Is there really a choice?

[Chasing Cordy]

In the final episode of BtVS we have Buffy making her speech to the potentials and she says something like, "Here's where you make a choice. What if you can have that power now...My power is your power"

Well, is there really a choice involved?
Suppose some girl stood up and said "I don't want this power" and leaves the home.
When Willow activates the scythe, isn't that girl still going to recieve the power?

Seems like there's only one thing (choice) and you don't have a say in it at any point if you are a potential.

So is "choice" really the right word?

 

[Schillaci]

Majority rules. I'm sure they had a vote. At that moment the Buffy regime went from dictatorship to democracy.

 

[Lyri]

to me, the choice isn't about receiving the power...we all see that EVERY potential became a slayer, even the crazy ones...the choice was to fight. they were all given that power, but it was up to each individual potential whether or not they weould use that power to help save the world.
i'm sure there were one or two potentials in Sunnydale who decided they didn't want to fight and just left.

 

[watcher1006]

Those who were present and accounted for in Buffy's army had the choice to make, a vote to cast over what to do next. But it appears that they were making a decision of sorts for whatever potentials may not have been there at the time. It's not clear how many potentials that may have involved, as the First had killed most of them off but it does appear that there were some, from the scenes around the world shown in "Chosen" and also from the episode "Damage" in Season 5 of Angel.

 

[Lyri]

The First killed of most of the known Potentials. those girls we saw in Chosen were probably not known to the Council before it was blown up. Dana DEFINETLY wasn't known to the Council. if she was she would have been taken out of that hospital and put somewhere the Council could look after her.
we don't know when exactly a girl becomes a Potential, or if they are a Potential from the moment they are born. if this is true, and they are, or were, Potentials their whole lives, then Dana definetly had a chance to become the Slayer before Buffy, or even Faith. if the Council knew about her, and about how crazy she became, they would have wanted to find a way to prevent her from being Called.

 

[watcher1006]

Whatever the situation was for the potentials living at the time, a choice was being made for all the potentials to come.

It is the nature of things that people living have to make choices for those yet to come.

 

[Angel's vision]

I wonder what actually happend to Dana after "damage" and why the council never knew of her, and that giving the potentials all that power would Buffy be further messing up the balence..?(pure speculation i'll except otherwise just putting forth a thought) cause Willow did when she raised Buffy from the dead giving the first opportunity to gain a foot hold.

I do believe the potentials had a choice as to wether or not to use their power but not wether they wanted to have the power fully ie become a slayer rather than a potential.

 

[Schillaci]

to me, the choice isn't about receiving the power...we all see that EVERY potential became a slayer, even the crazy ones...the choice was to fight. they were all given that power, but it was up to each individual potential whether or not they weould use that power to help save the world.
i'm sure there were one or two potentials in Sunnydale who decided they didn't want to fight and just left.

Sure, I understand the reasoning behind this way of thinking, but with what Buggy says, it suggests the choice is about recieving the power and not the about whether to fight.

BUFFY
So here's the part where you make a choice. What if you
could have that power"¦ now? In every generation one
Slayer is born because a bunch of men who died thousands
of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men.
She points at Willow, who smiles nervously.

Anywhichwaybutchoosing, freewill is just an illusion. Don't let them fool you!!!!!!!!!!


Edit: Oops, aw shucks, I think I'll just leave that slip in there...

 

[spuffy]

I think that they voted (the potentials) and probably most of them really wanted to gain the power that Buffy and Faith only had so instead of having two slayers and a Souled Vampire they had about 32 slayers and a souled vampire which really is alot better and a bigger shot to win

 

[Lyri]

i think there was a lot more potentials in Sunnydale than 32...closer to 50, i'd say. but maybe that's just me...?