Spoiler! The Fate of Tara

[zobothehobo]

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.

Not really surprisingly, I completely disagree. I don't think Willow cut Xander out of her life at all. They've definitely been friends. Lube not BEST friends like back in high school, but definitely friends. But he's stood by her for pretty much her whole life which is why that works. He knows her better than anyone else because he's seen her grow and been by her side since she was in kindergarten. Also I liked that Xander talked her down from it. It reminded the audience of Willow and Xander's incredible friendship from the first few seasons.

 

[msfantastico87]

I don't feel like quoting some of you as i'm being incredibly lazy today, but I will say this:

The Dark Willow arc could have still been achieved WITHOUT Tara dying.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

Then let me ask you something. How would YOU create the dark Willow arc? I mean, there must be a trigger since this kind of girl would never do something like go dark this easily. Sure it could have been done differently, but why? I can't help but think the only reason you disagree with Tara's death is because you like the character. But I'm sorry, that's not a good enough reason to not kill off a character. Especially through Joss' eyes.

What I'm saying is, something must have to happen. I liked Tara, but that doesn't mean Joss can't kill her off. And since it was planned since season don't know (and was planned to happen in season 5 where Tara's killed and Willow joining forces with Glory or something), I wouldn't say it was an irrational decision, it was well planned through a long while. You can actually see the journey that Willow is going through till the climax of being an evil witch who's trying to destroy the world.

I didn't like Dark Willow arc in general. If something seems to me a little off in this whole act, is the fact that Willow is trying to destroy the world and kill her friends. That's SO not what makes sense to me. As I said, willow went into a journey since she first touched the black arts. It didn't happen just like that. But from there to fighting her best friend, and hurting her other friends and wanting to destroy the whole world just so she could stop the pain"¦ I didn't feel it was the right thing to do. But if it were to happen, they had to find a good reason for that. A very good damn reason! And that's a big compliment to Tara. Tara was a big enough reason for Willow to turn evil after her death. Tara was probably the most important thing to Willow, so it had to be her. I think it was the right decision. And that's why I'm asking you what trigger would you use for that? If not Tara "“ the most important thing to Willow- what else could pull that trigger?

I'm using another arc from this episode for an example, the end of the arc in this season, to be accurate. Spike's AR and his soul. It's a great example of something really extreme that must happen in order to achieve something big. Sure the AR scene was harsh, no one really likes that part in Buffy and Spike's relationship. But as bad as it is, I'm not sorry it happened, because it had to happen so it would drive Spike to the main goal and the reason for this soul story, which is the soul itself. Bad things can drive people to do some extreme stuff. As I see it, Spike's love for Buffy was so big, and the AR was so out of line and horrible, so it drove him to the next level that had a big part in season 7, the soul itself.

Understand what I mean? There must be something big in order to achieve the next step. Sometimes it's good things that do that, sometimes it's bad. Tara was a big enough part in Willow's storyline/life, so she was the victim of it. Because she was such an important part, it made sense she was the trigger to turn Willow into something so amazingly big and bad. In my opinion, nothing, nothing could drive Willow into wanting to destroy everything and everyone, but Tara. Do you have a better suggestion for something big enough to reach that? Is there anything that could make Willow go evil like that considering the fact that Tara was the most important thing in the world to Willow and nothing beat her?

 

[msfantastico87]

Then let me ask you something. How would YOU create the dark Willow arc? I mean, there must be a trigger since this kind of girl would never do something like go dark this easily. Sure it could have been done differently, but why? I can't help but think the only reason you disagree with Tara's death is because you like the character. But I'm sorry, that's not a good enough reason to not kill off a character. Especially through Joss' eyes.

No where in any of my posts did I say that I don't agree with Tara's death simply because she is my favorite character. I just don't agree with the way she died, and the journey up until that point. I would have been ok with Tara dying in a different way. Sure, I still would have been upset by it, but the way she was killed off was just poor, lazy writing. As for the Dark Willow arc, Tara could have still been shot, Willow could have thought she died. She could have still gone through a rampage, but Tara did not need to die for real for it to happen. Also, What if someone else in the scoobies die. The same thing would have happened. I can see why many people agree with it, really I do. It was emotional and just heartbreaking to see it happen and then watching Willow just fall apart like that. But it could have totally have been done differently!!

