The Powers That Be | |
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Angel character | |
Created by | Joss Whedon |
Information | |
Affiliation | Aligned to the side of good |
Notable powers |
Various, among which include
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Various, among which include
The Powers That Be is a title for the and ancient forces that assist the side of good in the WB television series Angel.
The first mention of The Powers That Be (sometimes shortened to the Powers or the PTB) comes in the first episode of Angel, when a half-human, half-demon named Doyle makes contact with Angel and claims that the Powers send him visions of people in trouble who need Angel's help. The visions are extremely powerful, come at seemingly random times, and cause extreme pain in the recipient.
Though Angel never makes contact with the Powers themselves, he does communicate with them in a number of ways.
The Powers that Be are also referred to by Fred as "The Powers that Screw You" and by Gunn as "The Powers that Sit on Their Be-hinds," due to their apparent inaction during many times of crisis that Angel Investigations faces; Angel and Jasmine also complain about their lack of interest in important events. Doyle, Cordelia, Wesley and Lorne appear much more concerned with doing their will.
In "You're Welcome", Cordelia dies, but the Powers owe her one for an unspecified reason (probably because of the Jasmine issue), and she convinces them to send her spirit back in physical form to help Angel one last time as repayment. Cordelia helps him defeat Lindsey MacDonald and prevent the Partners' failsafe from being released. Cordelia admits she loves Angel and kisses him, secretly using her powers to give him a vision of what he needs to defeat, and disappears after telling him, "you're welcome" and that he has to answer the phone call that informs Angel that she died earlier that day.
The canonical continuation of the series (Angel: After The Fall) states that after her death, Cordelia has become a genuine Higher Being in the service of the Powers, though she does not have the power to go up against the Senior Partners or to help Angel and the others, who are trapped in Hell/Los Angeles.