Does anyone here like Giles and Ethan as a couple?

[FaithLehane16]

I think it would be interesting.

 

[rogueangel]

I've always thought their chemistry and the way they interact with each other implied that they had a relationship in their wild younger days.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

I had no desire to see Gethan (or is it Ethiles? I know, some people hate elided names, so sue me). If he was gay, we would have missed out on Jenny and Anya (for the duration of Tabula Rasa) being in love with him. Giles and Ethan both have a shared past that was highlighted by abuse of magic and the death of one of their friends and death came following their other friends but this does not automatically spell romance between them. Ethan in particular was not romantic material for either sex - he was too narcissistic.

 

[FaithLehane16]

If he was gay, we would have missed out on Jenny and Anya (for the duration of Tabula Rasa) being in love with him.

I wasn't implying for Giles to only like men. I was just wondering who or who wouldn't be up for a Giles/Ethan romance.

 

[nightshade]

Romance no, but do I think they might've indulged in a sexual relationship in their youth. Not because either one preferred men but because they were high on magic together. Plus orgies were mentioned!

 

[Nix]

Ewe nope not for me... Can't see anything like that between them in my opinion.

 

[rogueangel]

I had no desire to see Gethan (or is it Ethiles? I know, some people hate elided names, so sue me). If he was gay, we would have missed out on Jenny and Anya (for the duration of Tabula Rasa) being in love with him. Giles and Ethan both have a shared past that was highlighted by abuse of magic and the death of one of their friends and death came following their other friends but this does not automatically spell romance between them. Ethan in particular was not romantic material for either sex - he was too narcissistic.

Bisexual people exist.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Bisexual people exist.

Agreed, bisexual people do exist. But the idea that everyone who has been a colleague in some undertaking or other is a romantic pairing is an excessive bias towards melodrama. It ignores the most common outcome that someone can be a friend without being a lover. I have had work buddies that I have done a number of things with from a wine-tasting tour to flying a Cessna 172. But we were never couples. The Whedonverse has been justly accused of falling back on romantic pairings when the plot had nothing else going for it, unless you really wanted to see more lazy writing like the Wesley - Fred - Gunn triangle that tended to ruin Angel wherever it showed up.

I understand that the Tillow relationship has made BtVS a favourite program of the LGBTQ crowd, but that does not mean every association of two people of the same sex are automatically a couple. Giles and Ethan together makes as much sense as Clem and Spike together. Showing up at the same place and the same time does not make them a couple. Ethan definitely had a psychopathic interest in making Giles suffer including turning him into a Fyarl demon in "A New Man" but this is a predatory act targeting someone he had been associated with, not the act of one half of a couple.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I think it would be interesting.

tbh, I'd never considered this 'ship, but thinking more about it, I can see potential. Like Angel and Spike, these two have a history, and a relationship, though it's of the love/hate variety. There's definitely potential for an interesting fan fic!

 

[Taake]

I can see attraction, but I can't picture them as a couple. At least not at that stage of their lives, I couldn't picture Giles being interested in someone like Ethan who, frankly, seems rather immature and yes, narcissistic. Guys like that are interesting when you're in your 20's, then not so much. I don't think Giles would've put up with his nonsense in a romantic relationship.

I had no desire to see Gethan (or is it Ethiles? I know, some people hate elided names, so sue me).

You know a ship is doomed when the names are this clunky.

 

[Spanky]

I had no desire to see Gethan (or is it Ethiles? I know, some people hate elided names, so sue me).

You know a ship is doomed when the names are this clunky.

It's only clunky because it's merging a last name with a first. Which other ships don't do.
It should be Rethan or Eupert. Rethan and Eupert both have a nice ring to them. Although Eupert reminds me of this guy for some reason:

 

[Athene]

I believe that Ethan and Giles fooled around with each other when they were younger but I don't think they'd have a serious relationship.

