Knox (Buffyverse)
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Jonathan Woodward as Knox |
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Knox first appeared in the final episode of the fourth season on the series Angel and was a scientist at the law-firm Wolfram and Hart. He became a minor recurring character in the fifth season. Knox is portrayed by Jonathan Woodward, who also appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.
Knox first appears when he gives Fred a tour of the science lab, as the Angel Investigations team are contemplating to take over Wolfram and Hart's Los Angeles branch. Doing so, Fred is put in charge of the scientific research department and becomes Knox's boss/superior, although the two seem to work mostly as partners. Knox quickly develops a crush on Fred.
Although Fred rejects Knox's advances at first, she ultimately gives in, and the two date for a while. Nonetheless, Fred eventually decides that they best remain friends, and finally pursues a relationship with Wesley, who has long since carried a torch for her.
Knox's intentions seem to be good, and he is able to pass all of the tests the Angel team subject the Wolfram & Hart employees to. With his help, a variety of crises are averted, and he is largely considered a valued employee.
Yet, Knox is secretly a worshipper of Illyria, one of the Old Ones, and the mastermind behind the demon's resurrection in Fred's body. Knox prompts Dr. Sparrow to bribe Gunn into releasing Illyria's sarcophagus from customs. Knox then proceeds to deliver Illyria's sarcophagus into Wolfram and Hart. He has chosen Fred as Illyria's host body because he has come to consider her the perfect woman, the only one who is "worthy". His revelations lead him to be tortured by Gunn. Once Illyria has taken over Fred's body and returned to Wolfram & Hart to recuperate her full powers, Knox reveals himself as her Qwa'ha Xahn, her High Priest. Knox has worshipped Illyria since he was eleven and confesses to spending hours staring at illustrations that represent the demon.
Illyria takes Knox to her former site of worship, hoping to break the lock on the portal to her temple that Wolfram & Hart have placed. Illyria had kept her army inside her temple, and placed it in another time plane to keep it hidden. Illyria plans on raising her army and using it to wipe out mankind. Before she can jump through the portal, she and Knox are confronted by Angel, Spike and Wesley. In his grief for Fred, and rage at Knox's betrayal, Wesley shoots him while Angel verbally confronts Illyria. Ironically, he fires the shot only after a rather lengthy and passionate speech by Angel about the sanctity of all human life, even Knox's. When Knox falls dead, Angel turns to Wesley and asks, "Were you even listening?"
Jonathan Woodward is one of the few to have crossed over onto all three series created by Joss Whedon. Besides being Knox in Angel, he appeared as Holden Webster in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Conversations with Dead People", and as Tracey in the Firefly episode "The Message". All three characters ended up being killed by the protagonists.