So what happened to potentials who were never called (pre-Chosen)

[YummySushiPJs]

I read a post that mentioned Kendra had been raised and trained by her watcher her whole life. I suspect there were many other potential slayers who were also trained by watchers from a young age.

At what point did they "give up" on being a slayer? When they were 25? 40? Or did they have to keep training their whole life? The montage in Chosen only shows teenage girls being activated, as well as the fact that the only "potentials" brought to the house in season 7 are teenagers. So who decides when someone is too old to be a slayer?

And more importantly - what happens to them? They have lived a life being educated about vampires and demons, probably at the expense of school work and a social life. Are they then just "dumped" back into real life and expected to get on with it despite being horribly disadvantaged?

And isn't the whole slayer thing, not to mention vampires etc, supposed to be like, a secret? But in every generation there's hundreds of girls who are told about this and then go on to never become the slayer and just lead ordinary lives where they get married, get jobs etc, and we're supposed to believe none of them ever tell anybody about this whole secret mythology in the world?

 

[Taake]

It seemed to me that Kennedy was already starting to feel "too old" to be Chosen as the Slayer and what was she like 19-20?
So I think they would give up somewhere after 20 probably, maybe become watchers? Or special ops or something for the Watcher's Council.

And some of them would probably go on to lead normal lives, I imagine it would be something akin for people growing up in cults and then getting out. You have to learn how to function in society but it's not impossible to do so 🙂

That no one ever told... doubt it. I'm sure plenty of them would have, and most would probably have been thought kind of crazy 😉 Since they're not Slayers they can't prove the lore, though I suppose they could prove the existence of demons and witchcraft (if they learned magic), maybe some of them did just that, i.e. become witches instead?

 

[YummySushiPJs]

That no one ever told... doubt it. I'm sure plenty of them would have, and most would probably have been thought kind of crazy 😉 Since they're not Slayers they can't prove the lore, though I suppose they could prove the existence of demons and witchcraft (if they learned magic), maybe some of them did just that, i.e. become witches instead?

Yeah I imagine so. It wasn't so much that nobody told that I found unrealistic. More that word didn't get out and become common knowledge. As you said, some of them would probably have been thought to be kind of crazy. But lots of women talking about this, over hundreds of decades, word would get out and become, at the very least, a well known urban legend or conspiracy theory, and I personally suspect something more like The Mafia, that everybody knows exists but simply most people don't think about it.

 

[adzpower]

I suspect the ones that had training and knew of the slayer gave up around 20-25?
I think that every girl chosen was the best possible girl, I doubt it was random, I think every time a new slayer died the power or the inner demon had some kind of way to detect the best possible girl for it to go to. So, at the time Buffy died and Kendra was activated, the power looked for the best possible potential around to go to and ended up with Kendra, so I think she was the most gifted potential at the time, and then when she died it was Faith who had the most "potential".
I would hazard a guess that around 25 watchers would leave their potentials and be given a new girl to train.

 

[white avenger]

I can't see the Watchers, after spending a considerable amount of time and expense raising and training these girls, would just at some point pat them on the head, say something like, "Sorry, sweetie, you missed the prize. Go have a normal life now, and remember, mum's the word about everything you've been learning for the last ten years or so." They would probably keep them on as Watcher personnel in some of those "tactical" teams that Travers mentioned just before Caleb blew up Watchers' Central. The Watchers seemed to be a largely male dominated organization, but that doesn't rule out keeping women around for menial jobs, cannon fodder or secretarial work.

 

[Lyri]

I had always assumed that the 'age limit' for Slayer was 18, given the Crucimentium. The Slayer is supposed to face that on her 18th birthday, if she reached that age. Since it was such an important test for a Slayer to go through, I always thought that meant that a Potential could not be Called after her 18th birthday, that it was actually impossible in the 'normal' running of the Slayer line. Kennedy's line could mean that her Watcher had died before he could tell her this, or that she was just shy of her 18th birthday in S7.

As for what they did with the girls who were never Called, they probably would have found a use for them somewhere. These are girls, like Kendra, Kennedy, Vi, who have been in training, learning to fight and use deadly weapons, since they were young children. I'm sure some of them would have found jobs as Watchers themselves, better to teach and pass on what they learned that male Watchers. Some of them might have been use as under cover operatives, or, as @white avenger pointed out, in a male dominated world like the Council, as secretaries or housekeeping staff.

But lets not forget that these are people who care capable of suppressing the power of the Slayer completely, who access to what was probably the largest collection of spells and magic ever collected. They could have just took away the memories of the girls they found no use for.

Or, in a worst case scenario, they just sent a team to kill the girls. They're no use to them, they have no family, for the most part, and they won't be missed. It's quite possible that they just eliminated them completely so that they didn't have to deal with them.

 

[EVIL UU]

At what point did they "give up" on being a slayer?