 

[RachM]

Oh, Giles and Ethan one hundred per cent hooked up back in the day, and probably still habour some sort of attraction towards one another! I love this particular pairing and it was made even better by the fact that the actors have great chemistry.

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

It is all but confirmed that they had sex. They participated in orgies with only a single woman. Ethan is also obviously deeply in love with Giles, which is why he so often takes jobs in Sunnydale or just goes there to wreak havoc, hoping to catch Giles's attention.

I think there is a part of Giles that misses being Ripper and hanging out with Ethan and his other mates, but Ethan isn't a good fit for him now that he has the responsibility of helping Buffy.

There is also so much queer coding in this relationship. Giles being angry at wearing Ethan's flamboyant shirt (we have never seen Ethan wear a remotely flamboyant shirt, but apparently there were only flamboyant shirt left in Ethan's closet that day). Ethan turning Giles into a demon, which is used as a metaphor for internalised homophobia two other times on the show.

I so wished they had kept Ethan on as an unreliable ally against the Initiative.

And how sexy isn't Robin Sachs?

 

[vampmogs]

I understand that the Tillow relationship has made BtVS a favourite program of the LGBTQ crowd, but that does not mean every association of two people of the same sex are automatically a couple.

Espenson admitted that the homoerotic undertones between Giles/Ethan were intentional. In A New Man they deliberately intercut the scenes between Giles/Ethan with the scenes between Willow/Tara and, well, we all know what those scenes stood for.

It's not explicitly stated in the text so in that sense it's not factual "canon" but the writer's deliberately winked and nod at the idea so fans who pick up on the subtext definitely weren't wrong to do so.

IMO they definitely fooled around in their younger, wilder days.

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

Does anyone here like Giles and Ethan as a couple?

 

[WillowFromBuffy]

Espenson admitted that the homoerotic undertones between Giles/Ethan were intentional. In A New Man they deliberately intercut the scenes between Giles/Ethan with the scenes between Willow/Tara and, well, we all know what those scenes stood for

Do you remember where she said that?

 

[vampmogs]

Do you remember where she said that?

I've found these quotes from her so far;

"And yes, I have always felt that there was something between [Giles and Ethan] when they were younger. It is one of those places where slash and canon merge - much like Jonathan and Xander in Superstar. I am not trying to hide anything. Run with it, kids." (about A New Man).

"Come on, they both went to public school" (when asked if they had experimented)

I'd also forgotten that the Giles/Ethan scenes were intercut with the Buffy/Riley sparring sessions as well. Given how fighting/sex is as much subtext for Buffy's character as magic/sex is for Willow and that the episode makes this blatant ("I sort of... kicked him across the room last night") and they tease Ethan coming on to Giles ("you know you're really quite attractive..." "Hmm?") and I'd say it's obvious what was happening with the interwoven Willow/Tara, Buffy/Riley and Giles/Ethan scenes in those episodes.

 

[FaithLehane16]

I've found these quotes from her so far;

"And yes, I have always felt that there was something between [Giles and Ethan] when they were younger. It is one of those places where slash and canon merge - much like Jonathan and Xander in Superstar. I am not trying to hide anything. Run with it, kids." (about A New Man).

"Come on, they both went to public school" (when asked if they had experimented)

I'd also forgotten that the Giles/Ethan scenes were intercut with the Buffy/Riley sparring sessions as well. Given how fighting/sex is as much subtext for Buffy's character as magic/sex is for Willow and that the episode makes this blatant ("I sort of... kicked him across the room last night") and they tease Ethan coming on to Giles ("you know you're really quite attractive..." "Hmm?") and I'd say it's obvious what was happening with the interwoven Willow/Tara, Buffy/Riley and Giles/Ethan scenes in those episodes.

Interesting, except I don't care for Tillow, but thank you for that.

 

[Bluebird]

I don't necessarily like them as a couple but I enjoy their flirting.

Robin Sachs played a lot of incidental characters on TV who were usually fairly stoic and dull, but he went quite camp and big with Ethan and I loved it.