Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Headscratchers/Season 3: Difference between revisions

*** Though now that I think about it, maybe there's a little bit of [[Fridge Brilliance]] in that first part. Cordelia wished that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, and Anya granted her wish. If the Master's ascension had caused any apocalyptic problems, though, the Watchers Council would have sent Buffy there in a hurry, and that would've gone against the wish. So maybe the wish not only [[Cosmic Retcon|Cosmic Retconed]] Buffy's original arrival in Sunnydale, it also retconned the Master's imprisonment and plans to make sure Buffy ''still'' didn't have any reason to show up even after his release. Still woulda loved to see a full-blown demon post-apocalypse, though...

*** Also, without Buffy, "Prophecy Girl" didn't happen. IIRC, the Harvest was just supposed to free the Master, using people's energy. When that failed, he had to get the energy somewhere else. According to the Prophecy and his own monologue to Buffy, drinking Buffy's blood (or just any Slayer's ?) is that exact boost of energy and it allows him to escape, all on his own, without vampirizing any additional energy. In the Wish universe, since the Harvest succeeded, he may not have gone after a Slayer just for a power-up. YMMV, but without that power boost, he may not have opened the Hellmouth for demons to escape... or he may not have had enough power to "reign" over more than Sunnydale.

** As to where the army is: Sunnydale still has its Mayor, one assumes. Whatever pact he made to turn Sunnydale into a demon feeding ground is still in effect.

** To the above tropers I submit we simply didn't spend enough time in Wishworld to see the damage. Note that when Buffy does arrive this is clearly a battle hardened Buffy who's been through more trauma, based on her scars and attitude, than our Buffy went through. I think the world is like Sunnydale the Master rules Sunnydale FROM the Bronze, not the Bronze and he probably figured out something. It's probably like Angel After the Fall and the Master has a small relatively unimportant territory.

*** Ultimately, whether or not the Wishverse ends up a twisted hellscape or not isn't decided as of the end of The Wish. It's come much, much closer than the Buffyverse ever has, because Joss is much less reluctant to have the good guys suffer significant losses in the Wishverse for obvious reasons, but both the Master and Giles are down to the wire, very nearly out of resources and struggling to be the last one standing, because whoever ends up controlling Sunnydale is going to dictate whether vampires seize the world from humans or not. Stopping the Master after he gets some real momentum going is simply not possible. Fortunately, it's very likely that Kendra's watcher will direct her to Sunnydale immediately after her activation, since he's sent her to Sunnydale to investigate far less significant goings on in the Buffyverse and was no more aware that Buffy had come back in the Buffyverse than in the Wishverse (where she actually didn't). Thus, ultimate victory or defeat in the Wishverse comes down to whether Kendra, Giles, and possibly Larry and Oz (if they escaped the plant after staking Willow) can kill the Master.

** That makes Buffy's Watcher not believing Giles about Sunnydale being a hellmouth a little odd, but it would lend an extra layer of meaning to Giles saying that the Master is "the local vampire lord around these parts", if there are other vampires and supernatural figures doing the same elsewhere. And it'd explain why Cordelia's family, and other families with the means to just pack up and move away, still live in Sunnydale: maybe Sunnydale's one of the ''better'' places left in the world. As bad as he is, the Master might be the only thing that's keeping the even bigger and meaner demons at bay.

 

== Losing Faith ==

* Just because Faith herself doesn’t seem to hold Giles at least partly responsible for her downfall (which I don’t believe was as inevitable as you describe it) doesn't mean he wasn't partially at fault in actuality. Certainly, Faith was screwed up long before she ever came to Sunnydale, but she wasn't completely shut off from people. There's no reason to suggest that Faith would have reacted badly to Giles taking an interest in her well-being. It's made fairly clear in the series that she didn't really have much of a problem with authority figures (beyond them ending up dead all the time), and in fact, she was looking for some adult guidance and support, even if she wouldn't admit it. When you consider the crap authority figures she’s likely had in the past and the fact that her one good authority figure was gruesomely murdered in front of her, it’s kind of amazing how fast she took to Gwendolyn Post and the Mayor. Post, in particular, is the best example here. She didn't shower Faith with affection and physical goods like the Mayor; she was strict and no nonsense and didn't take any of Faith's attitude, but she still expressed an interest in her, even if it was only as a Watcher. Faith might have grumbled about it, but she was still ready to follow Post's instructions (and I don't think it was simply because Post was playing on her fears). I think if Giles had taken a similar interest, things might have gone quite a bit differently. We can discuss how poorly the Watcher's Council treated Slayers and use that as one of the reasons Giles didn't step up to care for her more extensively, but that doesn't explain why we pretty much never see him acting as a Watcher in the most basic sense towards her. That was something that was his job. I find it understandable why he wouldn't get involved in Faith's life, and I really do understand that he had a lot to deal with regarding his own life and Buffy's life, and it's completely human for people to get wrapped up in their own issues. But I still think, if we go by what we actually see (or rather don't see) in the series, that he should be held ''accountable'' for his lack of action regarding Faith, whether it's understandable or not. Faith is ultimately responsible for the things she did, but other people, before and during her stay in Sunnydale, helped drive her to that point. I think Giles’ was one of those people not because of anything he did, but because of what he didn’t do. He wasn’t on Faith’s radar as someone to get back at because he didn’t do anything ''to'' her. For me, it's just as bad that he didn’t do anything ''for'' her either.

