ANGEL! You people are odd. Spike got his soul to be better for BUFFY. And having the entire world revolve around a GIRL (and having cheekbones) doesn't mean you're WORTHY of getting something that Angel has been wanting since he heard of it. Angel loved Buffy, but he was willing to give UP humanity to save her and the world. Love doesn't mean you get a SOUL for someone, and love doesn't mean that you can become human. Love means putting them in front of yourself. You guys think Spike should get it, but he really only wants it (and he kind of said this)
A: to get back with Buffy. If that makes him worthy and a champion, then we have a serious problem
and
B: to piss Angel off.
The shanshu is supposed to be for a champion. Yeah, Spike gave up his life to save the world. Angel gave up a lot more to save it. Angel is the TRUE champion here. And BTW, the show WOULDN'T go on if Spike got it, because if he did, Angel wouldn't really function very well. Plus, Spike would be gone back to Buffy (hopefully to die in a [sarcasm]brave sort of way[/sarcasm]), and then ya'll would be stuck without a Spike.
:gasp: [uber-sarcasm]OH THE HORROR![/sarcasm]
And also: Just because Angelus didn't get a soul on his own doesn't mean that Angel is worse than Spike. Angel got it and was tortured from the memory of all the things he did. Spike got a chip, and only got a soul after he TRIED TO RAPE BUFFY. My god, how quickly you forget. Spike wouldn't have gotten a soul if he had never gotten a chip, which he had FORCED on him, not unlike how Angelus had a soul FORCED on him. And there really wasn't much of a difference between post-chip pre-soul Spike and post-chip post-soul Spike. So if you think about it, Spike kind of DID have a soul forced on him. Angel has fought for the good side a lot longer than Spike, saved the world more than Spike, given up more than Spike will ever know (and in some ways more than I hope he'll ever have to know. Angel's been put through so much pain I think Spike would have to actually BE QUIET FOR ONCE. :gasp: Spike? Quiet? Never! But that's just off topic Spike hatred).
"Nothing in the world is the way it ought to be. It’s harsh and cruel. That’s why there’s us. Champions. It doesn’t matter where we come from, what we’ve done or suffered, or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world were as it should be, to show it what it can be.”-Angel
Angel deffinetly makes it more. Spike wants it for such selfish reasons it makes me sick. Angel wants it because he deserves it, because he was the one who fought off apocolypse after apocolypse (and I know I can't spell that), HE was the one who lost everything twenty times over. A champion is someone who does the things they do not for the reward (if you'll remember, Angel didn't even know about the Shanshu for a while). Spike has been saying since the beginning of S5 (of AtS not BtVS) that he wants to get back to Buffy. That makes him a champion? I don't think so. Wanna be with some cute small blonde? Do it on someone elses time, not when there's people's lives at stake buddy.
PS Bhery, honey, Angel wasn't brought back by the first to kill Buffy. That's just what they said. If you saw the thing with the ring, it was pretty clear that the ring (representing B/A love and all things yummy in that way) brought him back.
I love B/A. More randomness. Sorry.