Angel Logo 'To Shanshu In L.A.'
Story Code '1ADH22'

by David Greenwalt
Angel Cast

Wesley is busy with the task of translating the Scrolls of Obearsian, and their prophecy of the "vampire with a soul". However, the scrolls are over four-thousand years old, and translated into a dozen languages. One pivotal word is "shanshu", which could mean that Angel will die; but while his friends are concerned, the vampire greets the information with indifference. Meanwhile, at Wolfram and Hart, Lindsey, Lilah and Holland consult a demon over something called ‘The Raising’; the demon is unable to complete the ritual without the Scrolls of Obearsian, and it plans to separate Angel and the "Powers That Be”. The demon’s first course of action is to slaughter the two other-worldly Oracles; then, the following day, the creature brushes past Cordelia while she visits a market-place, causing her to experience a vision so intense that she collapses in pain. When Angel learns that his friend has been taken to hospital he immediately rushes out of his apartment, allowing the demon to gain entrance, steal the scrolls, and plant a bomb. Wesley pays a visit to Angel's home, and only just manages to get to safety before the bomb explodes. Angel returns and calls an ambulance, but then, as Wesley is being taken away, Detective Kate Lockley arrives; she argues with Angel, but the vampire leaves to attend to his friends. At the hospital, Cordelia is ranting psychotically; Angel notices a symbol on her hand, and decides to go to the Oracles to find out what it means. However, when he arrives, he finds the two beings have been slain. Somehow, the spirit of the female Oracle is able to manifest before him, and identifies the mark as belonging to their slayer, a warrior of the Underworld named Vocah; the ethereal being also tells Angel how to save Cordelia using the scroll. Angel asks Gunn to watch over his injured friends; while he locates Vocah; he finds the demon in a mausoleum, interrupting it as it performs a ceremony to call up ‘The Beast’ for the bosses of Wolfram and Hart. As a fight breaks out Lindsey takes over with the ritual, and dark forces are swiftly called up. After Angel kills Vocah, Lindsey attempts to burn the ancient scroll, but Angel uses the demon’s scythe to slices off the lawyer’s hand. Returning to the hospital, Angel and Wesley use the scroll to restore Cordelia. Some time later, Wesley discovers that the real meaning of shanshu is to live, meaning that Angel will eventually become human. Back at Wolfram & Hart, Lindsey, Lila and Howard survey the outcome of the ritual to raise the Beast: Darla has been resurrected…

David Boreanaz (Angel), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), Alexis Denisof (Wesley Wyndam-Price), Elisabeth Rohm (Kate Lockley), Christian Kane (Lindsey McDonald), Stephanie Romanov (Lilah Morgan), Sam Anderson (Holland Manners), Todd Starshwick (Vocah), Carey Cannon (Female Oracle), Randall Slavin (Male Oracle), David Herman (David Nabbit), J. August Richards (Charles Gunn), Julie Benz (Darla), Louise Claps (Homeless Woman), Daren Rice (Uniform #1), Jon Ecklund (Uniform #2), Lia Johnson (Vendor), Robyn Cohen (Nurse), Susan Savage (Doctor), John Eddins (Monk #1), Gerald O'Donnell (Monk #2), Brahman Turner (Young Tough Guy)
Directed by David Greenwalt

TX (US): 23rd May 2000

Notes:
*Featuring Angel, Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn