If Joyce Hadn't Died...

[white avenger]

I know that Joyce died in Season 5, not Season 6, but the question pertains to the show as we see it at the beginning of Season 6, hence it being posted here)

Assuming that Joyce had recovered from her surgery, do you think that she would have gone along with using the Buffy-bot in order to hide her daughter's death? And, if she had (or hadn't, your choice) how do you think that it would have affected the summer between the seasons and Season 6?

Personally, I believe that Joyce would have gone along, reluctantly at first, but considering that having the Slayer patrolling the hellmouth was vital at that particular time, plus the fact that the only other Slayer was in prison, she would have seen the necessity and gone along with the charade.

Also, assuming that she did go along with the plan, I don't think that either Willow and Tara or Giles would have moved in with her. There is the possibility, however, and bear in mind here that I am saying possibility, not probability, that she would have invited Spike to stay in her cellar rather than live alone and grieve for Buffy the way that he obviously actually did. If invited, I believe that Spike would have accepted, for exactly the same reason that he was so adamant about not leaving Dawn alone. He would feel that it was his duty to honor his promise to protect dawn and Joyce. (Giles would have probably protested, and Joyce would have told him to go polish his glasses somewhere else, it was her house, and she would invite whoever she damn well pleased) Once Buffy returned, he would probably have stayed a few days or weeks, until he was sure that Buffy was going to be okay, then returned to his old crypt.

 

[sisterofmercy]

No, I think it would have been far too painful for the Buffybot to be around her after Buffy's death. I think the Scoobies would use it for patrolling but try and stop Joyce from ever finding out. I think she'd probably be a bit horrified to know that her friends had effectively replaced their daughter with a robot. Even though it was for the best slayer-wise, I think as a mother she wouldn't have been happy about it.

 

[BuffyElevated]

If Joyce hadn't died, I think the show would have been a LOT different. First of all, I highly doubt she would have let them use the Buffybot to cover up Buffy's death. I think it would have been far to painful for her, and she wouldn't have needed to do that anyway, since Joyce would have been there to take care of Dawn.
Another thing is that it would probably have meant that the Scoobies wouldn't have used the Summers house as their base point and Tara and Willow and all those Potentials wouldn't have moved in during Season 7. I mean, it might have still happened the same way; I can see Joyce doing things like baking cookies and things and taking care of the girls when they got injured.

 

[VisionGirl]

I agree that I do NOT think Joyce would have been happy about the use (or even existence of) the Buffybot. I am not sure that she would have even stayed in town, I can picture her moving from the place that killed her daughter! But if she had stayed, I could see her hosting the Potentials & sharing Buffy's sense of responsibility for them. I'm not really sure how she would have fit in with that whole world though, even after she knew & accepted Buffy's chosen status, she didn't really participate in all that. I mean, look at Joyce coming to Angel in The Prom, still thinking that Buffy could have some kind of normal life. She wasn't like Jenny (who I use as a comparison since she is the only other "older" woman), who had some kind of link to the supernatural world.

 

[Gum Gnome33]

Interesting to read these responses-- I have to say that I agree, 100%, with WA. I think Joyce would have (at first reluctantly) agreed to the Buffybot, for several reasons.

1.Given what we know about Joyce, she really is one to "go with the flow, " you know? She gets a lot of flack on the boards, in fact, for this very characteristic. When Joyce "doesn't like the idea" of something, she throws her hands up and sighs, but that's about the extent to which she usually protests. I can imagine, having just lost her daughter, she would be even weaker, more removed emotionally, and willing to let Giles and the scoobies do what they think is best. So long as she doesn't have to interact with the 'bot. I can imagine, for starters, they might not want to keep the 'bot in the Summers' house--maybe it'd stay with Willow.

2.Other characters who loved Buffy and lost her were willing to interact with the Buffybot. It must have been incredibly painful for them to do so, but they didn't know what else to do. Giles, Spike, and Dawn loved Buffy tremendously, if differently, and when she died they did not think for a moment that she would be brought back. So, I think it's perfectly reasonable to assume that Joyce would have gone through the same process, emotionally and logically speaking, which would have led her to accept the 'bot, as the others did.

As for letting Spike stay with her? Certainly we have plenty of canonic examples in which she enjoys Spike's company and it makes a lot of sense that she'd want him around, given that he loved her daughter and the two of them could remember her together. Moreover, Spike was absolutely determined to take care of Dawn, "'til the end of the world," and I can't imagine that Joyce wouldn't have, not only greatly appreciated that fact, but also done everything she could to facilitate Spike's protection of Dawn. After all, who could do it as well and as passionately as Spike?

 

[white avenger]

I highly doubt she would have let them use the Buffybot to cover up Buffy's death. I think it would have been far to painful for her, and she wouldn't have needed to do that anyway, since Joyce would have been there to take care of Dawn.

Agreed, having the bot around would have been painful for Joyce, probably more so than any of the others, with the exceptions of Dawn and Spike. But, being the sort of person that she was, I think that she wouldn't have been too hard to convince of the necessity of having the Slayer's presence there over the hellmouth. (Witness the demon motorcycle gang's fear of going there as long as they believed that she actually was still there) They needed a Slayer, and the only other one was incarcerated and therefore unavailable. Therefore, they had to do the best that they could with what they had.

And speaking of Faith, though I'm certain that Joyce had some extremely unpleasant memories of her, I think that, once it was pointed out that the instant the Watchers' Council found out about Buffy's death, Faith's own life would be at the very least in great danger, she would have gone along with the plan, rather than be even partially instrumental in the death of another young girl. Remember, the Watchers wanted a Slayer, under their control, going about the business of fighting the vampires and demons of the world. Granted, Buffy was far from being under their control, but she was doing, as far as they knew, an excellent job in the demon fighting department. As long as she was doing so, it was easier to pretty much ignore Faith. No Buffy, however, and they would have almost certainly seen to Faith's death, in the hopes of having a more tractable Slayer in the next girl called. A living and breathing Buffy was Faith's "life assurance policy." A dead Buffy was her death sentence.

 

[Ripper666]

If Joyced hadn`t died the hole story would have been different. more peacefull i think. But with some more (different)monsters