itsnotmymind | Thoughts on Xander's Lie: "Kick His Ass"

I've been re-reading gabrielleabelle's post on the subject, and I've decided to share my own thoughts.

I think, with the information he had, Xander's decision to lie was reasonable. I can't remember exactly what he knew, but I'm sure he was aware that Buffy was unable to bring herself to kill Angel and because of that, Jenny Calendar died. After Jenny's death, Buffy says, "I wasn't ready. But I think I finally am. I can't hold on to the past anymore. Angel has gone. Nothing's ever gonna bring him back." Xander wasn't present for this, but if Buffy expressed any similar sentiments in his presence, he might have noticed that her readiness to kill Angelus is contingent on the idea that Angel is never coming back. If Buffy thought that Angel might come back, would that change things? It's a reasonable question.

When Buffy does find out there's a possibility Angel will come back, there is a possibility that she does hold back. During their fight in Becoming Part I, Angelus observes that "Jeez, is it me, or is your heart not in this?" Angelus saying this does not automatically make it true, but frankly I think it's unlikely he would have made the observation if he did not at least believe it to be true.

Xander doesn't know about any observations from Angelus, but he knows that Buffy fought Angelus and didn't kill him, while the others were attacked and Kendra killed.

Even with all that, Xander hesitates to lie to Buffy, only deciding to do it at the last minute.

That doesn’t mean that Xander doesn't have his own feelings and biases. He does, he was always the one who most disliked Angel. After all, Willow has all the same information as Xander and makes a different choice about what Buffy should know. But I think Xander's decision was a reasonable decision, just not the only reasonable decision.