What I'm saying is, something must have to happen. I liked Tara, but that doesn't mean Joss can't kill her off. And since it was planned since season don't know (and was planned to happen in season 5 where Tara's killed and Willow joining forces with Glory or something), I wouldn't say it was an irrational decision, it was well planned through a long while. You can actually see the journey that Willow is going through till the climax of being an evil witch who's trying to destroy the world.

Yes, I agree that the Dark Willow arc started as soon as s5, but no where could you see that Tara's death was being planned, because it wasn't. Sure, Glory got her paws on poor Tara, and made her go all crazy, but you also need to remember that it's just one of those crap days that all of the characters go through in the buffyverse. Buffy died. Did that mean the end? Nope. Xander got his eye ripped out. Did that mean the end? Nope. nowhere in s5 was it clearly obvious that they were gong to kill off Tara. I wish I could remember which member of BB said this, but I totally agree with them. They said something along the lines of ..... The arc was totally written backwards. They mad Willow dark, then they back traced everything and found a major hole, which is why they decided to kill off Tara.

But if it were to happen, they had to find a good reason for that. A very good damn reason! And that's a big compliment to Tara. Tara was a big enough reason for Willow to turn evil after her death. Tara was probably the most important thing to Willow, so it had to be her. I think it was the right decision. And that's why I'm asking you what trigger would you use for that? If not Tara "“ the most important thing to Willow- what else could pull that trigger?

How was it a compliment to Tara? "Yes I love Tara, now lets kill her" ...wtf?! No way was it a compliment to her character. It would have been way more dramatic had she died a different way, and later in the season. And you mean to tell me that Tara was the only important person in Willow's life? I disagree. Although I do agree with you that Tara was the most important, and she loved her very much, what about her friends? She saved Buffy once. What make syou think she wouldn't go bat shit crazy again if she died a second time? What about her bff Xander? If anything, these characters are just as important, if not more, to Willow than Tara was. They've been there since the beginning. Tara wasn't.

That's all I'm going to say for now hahaha This topic breaks my heart and it saddens me to see that people agree with the way she died.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

No where in any of my posts did I say that I don't agree with Tara's death simply because she is my favorite character. I just don't agree with the way she died, and the journey up until that point. I would have been ok with Tara dying in a different way. Sure, I still would have been upset by it, but the way she was killed off was just poor, lazy writing. As for the Dark Willow arc, Tara could have still been shot, Willow could have thought she died. She could have still gone through a rampage, but Tara did not need to die for real for it to happen. Also, What if someone else in the scoobies die. The same thing would have happened. I can see why many people agree with it, really I do. It was emotional and just heartbreaking to see it happen and then watching Willow just fall apart like that. But it could have totally have been done differently!!

This is just it. I don't think that if any of the other scoobies died it would have ended up the same way. That's why I said there's nothing in the world that could have done that to Willow, nothing but Tara.
As I said before, there are many deaths. They choose to kill Tara that way. It just wouldn't make any sense that every major character's death would be "special" death. And by the way, that was the first big death on "Buffy" that was made by a gun. So that's special in the Buffy world IMO. You're probably talking about the fact that she was shot in the back and then fell. Maybe this action itself wasn't so special in a particular way, but what came afterwards shows that IT WAS special. Not only because it was a gun shot death, but also what it caused Willow. What's so wrong about the way she died, this I don't really understand? Is the death part the most important part in this arc? It's what started it and what caused a chain reaction, a bad one. And just because it was hearbreaking doesn't mean it's bad. And if it broke your heart, I think they did a good job. They saw a character the viewers liked, knew she was gonna die, and made it so it would be harsh enough and cause pain to the viewers. I think that was actually smart. It was human, Tara was human, probably the most human out of all of them, and was killed by a human.

Yes, I agree that the Dark Willow arc started as soon as s5, but no where could you see that Tara's death was being planned, because it wasn't. Sure, Glory got her paws on poor Tara, and made her go all crazy, but you also need to remember that it's just one of those crap days that all of the characters go through in the buffyverse. Buffy died. Did that mean the end? Nope. Xander got his eye ripped out. Did that mean the end? Nope. nowhere in s5 was it clearly obvious that they were gong to kill off Tara. I wish I could remember which member of BB said this, but I totally agree with them. They said something along the lines of ..... The arc was totally written backwards. They mad Willow dark, then they back traced everything and found a major hole, which is why they decided to kill off Tara.

I really don't see it as a big hole. And I don't really understand what was there supposed to be, showing Tara is gonna die? You're upset about the surprise they made for us?

