A Fourth Slayer?

[Hale Caesar]

I just started season 6 and I was wondering. When Buffy "died" at the end of season 1 we got Kendra. When Kendra died we got Faith. So when Buffy dies at the end of "The Gift" doesn't that mean we should be getting a fourth slayer in the show?

I just started season 6 (like I said before lol), so if this is addressed I would prefer if people at least give me a warning, if possible 😀. If this isn't addressed, wouldn't this be a huge plot hole??

 

[NY State of Mind]

Faith was now the slayer though...she had to die..not Buffy

 

[Mumrik]

It's kind of getting adressed very vaguely in S7, but there's always a lot of discussion going on about that one.

 

[Lyri]

When Buffy died in S1 and Called Kendra, what was her passing on the 'gift' of being the Slayer. No Slayer has ever come back to life, so their powers are built only to be passed on once, and Buffy did this. She, technically, became the extra Slayer, while Kendra was the 'main' Slayer. Kendra's death Called Faith, and she was the 'main' Slayer. In S5, it's her death that needs to occur for a new Slayer to be Called.

However, S7 picks up on this issue more and things get even more confusing, lol.

BTW, didn't anyone else wonder why the Council didn't just have Faith snuffed out when she was in jail, thus getting a Slayer that they might actually be able to control? Although, at the time of Faith being in jail, that Slayer could very well have ended up being Kennedy, and we all know how well she does with authority, lol.

 

[Zeppo]

Yeah, Buffy yapped a lot about "my death will make one of you the next Slaya!" in season 7. I think the Slayer line going through Faith was something the fanbase created and that the writer's ran with, to be honest: "Yeah, yeah. Uh, Faith holds the line. *ahem* Next question!" 😛

 

[AustCF]

No.. Buffy had already been replaced, so it's almost as if Buffy no longer exists, the chain keeps going. Faith would have to die for a new slayer to be called.

🙂

 

[The Chosen]

Yeah, Buffy yapped a lot about "my death will make one of you the next Slaya!" in season 7. I think the Slayer line going through Faith was something the fanbase created and that the writer's ran with, to be honest: "Yeah, yeah. Uh, Faith holds the line. *ahem* Next question!" 😛

In this instance, I think it's a mistake to assume what Buffy is saying is correct. Just because Buffy says she can pass on the powers of the Slayer doesn't necessarily mean she can.

When Buffy died at the end of Prophecy Girl, she came back as a Slayer, not the Slayer. That became Kendra's thing. Buffy retained the strength, the skill, the speed, the dreams, but lost the ability to pass those things on because that specifically had been given to Kendra and then Faith.

 

[Sommers Summers]

BTW, didn't anyone else wonder why the Council didn't just have Faith snuffed out when she was in jail, thus getting a Slayer that they might actually be able to control? Although, at the time of Faith being in jail, that Slayer could very well have ended up being Kennedy, and we all know how well she does with authority, lol.

Actually, that's an idea.

But I think the Council wanted to try out having 2 simultaneously. Maybe. Or, Faith could act as a counter-weight to Buffy/Kennedy.

But in all seriousness, they could have called up Willow. Not impossible. Would have been a better leader than Faith/Kennedy, and she would finally fulfil the Fiery Redhead trope.

 

[Zeppo]

In this instance, I think it's a mistake to assume what Buffy is saying is correct. Just because Buffy says she can pass on the powers of the Slayer doesn't necessarily mean she can.

When Buffy died at the end of Prophecy Girl, she came back as a Slayer, not the Slayer. That became Kendra's thing. Buffy retained the strength, the skill, the speed, the dreams, but lost the ability to pass those things on because that specifically had been given to Kendra and then Faith.

I am a very litteral person so I tend to take things at face, generally, unless I detect a different intent. When it comes to mythos like that it's not good to contradict it, it confuses the story. BUT, I can just buy she's incorrect and it's a lot easier than saying, "I can die but you won't be a Slaya til the biatch in prison bites it."

