Should dawn have died in "chosen"

[Wesley Pryce]

I actually like Dawn unlike some people,however i can't help but find it EXTREMELY unrealistic that she would have survived the final major fight in "Chosen". Given that even Anya didn't survive,a 1000 years of fighting experience even if she didn't fight very often,and given that Anya was quite bigger than Dawn i find this difficult to accept. I'm not saying she should've died exactly but one of two things should've happened. Either she should have stayed away(not been in the fight) or she should have fought and died,once again i say this without even the SLIGHTEST dislike for Dawn,but it just seems realistic that if she were to fight in a battle of this magnitude that with help or no help she sadly wouldn't get out of there alive. Agree?🙂

 

[janas]

I believe that Dawn represents the human side of Buffy (the side non-slayer)
So, she *have* to live.

 

[janas]

We are talking at different levels, at least I think. I'm sorry, you talk about physical strength? (your reference to Anya) Rationally your assumptions are right, but I think that they chose not to kill Dawn for the reason that I mentioned in the post. Dawn has to live, because it represents what Buffy (to grow) has to become. I always saw Dawn and Connor as if they were the same character (symbolically, of course). Both are part of the "human side" of the two protagonists, and for this they have to live, at least until Buffy and Angel, they also do become human. Namely free from their roles slayer and vampire.

If Dawn die, die also an important part of Buffy. I am reminded of "Normal again" where Buffy kills all to "kill" what she believes is a delirium (her life in Sunnydale), but in that episode is not yet the time to take the leap, Buffy must still live in this imaginary world, because her has yet to grow, until it is finally free to live in the real world. At that point, Dawn will die.. maybe back to being what she was originally. Mystical energy. Have you read the season nine? The last arc was centered on Dawn and what happens in a world without magic.

I'm sorry, I know that my thoughts may seem confusing, to use a euphemism, but I don't know how to explain it better than that, and of course, these are just my speculations. You are free to ignore it.

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

I don't think she should have died. In a way, like [MENTION=10426]janas[/MENTION] said, she represents a part of Buffy herself, and for Dawn to die, it would have been part of Buffy dying.

 

[Blaze]

[MENTION=10426]janas[/MENTION], I love your answer, I think it's pretty spot on with what the writers are/were trying to do.

As for the big battle, let's be honest here, it wasn't the most logical battle, every one should have died if the amulet miracle didn't happen. Dawn just survived long enough to see it happen, if it would have kept going, she would have died, like everyone else.

 

[Lyri]

I agree with [MENTION=10426]janas[/MENTION] SO much.

Dawn is Buffy's humanity. If she dies, so does Buffy, at least emotionally. If there's no Dawn, Buffy has nothing left to fight for because she has nothing left to lose.

'Chosen' was supposed to be a hopeful ending, showing Buffy that, yes, there is life after Sunnydale, there are others out there like her, she's free to be who she wants. Of course, the comics pissed all over that, but that's not the point. If Dawn had died in the school, that hopefulness is taken away, Buffy would be done, she'd have nothing left because Dawn - as was shown a lot in the show - is her everything.

Also, using Anya's death as 'proof' that Dawn should have also died is wrong, in my opinion. Anya might have been a thousand years old and had the experience of fighting as a demon, but she was completely human in this episode and she also didn't have eyes in the back of her head. She was taken by surprise, run though by a blade from behind by an attacker that she didn't and couldn't have seen coming. It's happened to the best fighters in this verse over the course of the eight TV years, including Buffy herself, more than once. In fact, it happened to Buffy in this very episode. The Bringer was just lucky that it managed to deliver a fatal blow to Anya, whereas the Uber-Vamp missed anything vital when it came to Buffy. Skill and competency in fighting is completely nullified when a fighter is taken by surprise from behind by an attacker they couldn't see.

There were other humans in this episode who also should have died if this is the criteria we're using, namely Xander and Andrew. Just because the three of them were lucky and skilled enough escape with their lives doesn't mean that that's 'wrong'.

Also, we've seen Dawn fighting before. She's not incompetent. She's actually very skillful and knowledgeable. She was able to study Buffy's moves and mimic her exactly, minus the skill and strength Buffy has because she's a Slayer. Dawn had been training with Buffy for months, before that was knocked on the head thanks to the Potential problem. She's not weak.

 

[buffffy]

Anya died because she threw herself in front of Andrew.
We didn't see much of Dawn fighting, so I'd assume that Xander did most of the fighting to protect Dawn.