Spoiler! The Fate of Tara

[jr243]

i agree Nikkolas, i loved willow and tara together but in season 7 i thought willow's character felt weakened and thought the willow/kennedy relationship had no chemistry

 

[moonshadow]

I love the Tara-Willow relationship on Btvs probably more than any other(please, no more shipping pressure😉), so I put off getting season 6 for quite a while. I didn't want to wreck my enjoyment of this part of the series.

Joss could have gone another way and still pushed Willow's development further.

 

[LadyLavinia]

i agree Nikkolas, i loved willow and tara together but in season 7 i thought willow's character felt weakened and thought the willow/kennedy relationship had no chemistry.

I liked Kennedy with Willow. One, Kennedy was not perfect. And there is nothing more boring than a perfect character. Two, for the first time, Willow (who is an introvert), was paired with someone who was an emotional opposite to her - namely an extrovert. Tara was a nice person. So was Oz. But for me, neither of them rocked the boat with Willow, as far as relationships are concerned. Tara and Oz were introverts, like Willow. Which is probably why I didn't really find her relationships with either of them that interesting.

Joss could have gone another way and still pushed Willow's development further.

How could he have done that?

 

[moonshadow]

How could he have done that?

Haven't thought about it that much, I've only been through S6 once. With the depth of the show, the characters and the Tara-Willow relationship there's many different possibilities.

Claiming Tara must die seems pretty singled minded to me, something the series definitely isn't.

 

[Nikita]

You can still be pissed off about a character dying even if it 'makes sense from a narrative point of view', lol.

Anyway, it was obvious what the goal was: to have Willow cross an unspeakable line by killing a human. Tara's murder might be the only thing that could accomplish that. The fact that they had just reunited and that Warren wasn't even aiming for her only made it worse. This is why the Trio, made up of humans, was season 6's villain.

So I agree with whoever said it was 'unnecessarily necessary'. Would've preferred it if she stayed alive obviously.

I thought the main big bad of season 6 was Buffy. I thought this because she was often at her own throat and against herself the whole season, of course, not looking very deep, the big bad can be considered as Willow and as The Trio, but of course, you need to think deeper, but that is beside the point.

Talking about this, I don't know what else they could've done in this season to finish it off, the last 3 episodes were perfect to finish the season, yet had they done it any other way, it could've made an average season horrible, the end turned it from an average season into a great season. Think about it this way, Tara didn't need to die, and I love Tara, and I wish she didn't die, but if she didn't die, we would've had a boring finale. (We also wouldn't have had Kennedy...Wait nevermind, that's a plus.)

I don't know, I guess it sort of makes sense to me, was it neccessary? No. But did it happening make sense? Sure. Her death is very sad and I know that I was affected by it, much the same way as I was affected by Fred or Cordelia's deaths. Tara was important, but her death made sense (and Cordelia's didn't.)

The only thing that TRULY bothers me about her death is that she wasn't even brought back sort of in Season 7, not for a brief cameo or anything. :/

 

[msfantastico87]

Talking about this, I don't know what else they could've done in this season to finish it off, the last 3 episodes were perfect to finish the season, yet had they done it any other way, it could've made an average season horrible, the end turned it from an average season into a great season. Think about it this way, Tara didn't need to die, and I love Tara, and I wish she didn't die, but if she didn't die, we would've had a boring finale.

How so? I can think of at least 3 ways the season could have ended that didn't require Tara to die for it to be a stupendous season finale. Tara did NOT need to die. The writers were lazy.

(We also wouldn't have had Kennedy...Wait nevermind, that's a plus.)

I totally LOL'ed at this. *high five* I fricking hate Kennedy! 😛

I don't know, I guess it sort of makes sense to me, was it neccessary? No. But did it happening make sense? Sure. Her death is very sad and I know that I was affected by it, much the same way as I was affected by Fred or Cordelia's deaths. Tara was important, but her death made sense (and Cordelia's didn't.)

Tara's death did not make any sense. How can you say her's made sense, but Cordelia's didn't? Cordelia's made more sense than Tara's. I am not saying I support Cordy's death, because I cried at that moment, but Cordy would have died eventually anyways with the kind of power she had. Tara on the other hand, her death made no sense. She had nothing to do with anything that was gong on. The writer's simply took out what they thought was the weakest link of the group, because they needed to save the stronger characters.

The only thing that TRULY bothers me about her death is that she wasn't even brought back sort of in Season 7, not for a brief cameo or anything. :/

I'm on the fence about this statement. I would have loved to have seen her come back in s7. At least in a dream Willow had or something. But the plans Joss had for her in s7 would have upset me, and other fans, which is why AB declined to do it.

EDIT: It makes me sad that so many people voted it made sense. Because it totally didn't! 🙁

 

[Nikita]

How so? I can think of at least 3 ways the season could have ended that didn't require Tara to die for it to be a stupendous season finale. Tara did NOT need to die. The writers were lazy.


