Buffy's Added Strength

[nerd4hire]

And another reason that possibillity of a connection to the Master is intriquing is what follows in When She Was Bad.

We know something about her confrontation with the Master messes her up, but we don't know precisely what the exact cause of that mind screwup is. If Buffy had made some sort of connection with the Master it would make sense within the sub-theme we see popping up throughout the 7 seasons of BTVS. That being the theme of Buffy having to deal with the special connection to the darkness being the slayer sometimes brings her from external sources - vampire love, Faith's temptation to the darkside, the demon heart connection we discover through the Shadowmen.

 

[The Arcane]

My initial take on this is that it's a psychological deal. Buffy had beaten both destiny and death by surviving and that gave her an edge she didn't have going into her first fight with the Master.

Any fighter, footballer or competitor of any kind will likely tell you that if you go into a game with the mindset that you are going to lose then you will almost definately do just that. It creates doubt in your mind and you simply do not perform as well. Buffy had gone there expecting to die and this left her open to the Master's mind games and psychic abilities which lead to him easily defeating her. When she faced him the second time she had the confidence to know that she had nothing to fear from the prophecy and that all bets were off, meaning she no longer expected to lose. Add that to the Master being thrown by the very fact that Buffy had survived and it's not hard to see why the second fight went the way it did. The balance of power had switched, psychologically speaking, and Buffy was able to beat him.

The fact that Buffy did know where the Master had gone may suggest that there was some psychic connection created between the two when he fed off her (that has been stated as occasionally being the case between a sire and the vampire he/she creates, as was seen in the Angel episode Somnambulist) but I tend to think her comment about being stronger was nothing more than her confidence speaking.

 

[nerd4hire]

Here's one I'd like your feedback on. What do you think of the theory of the hypnotic throat grip? Both The Master and Drusilla seem to do something which suggests some vampires can put people in a hypnotic trance with an action involving the gripping of the throat. Is that worth noting? If so, does Buffy turn the grip on The Master before she throws him through the skylight?

 

[The Arcane]

I actually think that this may be a combination of two aspects of the vampire. In all the various takes on vampire mythology I've read, Joss' included, I've never been led to believe that there need be any actual physical connection between the vamp and the victim for the hypnosis to work.

In the two examples you give I seem to recall that the throat grabbing happens after the victim is initially enthralled. That leads be to believe that the action has no real connection to the hypnosis and is more likely just a predatory act of control once the vampire has you in his or her power. If there is any connection at all then I'd say it was simply that it helps the vampire to gain an added measure of control over the victim, emphasising just how helpless they now are.

Buffy grabbing the Master by the throat is likely just a coincidence but you could certainly take it as Buffy really pointing out how the tables have turned on who is now in control.

 

[nerd4hire]

Which brings up another interesting point, one we tend to ignore. In considering stuff like Buffy's added strength, or the snow in Amends we tend to ignore the general manner in which stuff is presented if we have a theory which conflicts with what they seem to be trying to communicate to us emotionally.

With the snow in Amends for example it takes place on Christmas day. The soundtrack, the atmospere, the character reaction, all seem to be specifically designed to tug the viscera towards a conclusion something miraculous is happening. Yet people will say it's just a coincidental freak of weather.

Same thing here. I can't help thinking when stuff happens like they ask Buffy how she knows where the Master is, and she says "I just know", then the music riffs into the Buffy theme, they're telling us something unusual is happening here. She hasn't simply found her confidence. Certainly she has also found the eye of the tiger, and that's part of it, but "She just knows". How does she just know? The thumping music tells us we should care.

And when you add all these thing together - the fact she just knows, her suddenly impervious power of hypnotism, the seemingly miraculous empowerment directly following a near death experience, then acknowledge the idea the episode is pulling your emotional strings, doesn't that suggest they even want you to consider the possibillity of supernatural influences. This isn't Rocky. This is a story about a teenage girl who fights vampires.

 

[The Arcane]

I see where you are coming from, N4H, and in the case of Amends I totally agree with your view that the snow was meant to be taken as a sign that some higher power was looking out for Angel, rather than Angel just got lucky because of a freak snow storm. The whole theme of the story was presented in such a way that I was left in no doubt that there seemed to be some epic battle between good and evil going on with Angel in the middle, the snow being the final card played by the PtB.

However, in some cases I think a person can look too hard for something that may not be there. Sure, there is no reason to positively say no to the idea that what happened to Buffy at the end of Prophecy Girl wasn't entirely supernatural in nature, or that the grabbing of the throat has some supernatural element we were never told about, but for me that is like adding your own little part of the mythology that you have decided yourself works. Without some form of actual statement of fact in the show concerning the point in question it seems like taking speculation a step too far.

