Darla's ghost in season 4.

[theroyalgoat]

I've been confused about it. Was that Darla? And if so was it the demon Darla that was a vampire all that time, or was it Darla who was human and then bought back before she died from Drusilla?

 

[VisionGirl]

I'm not sure if it's ever made clear if it was truly her ghost/spirit, or some kind of apparation/vision of her sent by the PTB. I think it's obvious thought that it wasn't the demon/vampire Darla.

DARLA: The Powers have sent me to give you a message.
CONNOR: You can't be my mother.
DARLA: I have her memories, her feelings. Isn't that what makes a person who they are?

 

[Lyri]

There was speculation at the time of the episodes original airing that Darla wasn't Darla at all, but was in fact The First. Jasmine's plan of world peace would have put a HUGE kink in The First's plan, so by talking Connor out of what Cordelia/Jasmine wanted him to do, it would keep The First's plan of moving past Sunnydale alive and put the skids on Jasmine's plan at the same time.

However, this was never confirmed or denied, so we just don't know.

Personally, as a Connor fan, I like to think that it was the redeemed Darla being granted the opportunity to return to try to save her son. After all, she did refer to him as the one good thing she/they did, and for him to be heading in the direction he was heading must have been hard for her to watch, if she was in fact working/with the PTB's.

 

[theroyalgoat]

Wow, that never even occured to me that it could be the first, but that's pretty good.
Def. something to think about.

 

[Mindfiend]

I always saw Darla here as merely being a figment of Connor's imagination used to debate the issue of right and wrong rather cleverly instead of the writers merely having Vincent give a monologue about it. He could have just paced back and forth, muttering both sides of the argument, but it wouldn't have had the impact this method did. It provided insight into Connor's character, and facilitated plot progression. The fact that he knew what was the right thing to do and yet still continued with the opposite course of action is quite revealling.

 

[msfantastico87]

Yeah I just always assumed Darla was the First. It's the only conclusion I could come up with that made any sense.

 

[Connor Holtz]

Darla strokes Connor's hair and even places her hand on his shoulders at one point, she wasn't the First. (IIRC)

I'd like to agree with Lyri. It makes sense that the "Powers" would want to persuade Connor from making the wrong choice. He could have been/could be a champion some day. Not to mention, the PTB wouldn't want a rogue power usurping massive control of the human lives. It would make them obsolete and destroy their entire plan/way of being.

This is one of my favorite scenes and as a Connor fan, I love seeing him interact with his mother, so I can't see it any other way than it being a touching and heartbreaking moment between Darla and Connor.

 

[Whirlwind]

I've always thought of it as the real Darla. I think the scene loses a lot of its power if it is just The First.