What was Faith planning to do after the Ascension?

[YummySushiPJs]

If she hadn't been put in a coma, what did Faith (and the Mayor) plan to become of her? Assuming she wasn't injured/killed in all the carnaige?

 

[Buffy Summers]

I think he would have set her up as Queen of Sunnydale and let her torture the Scoobies. lol 😀

 

[BuffyElevated]

I think she thought she was going to be at The Mayor's right hand, living like a queen and doing whatever she hell she wanted. But somehow, I find it hard to believe she would have lived very long once he ascended... I don't know why, but I feel like he would have eventually killed her or had her killed.

 

[Blaze]

I wonder if the Mayor would have kept his memory after ascending. Was he still himself even as a giant snake. If he was, then I doubt he would have killed her. It might be crazy, but I do think he loved her in a really messed up way. I think Faith would have kept doing what she was doing, going off the deep end. In the end though, I think she would have came around on her own. Faith is a lot of things, but she isn't a sociopath.

 

[thetopher]

I'm not sure Faith was ever entirely confident about her future with the Mayor.
In Graduation Dat Pt 1 she's asking if he'll still need her during the ceremony and afterwards, that says to me that she still had at least some doubts about what was about to happen.

But I think that she trusted that she'd be alright, as long as the Mayor would look after her. (She knew that the Mayor would still feel some human emotions after his transformation- such as his fatherly affection for Faith. That's what she tells Buffy that allows Buffy to lure the Mayor)

But yeah, I think after the Ascension Faith would've queen of Sunnydale, and maybe a 'troubleshooter/problem-solver' for the Mayor when needed.

I always wondered if the guilt of what she'd allowed herself to become would've gotten to her like it did in 'Who Are You?'

Would Faith have had a 'moment of clarity' when she saw The Mayor devouring all those innocents?

Probably, but it would've been too late for her. Maybe she would've clung on to her sanity for a little while, but she almost certainly would've become suicidal ala 'Five By Five'

Talk about slayer death wish. 🙁

 

[YummySushiPJs]

^I think he did keep his memory because remember Buffy taunted the newly ascended Mayor/Demon by waving the knife she used to stab her? This is how she got him to chase her into the school.

 

[EVIL UU]

Kill her. Guys, The Major founded a town on the hell mouth and ran it for a over a century and what, you think that he managed just that for so long by being nice and not backstabbing people? He is pure evil, OK? He's one of the most ruthless, patient and stubborn assholes in the entire Buffyverse. And he's a big snake on the top of that! Basically, Faith's demon food.

 

[white avenger]

I seem to remember Faith once asking Wilkins if she would still be needed after the Ascension, and him assuring her that she would. Beyond that, I seriously doubt that Faith gave it a second thought. Whether he deserved it or not, Faith trusted Mayor Wilkins completely. He was the loving parent who she had never had, and I don't think that the idea of his ever betraying her ever entered into Faith's thinking.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

In Enemies she rants on to Buffy about how the Mayor to kill every one at Graduation. It seems that perhaps the Mayor didn't tell Faith everything that was going to happen. When Professor Lester asks why the Mayor wants him dead, Faith says she didn't think to ask. I don't think she really thought the whole thing out and she just wanted to make the Mayor happy and get his love. Maybe she would have changed her mind after she saw him turn into a giant snake and was eating everyone, but we'll never know. She was a character portrayed as not thinking ahead, as we see in 'Bad Girls'. All she thought was the Mayor will kill people and he needs my help and in return he shows me love and buys me things.

 

[Taake]

She would scratch his demon-belly and tickle his chin when he was cranky 🙂

In Enemies she rants on to Buffy about how the Mayor to kill every one at Graduation. It seems that perhaps the Mayor didn't tell Faith everything that was going to happen. When Professor Lester asks why the Mayor wants him dead, Faith says she didn't think to ask. I don't think she really thought the whole thing out and she just wanted to make the Mayor happy and get his love. Maybe she would have changed her mind after she saw him turn into a giant snake and was eating everyone, but we'll never know. She was a character portrayed as not thinking ahead, as we see in 'Bad Girls'. All she thought was the Mayor will kill people and he needs my help and in return he shows me love and buys me things.

No, seriously though. Pretty much what Fuffy Baith said is my opinion. Faith is pretty much the kind of person who just reacts to things. I just don't think she thought it through all the way, though at the back of her mind I think she was probably aware that once Graduation there was a certain kill or be killed situation... like, as much as she wanted the Mayor to love her, I don't think she ever truly trusted him. Once he was a full-fledged demon she would probably have headed for the hills (like with Kakistos).

 

[The Bronze]

Faith was just looking forward to a bloodbath. I don't suppose she'd given a thought to whether she'd still be on the payroll for a giant snake... or if a giant snake would have a payroll.

 

[thetopher]

She would scratch his demon-belly and tickle his chin when he was cranky

I just love this image. It's so goofy and yet at the same time utterly disturbing. 🙂

What a mind you must have. 😛

Faith was just looking forward to a bloodbath. I don't suppose she'd given a thought to whether she'd still be on the payroll for a giant snake... or if a giant snake would have a payroll.

