Summary
Wolfram & Hart summon a demon and charge him with the task of separating Angel from the Powers That Be. While Angel is busy dealing with this threat, Lindsey and his coworkers are working on summoning something else which will make Angel's unlife a lot more interesting.
Plot
Wesley is searching for the translation of the Scrolls of Aberjian and the prophecy of the "vampire with a soul". He is finding the process difficult as the scrolls are over 4,000 years old and translated into a dozen languages. Unfortunately, when Wesley does realize what the pivotal word, "shanshu" means, he must tell Angel that the prophecy means the vampire with a soul will die. Angel greets this news with an uninterested shrug. Wesley and Cordy believe Angel's non-reaction is a result of not living, growing and changing as the rest of the world does. The gang discovers that Lindsey has been promoted to Jr. Partner at Wolfram and Hart. He made his choice to stay with the dark side.
Meanwhile, the folks at W&H are conjuring up a demon who has come to separate Angel and the "Powers That Be." This of course, means separating Angel from his friends as well as the Oracles.
The next day, as Cordy walks through a flea-market, the same demon brushes up against her. She's hit with a vision but it doesn't stop. Screaming in pain, she collapses on the ground.
The evil demon also pays a visit to Angel's home where he plants a bomb and easily walks out with the scrolls. Seems he needs the scrolls himself for a surprise incantation that will further bring woe to our heroes. Wesley arrives just in time to see the bomb and hightail it around a brick wall that ultimately saves his life.
While looking after Wesley in the hospital, Angel visits Cordelia and notices a symbol on her hand. Angel heads to the Oracles to find out what it means only to find them slain. Lucky for him the spirit of the female Oracle is able to tell Angel that the mark belongs to a warrior of the underworld named Vocah, as well as filling him in on how to save Cordy. Angel enlists his new friend Charles Gunn to watch over his injured friends while they are in the hospital.
Meanwhile the team from W&H are in a mausoleum, surrounding a crate, and watching an incantation lead by Vocah. Angel attacks
the demon but as the two brawl, Lindsey takes over with the ritual. Angel kills Vocah but the ritual is complete. Lindsey attempts to burn the ancient scroll but Angel slices off his hand before he gets the chance and rushes to save his friends.
Back at Cordy's apartment, Wesley discovers the real meaning of "shanshu" is to live. Angel will eventually become human.
And back at the basement of Wolfram & Hart, the crack team of lawyers gather around the crate. Holland tells Lindsey they will even the score with the very item that sits in the crate. Lilah welcomes the disheveled creature that turns out to be Darla.
Dialogue
>> To Shanshu in LA
What's taking so long?
Gee, I don't know, Cordelia. The Prophecies of Aubergion were only written over the last 4,000 years, in a dozen different languages, some of which aren't even human! Why don't we just get a Phalangoid Demon in here, suck the brain out of my skull. Maybe that would speed things up.
He sure gets testy when he's translating.
Hurry up and figure out what it says about Angel, 'cuz I want to know what it says about me -- if there's torrid romance in my future, massive wealth. If I have to, I'll settle for enviable fame.
It's an ancient sacred text, not a Magic 8 Ball.
Nobody gets my humor.
I thought it was funny.
After all you did for him, he sells his soul for 30 pieces of silver.
Actually, he sold it for a six figure salary and a full benefits package.
What did I do today? Spun off my digital pager network, made a few more million…Alright several. Big whup. What does that mean?
No more shopping at a Penny Saver?
I think I know what it means.
A very wealthy man with just no life at all?
No, the word in the scroll.
That shoeshine thing?
Angel's going to die?
Oh. Anything else?
He certainly took that well. Is this that opportune time to talk about my raise?
Enough with the scratch-n-sniff visions!
I ever meet those Powers That Be, I am going to punch them in the nose. Do you think they have a nose?
Every source says it's death.
Well, it's a prophecy. It's not like it came from on high.
That's what a prophecy is, Cordelia.
Angel faces death all the time. Just like a normal guy who faces waffles and french fries. It's something he faces every day, like . . . lunch! Are you hungry?
That fact that his death is prophesied, which isn't good news, doesn't concern me nearly as much as the way he took that news.
What? He didn't scream like a girl as some of us would have? Angel's cool.
What connects us to life?
Right now? I'm going with donuts.
What are you saying, Wesley? That Angel has nothing to look forward to? That he's going to go on forever, the same? In the world, but always cut off from it?
Yes.
That sucks!
Well, he's going to have to start wanting things from life, whether he wants to or not!
You're cut off from life. But don't worry, I'm going to help you with that.
Oh. Good.
We'll start small. Keep it simple. How would you like . . . a puppy? Right. A ficus? They're low maintenance. Ant farm?
He's not crazy or anything. He's just different.
Depressed?
Well, he wears a lot of black.
I'm sick and tired of you blaming me for everything you can't handle. You want to be enemies? Try me.
I can't stay long. I've been dead a while. So far, I don't like it.
You get enough iron? You look a little pale…Okay, it's traditional in the human world to humor people who've done favors for you in the past.
Don't believe everything you're foretold.
Here's something.
What?
The Beast of Amalfi. A razor-toothed, six-eyed harbinger of death. . . No. Wait. That's due to rise in 2003 in Reseda.
Don't be embarrassed. We're family.
I…I'm not used to. . .
He's not used to the new you.
I know what's out there now. We have a lot of evil to fight, a lot of people to help. I just hope Skin-n-Bones here can figure out what those lawyers raised sometime before that prophecy kicks in and you croak…that was the old me wasn't it?
I like them both.
Uh. . . . oops. I may have made a tiny mistake. The, uh, word -- shanshu -- that I said meant you were going to die? Actually, I think it means you're going to live.
Okay, as tiny mistakes go, that's *not* one.
It's saying that you get to live until you die. It's saying…It's saying you become human.
The vampire with a soul, once he fulfills his destiny will shanshu -- become human. It's his reward.
Wow. Angel human.
That'd be nice.
What was that thing about him having to fulfill his destiny first?
Well, it's, uh, it won't happen tomorrow or the next day. He has to survive the coming darkness, the apocalyptic battles, a few plagues, and some. . . oh, several--not that many--fiends that will be unleashed upon the world.
So don't break out the champagne just yet.
Typical. I hook up with the only person in history who ever came to LA to get older.