Slayers And Their Watchers

[white avenger]

Throughout the entire series, whenever the typical relationship between Slayers and their Watchers has been mentioned, it's beet to point out how unique Buffy and Giles are because the genuinely care each other. But, have we been dealing too harshly with all of those unknown Watchers? The only Watchers that we have seen or know about, namely, Merrik, Buffy's first Watcher, Wesley, and, of course, Giles, all seem to be genuinely concerned with the welfare of their Slayer, and from what little we know about Nikki Wood's Watcher, Crowley, and Faith's nameless Watcher, they also seemed to have good relationships with their Slayers, even to the point that Crowley raised Nikki's orphaned son.

So, my question is, have we been giving the Watchers a raw deal here? Certainly, the Watchers' Council seems to treat the Slayers pretty much like so much raw meat, but I've noticed that they do pretty much the same thing with the Watchers. Maybe Buffy's close relationship with Giles isn't as atypical as we've been thinking that it was.

 

[Black Eye Guy]

Yeah I think so. I think its the council are asshats, but the individual watchers are nicer, once they actually train with the girls, similar to what happened with Wesley.

In tales of the Slayers there are a number of positive Slayer/Watcher relationships.

And when Buffy asked about why the Watchers Diaries are so details-light, Giles says that he would think it'd be to painful a subject to properly write about, which implies the other watchers do care for their slayer like Giles did.

 

[Blaze]

I do believe that almost every single watcher cares about his slayer (unless they are heartless). I think the problem arises when the Council realize that the affection is to the point where they are too worried for the slayers safety that they prevent them from fighting or performing to the best of their ability in fear that they will get hurt in a fight. AKA how Giles got fired.

So yes, the Council is just a bunch of a-holes. The way they see it, it doesn't matter if the slayer dies since they'll get a brand new one. To them the slayer should be part of every single fight against evil even if she's not up for it. If the watcher stands in the way and says the slayer isn't ready, that's when it becomes a problem.

I think that was the only difference with Giles and Buffy's relationship. He was standing in the way too much according to the Council. After all, he really was kind of Buffy's dad.

 

[Taake]

Yes. Which is why I love the varied explorations of Slayers and their Watchers in "Tales of the Slayers" ... some are as tender, or even more tender than Giles (Kit comes to mind here, the watcher of the slayer activated before Buffy) and some considerably colder and more closely knit to the Watcher's council.

It's a very interesting dynamic - Slayer and Watcher - and since we have a limited amount of them on the show I am very thankful we have gotten some books in the side to see more situations and possibilities as to how those relationships can look.

Personally I think the majority of Watchers were very fond of their Slayers, just as Giles implies (as BEG answers) about the abruptness of how they cease to write about their Slayer's final battle and end because it's simply too painful to them. This is also suggested by the fact that there are more or less always a new watcher to a new slayer... suggestive of the fact that it's too painful for an old watcher, who has lost his charge, to move on to a new one.