he has kept his word and the lives of the victims are now restored. With a parting threat about the big evil coming for all of them by echoing the phrase that was said by Spike and others, "from beneath you, it devours", D'Hoffryn then teleports away. Hurt and scared, Anya walks out alone, but Xander follows. She expresses her worries about surviving on her own and whether she actually has a role in the world; not a vengeance demon, not Xander's girl, and with the Magic Box destroyed. He offers some comforting words, but her problems and fears require time to be repaired. Xander walks off into the night while tearfully, Anya moves in the opposite direction, facing the future on her own.

[edit] Acting

[edit] Main cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins/Anyanka/Aud
Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
James Marsters as Spike
Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg

[edit] Guest stars

Kali Rocha as Halfrek
Abraham Benrubi as Olaf the Troll
Andy Umberger as D'Hoffryn

[edit] Production details

[edit] Music

In a flashback to the musical episode "Once More, with Feeling", two songs are heard, both written by Joss Whedon.

Marti Noxon & David Fury - Mustard/Parking ticket song. - A brief off-screen number sung by David Fury and Marti Noxon. In the original episode, they played respectively a man ecstatic that the drycleaner had gotten mustard out of his shirt, and a woman complaining about a parking ticket. Here, in a flashback set the night before their numbers, we hear the aftermath of Noxon's character spilling mustard on Fury's character.
Anya - "Mrs". Sung by Anya (Emma Caulfield). Xander has fallen asleep and she muses over how good her life will be once she becomes Mrs. Xander Harris. One of the lyrics briefly references marital doubt similar to the number the two sing in the original episode, "I'll Never Tell": "He's my Xander and he's awfully swell, it makes financial sense as well, although he can be... I'll never tell."

[edit] Fullscreen vs. widescreen

Writer Drew Goddard originally questioned whether or not the "Mrs." scene should have been shot in widescreen since it was a flashback to "Once More, with Feeling", the only episode of Buffy shot in widescreen. Director David Solomon thought it would have been too confusing to switch between full-frame and widescreen, so it was not done.

[edit] Quotes and trivia

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer#Selfless

Olaf: "You speak your mind, and are annoying." Olaf explains to Anya why he loves her.

Anya: (After Willow offers to help her) "Well thats great, Willow. Flayed anybody lately?" Anya Referencing Warren Mears's death by the hands of Willow

All of Kali Rocha's (Halfrek) shots in her death scene were green-screened due to time-constraints.
Sarah Michelle Gellar was only available for three days of shooting on this episode because of her wedding to Freddie Prinze, Jr.
In the DVD commentary for this episode, writer Drew Goddard says that the Sjornjost scenes were written in Swedish but he intended for the lines to be dubbed badly in English, so Emma Caulfield and Abraham Benrubi were told that they did not need to memorize the Swedish that carefully because it would not be heard. Both actors memorized all of the Swedish phonetically and the show creators were so pleased with their performances that they decided to subtitle the scenes rather than dub them.
Goddard also says that he chose the name Aud for Anya's original human name because while researching Viking names he found a Viking king named Olaf who had a wife named Aud, known for her sense of humor and her ability to manage money. The description of Aud fit Anya so well that he had to use the name.
In Xander and Buffy's confrontation with the Grimslaw demon, Xander gets a black slash of sticky stuff across his left eye that looks a lot like a cut. The mark could be foreshadowing for Xander's eventual loss of his left eye in "Dirty Girls."
The St. Petersburg scene was originally going to be set during the Renaissance, but the timing was changed due to Halfrek's presence. Though never explicitly stated, "Older and Far Away" suggests that Spike's love interest when he was human, Cecily, introduced in "Fool for Love," became Halfrek because Kali Rocha played both characters. If Halfrek was Cecily she would not have been alive during the Renaissance.
Drew Goddard considered setting the "Once More, With Feeling" flashback during "Hush," but he realized that it would be difficult to show Anya defining herself through Xander without dialogue.
During Anya's song there are numerous pieces of triva. Before she begins to sing you can hear people sing outside about spilling mustard on their clothes, and worrying it will never come out. In "Once More With Feeling" a group of ecstatic people sing happily about mustard being removed from their clothes just outside the Magic Box. Anya references in her song that she is good at math, most probably a nod towards her liking of money. Yet in Anya's second appearance on the series is season three she remarks on how she is stuck in Sunnydale High and "flunking math!" this may have been of an annoyance to her because she was actually able for it. Another part in her song is "although he can be "I'll never tell..." " whilst referring to Xander is a clear reference to their duet "I'll Never Tell".
During the battle, Anya asks of Buffy "Are there any of your friends you haven't tried to kill?" This is most likely a reference to Buffy's traumas in "Normal, Again," in which Buffy hurts Xander, Willow, Dawn, and Tara. Then her fight with Willow at the end of the previous season, and such fights with Angel and Spike.
When Anya rouses herself after Buffy stabs her through the chest, she says that Buffy should know better, that a sword through the chest doesn't kill vengeance demons. She is referencing "Older and Far Away" in which Halfrek, a fellow vengeance demon, is stabbed through the chest and calls it a "flesh wound."
D'Hoffryn clearly reminds Anya, Buffy, and Xander (as well as the viewers) that despite his sense of humor and levity at times (unwilling to grant people immortality without their permission, and attending Anya's near-wedding), he is still an evil being. He apparently also has a strong hint of Anya's fate in the coming final battle (at the end of the season).