How was it a compliment to Tara? "Yes I love Tara, now lets kill her" ...wtf?! No way was it a compliment to her character. It would have been way more dramatic had she died a different way, and later in the season. And you mean to tell me that Tara was the only important person in Willow's life? I disagree. Although I do agree with you that Tara was the most important, and she loved her very much, what about her friends? She saved Buffy once. What make syou think she wouldn't go bat shit crazy again if she died a second time? What about her bff Xander? If anything, these characters are just as important, if not more, to Willow than Tara was. They've been there since the beginning. Tara wasn't.

That's all I'm going to say for now hahaha This topic breaks my heart and it saddens me to see that people agree with the way she died.

The compliment to Tara was the fact that she was so important to Willow that her death drove her to the most extreme situation that could happen to her. And I didn't mean she was the ONLY important thing to Willow, read my words again, I said she was the MOST important. I never said she didn't love others. I'm saying that no one else's death would have caused that situation, only Tara.

Oh, and don't worry, we don't hate Tara! We just agree with the storyline for its reasons. We don't say her dying is the best thing ever, we're just saying it was meant for a reason, for many reasons, and wasn't "just a death".

 

[Thursday]

Not really surprisingly, I completely disagree. I don't think Willow cut Xander out of her life at all. They've definitely been friends. Lube not BEST friends like back in high school, but definitely friends. But he's stood by her for pretty much her whole life which is why that works. He knows her better than anyone else because he's seen her grow and been by her side since she was in kindergarten. Also I liked that Xander talked her down from it. It reminded the audience of Willow and Xander's incredible friendship from the first few seasons.

After S3 and 4, I don't really believe any of the Scoobies were very good friends anymore. Well, at all, really. The earlier seasons may've been about their friendship, but the last few seasons were really about Buffy forging a new family/set of allies with Spike and Dawn. She and the other three had grown apart, as happens, and she was finding new friends; in S7, Buffy considers Spike her only confidant and ally. I mean S7 is pretty much"The Buffy and Spike Show." The other Scoobies just took up space in the background.

And, with Willow (gosh, I think I got a little off-topic up there), I think she'd been drifting away from the Scoobies since S4 any by S6 I don't think she cares about the opinions of the others. When Giles criticizes her magic use, calling her a rank amateur, she threatens him. Willow raises Buffy from the dead, not caring if that's what she wanted or not. And, Xander's just kind of ignored. But, it's understandable: Willow really can't become a villain if she has wonderful friends and confidants to keep her on the straight and narrow. Her relationships needed to be strained.

Then let me ask you something. How would YOU create the dark Willow arc? I mean, there must be a trigger since this kind of girl would never do something like go dark this easily. Sure it could have been done differently, but why? I can't help but think the only reason you disagree with Tara's death is because you like the character. But I'm sorry, that's not a good enough reason to not kill off a character. Especially through Joss' eyes.

I don't object to Tara's death just because I liked her character. I also liked Anya and Ms. Calendar, but have no problem with the way their deaths happened. Tara's death was just poorly written to me. And, the writers could've killed anybody to make Willow finally lose it, like Xander being shot by Warren. They may have not been great friends, but Willow would still be sad and angry. I don't know. Shoulda coulda woulda.

It's the writer's job to come up with this stuff. All I know is that what they did come up with, I didn't like.

 

[msfantastico87]

I don't object to Tara's death just because I liked her character. I also liked Anya and Ms. Calendar, but have no problem with the way their deaths happened. Tara's death was just poorly written to me. And, the writers could've killed anybody to make Willow finally lose it, like Xander being shot by Warren. They may have not been great friends, but Willow would still be sad and angry. I don't know. Shoulda coulda woulda.

It's the writer's job to come up with this stuff. All I know is that what they did come up with, I didn't like.

I think I love you! haha

I totally agree. As sad as I was with Jenny and Anya dying, at least it wasn't poorly written. Angelus killing Jenny was perfect because it was Angelus, had it been Angel, i would have complained. And Anya dying in battle was at least heroic of her, especially after her monologue with Andrew about her respecting humans the way she does and finally loving them. She died defending the people she loved. Jenny died trying to make things right. How did Tara die? come one people...open your eyes!!!!!!

