The Tao of Angel (& the Te of Spike)

Wesley: It doesn’t call you by name - but it tells of a vampire with a soul.
(Blind Date)

Wesley: Ah, the vampire with a soul, once he fulfills his destiny, will Shanshu. Become human.
[...]
Cordy: Wait. What’s that thing about him having to fulfill his destiny first?
Wesley: Well, it’s saying that it won’t happen tomorrow or the next day. He has to survive the coming darkness, the apocalyptic battles, a few plagues, and some - uh, several, - not that many - fiends that will be unleashed.
(To Shanshu in L.A.)

Nathan: Because Angel—is a major player.
Lilah: In business?
Nathan: In the apocalypse.
Lilah: Oh. That.
Nathan: The prophecies all agree that when the final battle is waged, he plays a key role.
Lindsey: Good for him.
Nathan: Which side he’s on is the gray area, and we’re gonna continue making it as gray as possible.
(Blood Money)

What recently struck me (well, late last night) is that we're all busy thinking "ooh, Spike screws up the prophesy" because we're thinking that if the Evil is busy stopping Angel from fulfilling the prophesy, they won't notice our bleached wonder. Except...the prophesies are distinctly fuzzy about whose side "the vampire with a soul" is on. So perhaps Angel and Spike end up batting for either side? No wonder the prophesies turn out a bit gray on the details.

Angel and Spike are like yin and yang; light and dark; the monster inside the man and the man inside the monster. The principle of yin & yang is that both parts contain a seed of the other. They are a reflection of one another, neither pure good nor pure evil but in a cycle of checks and balances. Angel's century of atonement for his past runs parallel to Spike's century of murderous mayhem. So, from a symbolic point of view, they cancel one another out. Spike is on "Evil's" side, in the sense that Spike's blood is the trigger for the Seal of Copyright-Avoidance. The prophesies are coming true...

Angel: A prophecy? Great. Because those always go well.
(Through the Looking Glass)

BTW, all that yin/yang talk of balances made me think of Willow, Gaia and Evil-Cassie's little speech ("fact is, the whole good-versus-evil, balancing the scales thing? I'm over it"). I tangent.