Was Jenny's death sadder than Tara's?

Joshua

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Now don't get me wrong all death is sad but imo I always found Jenny's death sadder than Tara's imo.

We had a chance to explore Tara's character I was only sad for Willow for losing the love of her life but I didn't care that much for Tara dying. But with Jenny the emotions that was inside of me when Giles found Jenny's corpse in his bed just laying there.

Giles was expecting a romantic night with his girlfriend instead he finds her corpse.

Tara and Willow had a long relationship for over 3 years. Giles and Jenny had a very short relationship. Plus Jenny was a much more interesting character than Tara imo.
 
The deaths are very different. Jenny's death is made to be viewed as extremely sad. It is made to hit us right in the gut because we see the extent to which Angelus went to make the death the worst, most miserable, saddest thing for Giles. The whole ending of the episode is dedicated to hurting Giles and the viewers.

On the other side, Tara's death is suppose to be unexpected. We are not suppose to be given the time to feel sad or to grieve, because on one part we think that Willow can bring her back, and on the other side we jump straight into the revenge plot. Tara's death is made to make us angry, revengeful, confused. Jenny's death is suppose to make us feel heartbroken for Giles.

For example, switch the two death around. Jenny dies unexpectedly from a gun shot at the end of the episode while Tara dies from Angelus and gets the same romantic death scene set up. Automatically Tara's death becomes sadder and more dramatic. It was all in the execution, characters didn't have much to do with it. But yes, for execution, Jenny's death was sadder, as it was meant to be (she actually got one of the saddest death in the entire verse scene wise).

If you remove execution of the deaths and just think about the characters dying (let's say without even knowing how they die) I think Tara's death was sadder because she had become such an important member of the Scoobies, her life was linked to all of them, not just Willow. And although Jenny is one of my favorite character, the idea of her dying is not as sad as the idea of Tara dying.
 
The Thirst Evil
The Thirst Evil
[No message]
No.

I didn't know Jenny. She was in a handful of episodes, I didn't have any sort of connection to her. Yes, it was sad when she died, but I agree with [MENTION=8404]Blaze[/MENTION] in that, the whole episode leads up to her death, you know it's going to happen. Yes, it was awful and violent and one of the most gruesome, emotional deaths on the series, when you factor in everyone's reactions and the fact that Angel was the one to do it.

But I still didn't care all that much about JENNY, that it was JENNY'S death I was seeing, because I cared more about Buffy and Giles and Willow and that stupid, cocky smirk on Angel's face and that amazingly beautiful speech of his.

With Tara, it's different. I LOVE Tara, I KNEW Tara, I spent time with Tara. Her death was a huge shock. It was so unexpected, so...gutwrenchingly painful that I actually felt sick. But that was the whole point. NO ONE saw Tara's death coming, it shocked everyone and it was all the harder for it.

Only two deaths in this fandom hurt me more than Tara's - Buffy and Fred.
 
Blaze
Blaze
Exactly!
thetopher
thetopher
[No message]
No.

I didn't know Jenny. She was in a handful of episodes, I didn't have any sort of connection to her. Yes, it was sad when she died, but I agree with [MENTION=8404]Blaze[/MENTION] in that, the whole episode leads up to her death, you know it's going to happen. Yes, it was awful and violent and one of the most gruesome, emotional deaths on the series, when you factor in everyone's reactions and the fact that Angel was the one to do it.

But I still didn't care all that much about JENNY, that it was JENNY'S death I was seeing, because I cared more about Buffy and Giles and Willow and that stupid, cocky smirk on Angel's face and that amazingly beautiful speech of his.

With Tara, it's different. I LOVE Tara, I KNEW Tara, I spent time with Tara. Her death was a huge shock. It was so unexpected, so...gutwrenchingly painful that I actually felt sick. But that was the whole point. NO ONE saw Tara's death coming, it shocked everyone and it was all the harder for it.

Only two deaths in this fandom hurt me more than Tara's - Buffy and Fred.

