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![]() post Buffy s2 My hypothesis is that the Kalderash tribe of gypsies bear responsibility for Angel's actions once he lost his soul because (a) they created the situation in which Angel was considered a 'safe' vampire and (b) they failed to inform the relevant parties of the full terms of the curse. That ignorance (along with raging hormones!) led to Angel and Buffy sleeping together and Angel ending up minus one soul. When the gypsies cursed Angel and gave him back his soul, they did so for revenge - plain and simple. Altruistic motives played no part in the decision. Jenny/Jana's uncle said in Surprise "It is not justice we serve but vengeance". Nevertheless we find out in 'Angel' that he was "the most vicious creature" the Master had ever met (quite a claim considering the age of the Master) and so we can conclude that their actions in disabling him made the world just that little bit safer for humanity. Did they then walk away and leave him to suffer? No. They sent agents over the years (i.e. Jenny) to keep an eye on him, monitored the level of his suffering (Jenny's uncle: "The elder woman says his pain is lessening"). They watched him and he became their responsibility. We all have a duty not to harm those around us. In criminal matters this duty tends to easy to establish (if you have hurt someone enough to warrant the attention of the police, you are usually deemed to have reached the required standard of duty). Because the duty is low, the standard of proof of guilt to be reached is "beyond reasonable doubt". The question therefore in establishing the criminal guilt of the Kalderash tribe through their agent Jenny's uncle; is whether 'the reasonable person' (a mythical entity used as a device by the courts) would consider it was 'beyond reasonable doubt' of the sex act taking place between Buffy and Angel? Given that we're talking about a 17 year old girl and a vampire that hasn't seen any action in the last 80 years, I tend to come down on the side of it being almost a dead cert! If you're not convinced by the above argument that the criminal standard applies, there are still the civil wrongs (or Torts) to consider. These include a whole host of behaviours which, though not criminal, are still considered undesirable and are 'punished' through the mechanism of suing for damages. The duty of care is harder to establish under the civil standard but I submit that my argument in the second paragraph above fulfils this requirement. However the standard of proof to be reached in civil matters is less, i.e. the 'balance of probabilities'. Again, we have to ask if the 'reasonable person' on finding out about Buffy would consider, 'on a balance of probabilities', that sex was going to happen between her and Angel. In other words, was it more likely to happen than not? My own viewpoint is that there is no controversy here. So, on discovering about this girl, does Jenny's uncle explain the danger to Jenny so she can warn Angel or Buffy? No. He just tells Jenny it must end but makes it sound as if it is purely the desire for revenge talking and not because the alternative is to have a newly reborn and very pissed off Angelus on the rampage. My argument is that this was negligent on his part and therefore on the part of the whole tribe as he was their agent. Jenny herself says to Buffy later on "I didn't know what would happen. I swear I would have told you". The fact that Jenny's uncle ended up paying the ultimate price for his lack of judgement does not let the tribe off the hook (it just makes them responsible for his death also). Their actions in not informing people what would happen should Buffy and Angel consummate their relationship led to the pain, suffering and death of people closely connected to Buffy. This was an easily foreseeable pattern of events as Giles points out at the end of Innocence "His profile shows he will go after those things that made him feel most human". Having been told on several occasions that the Kalderash tribe think of themselves as the people most harmed by Angelus, it is reasonable to assume that they would be aware of his previous patterns of behaviour. In summary then I propose that the Kalderash tribe are responsible under criminal and/or civil law for unleashing Angelus onto the world again and therefore for his subsequent actions. Whether they wanted to or not, they acquired a responsibility for him which built up over the 80 years in which they were monitoring him. This is something they may even have recognised themselves as they even tried to stop what eventually happened, but did so in such a way as to be ineffective because they failed to give the right information to the right people in time. How far down the line this responsibility should go before we get into the area of remoteness of damage is possibly a topic for another time...
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