Faith Helping Buffy

[dan k]

While in a coma Faith tells Buffy that the Mayor's vulnerability is human weakness. I can accept that maybe she's seen the error of her ways and wants to help Buffy but why then in season 4 does she attack Buffy?

 

[TaylorSwift]

If I'm not mistake, this takes place in Buffy's dream in a coma so it's Buffy mind, her subconscious if you will, that makes her realize Faith is The Mayor's weakness. Buffy already knew it all along, she just didn't realize...it's how our mind works quite often.

 

[MinwaraYana]

People I know always say it's really Faith and she wants to help Buffy. But I personally believe it's the PTB that wanted to send Buffy a message and it comes in Faith's form. I also personally believe that Buffy is the one who chose this form. (sw)

 

[dan k]

If I'm not mistake, this takes place in Buffy's dream in a coma so it's Buffy mind, her subconscious if you will, that makes her realize Faith is The Mayor's weakness. Buffy already knew it all along, she just didn't realize...it's how our mind works quite often.

So its not Faith being somehow in her mind then? Buffy asks whose mind is this, that's what confuses me.

 

[TaylorSwift]

So its not Faith being somehow in her mind then? Buffy asks whose mind is this, that's what confuses me.

I thought about that too, Faith actually being in Buffy's mind to help her but that wouldn't make sense...how can she be in her mind and ultimately, why does she wanna help Buffy? As you said, in season 4 when she wakes up she wants to kill her and I don't buy the theory that after Buffy stabbed her she was considering redemption or something of the sort. Our mind is a greater thing we can't always comprehend..I don't know if they put Buffy's: "Whose mind is this?" to confuse and mix things a little or to leave a question mark hanging over our heads? Things in dreams don't always make sense...there's always been such a debate about Faith being her or not..I don't think there was ever confirmation by Joss or someone related to the show.

 

[VisionGirl]

I'm not sure, but they're both unconscious at the time. So I always felt it was their subconsciouses connecting. They are both slayers, and connected. And they presumably both have had prophecy-type dreams in the past (we know Buffy has, I'm assuming Faith has as well). However, I think any of the above explanations would work. I do not think that she is on the path to redemption yet, though. If it is a shared dream, it is Faith's subconscious giving up the info.

What I find even more interesting about this dream is of course the foreshadowing of Dawn, & of Buffy's death.

 

[Taake]

So its not Faith being somehow in her mind then? Buffy asks whose mind is this, that's what confuses me.

I think it's supposed to be confusing, I think Joss wrote it that way so that there wouldn't be a definite answer to it 🙂

 

[TheVoid68]

While in a coma Faith tells Buffy that the Mayor's vulnerability is human weakness. I can accept that maybe she's seen the error of her ways and wants to help Buffy but why then in season 4 does she attack Buffy?

Because she's seriously messed up.

I think at first she wants to make amends with Buffy, but then she sees her with Riley. She doesn't have all the facts, but what she sees is Buffy just picking up a new guy after almost killing Faith to save the last one. She thinks that therefore Buffy doesn't care about her one iota. She feels betrayed by this, especially because she helped her in Graduation Day. GD was her first attempt at making amends, and as far as she can see it was all for nothing because Buffy seemingly sees her as worthless.

 

[Hero]

I always saw it as...Slayers have their prophecy dreams and I figured this was one of them, obviously. Since all Slayers are connected, it was the power of the Slayer talking through Faith, not physically Faith herself. Almost as if Nikki Woods told Buffy about the Mayor. It's not so much that it was the Slayer herself, but the Slayer line delivering the message through a conduit.

 

[VisionGirl]

Because she's seriously messed up.

I think at first she wants to make amends with Buffy, but then she sees her with Riley. She doesn't have all the facts, but what she sees is Buffy just picking up a new guy after almost killing Faith to save the last one. She thinks that therefore Buffy doesn't care about her one iota. She feels betrayed by this, especially because she helped her in Graduation Day. GD was her first attempt at making amends, and as far as she can see it was all for nothing because Buffy seemingly sees her as worthless.

I never saw it like that. Honestly, I think it's a little far-fetched, JMO.

