Ben and Dawn

N

Nikkolas

Glory/Dawn Shipper.......
Joined
Jul 5, 2008
Messages
237
Age
37
Location
Fort Worth, TX
I'm rewatching Season 5 and really, Ben is the most tragic character on the show aside from Dawn. Which is one reason I find their relationship and what it comes down to so intriguing and sad.

To start off, both Ben and Dawn had no choice in what their lives would entail. Sure Buffy had no choice she'd be the Slayer but that's not comparable to housing one of the most sadistic and malevolent forces on the planet who kills people mentally and physically whenever she pleases using your body. Nor does it compare to being the thing that will bring doom to all existence and having everything you thought you knew proven to be fake.

Now I know a lot of people judge Ben by his final action but what about the actions leading up to The Gift? What about his frantic, desperate desire to protect Dawn and the world? He went to the trouble of trying to kill one of Glory's minions all just to keep Glory away from Dawn.

You also have to factor in his decision to give Dawn to Glory was not entirely his own. It's specifically noted he and Glory are merging more, sharing personalities and memories. She was essentially infecting him and his judgment was not entirely his own at the end.

So those are Ben's troubles. let's look at Dawn's.
-she finds out she never truly existed.
-her mother dies.
-her sister gives her life for her.

Yep I think that's a bit more tragedy than anyone could take, let alone someone who's only 14.

So that's just me...I love Ben and Dawn and just think they deserve the most sympathy of anyone in the series.
 
E
Edmund Blackadder
Only 14? Or barely 1!
Ben and Dawn's relationship almost made me think of kindred spirits. I really liked Ben and felt for him, even when he betrayed Dawn. I feel that he only did what he did in the end out of desperation and that deep inside, he was good. I wished they would have been able to find a way to split him from Glory and only kill her and not Ben, but I think the problem was that Glory on her own was indestructable for Buffy and Co. But I really liked Ben and I loved his relationship to Dawn.
 
I agree. I don't think Ben was evil, just a different sort of victim. That doesn't make it any less badass when Giles does what he has to do though!
 
I thought the two shared a lot of parallels and would have loved for more of it to have been explored. It was a sad relationship for both of them. Ben, at least, had a lifetime to adjust to Glory as his sister. Dawn had mere months to deal with her entire life being shredded. Small comforts. It was also interesting that Ben believed Glory could give him life, where Dawn, for a moment, may have entertained doubts that Buffy would kill her instead of save her (thanks to Glory).
 
Hm. I never gave them much thought before. Perhaps we should contemplate BAWN (or is it DEN?) 😀
I thought the little convo they had over hot cocoa was charming.
 
I dunno. I wouldn't have a problem with it but some people might since Ben was 25 and Dawn was 14.

Then again i've been Guffy (Biles?) so who knows.
 
I always pitied Ben. He truly had no control of his own life. In the end he knew he would die because of Glory. Somehow I find Ben's character more lost, and sad than Dawn's. At least Dawn had a family. She had friends, and she lived. Ben didn't get the chance. And when he saw a possibility to live, he took it. It made him appear evil, but really he was just fighting for his life.
Poor Ben.
 
BuffyElevated
BuffyElevated
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