*lurks around again*

 

[Justme]

I don't object to Tara's death just because I liked her character. I also liked Anya and Ms. Calendar, but have no problem with the way their deaths happened. Tara's death was just poorly written to me. And, the writers could've killed anybody to make Willow finally lose it, like Xander being shot by Warren. They may have not been great friends, but Willow would still be sad and angry. I don't know. Shoulda coulda woulda.

It's the writer's job to come up with this stuff. All I know is that what they did come up with, I didn't like.

I don't know. Originally I thought that the senselessness of Taras death was the point of it. Mostly murder doesn't make sense it's stupid and often simply bad luck.

Then I read this thread and started seeing Taras death as a plot device. As such it is pretty weak. I can really see both sides here.

Somewhere in the thread somebody said that Whedon used it because as an addict Willow needed to hit rock bottom before recovery. This is such utter bollocks on so many levels I quite frankly don't know where to start.

So yes I think over all I am with you, it makes me sad though =( I would prefer my initial thoughts to be right.

EDIT - To clarify I think Whedons reasons are bollocks not the person who said it <3

 

[zobothehobo]

I don't know. Originally I thought that the senselessness of Taras death was the point of it. Mostly murder doesn't make sense it's stupid and often simply bad luck.

Then I read this thread and started seeing Taras death as a plot device. As such it is pretty weak. I can really see both sides here.

Somewhere in the thread somebody said that Whedon used it because as an addict Willow needed to hit rock bottom before recovery. This is such utter bollocks on so many levels I quite frankly don't know where to start.

So yes I think over all I am with you, it makes me sad though =( I would prefer my initial thoughts to be right.

EDIT - To clarify I think Whedons reasons are bollocks not the person who said it <3

I think the senselessness of Tara's death is the point as well as it being a plot device. I mean the underlying point of Tara's death was to make Willow go dark. But I'm not sure it would have worked as well if it wasn't a completely senseless death.

 

[SlayerOfVampyrs]

Okay, I was going to stay far away from this topic, but it keeps calling to me, so here we are.
I loved Tara, she was sweet. She was basically the lightest, most "good" character we've seen throughout the entire show. However, in order for the Willow arc to work, it HAD to be Tara. NO ONE else would have effected the otherwise lighthearted Willow that much. NO ONE. Not Xander, not Dawn, not Buffy...Hell, I'm not even sure if Oz dying instead of Tara if they'd been together at that point would have drawn that kind of fire from her. It HAD to be Tara.
When it comes to the issue of Tara's death being noble the way that Doyle's death was...Tara was NOT a hero. She was never meant to be. She was Willow's lover, and a small addition to the Scooby gang. She worked some mojo at times, but I cannot stress enough how much Tara was NOT a hero. Doyle was chosen by the PTB's to carry those visions, and be a hero; You can't compare their deaths, it's ridiculous to try.

 

[Tillow4ever]

Okay, I hate this topic, so I was trying to stay away from it 'cause it makes me sad, but I feel that I just need to point out, as some other have. It HAD to be Tara. I mean, it could have been someone else that got shot, but for Willow to go all black eye, dark hair, it HAD to be Tara. She was the love of Willow's life, she was her soulmate. They were meant to be together! Willow has already dealt with Buffy's death before. She'd be sad, not go-dark-sad. And Xander, well, she'd be devastated, but she'd have Tara there to comfort her and talk her down. Reason with her. Love her. But I do agree:

Tara could have still been shot, Willow could have thought she died. She could have still gone through a rampage, but Tara did not need to die for real for it to happen. Also, What if someone else in the scoobies die. The same thing would have happened. I can see why many people agree with it, really I do. It was emotional and just heartbreaking to see it happen and then watching Willow just fall apart like that. But it could have totally have been done differently!!

Yes!!! It could have been like that!!!! I think it would be so much better. Like maybe even we still could think that Tara died. But just as long as she didn't really die. It was totally unnecessary for her to have to DIE, I mean, Buffy got to come back, Angel did, Spike did... why not Tara too?

Okay, maybe that last part was a little off topic, but yeah... That's what I have to say on this topic...

 

[fly on the wall]

I think it was necessary for the progression of the story.

It's funny, because I just finished introducing my boyfriend to all the seasons of Buffy, and right before Tara died he kept saying, "Oh my God, can somebody just DIE already?!" There was so much indirect angst, I think, that he wanted something really big to happen. Something really traumatic. That's what we WANT from television: drama, tension, feeling, despair. And that's how this season was built. It was building up to something. I love Tara, I love her relationship with Willow and of course I wish they could have lived happily ever after together--but that wouldn't have made for very interesting TV.