** Look, yes Giles could have done much more for Faith but he was already busy with his job as a librarian, his own personal life, his life as a Watcher which includes copious amounts of time researching demons, handling Buffy and the regular Scoobies, and on top of that we're going to pile complete responsibility for Faith's emotional problems on him? Could he have done more? Yes. Realistically would any person in a situation like Giles been able to help? No. Is it fair to place so much blame on him for Faith? No, especially not when he'd only been around her for a few months at the most. It's kind of like blaming a girl's suicide on the therapist she's been seeing for a few weeks and saying that it's his fault he didn't do more. Realistically, Giles is only at fault because he didn't go out of his way to make Faith his number one priority when he had no reason to do such a thing until after Allan Finch was staked and by that point it was too late. You're just biased because you saw both sides of what was happening but if you lacked knowledge of what was happening to Faith, you'd probably act in the exact same way Giles did.

** One of the reason, EVERYONE initially took Gwen Post at face value was that they all expected Faith to eventually have her own Watcher. She had had until he/she was killed by Kakistos afterall. Even if she was now living in Sunnydale, in the same location as the other Slayer, it didn't necessarily mean that Buffy's Watcher was also her own. It wasn't until Wesley arrived to replace Giles as Buffy's Watcher that it was officially stated that Wesley would also act as Faith's Watcher. In that context, Giles may not have wanted to "step on anyone's (future) toes" by going beyond the current official limits of his mandate. Yes, yes, it was only in regards to his duties as Watcher, as a human being and an adult, he might have helped Faith regardless... But you can bet the Council would have held it against him regardless and used it as further proof that he was to close to the Slayer(s).

* I had never really considered this before, but once I read it, it's clear that Giles really could have done more. Several posts have implied or stated that Giles didn't know Faith for long enough to bond or influence her. But the fact is, Dick the Mayor knew her for far less time and came to think of her as a daughter and she genuinely cared about him too. (He also saw her as a instrument, but he was obviously very distraught when Buffy put Faith in a coma; his connection to Faith is how Buffy taunted [[I Thought It Meant|Demon!Dick]] to get him to follow her to the explosive-filled library.) Imagine for a second, what if Giles had been as kind and supportive towards Faith as the Mayor was? (Assuming Buffy didn't get all crazy possessive, that is.) As far as Faith interpreting a guy's kindness as ''quid pro quo'' for sexytimes, again, look at the Mayor. She did think that way at first, but the Mayor gently but firmly rebuffed her advances and told her that her happiness was rewarding enough. And Faith accepted it. She was a little stunned, maybe, that there was a guy being decent to her without trying to get in her pants, but she really, really wanted a family, and when the Mayor offered to be her father figure, she went for it. Makes Faith a much more tragic character to realize that she was really just starved for genuine affection, and if Giles/the Scoobies had tried to make her feel like part of the group, she may have never gone so dark. She wasn't evil; the Mayor was just much nicer to her than anyone else (besides maybe Joyce, but Buffy is very selfish, possessive, and jealous). As for "Faith should have known better anyway," don't forget that however badass and full of swagger she may be, she's still a teenager lacking in real maturity. If Faith had felt like she could count on Giles's support, even if she had still killed the deputy mayor, she would probably have told the truth, gotten some therapy, and the Council would have smoothed things over with the law. Really, as someone who had himself gone through a dark, rebellious, dangerous phase, Giles should have been more attentive and '''Watchful''' with Faith.

 

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[[Category:Headscratchers]]

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