Missing Piece from Speech and What It Could Mean for the Slayer Line

[prophecys]

Buffy thought Angel was human early S1

Spike & Angel thought Buffy was in Rome

Buffy thinks Spike is dead (or she did for a while)

Giles thought Angel was evil again in AS5

Xander thought Willow was straight

Wes thought his father visited him in LA

Giles thought Jenny was an average Pagan

Cordy thought Doyle was pure human

First off, this contradicts the whole point. How is this even relevant to my statement? This has nothing to do with the actual fictional science involving the Buffyverse toward the way the Slayer line is kept intact through Buffy and/or Faith and my discovery. Stick to the topic.

 

[Harley]

But, in regards to that bolded line, Buffy IS wrong.

At the end of Season 2, Kendra dies, and Faith is called. Buffy didn't die at the end of Season 2. So therefore, both Slayers do NOT need to die in order for another to be called. Whether or not Buffy's second death made a difference, whether or not a third death could bring about another Slayer doesn't matter. If Faith dies, all by herself, another Slayer will be called because that is how it worked for Kendra.

I think thats a really good and important example, yet it seems to be overlooked! 😉

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

I think thats a really good and important example, yet it seems to be overlooked! 😉

But then what was this S7 exchange all about?

BELJOXA'S EYE
The eye sees not the future, only the truth of the now and before.

ANYA
Yes, we've all got that"”it's called memory. Can you help us out with something a little bit more demony?

GILES
If The First has been around for all time, then why hasn't it attempted something like this before? Why now?

BELJOXA'S EYE
The opportunity has only recently presented itself.

GILES
Opportunity?

BELJOXA'S EYE
The mystical forces surrounding the chosen line have become irrevocably altered, become unstable, vulnerable.

ANYA
Something The First did?

BELJOXA'S EYE
The First Evil did not cause the disruption, only seized upon it to extinguish the lives of the chosen forever.

GILES
Then what has caused the disruption? What"”what is responsible for letting this happen?

BELJOXA'S EYE
The slayer.

It can't refer to the breaking of the line in S1, because that's not recent. The First has been poking around in Sunnydale since then (S4 Amends), and it never tried anything. The only other thing we know significantly changed a Slayer was Buffy's ressurection in Bargaining, where she came back different on both a cellular and mystical level.

So Buffy may not in fact be wrong. As far as we know, no inactive Slayer has ever had their body entirerly rebuilt by magic and their soul re-implanted from death.

Buffy went from Potential, to Slayer, to dead, to Inactive Slayer, to dead...then what? Was she re-inserted into the Slayer line? We know she had her Slayer powers, so she certainly re-claimed some of the magic that she should have passed on twice now. So, the "no-one was called after The Gift" example doesn't really hold as much water come S7, because that was before the only fundimental change in the Slayer line we've seen since Kendra was called. It seems that the writers were hinting towards something different.


But, again, how Buffy would know this is a mystery. That might be why it was removed - assuming the writers were correct in stating it.

 

[Harley]

But then what was this S7 exchange all about?

My only assumption is that it's still wrong for both slayers to be alive. But the line that implies both Buffy and Faith have to die for another slayer is wrong, as is proven by the fact that just Kendra had to die for Faith to be called.

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

My only assumption is that it's still wrong for both slayers to be alive. But the line that implies both Buffy and Faith have to die for another slayer is wrong, as is proven by the fact that just Kendra had to die for Faith to be called.

But then it was just as wrong in Season 2 for Kendra and Buffy to be alive. Why did the First not start killing Potentials then? Why wait for the Slayers to become much, much stronger and more experienced? And what was the "The mystical forces surrounding the chosen line have become irrevocably altered, become unstable, vulnerable." line about?

 

[Harley]

But then it was just as wrong in Season 2 for Kendra and Buffy to be alive. Why did the First not start killing Potentials then? Why wait for the Slayers to become much, much stronger and more experienced? And what was the "The mystical forces surrounding the chosen line have become irrevocably altered, become unstable, vulnerable." line about?

How long was Kendra a slayer for? Like....a month? Faith was a slayer for like 4-ish years. I'm sure destroying the entire Slayer line takes a little time to set up. The First had to wait for the perfect time to present itself. Plus it probably knew that Kendra was going to die quickly. And whose to say The First didn't set up Dru killing her anyway?

 

[Kanazaka]

I agree with those who have suggested that Willow's resurrection magic altered the Slayer line in ways that "normal" resurrections could not. Here's my version of the timeline:

1. Season 1: The Master kills Buffy, but Xander revives her. She was technically dead, but Xander revived her through natural means (i.e. mouth-to-mouth resuscitation). And he was able to revive her because she was not definitively dead, only momentarily lifeless. I'm not enough of a medical expert to know the logic behind the circumstances when someone can revive a "dead" person, but this was one of those circumstances.

2. Season 2: Kendra arrives, signifying that The Powers that Be (or whomever controls the Slayer line) believed that Buffy was "dead" long enough for he/she/them to call the new Slayer. Drusilla kills Kendra.

3. Season 3: Faith arrives, signifying that only the previous Slayer needs to die in order for a new Slayer to be called. In this case, the previous Slayer was Kendra. So, the Slayer line has been Buffy - Kendra - Faith.

4. Season 5: Buffy swan-dives into a mystical portal, and dies.

5. Season 6: Willow revives Buffy through mystical means. No new Slayer appears, because Faith is still alive (and, at the time, in prison). It has already been established that the Slayer line runs through Buffy, but that in order for a new Slayer to be called, Faith would have to die. Buffy nearly dies at the end of the season, and might have died if Willow didn't remove Warren's bullet from her body. However, this near-death isn't the same as the momentary death from Season 1.

6. Season 7: The First attempts to kill all of the Potentials in order to permanently erase the Slayer line. Notably, the First doesn't attempt to kill Faith while she is in jail, because if it did so, a new Slayer would be called. So, Faith is likely an active Slayer. Depending on your point of view, Buffy is the true Slayer, Faith is the true Slayer, or--because of a cosmic mishap/loophole--Buffy and Faith are co-Slayers. If you believe the last option, then yes, Buffy and Faith would both have to die for a new Slayer to be called. But that's only if you believe that--in the overall cosmic scheme--Buffy and Faith are the singular Slayer, equally sharing the Slayer power and technically a singular entity while literally being two individuals. But if you believe that Faith is the most recent slayer in the Buffy - Kendra - Faith timeline, then only Faith would have to die for a new slayer to be called. If you believe that Buffy is the true Slayer, then why would he/she/them have called Kendra, and then, when Kendra died, called Faith? Wouldn't the PTB have realized they made a mistake and not called a Slayer to replace Kendra? Therefore, the PTB decided to not interfere with the anomaly of Buffy (prior Slayer) co-existing with Faith (current Slayer). However, there must be some rule that says that you can't defy nature and revive a Slayer through mystical methods. Willow did this, and the Potentials paid the price. It remains to be seen what will result due to Willow's scythe magic. Are all of the Potentials now "true Slayers", or do they just possess "Slayer power"? If my logic is correct, we won't know that until Faith dies, either through natural or mystical means.