Question The Potentials

[VisionGirl]

This is a good summary as a starting point:

Potential Slayers are girls born with the potential to become the Slayer, chosen by unknown forces.

Originally, there was only one Slayer at a time and her death would cause a new girl to be chosen by the mystical forces involved. However, since May 2003, a powerful spell cast by the witch Willow Rosenberg, changed the rules for the Slayer line and all "Potentials," around the world, of a certain age, became true Slayers. Potentials continue to be called when they come of age[1].

Potentials, lacked the true power of the Slayer, but had a greater coordination than normal human teenagers and also experienced the strange dreams of the supernatural and of the battles of past Slayers.

In most cases, these girls would be identified by the Watchers Council, and a Watcher was dispatched to guide and train them so that they would be prepared if they were called to be the Slayer. Other times, the girl was completely oblivious to her calling, and remained that way unless she was activated as the new "chosen one." Buffy Summers was one such Potential, only becoming aware of her status when her predecessor was killed and her first Watcher, Merrick, found her.

http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Potential_Slayers

So, my question is about Potentials pre-Chosen. So we figure that a potential is called at about the age of 15 or 16, correct? My question is to what happens to a potential if she is not called? For the ones who had experienced the nightmares/visions & perhaps some greater coordination/strength, did they retain those things even after they passed the age of being called?

How about in Chosen? Were the only Potentials activated the ones in that same age-range? Because I'm assuming that there were older Potentials who were not previously called. Obviously we only see young(er) women in season 8, so I'm guessing that past a certain age they were simply not activated. I mean, we don't see any career women or mothers in season 8.

Do we think that Potentials who were not previously called simply died young? Or maybe they no longer had the dreams & forgot about them, and lost any superhuman powers they might have had. Of course the previous quote indicates that there are some Potentials who never knew they were Potentials.

What do you guys think?

 

[zobothehobo]

I just figured they went about their lives living normal lives. They would probably go to therapy for the nightmares... but I'm not sure it would alter their lives that much. Or maybe after a certain age, the potential stuff (coordination, nightmares) goes away because they're too old to be called as the next slayer.

 

[Taake]

I agree with zobothehobo, I just always assumed that they continued on living normal lives, most of them never knowing what could have been.