I totally LOL'ed at this. *high five* I fricking hate Kennedy! 😛



Tara's death did not make any sense. How can you say her's made sense, but Cordelia's didn't? Cordelia's made more sense than Tara's. I am not saying I support Cordy's death, because I cried at that moment, but Cordy would have died eventually anyways with the kind of power she had. Tara on the other hand, her death made no sense. She had nothing to do with anything that was gong on. The writer's simply took out what they thought was the weakest link of the group, because they needed to save the stronger characters.




I'm on the fence about this statement. I would have loved to have seen her come back in s7. At least in a dream Willow had or something. But the plans Joss had for her in s7 would have upset me, and other fans, which is why AB declined to do it.

EDIT: It makes me sad that so many people voted it made sense. Because it totally didn't! 🙁

Don't frowny face! 🙁 Frowny face makes me frowny face!

But no, serious face now, back to business. I think in a way what the writers tried to do with the Taradeaththing was to shock us, they put her in the opening sequence and then kill her, it's like:

PUHHUHWHA?

Also, Kennedy is a horrible character. 🙁

EDIT: What were those endings you could think of?

 

[zobothehobo]

I can think of several ways to end season 6 as well but none of them are as interesting or well fitted as the Dark Willow arc. I do agree Tara dying was sad and it hurt me in my deepest part of my heart.... but it does make sense from a narrative point of view. It may not make sense to the characters... but that's life. Life doesn't always make sense. Sometimes people die and it doesn't make sense That's what season 6 was about. The awful things about just living. Yes, it was painful. And yes, there was no reason Tara should die other than the Dark Willow arc... but that's kind of the point.

 

[moonshadow]

Maybe they got a bit lazy in S6, having Tara murdered to push Willow over the edge seems much less artistic than many of the earlier season arcs.

The season got very dark, something Joss, Marti and crew acknowledged, the resolution required something pretty dramatic in the same vein and they chose having Tara murdered. With a little more effort they could have played on something like the jealousy issue that was just briefly brought up maybe having Tara involved with someone Willow dispised(just one idea) to trigger her. Buffy came back from the dead twice, Angel once(twice if you count getting his soul back), but Tara gets a bullet and is gone?

All I know is Tara+Willow was beautiful and the series was the lessor for her leaving.

 

[Willow My Love]

I hated it. It didn't need to happen, IMO. Willow didn't need to be the big bad. She could have gone off the deep end when Tara left her, but she didn't. Tara did not need to die and I'm still angry about how they did it. Give her back to us, then take her away? NOT FAIR AT ALL.

 

[zobothehobo]

Willowmylove agrees: I disagree. We already lost Joyce in the last season, then we lose Tara too? Then Spike and Anya... Too many people died for my tastes.

Tara's death wasn't really about her. I can see what you guys are saying by "it didn't make sense" meaning "it was sudden." I agree there was no reason for Tara to die other than Dark Willow. But I must stress... Dark Willow was why Tara died. Her death wasn't about the character... it was about Dark Willow.

Spike an Anya were different. They died in battle. And Spike came back. They died "for a reason" where as Tara and Joyce died "because people die" and for the plot of the show.

 

[brinkster130]

As Willow got more involved in magic Giles became more and more concerned for her well-being, then Tara became concerned as did Buffy and Xander....I think that because of their growing concern about magic being harmful to Willow the writers felt it was necessary to have something push Willow to the breaking point just to validate that growing concern. Killing Tara was the easy thing to do, the writers used her as a means to an end. I personally thought that after Tara died Willows character went down hill and mid-way through season 7 I could do without Willow at all (which is sad, I loved her character before).

Evil Willow story-line: predictable and not very interesting or creative.
Willow goes away story-line/comes back:unrealistic. I hated how she doubted that everyone would still be her friend...pretty much everyone was evil at some point, plus Xander made it very clear that he would always love her.
Willow/Kennedy story-line: boring, unbelievable, Willow had no backbone.
Willow doubting Buffy story-line: This shows just how sad Willows character has become...after all the Willow has been through with Buffy is she really going to doubt herand kick her out of the group? How often was Buffy wrong about these things? How many times had Buffy saved their lives? The old Willow would have never done that - she would have voiced her opinion and try to work things out with everyone.

 

[Thursday]

Unnecessary. The whole Willow as Big Bad was just poorly handled.

And personally, I think if the writers were going to make Willow lose it, I would've preferred Tara being alive. It would've been heartbreaking/dramatic to see her reacting to Willow like this, and I would've wanted Tara to be the one to talk Willow down. She's the only one in the group who I'd actually believe would be able to do it.

