Something to consider about the end of Chosen...

[PurplePoof]

If we take the view that what we saw in Normal Again a season earlier was TRUE, that Buffy was indeed a mental patient and that Sunnydale was nothing more than the imagination of a very troubled and sick girl...do you think (within the internal logic of that episode) that Buffy would have snapped out of her insanity at the end of Chosen? Or do you think it would have just drawn her deeper into her illusion?

Please don't use this thread to bash Normal Again or debate the authenticity of what we saw in that ep...for all intents and purposes, to answer this question you need to ASSUME Normal Again was real.

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

That's interesting. I think in the circumstances of Normal Again, it would have been a severe decline in her mental activity, rather than her snapping out of it. The main link she had was her friends and family, so I think the delusion would stand after Chosen finished, but it definately would have been a huge mental shift.

 

[david123]

personally i think normal again if done completly differntly i just mean the idea of buffy being in a mental hospital would be a great end episode or maybe at end of chosen as Buffy smiles you see her eyes open and she awakes in the hospital.

 

[BuffyElevated]

Interesting topic... It's hard to say. In one perspective, if we're thinking of "Normal Again" and what the end of "Chosen" could mean in relation to that, it could be a big metaphor for the fact that Buffy realizes that her world was delusional and she was able to finally break free of her delusions. In another perspective, the smile on her face could mean that she was accepting her life in Sunnydale as the real deal and she was making the choice to live in that world. OR, the nothing-left-but-a-big-gaping-hole could be a huge metaphor that Sunnydale's dark forces represented the people who were trying to pull her away from her reality in Sunnydale, and the smile could mean she finally felt like she had defeated them....

Good question! 😀

 

[Fake Shemp]

oooh i like this.... Now since the whole town is destroyed, would that be a part of Buffy's brain and that now its destroyed she has moved deeper into her self, mental wise? Since she stil had the core group of scoobies left, it could be seen as her severing even more ties with the world, especially since if we take Normal Again to be as real, then even Angel leaving was her loosing a crutch and perhaps an advancement in reaching her... which they got to in Normal Again... until she regressed, destroyed the town and moved on (deeper) where she could not be reached............or something 🙂

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

oooh i like this.... Now since the whole town is destroyed, would that be a part of Buffy's brain and that now its destroyed she has moved deeper into her self, mental wise? Since she stil had the core group of scoobies left, it could be seen as her severing even more ties with the world, especially since if we take Normal Again to be as real, then even Angel leaving was her loosing a crutch and perhaps an advancement in reaching her... which they got to in Normal Again... until she regressed, destroyed the town and moved on (deeper) where she could not be reached............or something 🙂

Yeah, I was thinking coma rather than just the catatonic state we saw at the end of Normal Again. After that, it seems she can only dream in 2D. 😉

 

[InsaneMystic]

Perhaps Psycho!Buffy just died at the end of Chosen? The end of a day to day fight with demons (= achievement of peace after psychosis), walking/driving off with people beloved by her (with their "imaginary freind" nature possibly even being a comment by well-known atheist Joss about angels being just that)... heck, you could even read the hole of the Hellmouth Buffy came out of when it collapsed as a metaphor for "the tunnel" most people with an NDE describe.

 

[MichelleBFT]

But her ties to the "fake" world in Sunnydale weren't the monster fighting so much as her sister and friends. They were her ties, and since most of them are still kicking, I wouldn't think that would end her "delusion."

 

[AgentX7k]

I think it would worsen it, I mean she kept herself in that state because of the comfort it provided, releasing the burden of slayerhood would have been a massively uplifting for her.

 

[Spuffyy]

I really have no input but I really have to say kudos for an awesome question. If I didn't have a huge headache I would ponder this for a minute before replying.

 

[Blayke]

Oh wow, this is an excellent observation.

Well, I think it would be good to have Buffy recover from her mental illness with the shows ending.
And on her way to checking out of the hospital a figure of:

Willow could be a nurse
Xander could be the security guard
Dawn could be a family friend
Faith could be the receptionist
Spike could be the devoted boyfriend waiting for Buffy's return
Giles could be the Janitor

so many different ways to end this!
THANKS!
I hope i dream about it 🙂

 

[Girl with Sword]

Interesting question. I always considered the asylum to be Buffy's option C, you know? An alternate dimension, like The Wish/Dopplegangland, except she's in both places. Considering that; asylum Buffy would still be her same vegtable self even after chosen. The story continues untill Buffy dies for good. I guess that asylum Buffy would then either die or wake-up, probably die because the Sunnydale reality is where she truly exsists.