Anaheed mentions being 30 in season 9, that would make her, what, 26-27 when she was activated? Actually older than Buffy. Now, of course, Anaheed might be lying about her age but I don't know, maybe it's a clue? And also, damn! Imagine, you're a 27 year old woman, with a life and plans and experience and suddenly - screw you! Join a teenage army, fight evil. Surreal. I once read this article about a researcher, a sociologist, woman in her late 20s who was interested in studying teenagers and their culture. So basically, she went back to high school for a year pretending to be a teenager - going to school, dressing like a teenager, hanging out with her classmates after classes, going to parties - the full package. The experience must have felt similar to those older slayers who joined Buffy's army.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

I once read this article about a researcher, a sociologist, woman in her late 20s who was interested in studying teenagers and their culture. So basically, she went back to high school for a year pretending to be a teenager - going to school, dressing like a teenager, hanging out with her classmates after classes, going to parties - the full package.

Was her name Josie Geller? Did her brother help her make a fake ID?

 

[bespangeled]

I suspect the ones that had training and knew of the slayer gave up around 20-25?
I think that every girl chosen was the best possible girl, I doubt it was random, I think every time a new slayer died the power or the inner demon had some kind of way to detect the best possible girl for it to go to. So, at the time Buffy died and Kendra was activated, the power looked for the best possible potential around to go to and ended up with Kendra, so I think she was the most gifted potential at the time, and then when she died it was Faith who had the most "potential".
I would hazard a guess that around 25 watchers would leave their potentials and be given a new girl to train.

If this is true - and I like the thought that the demon knows - then why can't a slayer just quit? Why can't the demon chose another slayer if the slayer becomes - say a mother of a kid and does not want to risk death anymore? 

I can't see the Watchers, after spending a considerable amount of time and expense raising and training these girls, would just at some point pat them on the head, say something like, "Sorry, sweetie, you missed the prize. Go have a normal life now, and remember, mum's the word about everything you've been learning for the last ten years or so." They would probably keep them on as Watcher personnel in some of those "tactical" teams that Travers mentioned just before Caleb blew up Watchers' Central. The Watchers seemed to be a largely male dominated organization, but that doesn't rule out keeping women around for menial jobs, cannon fodder or secretarial work.

Now we know where Lydia came from, and how she knew all about WtB! 😀

 

[white avenger]

If this is true - and I like the thought that the demon knows - then why can't a slayer just quit? Why can't the demon chose another slayer if the slayer becomes - say a mother of a kid and does not want to risk death anymore?

Apparently it's a permanent arrangement, and once the bond is made, the Potential and the demon essence become the Slayer, so that not even death parts them. Otherwise, Buffy would have been resurrected in Season 6 as just a normal girl. The chances of a Slayer being able to walk away from the fight after Season 7 are better, given that there are other Slayers to take up the slack, but what makes her tha Slayer never leaves.

 

[bespangeled]

Apparently it's a permanent arrangement, and once the bond is made, the Potential and the demon essence become the Slayer, so that not even death parts them. Otherwise, Buffy would have been resurrected in Season 6 as just a normal girl. The chances of a Slayer being able to walk away from the fight after Season 7 are better, given that there are other Slayers to take up the slack, but what makes her tha Slayer never leaves.

I don't think having other slayers around would mean some can walk away. The new ones still have demons inside them, still need locating and training - they aren't really able to do the job just by being chosen. Super strength and super healing ability are not something to be taken lightly - hell, you could crack ribs not knowing how hard you are hugging, and that's interacting with a strong healthy adult. And if you wanted to hurt said person - just had an angry temperament - there could be real hell to pay. So I suspect there would be less walking away and more dealing with a fan of feces.

I don't read the comics so i see the B-verse as fluid after the show. I like the point about resurrection - I didn't think of that one.

 

[adzpower]

If this is true - and I like the thought that the demon knows - then why can't a slayer just quit? Why can't the demon chose another slayer if the slayer becomes - say a mother of a kid and does not want to risk death anymore? 


Now we know where Lydia came from, and how she knew all about WtB! 😀

Well my thinking is that the demon can't move on because the slayer it chose at the time is still the best candidate for the power, whether they're using it or not. I'd say it may even compel the slayer to return to her duty, Nikki is a good example, she attempted to leave with Robin and live a normal life, but the call of being a slayer was too much, and she resumed her duties.

 

[white avenger]

I don't think having other slayers around would mean some can walk away. The new ones still have demons inside them, still need locating and training - they aren't really able to do the job just by being chosen. Super strength and super healing ability are not something to be taken lightly - hell, you could crack ribs not knowing how hard you are hugging, and that's interacting with a strong healthy adult. And if you wanted to hurt said person - just had an angry temperament - there could be real hell to pay. So I suspect there would be less walking away and more dealing with a fan of feces.

I don't read the comics so i see the B-verse as fluid after the show. I like the point about resurrection - I didn't think of that one.

The fact that there are many Slayers after Season 7 would make it easier for an individual Slayer to either step down temporarily, as in, to get married or for maternity leave, or even choose not to fight at all. It was mentioned at the beginning of Season 8 that there were several hundred known Slayers who weren't active. They remain Slayers, they still have the powers and the symbiotic relationship with their demons, but they are leading relatively normal lives.