Buffy came back wrong

[ubi4soft]

At the end of Dead Things we have Tara's explanation why Spike can hit Buffy.

TARA Well, I said there's nothing wrong with you, but you are different. Shifting you out of -- from where you were, funneling your essence back into your body -- it altered you on a basic, molecular level. Probably just enough to confuse the sensors or whatever in Spike's chip. But it's all surfacey physical stuff. It wouldn't have any more effect on you than a bad sunburn.

I kinda don't buy it, the explanation is pretty lame, so it must be something else, something more or something deeper.

Buffy was bitten by three vampires The Master, Angel and Dracula but she also tasted Dracula's blood. I'm not saying that she was resurrected as a live vampire but looking especially towards S7 her powers are greater, she heals faster, also could be a reason why the slayer line goes through her again (new demon infusion).

Any thoughts?

 

[white avenger]

Buffy in Season 1 was either 15 or 16 years old, and had only been a Slayer for less than a year, possibly as little as 3 or 4 months. She was the Slayer's equivalent of a vampire fledgling. If we assume that, like a vampire, her strength and overall abilities increase the longer that she is a Slayer, plus, obviously, her experience and skill increase, then it would be perfectly natural for her to be more powerful overall by the end of the series. Remember, in "Welcome To The Hellmouth," she would (wisely) run away rather than confront more than a single vampire, and the brute Lucas could very nearly overpower her singlehandedly. By Season 6, it wasn't unusual for her to take on 2, 3, or more vampires at one time, and those were more experienced than mere fledgelings. In Season 1, the Master had no trouble whatsoever overpowering her, Angelus was at best her equal, and Spike, arguably, was only slightly better than she was.

Spike was quite possibly the finest fighter that Buffy ever faced, with the exception of Glory, and by Season 4, the last time that they ever seriously fought, she was easily his match. Since the beginning, her experience and skills have increased, making her a better fighter. As for her strength and healing abilities, since there were several references throughout the series about how much longer that Buffy had survived than the majority of her predecessors, it might be a fair assumption that the longer she lives, the more powerful she will become. Also, and this is just my theory, since the process of aging consists to a great extent on the body's gradually decreasing healing abilities, Buffy Summers might very well be, if not actually immortal, expected to have a far longer life span than a normal human. There has, up until this point, been no way to substantiate or repudiate such a theory, simply because all Slayers die violent deaths. Now, however, with the activation of an entire Slayer army, we might actually see Slayers living well into their second century or more, and still remaining extremely active even at that advanced age. Of course, only time will tell, but it would most certainly make a long term relationship with an immortal vampire, either Spike or Angel, much more possible.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

At the end of Dead Things we have Tara's explanation why Spike can hit Buffy.



I kinda don't buy it, the explanation is pretty lame, so it must be something else, something more or something deeper.

Buffy was bitten by three vampires The Master, Angel and Dracula but she also tasted Dracula's blood. I'm not saying that she was resurrected as a live vampire but looking especially towards S7 her powers are greater, she heals faster, also could be a reason why the slayer line goes through her again (new demon infusion).

Any thoughts?

Interesting theory. I always thought Tara's excuse was pretty lame, too. Well, we do know how the original Slayer was made (a demon was forced on her). So, in theory, The Slayer has always been part demon. This theory would make sense to why Spike can hurt her.

 

[Kana]

Thematically, I always believed it made the most sense. Barring contradictions, I've always been relatively accepting of the metaphysics of the 'Verse. The main issue was her bahaviour. While it is vague how Buffy came differently, her soul was the same as far as know and it's the soul that counts. Spike's chip works off the physical/sensory information it gets. As far as the Buffy's sense of identity is concerned, that's still up to her, irrespective of the minor physical alterations.

Tara's explanation, as lame as it may seem gave Buffy the information that was needed to forge foward with finding out who she was. She can't blame her actions on what she is, she had to accept responsibility for her actions.

