Did Willow make the right decision at the time?

[Skanky Vamp]

It raises another question of how there can be two Slayers - and how someone who is not functioning as Slayer can be Slayer.
And it doesn't change the fact that no one ever had to notify the Council that a new Slayer was needed. No one notified the Council the first time Buffy died.
But all of this is really minor and tangential. The question was whether Willow made the right decision.

I know the question was, but you asked why another slayer wasn't called when Buffy died in The Gift. Now as to why "someone who is not functioning as Slayer can be Slayer" it depends on if you just consider the one who passes the lineage of Slayer as being the Slayer or the attributes and abilities that are inherited makes you the Slayer. If it's just the one that carries on the line, then no, Buffy would not still be the Slayer. But that changed when Willow did her resurrection spell, as she also resurrected the Slayer within Buffy, thus creating the anomaly. And it's generally explained that way when you finish the series.

 

[Dr Q]

I know the question was, but you asked why another slayer wasn't called when Buffy died in The Gift. Now as to why "someone who is not functioning as Slayer can be Slayer" it depends on if you just consider the one who passes the lineage of Slayer as being the Slayer or the attributes and abilities that are inherited makes you the Slayer. If it's just the one that carries on the line, then no, Buffy would not still be the Slayer. But that changed when Willow did her resurrection spell, as she also resurrected the Slayer within Buffy, thus creating the anomaly. And it's generally explained that way when you finish the series.

No, actually, I didn't. I did not ask any question at all.

I said that the Council was not notified of Buffy's death the first time she died and so there would have been no need to notify them this time in order for a new slayer to be called. Regardless of whether you think that Faith is still considered to be the Slayer does not have anything to do with whether the Council is notified through some physical means that a new slayer needs to be called. They just know.

Or if you consider that actually doing the job of the Slayer is part of what is required to be the Slayer.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

No, actually, I didn't. I did not ask any question at all.

"Which, by the way, raises the question of why a new slayer wasn't called in those 147 days." Maybe it was just a rhetorical question.

 

[Dr Q]

"Which, by the way, raises the question of why a new slayer wasn't called in those 147 days." Maybe it was just a rhetorical question.

Yep -- rhetorical.

And if it were an actual question, it would be "What is the Council's responsibility when the person who has been acting as Slayer dies, and the person who is nominally Slayer continues to refuse to perform the duties of the Slayer?"

 

[Buffy Summers]

Let's treat each other respectfully, please. No need to get testy.

 

[Dr Q]

Yep -- rhetorical.

And if it were an actual question, it would be "What is the Council's responsibility when the person who has been acting as Slayer dies, and the person who is nominally Slayer continues to refuse to perform the duties of the Slayer?"

As I phrased it originally, it was intended to be rhetorical.

If I were asking an actual question, that is the question that I would ask.

 

[Buffy Summers]

Please just return to the discussion.

 

[Dr Q]

I'm sorry -- I thought these were open boards.

I'll go now.

 

[Buffy Summers]

Treating other members in a condescending manner simply for answering a question is not okay on these boards. If you can't post without doing that, then no, you cannot post here.

 

[Fuffy]

I think that bringing Buffy back to life was a HUGE mistake, Buffy was never quite the same after the resurrection 🙁

 

[white avenger]

"What is the Council's responsibility when the person who has been acting as Slayer dies, and the person who is nominally Slayer continues to refuse to perform the duties of the Slayer?"

Would being locked up in prison serving time for manslaughter actually be considered "refusing" to perform the duties of Slayer? Well, possibly, since as we saw when Angelus returned that she could have escaped whenever she wanted to, but still, I wouldn't consider paying her debts to society as a refusal, especially as long as Buffy was filling in for her. After Buffy died, that's another story, but, remember, no one other than the Scoobies and Angel's crew actually knew that Buffy was dead. As far as the Watchers' Council knew, Buffy was alive, well, and patrolling the Hellmouth.

I think that bringing Buffy back to life was a HUGE mistake, Buffy was never quite the same after the resurrection 🙁

Honestly, none of the gang was the same after Season 5. That was a major turning point in all of their lives. From the end of Season 5 and on into Season 6 was when they all actually became adults.

Except Giles, of course. He became the pseudo father who abandoned his child in her moment of greatest need.

 

[bespangeled]

I can't be convinced that Willow had the chops to bring Buffy back from the dead - but wasn't able to see where Buffy was and if she was in need of resurrection. That's where and why she was wrong, IMO. And once she was back, they needed a Slayer - but it really seemed that they wanted to pretend that Buffy (their friend who they loved so much) wasn't at all affected because they had no idea what to do. So they did nothing. They just left her to slay, take care of Dawn, and try to pay for a house they were living in. Xander and Anya both had decent jobs - but they never offered to help.

My point is that it was obvious that Buffy - not the slayer but Buffy - was drowning. And they just ignored that.

If getting Buffy back was the key thing - then why did they all pat her on the head a few times and leave? Willow knew Buffy better than anyone - why didn't she take the time, more than once, to just sit with her and be with her? Because Willow wanted credit and a pat on the head, and she didn't want to see that anything was wrong.

That's where I think they felt better saying they were doing it for Buffy, but having the slayer back was what they really wanted. Willow hid what she was doing because she knew she was wrong. The others hid what they were doing because they doubted but had made a promise. No one even bothered to see if Buffy - the chosen one - was really in a hell dimension. Because they needed the quippy, supportive, slayer back to take care of them.

YMMV - this was not about taking care of Buffy - this was about taking care of them.
 

Buffy dying didn't call another slayer because at that time the line ran through Faith, not Buffy. It went Buffy-Kendra-Faith. So when Buffy died a second time there would only be one slayer.

But apparently the resurrection spell called back the 'warrior of the people' and 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' was reborn. The slayer line now ran through her AND Faith. So from that point on there would always been two girls in all the world.
That's why the First got all pissy and took the opportunity to start killing potentials in S7.

You just explained that to me better than I had ever realized! Thank you!

 

[gite63]

That's where I think they felt better saying they were doing it for Buffy, but having the slayer back was what they really wanted.

I know that it isn't canon or anything, but on The Death of Buffy comic that's exactly what happens: the Scoobies are having a hard time dealing with the Hellmouth stuff, and to make things worse, the Principal at Dawn's school starts being suspicious about the strange behavior of the Buffybot. So, one day, Willow announces: ...I think I have a solution to our problems.

 

[Monkey Pants]

I definitely think Willow made the right decision. And it wasn't just Willow, they all agreed to it. They had no way of knowing that Buffy wasn't trapped in Hell like Angel had been. It makes me really sad the way they all seem to blame Willow. She was incredibly self sacrificing during that spell, and the power she had to harness, and the treatment she received after, were partially responsible for sending her downhill. When Xander saved Buffy he was a hero, but with Willow it's the opposite, just because of the season it happened in.

 

[Athena]

The decision wasn't just Willow's, so it's unfair to pile all the blame on her, but ultimately it was a selfish decision. They had no proof where Buffy was, they assumed she was in a hell dimension and when she did eventually return, they didn't seem to offer her any support post-resurrection, regardless of where she had been. She'd been deceased all that time and was now alive again and having to re-adjust to the world and they just seemed to willfully ignore that fact and believe she should be grateful to them for the chance of another life.

They didn't tell Giles, or Spike for that matter, because they knew they would agree it was wrong. That in itself is an admission of guilt.

Whilst I agree the Hellmouth needed some form of protection, I believe that the decision they made was right for the slayer, but ultimately wrong for their friend Buffy.