As I said, there is evidence to suggest that there may have been a real psychic bond between Buffy and the Master which enabled her to track him down at the school. The link between Angel and Penn in Somnambulist gives us something to work with there. Perhaps during the time that the Master fed on Buffy she somehow was able to sense his plans and intentions. Hard to prove but very possible to speculate on.

The supposed added strength and ability to avoid hypnosis however, I'm more inclined to stick with the idea that these things were more about her confidence than her supernatural abilities. Like Giles once said (almost, anyway), sometimes things are less para and more normal, even in Buffy's world.

 

[nerd4hire]

However, in some cases I think a person can look too hard for something that may not be there.

True, but aren't you doing that if you look for natural explanations in a supernatural thriller.

The episode clearly tells your gut, and even brain something out of the ordinary is happening. This is a supernatural story with supernatural explanations. If it wasn't, a purely human Buffy would have been rushed to the hospital after a near death experience. No amount of adrenaline, or confidence would prevent it. Not even in Rocky would they dare tell you the champ could suffer heart death in the corner for a minute, then come back stronger, and easily defeat the opponent who just killed him.

(Wait a minute now. I haven't seen the last Rocky. Please, please, don't tell me that's what happens. 🙂 )

Back to Buffy though...

We accept she can get up, walk around, and even fight because Buffy is the Slayer, and she has supernatural strength. So is a supernatural explanation OK there, but far-fetched when we ask questions like how can she know things she's never been told, or how can she suddenly be impervious to a supernatural hypnotic trance, or how can she be dead one minute, then 10 times as strong the next. One person says maybe something supernatural is happening in this supernatural drama. Another person says, "Nah, confidence and andreline can give you superior strength like that, block out supernatural hypnosis, and give you precognitive abilities". Which person is looking too hard for an answer?

 

[The Arcane]

Erm, okay. Any reason why you deleted my last post, N4H? 😉

 

[nerd4hire]

Oh Damn Arcane I can't believe what I just did. I wanted to quote you, but instead I clicked edit and wound up posting a rebuttal in your post. I made this same mistake once before with another member about three years ago, and swore I'd never do it again, but I just did. I'm so sorry. Seriously I am sorry. Please don't read anything facetious into that. I really am sorry.

Luckily I have replies sent to my email, so I'll post your original post from there.

---Quote (Originally by nerd4hire)---
True, but aren't you doing that if you look for natural explanations in a supernatural thriller.

This is a supernatural story with supernatural explanations.
---End Quote---

Ah, but the thing is that we aren't talking about a show that was purely about the supernatural, are we? Joss didn't write it that way. Buffy was as much about the "human" as the "superhuman".

In the final episode of season six we saw a very human Xander defeat Willow, possibly the most powerful magical being on the face of the earth at that moment, with a few well chosen words. That was a very obvious example of how Joss would regularly show that the human side of the hero was just as important as any super power they may have.

Perhaps a more obvious comparison would be what happened in The Freshman. Sunday kicked Buffy's ass very soundly in their first encounter and yet later on Buffy was able to take her on and beat her. What changed? Only her state of mind. There was no added strength or new ability, just the confidence to know that she could win.

I believe that Prophecy Girl was written in a way that works exactly the opposite to something like Amends. In that episode the supernatural element is made very obvious and you are always led to believe that the snow is a miracle brought on my higher powers. In Prophecy Girl the emphasis is always much more on Buffy and her state of mind. From hearing Giles and Angel discussing the prophecy to accepting her fate is to die and then to realising that she actually is so much stronger than that and draws the confidence to defeat the Master.

For me, I think it's doing a diservice to Joss to ignore the depth he gave to the writing of the characters and how their own personalities played into the story, which is very much what I see in Prophecy Girl.

I feel so guilty, I won't even present the masterful reply I made to this, but trust me, it was brilliant. 🙂

 

[The Arcane]

I feel so guilty I won't even present the masterful reply I made to this, but trust me, it was brilliant. 🙂

Hehe, don't worry about it, N4H. I've known you long enough to know you aren't petty enough to randomly delete posts that you don't like. 😀 I figured that you must have just clicked on the wrong button.

Thanks for going to the trouble of reposting, by the way. 🙂

Oh yeah, there are a couple of typos in that last post I made that I had corrected in the original version. I'm not getting slack, honest! 😛

 

[SpuffyisEternal]

I think some great power was transferred to her when The Master killed her that just made her strong enough to defeat him.