Motivated by the prophecy in the S1 finale (To Shanshu in L.A.) that Angel's reward for 'fighting the good fight' will be to one day become human again, the AI threesome spends the summer clicking on all cylinders and become a slick, efficient unit, confident in their mission and in their ability to see it through. Which pretty much guarantees that things are about to go very, very wrong...

The Powers That Be send Cordelia a vision of a particularly nasty looking demon, and Angel wastes no time in taking it out. Unfortunately, the PTB forgot to include the part about the demon being a good guy. He was reformed, a self-appointed protector of a pregnant woman and her unborn child. Since it's been foretold that the daughter will be a powerful force for good, evil's got a vested interest in seeing the mother dead before the child is born. An impartial, otherworldly court called The Tribunal will decide her fate, and the demon Angel killed was to have been her champion.

Horrified to learn the truth, Angel resolves to adopt Kamal's mission as his own, but the woman doesn't want any part of it. They are attacked, and Angel tries to get her to safety. They travel underground, emerging in the lobby of a deserted hotel (The Hyperion) which Angel seems to recognize. Unfortunately, when their pursuers catch up to them there, Angel has to hold them off while the woman takes advantage of the opportunity to flee the entire situation.

But fleeing won't keep her safe for long. To protect her, Angel must first find her again. He goes to great lengths to seek her out, even resorting to such desperate measures as... karaoke?! This episode sees the debut of Lorne (though we wouldn't know him as anything other than The Host for quite some time), a demon who can read people's souls and destinies - but only when they sing. Hence Caritas, the demon karaoke bar where Angel goes for help. After mangling Barry Manilow's 'Mandy', Angel is off.

He finds the woman again just in time. As The Tribunal rises before the scared, helpless woman, Angel proclaims himself her champion with a talisman that new series regular Gunn (introduced in season one's War Zone) held in safekeeping. Angel's pretty handy in any fight, but this contest's format is a bit of a surprise - it's a joust. In the streets of Los Angeles. Angel gives it his best, but he is quickly knocked from his horse, and his opponent runs him through. As Angel collapses, The Tribunal declares the woman's life forfeit, but their decision is premature. Though injured, Angel rises to his feet and finishes off his demonic opponent. Her champion the victor, the woman and her child are placed under The Tribunal's protection. She will be safe.

Humbled by the experience, Angel realizes that his fight isn't supposed to be about keeping his eyes on the prize. His struggle is supposed to be about redemption, not reward. With this renewed understanding, the episode closes with Angel paying a visit to a friend who can understand his struggle. It's Faith, still in jail, still working for her own redemption, and they talk about their day. She tells him about being attacked by a fellow inmate with a knife, and he tells her about having to sing Manilow. Faith cheerfully grants that his day was clearly the worse of the two.

Things have been put right again, Angel's sense of purpose is renewed, and after a rousing joust, the season is off and running on a positive, hopeful note, right? Yeah, well see above re: things going very, very wrong. Angel's sire Darla is back, none too pleased with Angel for staking her. And she and her new friends at Wolfram and Hart have a few surprises in store.

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