Was Giles lying or was it a mistake on the writers part?

[RogueDemonHunter]

In episode 3 of season 1, "Witch", after Giles does the spell that switches Amy and her mom's bodys back to normal, he says it was his, "First casting of a spell". Obviously Giles cast many spells in his rebellious youth, as "Ripper". So is Giles just flat out lying to Buffy, or had the writers not made up his past yet, and overlooked him saying this?

 

[white avenger]

Obviously, Giles was lying. As to why, it's anybody's guess. Maybe all of the spell casting and such related things that he, Raynes, and their classmates had done during college had been kept a deep dark secret from the Council, and he continued the cover up just out of habit. Then, later, once he became more comfortable in his relationship with Buffy and the others, he just figured that there wasn't any real reason to keep the truth hidden anymore.

 

[SlayerFest]

I really don't see why he would lie...maybe they didn't plan for him to have that "dark past" of his. Then again, Joss apparently knows way ahead of time what's in store for the characters. Maybe white avenger's right, he just developed a habit of covering up his use of it.

 

[Taake]

I think it's easy to assume that Giles was lying, he was trying to leave his Ripper persona behind him and att this point he wasn't as close to Buffy as he was to become. I'm sure he was still concerned about his 'image' and didn't necessarily want her to know or ask questions about his less than prisitine past. Lying must just have been easier...

(though really I think the writers later on just changed their minds concerning Giles' past but it still works for me) 🙂

 

[Skytteflickan88]

I think the writers meant for him to be telling the truth, but changed that later. I think it makes more sense that yes, watchers have done spells as a part of their studies or work, and I guess the writers agreed and changed that.

So we need a fanwanking, so yes, Giles lied (unless we'll just ignore that line), probably because he was either in deep denial of his past, or simply didn't want to bring up any questions about his past with magic, since the others might have asked questions.

Sidenote; Wesley says he hasn't dusted any vampires in the wild when he first arrives in Sunnydale. In Season 9 of A&F, we see that there atleast used to be a test for watchers where they meet vampires in the wild(not the best way of phrasing it). Also seems like something a watcher should have done before getting a slayer to watch/guide.

 

[PassionBecoming]

I think it's easy to assume that Giles was lying, he was trying to leave his Ripper persona behind him and att this point he wasn't as close to Buffy as he was to become. I'm sure he was still concerned about his 'image' and didn't necessarily want her to know or ask questions about his less than prisitine past. Lying must just have been easier...

(though really I think the writers later on just changed their minds concerning Giles' past but it still works for me) 🙂

I'm on board with this. Looking back, he just didn't want to get into it right then, but really I don't think the writers had gotten that far into his past.

 

[Aloverssoulz]

Just a recon of his characters past.

 

[Rack]

I'm gonna have to go with his character not having been fully written. Who knew at the time that they would last more than a few episodes? In later seasons Giles's character becomes much darker, in S1 he's still just the bumbling dorky librarian archetype. We learn later about his relationship with the coven in England, his Ripper past, and we see him get all gangsta on Ben at the end of "The Gift." But his character, as it was written at the time, was not the spellcasting type.

 

[acox84]

Maybe he technically meant his first casting to do something good- getting rid of something bad instead of bringing it forth?

 

[shadcat]

I'd have to rewatch, but logic would suggest the writers had not decided on those details of his past by that point. So for continuity's sake, people can just look at it as him lying about his past.

 

[patriot1123]

I think it was just a writer's mistake. There would be no reason for Giles to volunteer that it was his first casting, if he were trying to hide his past. He just wouldn't have said anything.

 

[Robb Stark]

Well in all likelihood, it was just a writing mistake, but still, I think it fits within the confines of the story to assume he was lying. When the whole "Ripper days" comes out in S2, you can tell that Giles isn't happy about it. If it were up to him he never would have told Buffy and the rest about the stupid crap he used to pull when he was younger. So when he says it was his first spell, I'm just assuming he was lying. Like others have said, he wanted that part of his life dead and buried.

 

[JCoatsworth]

I think at that point, they hadn't really thought about Giles' past yet. At the time it was actually true, but later they came up with a background story for Giles' character that contradicted with what he said in the episode. So it's just a simple writing mistake. In my opinion, however, it's left to the viewer to decide whether Giles lied or not. You probably can't know for sure.

 

[white avenger]

Whether he was lying, in denial, or just considered himself, as Giles, in some way separate from the Ripper who played with dark magic during his college days, it seems ironic that the two most important men in the series for the first three seasons, Giles and Angel, both had a dark past, complete with its own distinct persona and specific name, and it could even be argued that Giles saw his work as a Watcher as a way to make restitution for what his other self had done in the past. And, as we see in both men, the darkness in their pasts was something just too powerful to be ignored. Bookish, bumbling Giles became more and more like his stronger, more dynamic former self as the weeks past, and brooding, reclusive Angel became a fighter and a force for good every bit as strong as Angelus had been evil personified.

And, in Angel's case at least, both personalities were the direct result of a meeting with a blond woman. I wonder if it was a blond witch that got little Rupert first interested in magic.

 

[Wild At Heart]

Well it really could be a combo of both. I mean who knows if Joss had thought extensively into Giles' past at that point or not but either way, it works for the character because Giles does hide his past from everyone until Buffy finds out the truth. So I don't see it as being a writing mistake. Giles didn't have bad intentions by lying, he just wanted it left in the past.

 

[Freddles]

I would have to rewatch this episode, but I remember getting the impression that Giles was not being completely open. I was watching in order, so I didn't know his backround. Plus on Buffy in particular, the writers often do know where they are headed. Look at the forshadowing of Dawn in season 3.

 

[dolphineclipse]

As it happens, I noticed this myself for the first time a few days ago (it's quite a while since I've watched Season 1). I suspect it was just something that the writers later changed their minds about, but luckily it does make sense in retrospect that Giles would have been lying to hide his past, and the spell did work fine so it doesn't contradict what we learn later.

 

[Wild At Heart]

Even if it doesn't SEEM like he's lying, he still is because we find out that he DOES have that dark past. He never focused on it, it was the furthest thing on his mind until it came back to haunt him, literally. So even when he lied about it, his past experiences with black magic & Ethan Rayne were probably far from his mind.

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

I think that it basically is a retcon that he lied, but at the time, it would have been considered to be the truth, considering that the series was still just starting. It's really an example of a series later retconing something. For example, in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, there is an episode in S3, where it is stated that the Spellman family can't eat pancakes without getting addicted to them. BUT, in S1, you can plainly see a plate of pancakes on the table in the first episode.

 

[Zeppelin92]

I don't think they had his past in mind in season 1. He talked about his family was a long line of Watcher's and he knew he was going to be one, but nothing about his magical past was probably even thought of. Just look at Giles in season 1 compared to later seasons. Its almost like he has never been in a fight before in his entire life. In season 1 he is knocked unconscious almost every single episode. In season 5, Giles is able to torture one of Glory's minions without much effort at all.

The Ripper story was only thought up once Ethan Rayne was introduced, but it can be played off in the series continuity by saying he was out of practice at the time of season 1 and more knowledge based at that time. And that he wanted to remain the voice of reason in Buffy's eyes which the whole Rippper persona would have undermined.