The First... what the heck?

palabravampiress

palabravampiress

Bidet of Evil
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Black Thorn
Okay. I didn't want to put this in season 7 because the first pops up in Amends, too. I rewatched Amends today and I am totally confused. But I can't put it in season 3, either, because the first is mostly a season 7 villain. Argh. So I put it here. Mods, please move it if you can figure out where to shelve it. Where's the Dewey Decimal System when you need it?

Anyway, can someone please enlighten me as to what, exactly, the First is trying to do? I mean, in Amends, it says that killing Angel isn't the plan... but that it'll do. Then, based on what the First does to Spike in season 7, I think it's fair to say that the First has a thing for making souled vamps feel guilty. If the souled vamp dies, so be it. If not, then there's this mysterious "plan." What the heck? What kind of plan involves putting a lot of energy into making souled vamps feel anguish and then not caring whether or not these souled vamps unlive or dust?

The First's motivations have NEVER made sense to me. Would anyone care to share his or her First-related theories with a very confused Buffy fan?
 
Um . . . it wants all the Slayers dead and to take over the world. 😀 Other than that, I have no idea.
 
I read a fic recently that threw out the theory that The First could only have been defeated by The Slayer and a vampire with a soul who loved each other. Well in season 3 that was Buffy and Angel but when Sunnydale was going down it was Buffy and Spike. I see a lot of flaws in that theory but its all I got!
 
white avenger
white avenger
That would make a certain amount of sense. Season 3 was more just defending an attack. Season 7 was all out war.
I think we're not supposed to know. I think the writers might not even know themselves. The First is right up there with the Senior Partners and the Powers That Be in that elite group of entities that are so big and are planning things on such a large, eon-spanning scale, that it's impossible for our characters to really know everything about them.
 
Assuming that the Shanshu prophecy isn't so much horse feathers, we know that the "vampire with a soul" will play a significant part in the apocalypse, probably the "big one" that Lindsay referred to in ATS 5. Assuming that the First Evil, (and perhaps the Senior Partners) are agents of whatever force (I'll call it the Prime Evil here just to give it a name) will be the major Big Bad in that ultimate battle, it's possible to imagine that the Prime, having some fore knowledge of coming events, tried to kill Angel in Season 3 in order to prevent his delivering the amulet to Buffy 4 seasons later by the simple expedient of killing him beforehand. In that case, the "...but he'll do" statement would apply if Angel wasn't THE vampire with a soul, but he did play a part in getting the real one to the right place at the right time, whenever that time might be.

Now let's assume that as of Season 7, the current part that the First Evil is to play in the "Big" apocalypse is to free itself from the hellmouth where it has been somehow imprisoned with its uber vamp army, thereby providing an army for the Prime's use in the upcoming battle (that might be the battle referred to in "Fray" where the unnamed Slayer and all of her friends vanquished all of the remaining demons on Earth, bringing about their own destruction). If the First knew that if Spike were to come into possession of the amulet he would be able to destroy the ubervamp army and prevent the First's escape from the hellmouth, it would use every means at hand to either render Spike completely useless in the coming battle (crazy and near catatonic) or trick Buffy into destroying him herself, When both of those plans failed, the last ditch effort was to appear to Robin Wood and inform him that Spike had killed his mother in hopes that he would kill Spike.

As with mice and men, the First Evil's plans, complex and obscure, finally came to no avail. It was unable to destroy Angel, so the amulet was ultimately delivered. It was unable to either incapacitate or destroy Spike, and he was capable of wearing the amulet into battle so it could not escape the hellmouth. Lastly, the ubervamp army was destroyed. The Prime's attempt to destroy the souled vampire before he could play his major hand in the coming apocalypse failed. Somewhere in the whole process, all of the world's Potential Slayers became activated, putting the new army, not on the side of the Prime, but on the side of good.

That's my theory. Complicated enough for you?

(P S--Miss K, who was that that you said Buffy loved in Season 7? Sometimes these old eyes play tricks on me, but I could swear that you said Spike. Maybe your 9 year old neice won that fight after all,)
 
Kean
Kean
You know well that I already said she loved him...she just loves Angel more!
I can offer you a radical theory, but in order to accept it you have to be prepared to accept what Season 7 tells you. Not many fans are prepared to do that. I've never been ever to figure out why.