 

[BuffyElevated]

Interesting theory. I always thought Tara's excuse was pretty lame, too. Well, we do know how the original Slayer was made (a demon was forced on her). So, in theory, The Slayer has always been part demon. This theory would make sense to why Spike can hurt her.

This was what I was going to say... I do like the theory ubisoft raises in the original thread, though, and think it's really interesting. I'm not sure why Spike could hurt her when she came back. But obviously Tara was wrong and it was more than a simple "surfacey physical stuff" that made Buffy different after she was brought back by Willow, Tara, Anya, and Xander.

 

[Kana]

This was what I was going to say... I do like the theory ubisoft raises in the original thread, though, and think it's really interesting. I'm not sure why Spike could hurt her when she came back. But obviously Tara was wrong and it was more than a simple "surfacey physical stuff" that made Buffy different after she was brought back by Willow, Tara, Anya, and Xander.

But why was Tara wrong? Aside from her post ressurrection blues, we had no evidence that there was any metaphysical difference in Buffy. Even if there was, what was it? And why would ressurrection change her? Feeding on Dracula's blood gave her something, if nothing else, an insight into her predetory instincts. Being fed on nor feeding on Dracula changed her enough to confuse the chip so it's doesn't make logical sense. I'm sticking with Tara's vague but adequate enough, explanation.

 

[ubi4soft]

Spike's chip works off the physical/sensory information it gets.

Exactly. And getting a tan does not change that. The bringers also had something demony in them. Too bad we didn't see how Spike's chip worked on somebody possessed or on Dark!Willow for comparison.

Feeding on Dracula's blood gave her something, if nothing else, an insight into her predetory instincts.

I don't know, she was restless before feeding on Dracula's blood, but I was referring to physical changes.

And why would ressurrection change her?

As Giles said, Willow used some powerful forces, maybe something else intervened during that resurrection spell. In fact it was that ghostly demon in After Life which couldn't be corporeal until Buffy was dead. Maybe some physical parts of that demon were incorporated in Buffy instead and after killing it those parts remained in her.

 

[Kana]

Exactly. And getting a tan does not change that. The bringers also had something demony in them. Too bad we didn't see how Spike's chip worked on somebody possessed or on Dark!Willow for comparison.

I don't know the metaphysical result of getting a tan in the Verse, although it wasn't actually getting a tan but it apparently had the mystical significance of getting a tan. In other words, the point is that as far as we are aware Buffy was 'Buffy' where it counts.

I don't know, she was restless before feeding on Dracula's blood, but I was referring to physical changes.

Yes she was restless but the insight into why she was restless happened afterwards, but none of this proves any mystical changes anyway. If the change did happen before, why? Then what is the significance of the resurrection?

As Giles said, Willow used some powerful forces, maybe something else intervened during that resurrection spell. In fact it was that ghostly demon in After Life which couldn't be corporeal until Buffy was dead. Maybe some physical parts of that demon were incorporated in Buffy instead and after killing it those parts remained in her.

There is still not enough evidence to suggest that Buffy is more demonic. As I've said thematically, it's more resonant if Buffy's soul and sense of self is pretty much the same. Part of the darkness she displayed in subsequent seasons is the darkness for which we have a propensity, or at least a darkness we all have the potential for, Slayer or not.

 

[Kana]

ubi4soft agrees: still doesn't explain why the chip didn't worked

Because the alteration was enough to confuse Spike's senses, however she wasn't anymore demonic.

 

[BillyidolwannaB]

Tara's explanation seemed perfectly reasonable to me.

 

[Randy91]

well Spike punching Tara proved she wasnt a demon because the chip kicked in. Spike can hit demons Vampires are demons, but lets look at it this way. Vampires are mystically/demonically reanimated corpses. Buffy, soully or not, has become a mystically/demonically reanimated corpse. She died once before but that had no magics involved. she was resuscitated. Angel has a soul just like Buffy's but I'm willing to bet spike could hit angel with no problem. This may count as a metaphysical differing or not. really cant say but that's my take on the situation.