It's funny you should say that, because after all the deaths Buffy faced I've determined that the title of the show to me means THE vampire slayer, as in "best." I'm sure you'd agree, fellow Buffy-the-character fan. 😀

 

[Bexieh]

Yeah, Buffy yapped a lot about "my death will make one of you the next Slaya!" in season 7. I think the Slayer line going through Faith was something the fanbase created and that the writer's ran with, to be honest: "Yeah, yeah. Uh, Faith holds the line. *ahem* Next question!" 😛

I figured she was saying that to sort of get the potentials pumped up and inspired, whether the slayer line was running through her or not. It's the idea of 'one slayer dies, the next ones called' that she was trying to stress, I don't think she really needed to be literal and say that actually, Faith has to die instead.

After Kendra, I always assumed the 'slayer line' was running through the newbie slayers rather than Buffy. There's only meant to be one, so you'd think whatever powers are at work here would try and keep the number of slayers down, rather than activating when either of them died, and ending up with more and more slayers. If that makes sense?

 

[VisionGirl]

Don't know if it's accurate or not, but by the time s7 rolled around, I really think the First/Bringers would've had to have wiped out both Faith & Buffy for the Slayer line to die out/or next Slayer called. As long as either survived, the Slayer line survived. But, if Faith died, it would follow from past events in the series that another would be called (as long as the First hadn't killed all the Potentials). It's just that Buffy's resurrections put a kink into the whole thing.

Maybe I'm confused, but why would Willow be called? I thought the calling (or Potential for calling) was something these girls were born with. If not, she would've become a Slayer with the events of Chosen.

 

[Lyri]

During S6/7, there was a lot of fanwank about why Buffy insists that it's her death that will Call the Next Slayer, and the reason most of us settled on was that Willow's resurrection of Buffy slotted her back into the Slayer line. She had to not only call Buffy's spirit back from the after life, but she also had to bring with her the power of the demon that gave the Slayer her powers, as well as making a new body for Buffy to inhabit, since her body had rotted, like dead bodies tend to do.

The idea was that Willow not only brought Buffy back to life, she also created a new Slayer, with her own Slayer line. Either both Faith and Buffy would have to die for a new Slayer to be Called, thus creating two separate Slayer lines, or Willow redirected Faith's power back into Buffy, thus making Faith the extra Slayer and not Buffy.

But since the fallout of S7, we're never gonna get a final answer on this, so it's all moot point anyway.

 

[FetalPig]

I tend to think that Buffy just didn't realise that the line had moved on to Faith.

What about the Axe from Season 7 though?

Spoiler

where does that fit in the line?It's power was used to turn the potentials into slayers .. so will there be new slayers when one of them dies?

 

[Lyri]

I actually think that this thread should be split in two, as the OP mentioned that they've only just started S6, and we're now discussing S7 and beyond. Maybe a Mod could split it?

What about the Axe from Season 7 though? where does that fit in the line? It's power was used to turn the potentials into slayers .. so will there be new slayers when one of them dies?

As all the Potentials in the world were turned into Slayers thanks to the power of the Scythe, we're not really sure what happens now. Obviously, the line still runs, because we wouldn't have Fray otherwise, but we don't know for sure how that happens.

There's a theory that said everything starts at the beginning again, girls aren't born as full Slayers, they're born as Potentials, and everything starts over. One of the Slayers created by the Scythe is actually THE Slayer, the girl who would have been Called had the line continued to run as it normally would, and it's her death that Calls the next true Slayer.

There's a lot of fanwank that this girl is Rona, because Faith passed her the Scythe when she was taken down by Turok-han's in the Hellmouth, thus, passing on the line.

But if you follow that theory, you have to wonder if, WHEN, this Slayer dies, which could be any second, how old is the next Potential going to be if she's just been born? And do Slayers have to reach a certain age before they can wield the power? IE, puberty.

 

[VisionGirl]

I tend to think that Buffy just didn't realise that the line had moved on to Faith.