[edit] Translations

Italian title: On TV "Altruismo" ("Selflessness") or, on DVD, "Disinteressato" ("Selfless": curiously, in male gender: Anya, Buffy and Willow - the heroes of the episode - are all female, instead)
German title: "Wandlungen" ("Changes")
French title: "Crise d'identité" ("Identity Crisis")
Spanish title: "Desinteresadamente"

[edit] Continuity

Anya's history with Olaf the troll (who appeared in "Triangle" and mentioned their history briefly) is fleshed out in this episode.

[edit] Arc significance

The Xander and Anya problem is reversed in Buffy and Spike, which would be fully explored in further episodes.

Willow finally discovers that Xander never told Buffy of her plans to restore Angel's soul (season 2), when Buffy quotes the message that Xander had instead invented.

In this episode we learn that Anya's outlandish behaviour throughout the series is not because she is an ex-demon, rather she has been an outcast all her life.

The depth of Buffy's love for Angel is revealed, saying she loved him more than she would ever love anything in this life.

[edit] Timing

Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

Location, time (if known)	Buffyverse: Fall 2002 - December 2002 (non-canon = italic)
Sunnydale, 2002	B7.01 Lessons
Mexico, 2002	Buffy/Angel book: Seven Crows
L.A., 2002	A4.01 Deep Down
Sunnydale, 2002	B7.02 Beneath You
L.A., 2002	A4.02 Ground State
Sunnydale, 2002	B7.03 Same Time, Same Place
Sunnydale, 2002	Buffy book: Apocalypse Memories
L.A., Las Vegas, 2002	A4.03 The House Always Wins
Sunnydale, 2002	B7.04 Help
L.A., 2002	Angel book: Dark Mirror
Sunnydale, 2002	Buffy book: Mortal Fear
Sunnydale, 2002	Buffy book: Spark and Burn
Sunnydale, L.A., 2002	Buffy/Angel book: Heat
L.A., 2002	A4.04 Slouching Toward Bethlehem
Sunnydale, 2002	B7.05 Selfless
L.A., 2002	A4.05 Supersymmetry
Sunnydale, 2002	B7.06 Him
L.A., 2002	Angel book: Solitary Man
L.A., 2002	A4.06 Spin the Bottle
L.A., 2002	Angel book: Love and Death
L.A., 2002	Angel book: Monolith
Sunnydale, 2002	B7.07 Conversations with Dead People
L.A., 2002	A4.07 Apocalypse, Nowish
Sunnydale, 2002	B7.08 Sleeper
L.A., 2002	A4.08 Habeas Corpses
Sunnydale, 2002	B7.09 Never Leave Me
L.A., 2002	A4.09 Long Day's Journey
Sunnydale, 2002	B7.10 Bring on the Night
Unknown, 2002	Tales of the Vampires: Stacey
New York, 2002	Tales of the Vampires: Spot the Vampire
Unknown 2002	Tales of the Vampires: Taking Care of Business
L.A., 2002	A4.10 Awakening

[edit] External links

"Selfless" at the Internet Movie Database
"Selfless" at TV.com

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Selfless (Buffy episode)

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Contents

[edit] Plot synopsis

[edit] Summary