* Season 7 tells us there is a disruption in the slayer line which the First is planning to exploit. It says there was an unforeseen consequence to Willow's spell in The Bargaining. (Showtime)

* Apparently the slayer line no longer flows only through Faith. It flows through Buffy now (Potential, and Chosen).

* The First wants the Scythe. It's more than just a weapon.

* The slayer was created by connecting a girl to a source of demon energy. (Get It Done)

* The scythe can channel demon energy such as what creates slayers. (Chosen)

* The First wants to become corporeal. When it's plan has succeeded it believes it will be able to channel itself into any human at will. (I forget the name of the episode)

* The Slayers must be situated directly below Willow when she performs the Scythe spell to transfer the demon energy of the slayer into all potential slayers throughout the world. This suggests there is a need for at least one slayer to connect to the power of the scythe. (Chosen)

OK, now we have to fanwank a bit. I'm going to say The First wants to use the Scythe to channel it's energy into this reality in a way which will allow it to take over human beings and become corporeal. In order to do this it needs the slayer's gift of energy transference, and her connection to the scythe.

Plan A involves taking control of the slayer, by turning her into a vampire. Not any vampire will do though. The slayer must at some point be willing to turn, or she can't be turned. Thus The First needs the slayer to love the vampire.

Edit:

Allycat said:
I think we're not supposed to know. I think the writers might not even know themselves. The First is right up there with the Senior Partners and the Powers That Be in that elite group of entities that are so big and are planning things on such a large, eon-spanning scale, that it's impossible for our characters to really know everything about them.
Click to expand...

In a recent interview Marti Noxon said, Season 7 was all reasoned out, and everything was connected. Unfortunately she forgot how it all worked.
 
okay...im definitely thinking that the lines does run through Buffy. I noticed that in the last ep..when Buffy got stabbed and fell down, all the girls began to lose, except Faith seeming she is immune. ANd when Buffy rises, they begin to win again
 
Simplicity sounds good.

The first is the evil. It wants to rule the world. To win.
 
white avenger agrees: That would make a certain amount of sense. Season 3 was more just defending an attack. Season 7 was all out war.
Click to expand...

To be honest I think that theory is more of a fanwank than anything. Alot of things conveniently fall into place but there is just something too convenient about it.
 
We can analyze and theorize this until the cows come home, and have a great time doing it, but I get the distinct feeling that Joss is sitting back somewhere laughing his a** off at all the commotion he's stirred up. I think this is going to be one of the many and varied mysteries of the Jossversr that may never be fully and conclusively answered. (It sure is fun speculating, though, ain't it?)
 
There are very few definites in the Buffyverse. We can debate pretty much any aspect of the show! forums like this wouldn't last otherwise! and yes it is mighty fun speculating!
 
There's a quote by Joss Whedon that in my opinion isn't quoted enough. Here it is:

"Q: How would you explain the message to fans who didn’t understand season seven?

Joss: Watch it again when it comes out on DVD. I think not understanding it would be the worst, because it’s almost didactic in its clarity."

Just in case it isn't immediately clear what Joss is saying, here's a definition of didactic.

Didactic:
Fitted or intended to teach; conveying instruction; preceptive; instructive

To me this says the instructions on what is going on in Season 7 are in the text, and Joss, at least, believes they are clear.
 
Thanks for that, N4H.

Hmm I wonder if the reason why so many fans say the seventh season is their least favorite is because they don't get it. To me, the season seems like it was the most planned out, it flows better for me, the arc seems like it's more clear, etc. And it's my favorite season. 🙂

I wonder if in comics we'll get to see the final battle which the Shanshu prophecy discusses. If the First is involved that would definitely be interesting.

Although you can never truly defeat the First, can you?
 
If the final battle was depicted and Buffy or Angel won then the First/evil would be defeated. The only way for the evil/First to continue would be if the good guys lost the final battle.
 
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