Was Buffy doomed to die?

[Chosen Enemy]

I'm not talking about her as a Slayer who's doomed to die anyway because she's a Slayer. I'm talking about in the end of The Gift. A few episodes earlier, the first Slayer told her that death is her gift. I assume she gave her the clue about the gift, the death so she would understand it and sacrifice herself. Did she tell her that in order for Buffy to get it and jump to her death? What if Buffy hadn't gotten that clue, that she can also be the key? Did the first Slayer know about what's gonna happen? Was Buffy doomed to die there or could it have been prevented if she hadn't understood what the first Slayer clued to her, about her death being the gift?

 

[Dagenspear]

Yeah, it was her destiny. Even The Oracles in ANGEL say so.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

Yeah, it was her destiny. Even The Oracles in ANGEL say so.

When was that? Do you remember the quote?
Didn't know they were talking about Buffy's death in the Gift on Angel.

 

[Steven123]

I think [MENTION=11428]Dagenspear[/MENTION] means I Will Remember You when the Oracles say that she will die, but she would die earlier, but could be wrong.


I think Buffy still would have sacrificed herself, and even if she didn't know before hand, she probably would have had that gut feeling that it was the right thing to do even though everyone was screaming for you not to do it.

 

[Dagenspear]

I think [MENTION=11428]Dagenspear[/MENTION] means I Will Remember You when the Oracles say that she will die, but she would die earlier, but could be wrong.

No, you're right. I know that I always felt like they were refering to events of The Gift.

 

[Ripper666]

Till today I am not sure if Buffy understood what this gift was when she jumped in the death. I think the way she interpret it made it more easily for her to jump, but she would have jumped even if she wouldn't had the clue, to save Dawn.

 

[arabella]

I think she was doomed to die because that was the plan the writers came up with. I can see how they could've also written it to have Dawn be sacrificed or found a way to avoid Dawn's blood from being spilled and avoided a need for a sacrifice all together. But as a potential series finale, I appreciate that it was written for Buffy to die as it was perfectly in character and the writers did a good job of foreshadowing their decision to kill her.

 

[PassionBecoming]

I wouldn't say she was "doomed" to die. I think that during her quest, the First Slayer knew Buffy would sacrifice herself to save the world and her loved ones. She might not have known it would be at the specific instance in "The Gift", or she might have; she was telling Buffy that she was so full of love that she will make the ultimate sacrifice.

 

[WileyDairyGnome]

I wouldn't say she was "doomed" to die. I think that during her quest, the First Slayer knew Buffy would sacrifice herself to save the world and her loved ones. She might not have known it would be at the specific instance in "The Gift", or she might have; she was telling Buffy that she was so full of love that she will make the ultimate sacrifice.

Exactly what I was going to say. 😀

Also, even if she didn't know that "Death was her gift", she probably would have still done it. I think she jumped both for the sake of saving Dawn and the world, but also to free herself from the world. She was becoming depressed with her Mom gone, and everyone relying on her. I think she still would have jumped for everyone and herself, but with knowing that Death was her gift, it made her know for sure that she was doing the right thing, it was her destiny.

 

[Gum Gnome33]

Interesting question. Was the first slayer referring to what must be, or simply to the matter of fact that as a slayer, death could at any point in time be Buffy's gift?

I think it could easily go either way. As others have said, hearing those words probably gave her reassurance and peace about her decision. But really they could apply very often throughout her life. In a way, every time she goes out and fights a demon, she's offering death as her gift. She's accepted the possibility that she will die in any given battle before it begins. She's not actively thinking about it while fighting, surely, or she would be at a disadvantage. But it's there.

 

[PassionBecoming]

Interesting question. Was the first slayer referring to what must be, or simply to the matter of fact that as a slayer, death could at any point in time be Buffy's gift?

I think it could easily go either way. As others have said, hearing those words probably gave her reassurance and peace about her decision. But really they could apply very often throughout her life. In a way, every time she goes out and fights a demon, she's offering death as her gift. She's accepted the possibility that she will die in any given battle before it begins. She's not actively thinking about it while fighting, surely, or she would be at a disadvantage. But it's there.

I don't disagree, but to me the First Slayer was telling her that death was her gift outside of normal slayer duties. Yes, all slayers die in the line of duty, protecting the world, but Buffy didn't HAVE to die in this instance. I think because of Buffy's heart and love for her friends and family she sacrificed herself in ways outside of normal slayage.

 

[BuffyElevated]

Exactly what I was going to say. 😀

Also, even if she didn't know that "Death was her gift", she probably would have still done it. I think she jumped both for the sake of saving Dawn and the world, but also to free herself from the world. She was becoming depressed with her Mom gone, and everyone relying on her. I think she still would have jumped for everyone and herself, but with knowing that Death was her gift, it made her know for sure that she was doing the right thing, it was her destiny.

I agree with this... I think even if the First Slayer hadn't told her death was her gift she would have jumped to save Dawn from Glory and to save the world.

 

[Willow My Love]

Let me start out saying that this is an awesome thread idea. I've never actually thought about this. That being said:

Every Slayer has an expiration date, yes, but Buffy's case was different. She had people that watched out for her as much as she watched out for them. She loved instead of becoming cold. She completely shut down when Glory took Dawn. She loved her sister so much that she couldn't function knowing what was going to happen to her, until Willow saved her, and essentially Dawn. Buffy jumped because if it were up to any of her friends or family, they would have done the same thing. Dawn tried.

I don't think she was destined to die. I feel like the first Slayer was right, death was her gift. She really did save the world a lot, and this time, she saved every possible world. All the dimensions of the world. And I believe she would have done so even without the first Slayer's words to her.

 

[EVIL UU]

No, she wasn't doomed. "Death is your gift" can be interpreted in many ways. She could have killed Glory before she found the key. She could have killed Ben. She could have killed Dawn and than get Willow to fix her memories and remove all that fake crap from her brain or just deal with it and accept that her job is to kill shit that threatens the world. Sometimes it may be a horrible thing to do but hey

Human rules don't apply

 

[SlayerFest]

Exactly what I was going to say. 😀

Also, even if she didn't know that "Death was her gift", she probably would have still done it. I think she jumped both for the sake of saving Dawn and the world, but also to free herself from the world. She was becoming depressed with her Mom gone, and everyone relying on her. I think she still would have jumped for everyone and herself, but with knowing that Death was her gift, it made her know for sure that she was doing the right thing, it was her destiny.

I think she would have jumped regardless. As long as she knew that they had the same blood and that doing so would save the world...that was good enough for her. I agree, knowing that "death was her gift" made her realize that it was what she was meant to do.