 

[Madbil]

I voted: Unnecessary forced drama that actually weakens Willow's character...
I don't really know how to go into detail on how much I hate that she had to die. I don't really feel good tight now so my arguement would be weak, but I just think that it was a stupid reason just to make willow go dark, even though that is probably the only way that she would have been. Even though it was a pretty interesting storyline, I wish that maybe Tara would have died and then come back... It would have been better that way. 'Cause then Willow would have to face what she did to Warren... Idk... That's just my very weak opinion, because I'm not sure I made much sense... lol

I agree with you as I too feel unable to come up with a good arguement! I've read all the posts and can see both sides. That aside although I wouldn't argue that Tara wasn't a main character I would say she was an extremely important character. I didn't watch it when it aired but I realise how important it was to show Tara & Willow as a couple. I don't think the incredibly pointless way she died did her character any justice at all. It would've been better if she'd of taken a bullet for Willow for instance. I'm also annoyed with Joss for wanting to put someone in the start credits the same episode they are killed off. Shows a lack of empathy for the fans feelings imho. Grrrr

Also I might not of been so annoyed if Tara had had a bigger part through the seasons she was in. At least we'd be able to get our Tara fix on more episodes and the Tillow utube vids would be endless!

Joss could of brought Tara back in S7 in any number of ways (alternate reality for one) instead he considered bringing her back as the big bad. I'm just pleased Amber Benson declined to come back as that would of been awful to see.

I also agree with all that msfantastico87 said but multi-quoting seems to be beyond my capability on my first post!!!! Die Kennedy die 🙂

Yes I'm a romantic at heart and love a happy ending.... shame Joss doesn't !

 

[Willow My Love]

I still believe it was pointless and not needed. Warren trying to kill Buffy could have been a powerful enough push to the brink. She probably wouldn't have killed him, but I didn't really see the point in that. Nothing good came out of this situation for the character. Willow was my favorite, and I feel like they turned her into a sniveling child in the 7th season. It was awful to watch. She was so strong with Tara, and then she was lost without her. I can understand that for a while, but the entire season? It really undermined Willow's character. Her being afraid of simple spells, but she can pull a flower through the earth? THAT made no sense. I think they went full circle and turned her into the Willow from season 1, but not as lovable and quirky.

I don't think Tara's death was warranted. I will never agree with it. Buffy almost died, and it seems Willow didn't even care about that. If someone shot my best friend, who'd saved my life a million times over, I'd still be pissed. If someone simply shot my best friend, I'd go after them! Tara didn't need to die.

 

[zobothehobo]

Willowmylove agrees: Spike comes back? If that's in the comics, I haven't read them all... -_- But Willow had changed enough. I don't think it was essential for the character.

Have you not seen Angel? Spike is in Angel season 5.

Dark Willow wasn't about Willow changing, it was about Willow and everyone around Willow understanding her power. From the beginning, we've been told Willow's a POWERFUL wicca and the magicks could be dangerous and change her. This is us seeing that power and the danger and the changes

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Well, your choices in the poll are rather limiting. I chose the first option. As sad as her death was, it wasn't unnessesary. Sacrifice makes for great story. Revenge for the death of a loved one is powerful and intriguing. Tara's death was not only sudden but also at the hand of a human - which made it all the more devastating.

So, no I don't think her death was unnessesary.

 

[Nikkolas]

We saw Willow's power when she was the only person to hurt Glory after Glory had beaten up our heroine with contemptuous ease about three times.

We didn't need her pulling an Apocalypse out of her ass to see it.

Seriously, that's some majorly bad storytelling when the finale is so desperate for something epic that they can just find and start powering up the End of the World in like, what, ten minutes?

 

[brinkster130]

Unnecessary. The whole Willow as Big Bad was just poorly handled.

And personally, I think if the writers were going to make Willow lose it, I would've preferred Tara being alive. It would've been heartbreaking/dramatic to see her reacting to Willow like this, and I would've wanted Tara to be the one to talk Willow down. She's the only one in the group who I'd actually believe would be able to do it.

I didn't mind that Xander was the one who talked her down, after all they have been best friends since they were in Kindergarden, but I am with you about Tara being alive. Having Tara alive and seeing her watch as Willow spun out of control would have been heartbreaking and very dramatic. Tara losing Willow to dark magic would have added a lot to the story.

 

[Thursday]

I didn't mind that Xander was the one who talked her down, after all they have been best friends since they were in Kindergarden, but I am with you about Tara being alive. Having Tara alive and seeing her watch as Willow spun out of control would have been heartbreaking and very dramatic. Tara losing Willow to dark magic would have added a lot to the story.

The only reason I don't like Xander being the one who talked her down is that, even though they've known each other since kindergarten, they haven't really been friends for years.

Ever since going off to college, Willow kind of cut Xander out of her life. I don't think it's believable that she'd really care what Xander thinks about her being evil, or what he thinks in general. Although, in S6, Willow doesn't listen to any of her friends warnings, anyway. Out of all the Scoobies, Tara's opinion is the only one Willow would've valued enough to listen to.