Also, I don't think it was unusual that Willow went after Andrew and Jonathan. I mean, did you see the bit where she sucked up all that dark magic? She was the embodiment of that dark magic. Of course she wanted to kill kill kill. I'm surprised she didn't kill any of her friends, actually..though not from lack of trying I suppose.

 

[DeathToKennedy]

i think that the Willow Tara ship was the best of the series but i think Tara's death was the only one that could trigger willow to lose it and become darker this make Willow grow as a character i found that Willows character had alot more depth in season 7 because of the fact that she lost Tara and that she had a dark side.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

soulunsung disagrees: I disagree. I don't want my fiction to EVER tell me that "death is just death" w/no explanations as to why&how it affects things&other people or what it means to the character who's death is in question. If that's the case, Tara's life meant nothing.

Okay, first, I never said there shouldn't be an explanation as to why/how the death affects other characters. Of course it should and it did. That's why Willow reacted this way. And that death was probably the only way to get that effect. And yes, even in fictional story, where there are many deaths, there's death in every episode, not all deaths are big. The death of Tara itself wasn't that big. A gunshot and an immediate drop. But what came afterwards, the effect, that was big. So that made the death big enough. Though the death itself, sometimes has to be like this "“ less big, in others' words, it's more believable. It can't be that all deaths are special deaths. That doesn't make any sense! But death, ANY DEATH affects people, can't not to. So why are you saying I said it didn't? Why do you say I said that there shouldn't be an explanation when of course there should?

Also, Tara's life meant so much to Willow, if it caused her to lose it this way. Doesn't it worth anything? Isn't it big enough? The death itself doesn't have to be the biggest (like most deaths are in real life), but of course it would affect the surrounding, and THAT'S what will determine if the death was a "good" death or not. Tara's death made Willow to almost destroy the world. THAT'S how meaningful the death was to both Willow and the script!

 

[Nikita]

I think I love you! haha

I totally agree. As sad as I was with Jenny and Anya dying, at least it wasn't poorly written. Angelus killing Jenny was perfect because it was Angelus, had it been Angel, i would have complained. And Anya dying in battle was at least heroic of her, especially after her monologue with Andrew about her respecting humans the way she does and finally loving them. She died defending the people she loved. Jenny died trying to make things right. How did Tara die? come one people...open your eyes!!!!!!

*lurks around again*

Tara died being shot and it was a very sad moment, but it was sudden and it was death, and this season using the big bad is life thing worked VERY well having Tara being murdered so suddenly and never paying it off.

 

[LadyLavinia]

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.

Willow nearly destroyed the world around the end of Season 6. Did you really expect her to go back to what she used to be in Season 7? It was only natural that in Season 7; she would be afraid to deal with magic or her dependence on it, after what happened.

I cannot see any character bouncing back after nearly destroying the world, to her old self within a few episodes or so. That's just piss poor writing to me.

Tara died being shot and it was a very sad moment, but it was sudden and it was death, and this season using the big bad is life thing worked VERY well having Tara being murdered so suddenly and never paying it off.

What exactly are you trying to say?😕

 

[racheltng]

Hmmm...I voted for the first one because I don't think it weakened Willow's character. I actually liked that Willow's love for Tara was so strong that it caused her to lose her mind. A little over-dramatic, yes, but still good times.

I hesistated with my vote because I don't think Tara's death was necessary, either. The writers could have done anything with the plot. They didn't have to kill Tara. They didn't have to kill anyone. But then, S6 would have probably been an even weaker season than it was.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

Okay, I have a question for you, those who thought it wasn't necessary:

I, myself, don't like the dark Willow arc (I don't like the fact that Tara dies, but think it was necessary for the arc). But would you rather Willow not going dark at all hence they wouldn't have to kill Tara? Would you rather seeing another character developtment for Willow so Tara wouldn't be dead for the sake of it?

(I can open a new thread for that if asked, because it might be a whole new discussion!)

 

[Have Faith]

hello. i am amber benson and i am very happy that i am being recognized in this way. in lesbian culture, i mean.

become my friend on facebook! 🙂 oh, and twitter

bye bitches, did you kiss alyson hannigan? no. I am richer than you bye

 

[Sommers Summers]

Look, I'm sentimental, so I voted for the latter.
As in, we could have Tara FAKING her death, then coming back at the VERY END of Season 6. That would have been better...