The Shadowmen's offer

[ticonderouga]

In the Episode Get it Done, Buffy is offered more power in which to fight the First, yet she turns down the increase in power because she doesn't want to lose her humanity. Yet after the shadowmen show her what it is that she is facing Buffy tells Willow that she may have made a mistake in refusing the power increase. Would Buffy accepted the increased powers if the Shadowmen had shown her what it was that she faced? Also would Buffy gain new powers or just increase the power she already had? Lastly would she become less human, after all her existing powers actually enhance her humanity and perhaps the new power would cause similar increases...

 

[Dagenspear]

Not sure about the power. But, yeah, I think Buffy would have accepted if she'd known what was coming.

 

[Steven123]

I think she would have accepted it, but i think she would only have taking it if it could have been reversed and she wouldn't be stuck with it any longer than she needed to be.

As for loseing her humanity i'm not really sure. I think her attitude would slowly to change to a more "untouchable" style, which would probably rub against her friends.

A good example could be when in Spiderman, Peter Parker (Spiderman) has the symbiote (Venom) which makes him pretty cocky and arrogant,and makes him do things he wouldn't dream of ever doing before. Could have been the same with Buffy in a way.

 

[TheAnnointedOne]

I love this episode - it is so interesting in terms of us finding out so much about the Slayer - something that made Season 5 so exciting for me. We see Buffy right at the end of the episode doubting her decision in refusing the Shadowmen's help:

BUFFY I think I made a mistake.
WILLOW What?
BUFFY Those men that I met - you know, the shadow men? They offered me more power, but I didn't like the loophole.
WILLOW So, you turned it down? It's OK, Buffy. We'll get by. We always do.
BUFFY I don't know. They showed me...
WILLOW Showed you what?
BUFFY That the First Slayer was right - it isn't enough.

If she had let them show her what she was going to go up against I think that maybe, just maybe she would have accepted. However, the whole movement and feeling of the Season was to defy what was written, defy the history, the lore, the assumptions of what a Slayer is and forge a different identity - which is exactly what happened in Chosen. Had Buffy accepted the "power" this would not have happened. She got the "power" another way (though of course she didnt know this at the end of Get It Done).

The question of what the power would have done to her - now thats a great question and so interesting to consider. Actually, part of me things it would have increased the power she already had. The Shadowmen say:

"We are at the beginning. The source of your strength. The well of the slayer's power. This is why we have brought you here. ... Herein lies your truest strength. The energy of the demon. Its spirit. Its heart."

She already has demon essence within her - its how they created the first slayer. Dracula had said way back in Season 5's Buffy Vs Dracula that Buffy has a darkness that rivals his own and he was spot on - the darkness stems from a demon. Her hunting and primal instincts shown throughout the series is explained here. That essence was always there so her physical power and her honing/hunting skills would have increased.

However her humanity may have been compromised in the process as she may have been consumed by that "darkness." It may have made her stronger, yes, but it may have affected her judgement, her creativity and thinking that are as vital as that physical strength.

Great questions!!!!

 

[kittenpoker]

I also think there was an implied rape aspect to this.... these men were trying to force this power inside her - she was chained and the power was attempting to enter her - as a man would.... I think it spoke to the female empowerment that buffy represents. She does things her way. Her strength comes from deep within her.

Just my thoughts.

 

[ticonderouga]

I also think there was an implied rape aspect to this.... these men were trying to force this power inside her - she was chained and the power was attempting to enter her - as a man would.... I think it spoke to the female empowerment that buffy represents. She does things her way. Her strength comes from deep within her.

Just my thoughts.

Great point and Buffy herself even mentions something along these lines, "You violated that girl." However this also brings up some rather disturbing thoughts, for example that such a violation would give her even more power, even over the shadowmen themselves, but especially in regards to the various demons. Which the writers like to use as metaphors for real life problems. I do think that it might have been interesting to see what powers Buffy would gain, if the exchange would lead to additional powers not just increasing her current strength, speed and healing. However, I do think that her refusal reiterates a point made in Restless, which is that Buffy is ultimately the source of her own power.

 

[Gum Gnome33]

Great question. This actually brings up a few points that I hadn't really considered much until now.

Buffy spends the entire episode criticizing everyone in the house for not "doing more;" for being weak and for letting evil overpower and intimidate them. It is profoundly moving, and a frank indication of exactly how serious she is, when she berates Spike for not being aggressive enough--for not being the vampire she met all those years ago. She wants him to allow himself, essentially, to be taken over yet again by the demon inside, in spite of all of the work he'd done to abolish it. I always found the exchange between them to be heartbreaking; here is the man who has found a way to be good, and the very woman who inspired him to do it is now asking him to revert to being like the thing that was her enemy.

Then comes the point at which the tables are turned. Buffy has an opportunity to practice what she preaches. To take more power without regard to what it will do to her as a person, or to the implications therein. She knows what she's up against, and she's just asked her friends to make any and all sacrifices necessary to prepare for war. But when it comes time to, (as [MENTION=11292]kittenpoker[/MENTION] pointed out), essentially allow herself to be raped by these spirits--by the power--she refuses. It's too much. In spite of the cost, she won't let herself become a monster. As a slayer she now knows that her physical strength is already rooted in darkness, and she is unwilling to discover what increasing that side of her heritage will do to her. To the woman she's become.

Buffy is all but horrified to learn how much of her power lies in darkness. Yet come "Chosen," her solution is to imbue all potential slayers of the world with this very thing.
The hypocrisy in all this is very moving-- as it applies both to the end of the series and toward her exchange with Spike--and I think it needs to be acknowledged.

Ultimately though, I am glad that she refused the power. It was the honorable and stronger thing to do, if not necessarily for the greater good. It's one of the many reasons why we love Buffy: one of her greatest strengths is always her belief in herself.

 

[white avenger]

1) Would Buffy have accepted the increased powers if the Shadowmen had shown her what it was that she faced?

2) Also would Buffy gain new powers or just increase the power she already had?

3)Lastly would she become less human, after all her existing powers actually enhance her humanity and perhaps the new power would cause similar increases...

1-- Buffy might have been initially tempted to accept the power boost from the Shadow Men, but I believe that she would have been able to see what price that she would have to pay for that additional power, and realize that the gain wouldn't outweigh the cost.

2-- Most likely, the Shadow Men would have simply increased the power that Buffy already possessed. My view of them is that they wanted their Slayers to have specific powers, but also specific limitations, limitations that would make it easier to control and exploit them. Strength, speed, endurance, and the ability to heal quickly define the perfect soldier, and that's all that they wanted or were willing to give.

3-- I think that we got a pretty good idea of what Super Charged Buffy would have been like when Caleb merged with the First Evil. He didn't gain anything new, he just had what he already possessed intensified, and probably in the process lost a little more of what made him human.

There's an Oriental saying that means roughly, "Strength without wisdom breaks its own back. Strength WITH wisdom conquers worlds." Buffy had all the strength at her command that she needed to win her war, and, at the crucial moment, she had the wisdom to recognize and utilize that strength to the best advantage.