I don't see much evidence that Faith was relishing the thought of mass murder.

I think she thought that when the Ascension came she'd get to fight Buffy- and generally be useful.
To me there seemed to be a disconnect asto what what Faith was doing (and going to do) and who she was doing it for.

 

[The Bronze]

I don't see much evidence that Faith was relishing the thought of mass murder.

I think she thought that when the Ascension came she'd get to fight Buffy- and generally be useful.
To me there seemed to be a disconnect asto what what Faith was doing (and going to do) and who she was doing it for.

She walked into the mayors office and offered her services as a hired gun. She didn't have any connection with him to begin with. She followed all orders up to and including murder. Fighting Buffy and making herself useful basically adds up to enabling mass murder. Within minutes of waking up from her coma, she'd savagely beaten someone and rushed off to the ascension. She was desperate to be a part of it and I don't see what else she would have been expecting other than a massacre.

 

[thetopher]

She was desperate to be a part of it and I don't see what else she would have been expecting other than a massacre.

How about what I just said- a battle, which is exactly what it was.

Faith could've been motivated by the fact that her boss, who for all she knew genuinly thought of her as the daughter that he never had, needed her help. I think that's a more likely motivator than 'just wanna kill things.'

You're suggesting that Faith is nothing but a sociopath, but sociopaths don't feel any guilt. So why, if you're correct, did Faith decide to eventually change?

 

[The Bronze]

How about what I just said- a battle, which is exactly what it was.

Faith could've been motivated by the fact that her boss, who for all she knew genuinly thought of her as the daughter that he never had, needed her help. I think that's a more likely motivator than 'just wanna kill things.'

You're suggesting that Faith is nothing but a sociopath, but sociopaths don't feel any guilt. So why, if you're correct, did Faith decide to eventually change?

I tend to steer clear of the terms sociopath and psychopath because I'm not an expert in how to classify different conditions. We know Faith can differentiate between right and wrong. We also know she can feel guilt. Not disputing either of those things.

My point is calling it a battle or a massacre doesn't change the fact that Faith knew fully well she was on the wrong side of it. She went to the Mayor before she started thinking of him as a father figure. She was well aware that he was a monster and that didn't stop her wanting the job. She knew what she was getting in to and was doing it for fun and money.

I can't answer why she eventually changed though. A moment of clarity I guess. Once she woke up from her coma the money wasn't there as a motivating factor for continued hired gun activities, kidnap, murder etc. Without the great lifestyle distracting her she was just left to see the monster she had become and didn't like it.

 

[thetopher]

Agreed that deep down Faith always knew that what she was doing was wrong. She went to work for the Mayor because she was tired of being ignored/ taken for granted, judged against Buffy- whatever. Point is- she made the wrong choice for shallow, selfish reasons.

She still made the choice to work for him and all the goodies that came with that distracted her from the price of what she was doing- also I think about where it would eventually lead in the future.
But I do think that the 'goodies' quickly became secondary to sense of belonging that only the Mayor gave her- encouragment without judgment can be pretty potent for a child- which is basically what Faith is.

It's when she's in Buffy's body, seeing life through her eyes that she realises what she's become. That's the moment of clarity, and it doesn't take much before Faith starts colapsing in on herself. (The end of 'Who Are You' is pretty much Faith expressing all the self-hatred she's always had)

 

[Taake]

I don't think Faith was looking forwards to a bloodbath so much as she wanted to right her perceived wrongs which were clearly put on show during the season.

She feels under appreciated, pushed aside and just generally over looked. By Buffy, by Buffy's existence and by the life she sees Buffy having and wants, at least in part, for herself.

It is easy to forget that at this point Faith is basically just a screwed up kid, with emotional maturity of one too, who's all alone in the world and desperately wants to belong. Rationally I don't think she wanted to massacre Buffy and the Scoobies, but I think that emotionally she was trying to prove something to both herself and them by signing up to be with the Mayor during graduation - she was showing them that she didn't need them, that she was in control (a clear delusion because obviously she wasn't). She was very childish and me, me, me-ish but with that it also tracks that she was so focused on righting what she perceived as having been done to her, that she didn't stop to think what it would be like after. Had she and the Mayor succeeded I doubt Faith would have taken any joy in the carnage of either Buffy or the Scoobies,

 

[MarlieTheSlayer]

The mayor would make her a queen. I do think Faith wouldn't be able to live with herself after all the bloodshed. She would probably contemplate suicide.

 

[Ianigsy]

I'm in the camp that says that she wouldn't have given it more than a casual thought- up to that point Faith was somebody who'd lived on the hoof. As the incumbent Slayer, she'd be more use to the Mayor dead than alive, perhaps as a commander of his vampire footsoldiers- it wouldn't be in the Mayor's interests to kill her and have a new Slayer called who might be more balanced, self-disciplined and able to do him harm.

 

[Buffy Summers]

The mayor would make her a queen. I do think Faith wouldn't be able to live with herself after all the bloodshed. She would probably contemplate suicide.

I think Faith is too much of a fighter to think about suicide.