What about the Axe from Season 7 though? where does that fit in the line? It's power was used to turn the potentials into slayers .. so will there be new slayers when one of them dies?

(Season 8 spoiler alert ahead) A more important question is what happens if the scythe is destroyed, and

Spoiler

we're currently debating that on the s8 board since it did get broken in the final battle of the season

.

The bottom line though is not enough time was spent detailing the story of the Guardians and the scythe. I hope that Joss will do that someday in the comics, because I think it could be a really neat story.

 

[Gotham]

Yeah, Buffy yapped a lot about "my death will make one of you the next Slaya!" in season 7. I think the Slayer line going through Faith was something the fanbase created and that the writer's ran with, to be honest: "Yeah, yeah. Uh, Faith holds the line. *ahem* Next question!" 😛

Yeah, I just always assumed that the slayer linage had moved on to Faith. Buffy dying at the end of The Gift kinda confirms that given that we didn't hear anything about a new slayer being activated. As far as the line is concerned, Buffy died back in 97 and she got her replacement in Kendra.

 

[Lyri]

given that we didn't hear anything about a new slayer being activated.

That was another bone of contention within the fandom at the time. Just because we didn't hear about another Slayer didn't mean there wasn't one. I mean, everyone, Giles, Willow, Buffy, assumed that Buffy had already passed on the power and Called Kendra, so no one was looking for another Slayer, so there could very well have been one out there that we never see because no one thought to check.

At the time S7 aired, specifically 'Potential' a lot of fans thought that this is exactly what happened, given that Amanda was able to use Slayer skills to fight off the vampire that attacked her and Dawn at the school, without any training as a Potential, or even knowing what a Potential was, never mind a vampire or a Slayer. Girls have the POTENTIAL to be the Slayer, but they still need training. Even Buffy needed training after she was Called, because she was never a Potential, and the gifts didn't come naturally to her, as we all witness in 'Becoming PT1'.

Personally, I don't think Buffy's death in 'The Gift' Called another Slayer, I'm just trying to point out all the theories, lol.

 

[Gotham]

That was another bone of contention within the fandom at the time. Just because we didn't hear about another Slayer didn't mean there wasn't one. I mean, everyone, Giles, Willow, Buffy, assumed that Buffy had already passed on the power and Called Kendra, so no one was looking for another Slayer, so there could very well have been one out there that we never see because no one thought to check.

At the time S7 aired, specifically 'Potential' a lot of fans thought that this is exactly what happened, given that Amanda was able to use Slayer skills to fight off the vampire that attacked her and Dawn at the school, without any training as a Potential, or even knowing what a Potential was, never mind a vampire or a Slayer. Girls have the POTENTIAL to be the Slayer, but they still need training. Even Buffy needed training after she was Called, because she was never a Potential, and the gifts didn't come naturally to her, as we all witness in 'Becoming PT1'.

Personally, I don't think Buffy's death in 'The Gift' Called another Slayer, I'm just trying to point out all the theories, lol.

Hmmm, it's been ages since I've caught S7, I can't really remember some things. Did Amanda display obvious super strength? I know what you're saying about every slayer needing training and that the gifts don't come naturally. But if I remember correctly, in Season 2 when they showed Buffy's first fight with a Vampire, even though she didn't know what the hell she was doing she still displayed obvious super strength by tossing the Vampire with relative ease.

 

[Lyri]

in Season 2 when they showed Buffy's first fight with a Vampire, even though she didn't know what the hell she was doing she still displayed obvious super strength by tossing the Vampire with relative ease.

But she was clumsy and scared and she missed the heart. Amanda was confident, knowledgeable and hit the heart on the first try.

Like I said, I don't agree with this, I'm just playing Devil's Advocate, lol.

 

[VisionGirl]

Comments on this post
FetalPig agrees: does anyone want to lend me their comics?

LOL, actually I checked out the first 6 trade paperbacks from my local library- no reason to go bankrupt trying to buy all 40 issues. 🙂