Anya immediately transforms into Anyanka, the vengeance demon of scorned and wronged women, and grants the wish.
Cordelia is once again popular in school, her Cordettes are at her beck and call, and handsome jock John Lee wants to date her.
Cordelia tries to explain to Giles what happened and asks to have Buffy back so that things could be the way they were; but, before she can elaborate, she is killed by Xander and Willow.
He learns that the amulet Cordelia was wearing is that of Anyanka, whose granted wishes can be undone only if her center of power is destroyed.
Giles, on his way home, is nearly captured by vampires who are rounding up humans for the plant; he is rescued by Buffy, the slayer, who in this reality is cold and cynical.
Buffy finds Angel imprisoned; when she sees that he is a vampire, she initially rejects his help, but the marks of torture on his chest persuade her that he is no friend of the Master.
It might be a bit hyperbolic, but everything from Vampire Willow playing with Angel as her 'puppy' to the episode's desperate showdown between Giles and Anya is just too gripping for us to care.
The alternate reality is predictably nightmarish and The Master's assembly line of bloodletting is horrific, but watching our heroes kill each other over and over again is brutal.
He also points out the satire involved in the Master's plan to mechanize the draining of blood, its implicit criticism of progress through mass production, and the script's reference to Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World where such themes are explored.
Call writes that this indicates a character trait in Willow that is brought to the fore in "The Wish" where she is portrayed as polymorphously perverse and sadomasochistic.
[9] Roger Pocock writes, "Sci-fi and fantasy are genres that are joined at the hip, so the idea easily translates to the Buffy universe, with a wish being granted so that history has followed a different course.