I hated how Joss destroyed Tara and Fred. They were the most purest souls of the entire Buffyverse
 
Jenny's death was more of a shock for me. it was, I think, the first time that I had seen a major character die on the show. With Tara, something just kept whispering in my ear, "It's getting too good, something's gonna screw it up." Course, by then, I had come to realize what a sadistic person Joss is, so I was almost certain that something bad was due. (I actually at one point had a suspicion that the Three Stooges were going to turn Buffy evil in some way, and Spike was going to lure her away, just because that would be a total shock for all concerned)
 
I agree with Lyri, the only two deaths that were sadder than Tara's were Buffy and Fred (actually, I'd add Wesley to that- utterly heartbreaking.)

Jenny... Jenny's death made us feel sorry for Giles and the Scoobs, Tara's death made me sorry for me. I felt bad that Tara was dead. The feelings for the other characters and their grief were there, but they were secondary.

Because I liked Tara, especially in S6 (she's about the only character I can stand) and how she's a supportive friend to Buffy, Dawn and Willow...damn, now I'm angry all over again. 😡
 
I've got to go with Jenny. Tara might have been number 1 but my fiance accidentally spoiled it by saying "was that before or after Tara dies?" when we were binging on the show. Fiancé watched the show when it first aired so she knew Tara dies and accidentally told me before it happened.

Buffy's death did nothing for me because I remember seeing ads saying "Buffy Lives" when the show went from WB to Fox. So when she died at the end of season 5 I just figured "oh this is the plotline where she dies and gets resurrected."

I did love the fact that her tombstone said "she saved the world, a lot."
 
Jenny's death definitely elicits more of an emotional response, but that's because that is how it was constructed, both by Joss and by Angelus.

Tara's death had more of a shock factor, which left me with a such a huge 'what the fudge face' that I didn't really get the sad part until much later on, and by then I had kind of come to terms with it.

That being said, in the grand scheme of things, Tara's death was more sad, because she was a purely innocent person, who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and her death was more heart breaking for Willow, than I think Jenny's was for Giles.
 
Yes, for me. I was never that attached to Tara despite enjoying her when she was on screen throughout season 6 (not a big fan of her in season 5 and hated her a little in season 4). When she died I wasn't even shocked, more "oh, she was killed? Woah, Willow looks scary.."

When Jenny died I was shocked she was actually killed, then sad and disgusted with what Angelus did with the body.

I was also sadder for Giles' over Willow when he lost his love one.

... and sadder for myself when I had to put up with Kennedy.
 
Jenny's death was more shocking for me than sad. I remember my jaw dropping when Giles walks in on her corpse because I wasn't expecting it. I was not overly sad though, I mean, I was sad for Giles--but Jenny, not so much. I think it was because we don't get to know Jenny as well as Tara so I couldn't feel a lot of sorrow for Jenny, herself.
 
Jenny was more sad at the time because, as has been mentioned, it was built that way. But Tara's was more sad when the dust had settled. I get over Jenny much quicker than Giles does, but I'm still not over Tara.
 
Jenny wasn't in that many episodes, and I felt I never really got to know her or got close to her. I did like her though, but she never really felt like part of the team. Her death in itself was horrible, but the main reason I felt sad about was because of Giles. I felt so sad for him, and my heart broke for him. Now, Tara is the character (in every show I've watched so far) that I relate to the most. We got to know her a lot better, she was part of the gang and on a personal level I think she reminds me a lot of myself. Her death made me feel sad and my heart broke for losing her, not because another character lost her.
 
Jenny's death devastated me, I was a huge GilesxJenny shipper, and for Giles to find Jenny's dead body like that... Just cruel. I did like Tara, but I felt like the episode she died in went way too fast for me to even grasp her death. One minute, Tara was dead, the next Willow went all evil. It was hard for me to absorb the finality of it all.


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No. We had a lot more time to get to know and love Tara than we did Jenny, which is why it was more tragic; because we were attached.
That's like asking which death was more tragic to you, your dogs or some guy you jogged by one time 3 years ago
 
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