Clearly the gem could have given substantial benefit to Angel himself. He would have been able to walk in daylight and to gain some measure of a normal life. Yet he chose to destroy it, once more imprisoning himself in the dark. But was this the right thing to do? Let's look at the reasons that Angel himself gives for his decision. He argues that if he is able to walk in the day, he will lose touch with the people of the night whom he currently helps. If he is no longer concerned with their problems, then no-one else will be. This is to some extent supported by the happenings of In the Dark, where he saves Rachel from being shot by her boyfriend. Rachel suggests to her boyfriend that he can't just shoot her, but he replies that no-one is going to come to her rescue in a deserted alley, at that time of night. And had it not been for Angel, he would have killed her. Angel is concerned that if he walks in daylight he will not be around to help such people as Rachel. Also he may loose identification with them, because he will be spending so much time in daylight, enjoying the benefits of the ring.

It is possible to argue that if Angel was brought back by the powers that be, they must have chosen him for some reason, some special capabilities that he possessed. The obvious thing that marks out Angel from everyone else is that (as far as we know) he is the only vamp with a human soul. This means he possesses all the qualities of a vampire, but also concern for others that comes with his possession of a soul. The Gem of Amara is only of use to him in so far as it furthers the purpose which TPTB had in returning him to earth. If the Gem removes part of his vampire nature (his inability to walk in daylight), then it removes one of the qualities for which he was returned in the first place.

Despite the validity of this reasoning, the decision not readily supportable, when weighed against the way in which the Gem could have assisted in his quest to do good. Not all tragedies occur at night. Although it might be said that people have plenty of assistance in the day (police, etc), we have only to look at the fate of Tina in City Of... whom the vampire Russell Winters killed in her home during the day. When she ran out of his appartment, Angel attempted to follow her, but couldn't because it was daylight. If Angel had kept the ring, such a situation could never happen again; he would be able to be there when people needed him, whether it was day or night. Likewise, if it is true that the reason that TPTB returned Angel was to help others, the ring does not detract from that but would rather add to his effectiveness, since it would mean that he could go out in sunlight and would also be virtually unkillable.

Doyle suggests that Angel's true reason for destroying the ring really stems from his guilt for his past crimes. Certainly it is possible to argue that for the all the harm he has done, Angel deserves to be punished; that he does not deserve to be able to walk in daylight. However, for those of us that believe (as I do) that Angel is not truly responsible for his actions as Angelus, punishment is not required. If Angel destroyed the ring merely because his own guilt would not allow him to use it, this is to some extent self-indulgent, in that it puts his personal feeling that he needs to be punished above the good which he could do with the ring. Buffy clearly believed that Angel deserved to have the ring, since she sent it to him in the first place.

Even for those who consider that Angel needs to atone for what he did, there is no obvious reason why he shouldn't have kept the ring. Angel considers that the ring would be too easy a salvation, that he needs to atone by helping others rather than being handed the illusion of salvation. However the ring could have aided him in his search for redemption. It is true that it's mere possession would not free him but it would make it easier for him to help others and so purge his past crimes.

The strongest reasons for Angel to destroy the ring are practical reasons that neither Doyle nor Angel mention. Possession of the ring carries with it danger. Spike's persistence is evidence that so long as he'd had the ring, Angel would never have been free of vampires attempting to steal it from him. Whilst it is true that Angel with the protection of the ring could probably defeat most challenges, this could be very dangerous to the people (and demons) he cares about, such as Doyle and Cordelia. Plus the ring could easily fall into the wrong hands. It seems it can be easily pulled off the finger, Buffy took it from Spike and Angel took it from Marcus. If the ring were to fall into the hands of a vampire who was evil, in the sense of not possessing a soul, this would make that vampire incredibly dangerous, since they would be unslayable (unless of course the ring were removed). Add to this the possibility that Angel, whilst wearing the ring, might somehow revert to his demon self, either through a moment of true happiness or some other means. The danger which Angelus could represent wearing the ring, doesn't even bear thinking about; remember that even Buffy very nearly lost to Angelus in the swordfight at the end of Becoming II. If Angel had the ring, an undefeatable monster would be loosed on the world.

Thus, it may be seen that Angel's decision was the right one, but for the wrong reasons. To keep the ring is just too dangerous.

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Did Angel do the right thing when he destroyed the Gem of Amara?