How Does the Chosen Line Work?

D

Daniel

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Ok, so the rule goes "When one slayer dies, the next is chosen." Buffy died in the first season and Kendra was called. When Kendra was killed by Drusilla, Faith was called. Buffy died again at the end of season five, so doesn't that mean another slayer would be called?
 
i never understood why everyone has such a hard time getting this.
When Buffy died if 'The Gift' she wasn't THE Slayer, Faith was, she was the extra one.
Buffy already past through the Slayer line when she Activated Kendra.
Before Willow cast the spell to Activate all the Potentials, or quite possibly before Willow resurrected Buffy, the only way for a new Slayer to be Called was for Faith to die.
 
Well I guess that there is a small gliche in the writing then, since Buffy says in season seven that it would take her (Buffy's) death to activate one of the other girls.
 
Daniel said:
Well I guess that there is a small gliche in the writing then, since Buffy says in season seven that it would take her (Buffy's) death to activate one of the other girls.
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It would be interesting to see if anyone can bring something new to this discussion...but my take on this was that the above was that either Buffy was using that point to motivate the potentials or (more probably) there was some artistic licence involved (and a stonking great disembodied demon eye oracular thingy) in S7 🙂
 
Daniel said:
Well I guess that there is a small gliche in the writing then, since Buffy says in season seven that it would take her (Buffy's) death to activate one of the other girls.
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there are many ways to interpret what Buffy says in S7, that it would take her death to Call one of the Potentials. there's Mr. P's theory that Buffy was just saying that to motivate the Potentials, to force the point that everything that was going on was for real.
there's also the theory that when Willow resurrected Buffy at the beginning of S6, or when she saved her from being shot by Warren, she somehow reinserted Buffy back into the Slayer line. this would mean that, had all of the Potentials not been Activated, there would have been two Slayer lines, one that ran through Buffy, and another that ran through Faith. or maybe that the line would have ran on no matter which one of them died.
but i'm sure there are others out there with different theories.
 
I would go with the two lines theory, that one make the most sense to me. But it could also be that Buffy didn't know any better!
 
Sorry to rehash the coroners report if you you all haved discussed this before, I'm sure newbies do that from time to time.

I will have to say that the two line theory is most likely. I don't think Buffy is trying to psych up the girls or just doesn't realize it's not correct since The First also says that "none of those girlies will know real power unless you are dead." and I would imagine that The First would know who the Chosen one is. Also at the end of the last episode Faith asks Buffy how it feel to not be the one and only chosen anymore. Which could be Faith referring to Buffy as the Chosen out of respect.
But, who says that there wasn't another slayer called just because she didn't show up in Sunnydale? Do you guys ever start up "what if" kinda stories here, that could be fun.
 
K
killerdwarf
S'ok, I won't run screaming from the room just yet in deference to a nice fellow like you who is new here...;) But I usually run out about....now....;)
No prob with reviving the discussion from time to time...as long as it's not every week 😉

I'm pretty sure that you can find some "what if" tales in our fanfic forum -

https://www.buffy-boards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=137

The mother of all "what if" stories is probably our Wishverse project (also to be found in the fic forum), which looks like it will be pretty good, as we have some of our finest BB writers and artists on board, not to mention yours truly as general gofer guy 🙂
 
Lyri
Lyri
aw *blushes*
Yes, Willow definetly re-inserted Buffy back into the Slayer line when she resurrected her. According to Anya it is because of this that The First Evil decided to strike. With a tear in it, the line of Slayers was extremely vulnerable in Season 6/7.
 
This question as well as the spin-off questions that come from it has, as many of us know, been discussed on multiple occasions here at BB. The thread I always link to to outline the whole argument is this one.

How the Slayer Line Works

You'll discover there Joss explained shortly after Season 5 that up to that point the line could only pass through Faith.

For the debate concerning what might have happened after that, Ill quote this from the thread.

I'll run down the Basics of either argument for you.

There are 2 sides. The first side claims Season 7 doesn't make sense unless Buffy's death by mystical forces and rebirth in Season 6, resulted in the slayer line once more running through Buffy. It may also continue to run through Faith, but Season 7 tells us the line now runs, at least through Buffy.

The other side of the arguement tells us "No. The slayer line runs through Faith and only Faith until Faith dies. All the inconsistencies in Season 7 when you believe this don't matter, because they were just the writers making mistakes. Joss and other writers have stated in interviews, the line can only run through Faith. That's all that matters.

I'll outline the intricacies of the arguements for you.

Slayer line alters in Season 7 camp.

* Joss made a statement in an interview where he said he didn't understand the problem some people had with Season 7, because it was "didactic in it's clarity". This is important I think, because what Joss appears to be saying is "believe what you see in Season 7"

* It isn't just Buffy who says the line now runs through Buffy in Season 7. It's also Dawn and The First, and it is perhaps implicit in the words or actions of Giles, Anya, Willow and Xander.

* We know the "Faith only" rule to be false, because at the end of Season 7 the slayer line goes all over the place.

* Beljoxa's eye tells us distinctly there is a "disruption in the slayer line".

* Giles tells us the "disruption in the slayer line" was caused by Buffy coming back from the dead. Anya tells us it was a result of the spell her and Tara cast.

* If the disruption in the line does not have something to do with Buffy, then why does the First want to kill Faith, and keep Buffy alive.

