Removing the Chip - Right/Wrong?

[AgentX7k]

Ah k, yeh it was pretty much on the cusp, the chip is removed and about 3 eps later they are trying ways to get into his head.

 

[Tranquillity]

"You can't beat evil by doing evil" - I love it when Buffy says that in defence of her decision to allow the chip to be removed. That sums it up for me.

 

[BuffyKickAss09]

I think he proved himself to be a very valuble member of the group so i think it was a great idea, they needed a champion and they got one. Fair enough they might of not of been happy with the decision but they've grown up to make their own decisions who agrees??

 

[palabravampiress]

I think it was the right thing to do. I mean, not only was it important to the plot (as WA indicated earlier), but as many have said, it was a muzzle. The trigger certainly complicated things, but I don't think the chip was *ever* right. In fact, a good portion of Season 4 was spent setting up the idea that the methods of the Initiative were wrong. The chip took away Spike's ability to feed himself. Once he adapted and established an alternative diet, the chip took away Spike's ability to adequately defend himself from attack (see the end of Entropy for an example). later, in season 7, the chip started to malfunction and cause him extreme pain and suffering (not to mention probable brain damage). The chip turned him into a puppet every bit as much as the trigger did. The chip was a faulty, foreign piece of human technology shoved into an unwilling creature's brain. There is nothing right about the chip. The only right thing to do was to remove it -- even if Spike had been soulless at the time and had had to have been put down, it would have been better to allow him to go out fighting and in his natural, whole state than as a helpless puppet to long dead scientists with a thing for playing God.

 

[LadyLavinia]

I think it was the right thing to do. I mean, not only was it important to the plot (as WA indicated earlier), but as many have said, it was a muzzle. The trigger certainly complicated things, but I don't think the chip was *ever* right. In fact, a good portion of Season 4 was spent setting up the idea that the methods of the Initiative were wrong. The chip took away Spike's ability to feed himself. Once he adapted and established an alternative diet, the chip took away Spike's ability to adequately defend himself from attack (see the end of Entropy for an example). later, in season 7, the chip started to malfunction and cause him extreme pain and suffering (not to mention probable brain damage). The chip turned him into a puppet every bit as much as the trigger did. The chip was a faulty, foreign piece of human technology shoved into an unwilling creature's brain. There is nothing right about the chip. The only right thing to do was to remove it -- even if Spike had been soulless at the time and had had to have been put down, it would have been better to allow him to go out fighting and in his natural, whole state than as a helpless puppet to long dead scientists with a thing for playing God.

And I say amen to that!

 

[zoelee]

i dont that removing the chip was a bad idea. she needed him, she made a choice. as buffy says that he is the strongest fighter they had. he did have a soul, he didnt need the chip any more, it was let him die or save him, she saved him because it was the right thing to do.

 

[CordyCat]

The whole Spike/Buffy thing is just a mishap from the writers, who had gone insane at the time from writer's block. That is why they got them together.

 

[AgentX7k]

as buffy says that he is the strongest fighter they had. he did have a soul, he didnt need the chip any more, it was let him die or save him, she saved him because it was the right thing to do.

He is their strongest warrior, but they didn't need him to fight humans, until Caleb but they couldn't have foreseen that and Spike didn't have any effect against him.

And the fact he is their strongest warrior actually is a reason to keep the chip in, considering the damage he can do under The Firsts thrall, only Buffy could stop him. And I think he still needed the chip until the trigger was removed because the soul did nothing. Plus she didn't need to let him die, they offered the chance to repair it.

 

[IdiotJed]

I don't really have a passionate opinion about this one but I see both sides of the argument. If you throw philosophy and whatnot aside, i.e. it isn't right, he's wearing a muzzle, you have to look at the mechanics of it all. Yes, the chip was malfunctioning, however a new one wouldn't have had the same problems, at least not right away. Buffy's job was protecting the potientials and yet, Spike was a loose cannon living under the same roof as them. A new one may have prevented Spike from doing harm to the girls, as it could've been a protective barrier. On the flipside, to progress his story, the chip needed to come out to make him a character worthy of saving the world. A chipped Spike saving humanity wouldn't have had the same effect on the ending of the show as opposed to an unchipped Spike learning what it means to actually have a soul. So, for all intents and purposes, she made the right decision, but you have to understand people's concerns.

 

[zoelee]

That's not what I was saying at all. I was merely pointing out that he isn't necessarily safe just because he has a soul. Obviously, it's a major consideration, but it's not at all definative like people were making out it was.

i agree, just coz he had a soul dont mean he couldnt have turned, look at angel when faith and he went bk in tim ein his mind angel did thing even with a soul like feeding off a human in a coffee shop.

but then sayin that buffy probably didnt know the risk as angel would never had told her. sometimes u have to take the risk.
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He is their strongest warrior, but they didn't need him to fight humans, until Caleb but they couldn't have foreseen that and Spike didn't have any effect against him.

i get that but willow had told giles that she had seen the hellmouth and its teeth and buffy had dreams, she knew something was gonna happen. spike maynot have been needed like that but he would of done if she needed him to protect dawn.