Is Xander the "glue" or is it Giles?

T

Tucker's Cousin

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Was watching the commentary for Dirty Girls last week and Drew Goddard and Nick Brendon were talking about Xander being the "heart" of the scoobies and the "glue that holds them together". So that when he got his eye put out by Caleb, his no longer being able to function as "glue" lead to the gang falling apart and kicking Buffy out in Empty Places.

I just don't see it this way. While Xander is perhaps my favourite char, and I do consider him to be the "heart" of the group, I think it is Giles' wisdom, support, and guidance that holds them together, individually and as a group. It was when Giles left in season 6 that they all individually fell apart and also lost touch/faith with each other. In season 7 I think that the gulf between Buffy and Giles caused by Spike is what ultimately leads to her been forced from the group. I think the writers were very clever in creating this gulf because the ridiculous situation whereby everybody turned on Buffy would have been laughable if Giles had no reason to doubt her judgement.

Can you imagine the rest of the scoobies (hence the potentials) kicking Buffy out if she still had the support of Giles? Perhaps it is even because Giles doubts her that this doubt infects the rest of the group and they turn against her. Again, Giles is the "glue" holding the group together but against Buffy.
 
C
Cordelia
Great post, awesome comments.
M
Mulder22
[No message]
Personally, although i love xander, i think they just said he was the glue, the heart of buffys strength to satisfy xander fans because he didnt do anything else- i think it was giles- when did most problems occor with the scoobies, when did they all do stupid things that nearly led to end of the world- in series 6 when giles left and like whats said above when giles questioned buffy everyone did because giles is generally always right.
if anyone was Buffys strength it was giles, angel or willow- she hardly ever turned to xander in crisis, it was always one of the above until she turned away from them and had noone left but spike- i dont recall her ever confiding in xander or going to xander for help- at least not xander alone- sorry i rambled, and i know imgoing to get stick from xander fans for this lol
 
I don't know...I think agree with Xander as being considered the glue that holds them all together...because when Giles left they didn't fall apart, yes it may have gotten bad, but they were able to pull through...Giles lent his wisdom and giudance, but Xander was the heart...he was the one who kept their spirits up when it looked down, I think he was the one who kept them together...
 
i don't see how he did that, whenever anything really bad happened (appart from s6 with willow) noone turned to xander for help or turned to him to confide him, xander just eased the tension, apart from when he was causing it out of jealousy, with his jokes but that about it really, he was really brave though and a hero but i think the group would have functioned without him.
it didnt just go bad in s6, it went terrible, the scoobs where seperated, none talked to anyone about anything they all just went off on their own and tried to resolve their problems through magicks, sex or booze and look how well it turned out, if giles hadnt left none of that would have happened or if it did he would have had it fixed in a jiffy lol
 
Vampire slayer said:
i dont recall her ever confiding in xander or going to xander for help- at least not xander alone- sorry i rambled, and i know imgoing to get stick from xander fans for this lol
Click to expand...

She confided in him to take Dawn away at the end of S7 to look after Dawn


Vampire slayer said:
noone turned to xander for help or turned to him to confide him, xander just eased the tension, apart from when he was causing it out of jealousy, with his jokes but that about it really, he was really brave though and a hero but i think the group would have functioned without him.
Click to expand...

It could be argyed that easing the tension helped keep them together because it helped them temporarily get out of the raging emotions and take a breather and relax a bit. I think without Xander's joking there would of been a lot more big arguements.

As far as deciding who was more glue-like I won't make a choice as I like this fence im sitting on
 
Xander was the only one without 'super' powers or supernatural talents. That always made him the bravest in my eyes. As to the glue that held them together both Xander and Giles provide that and also balance. Take away one and you have trouble, take away both and disaster is just around the corner. Thing is Xander didn't ultimately quit on them, neither did Giles. In the end they still had a strong bond but all the pain they went through also left scars and I'm not just talking about the lost eye. They all at some point or other experiances dissapointment and even betrayal from those close to them.
 
Things absolutely fell apart when Giles wasn't there. Dark Willow would've murdered everyone if not for magically-empowered Giles timely intervention. That isn't to say that Giles is definitely the glue. Any system, missing a vital component will fall apart. Skin and bones hold our bodies together, but we wouldn't do well missing our hearts or our central nervous system, you dig?
 
Quite interesting discussion..

Tucker's Cousin said:
Can you imagine the rest of the scoobies (hence the potentials) kicking Buffy out if she still had the support of Giles? Perhaps it is even because Giles doubts her that this doubt infects the rest of the group and they turn against her.
Click to expand...
No I can't imagine them kicking Buffy out if Giles would have supporter her. But, I wouldn't have been able to imagine Willow or Xander doing that either before I saw it (I still think it's unbelievable and weird).

I pretty much agree with WatcherWes. Xander and Giles are both really important but not in the same way. They work very different but both of them keep the group together.
 
I watched the commentary last night and I think you either misunderstood what they said or decided to change it. They described him as the "backbone", something that was ever there but if disturbed it could cause the rest of the structure (the group) to fracture. So while they did fall apart with Giles gone Xander is the backbone as he has always been there and thats how he helps hold the group together.
 
To my eye, Xander was always the guy who gave Buffy his unqualified support. He delivered needed support at critical times, often at the risk of his own life...like in Becoming 2, when he refuses to let Buffy go alone. That frees her up to battle Angel without the worry of Giles' wellbeing. In "Into the Woods" Xander gives a crucial speech to Buffy about relationships that crystalllizes her decision to go to Riley. She's too late, but he did what needed to be done. I'm not dismissing Giles as critical to the group's success. Far from it. But it could be said, Xander is the glue, but without Giles to supply the framework, even the glue is not enough to hold the group together.
 
i really think xander is indeed the heart of the group. he's the one giving strength to everyone else, the one bringing up smiles even when things look grim. he lacks any supernatural ability and yet he is there, fighting, making the world a better place. he's the most good-hearted person among them (and i realize he had his slips), he is a source of strength, relief and inspiration to them all. after all, the guy saved the world with his heart, how many could pull that off? 😉
giles is the father (buffy's in particular), he is the guide, the brain, the adult, the responsible and reasonable. he is the one they all look up to. but he is not the one holding them all together.

and this may be a side-observation, but have you noticed how whenever the three hug, xander is always shot standing between buffy and willow, hugging them both.
 
I was never questioning how big-hearted Xander was. I think he's an inspiration to us all not just the characters around him. And in that respect he defintitely does his part in keeping the group together. Each character plays their own part.

I was merely observing that, to me, if you were going to pick one character to say "It's he/she that holds it all together. When they aren't in the equation they all fall apart," about then that would be Giles. And that was amply displayed when he returned to England in season 6 and when the rift between him and Buffy over Spike forced him to the outer in season 7.

I have thought since though that I guess it's hard to say with the others since Buffy & Will were in every ep and Xander only missed one so...
 
that's why you really can't judge by character's absence. that's why, on account of everything we've come to understand from the show, in my opinion, that title goes to xander.
 
I do think that Xander is the glue in the Scooby group, he was the one that kind of brought them all together in the first place. And when he left for awhile after gradutation, the scooby gang kind of dismantled a lot more. Each of them were off in their old little worlds, but when Xander came back, all of them started to hang out with each other more often.
 
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