* There is no interview, or verifiable statement from Joss, or any of the writers after Season 6, stating the line can only run through Faith. Joss said it pre-season 6. Marti Noxon said it way before that, but I've never seen such a statement that would cover Season 7, nor to I believe one exists. Someone always says they know of one, but they can never produce it.

Only Faith is and can ever be the one true slayer argument

* One of the writers (they're never sure exactly who) said (they can never tell you where) that only Faith could ever be the real slayer. They said this after Season 6. Don't ask for a link to the information, because if you do you're being a child.

* Everything in Season 7 that seems to suggests the contrary is just writer error.

* The fact that Season 7 makes sense if you believe the slayer line has been corrupted and changed after The Bargaining doesn't matter. It's better to believe the line can only run through Faith just because it is. It doesn't matter if we know the slayer line can be altered from Chosen. Ignore that.
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I keep hoping Buffy 8 is going to answer this question once and for all.
 
That was an interesting read n4h. I suppose it doesn't matter too much because now all the SITs are slayers anyway. Back in season 6 I was also shot down for asking this question Daniel. 😛
 
There's an alternative theory that hasn't really been explored: When Buffy died in Season 5, the Sunnydale crew went to great lengths to conceal the fact, possibly so far as to keep the Watchers' Council out of the loop. Maybe there WAS another Slayer called somewhere, but the Watchers, still thinking both Buffy and Faith were alive, never bothered to try to locate her. If this "Lost Slayer" lived in some remote area, or tried to conceal the sudden changes she had just gone through, or was in a situation similar to Dana, where she would be constantly restrained and kept isolated, she might just remain so obcsure as to go completely unnoticed.
 
The Mayor also believed, in season 3, that killing Buffy back then would have activated a new slayer - He says it to angel when he was fakeing being bad!

The lost slayer theory is intresting. I always thought it could have been possible a new slayer was activated and the watchers council never told Buffy and Co. concidering when Faith went to sunnydale she went bad and Buffy eventually quit the council.
 
white avenger said:
There's an alternative theory that hasn't really been explored: When Buffy died in Season 5, the Sunnydale crew went to great lengths to conceal the fact, possibly so far as to keep the Watchers' Council out of the loop. Maybe there WAS another Slayer called somewhere, but the Watchers, still thinking both Buffy and Faith were alive, never bothered to try to locate her. If this "Lost Slayer" lived in some remote area, or tried to conceal the sudden changes she had just gone through, or was in a situation similar to Dana, where she would be constantly restrained and kept isolated, she might just remain so obcsure as to go completely unnoticed.
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The problem with that one is if canon is what Joss says it is then that theory can be proven false. Joss made comments saying another slayer can't be called from Buffy's death in Season 5. Here it is from the Television Critic’s Association press conference pre-Season 6.

JOSS WHEDON: It does not in fact. The line now runs through Faith.
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http://www.vampiresandslayers.com/buffy_2.htm

Pre-season 6 however is the last time I know of Joss made this claim.

BEG, you mean this one from Enemies right?

Mayor: Uck, eew, awful things, unsanitary. But my question is, now
that Faith has brought you back, what are your intentions?

Angel: Well, gee, sir, I thought I'd find that Slayer that's given
you so much trouble and torture, maim, and kill her.

Mayor: Fine! You know it's nice to see you're not one of those
slacker types running around town today. Torture Buffy. Killing
her's fine, just make it a slow one.

Angel: My favorite kind.

Mayor: Wonderful, wonderful. We don't want a replacement Slayer
anytime soon. They can't all turn out like my girl Faith.
(Faith smiles) Have fun.
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First of all, he's joking. Secondly this isn't the same thing as the First Evil telling Buffy another slayer will be called if she dies. It isn't mandatory the Mayor would know the mechanics of the slayer line. The only thing we know for sure he knows is there are 2 slayers. The First Evil however knows all intimate details of anyone who has ever died.
 
Although it does explain why some people, like me, would have been confused 😉 Plus I didn't roam the internet talking about Buffy till season six.
 
nerd4hire said:
The problem with that one is if canon is what Joss says it is then that theory can be proven false. Joss made comments saying another slayer can't be called from Buffy's death in Season 5.
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Yeah, and Joss said, or at least implied in Angel Season 5 that Buffy was living in Rome and dating the Immortal. The problem and at the same time the beauty of fictional characters in imaginary universes is that nothing has to be set in stone.
It can be changed to fit new plot twists.
 
I think I understand. So you mean you're not really talking of a theory of the way things might be at present, you're suggesting a possibility Joss might want to consider some time in the future if he decides to alter present canon.
 
I think it's all Joss' creation, and he's already proven that he does things his way, even if the fans are shocked and dismayed by the results (things like the deaths of Jenny Calendar, Doyle, and Cordy come to mind), and if he suddenly wanted to pull a new Slayer out've the woodwork, even if given the current situation of having literaly thousands of them scurrying around it would seem somewhat redundant, he wouldn't hesitate to do so. The man's sadistic that way. You just never know what evil he'll bring out next.
 
Another good example of Joss breaking his own rules might be him saying before season 6 the line could only pass through Faith, then in Season 7 suggesting the idea the line passed through Buffy now, and even outright contradicting himself by passing the line in a manner other than following the death of Faith.

Nevertheless, in my opinion Canon is what Joss says it is, until Joss says it isn't, and for the present Joss says another slayer could not have been called as a result of Buffy's death in The Gift, because at that time the line was only passing through Faith.
 
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