 

[TheVoid68]

"I wake up to find that this blonde chick isn't even dating the guy she was so nuts about before. I mean, she's moved on to the first college beef stick she meets. And not only has she forgotten the love of her life, she's forgotten all about the chick she nearly killed for him."

Seemed pretty heavily implied to me.

 

[Kana]

Yeah I'm going with Slayer prophecy dreams, I think that makes the most sense.

 

[VisionGirl]

"I wake up to find that this blonde chick isn't even dating the guy she was so nuts about before. I mean, she's moved on to the first college beef stick she meets. And not only has she forgotten the love of her life, she's forgotten all about the chick she nearly killed for him."

Seemed pretty heavily implied to me.

Yes, I know she said that, but I don't think that's her primary motivation, nor do I think she ever intended to make amends. She woke up pissed (e.g beating up the innocent girl at the hospital).

 

[Tome]

While in a coma Faith tells Buffy that the Mayor's vulnerability is human weakness. I can accept that maybe she's seen the error of her ways and wants to help Buffy but why then in season 4 does she attack Buffy?

Like many peoples have said Dan, it wasn't really Faith in Buffy's dream, it was Buffy subconscious looking like Faith. That or they had a unique link because they were both Slayers.

 

[NY State of Mind]

I think it was Buffy's mind...Faith woke up violent and ready to help the mayor at the Graduation...like others said Buffy knew all along but it hit her finally in the shape of Faith..Faith never mentioned anything about helping Buffy in her mind, etc..It was Buffy's dream but I could see how people could get confused since they were both unconcious..But why would Faith help Buffy when she was willing to jump off the balcony so Buffy couldn't even help Angel

By the way..in season 4 Buffy is in Faith's mind but in a bad light...it shows you the difference in mentality of the two...Faith views Buffy as a killer, etc while Buffy rather think of Faith as trying to help her

 

[TheVoid68]

I read the Buffy in Faith's dream as a subconcious manifestation of her self-hatred; her desire to be punished. She hates herself - and therefore she takes it out on everyone around her because it's just easier than facing up to it. I think that the dream was a subconcious effort to make amends by Faith - she wasn't ready to do it conciously until
Sanctuary.

Like I said, the chick is just seriously messed up.

 

[frankie]

I always figured it was Faith's mind. Just because she reverted to form and attacked Buffy after waking up was never a surprise to me. The mind contains everything you are. Faith is capable of being a good person just as Buffy is capable of being bad. There's good and bad in everyone. The good aspect of Faith's personality came to the surface, the person or slayer she could have been - if life hadn't changed her. So she showed Buffy how to fight the mayor. Buffy got a glimpse of the bad aspect of her self, a bloodied knife in her hand - a killer, and she used that darkness and bad part of herself to taunt the major into attacking.
As for seeing the future. A slayer can see glimpses of the future when asleep, Faith's mind was just working overtime I guess.

 

[Primal Slayer]

That couldve been Faith in Buffys dream. But she was being used to deliver Buffy a message. But after that the "nightmare" she had of BUffy kept playing over and over again that it just made her hatred of her grow that much more.

 

[Bluebird]

I thought of it as Faith helping out Buffy, but subconsciously. Even though she wakes up from her coma and attacks Buffy and the body swap and everything else, she's been in denial about herself and what she's done, so to me it makes sense that it's when she's unconscious that she helps, and that she can face up to what she's done in a way. Deep down she wants to make amends even if her actions speak otherwise.

 

[Eleftheria]

I have always thought that Faith's subconscious wanted to help Buffy in the dreams. She did lots of bad stuff but she found a father during those actions. So this is complicated. She always wanted to be friends with Buffy but then she finds trust in the Mayor. When she wakes up, I am not sure what she wants to do.She wants to stand by the Mayor but he's not there. I am not sure she wants to reconcile with Buffy...she just understands that Buffy stabbed her cause Faith almost killed the love of Buffy's life. Instead of finding Angel and Buffy together, she finds Buffy with someone else. In Faith's mind, she was in a coma for nothing. According to her thoughts, Buffy forgot Angel really soon, she forgot the reason she attacked faith really soon. I am not sure I make sense...😕