What was the purpose of Xander's speech in Dirty Girls?

[itssmiletime]

So before the potentials and Buffy get their asses kicked by Caleb, Xander gives a speech to the potentials. Here is the speech:

I've been through more battles with Buffy than you all can ever imagine. She stopped everything that's ever come up against her. She's laid down her life - literally - to protect the people around her. This girl has died *two* times, and she's still standing. You're scared, that's smart. You got questions, you should. But you doubt her motives, you think Buffy's all about the kill, then you take the little bus to battle. I've seen her heart - and this time not literally - and I'm telling you right now she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You gotta trust her. She's earned it.


So I'm really confused. I've seen this speech all over tumblr and fansites, all with sentimental gifs of buffy and xander. It's some people's favourite speeches. People who pretty much worship Buffy Summers, know it off by heart. I don't want to sound like a grinch, but did people watch the scene with the eye gouging?

If it was supposed to be Buffy-worshipping, why would such a speech exist in an episode that ends on such a sour note, in bloody massacre?

Maybe I'm interpreting this wrong. I love Dirty Girls, favourite episode in s7, but I don't get the purpose or fuss over this speech. It makes no sense to me at all.

 

[Lyri]

To me, it has more to do with Xander's unwavering faith in Buffy.

Xander never runs away from a fight, because he feels that his place is next to Buffy, and he knows that Buffy is always, always going to win, no matter what. And he KNOWS that he'll be fine.

And so he gives this big, impassioned speech, showing his loyalty to Buffy and showing the Potentials that they should trust her, too, that she'll keep them safe and they'll all get out in one piece, because that's what Buffy does. She's the hero, the protector, the one to keep everyone safe.

But not this time.

This time Xander's wrong. They don't all make it out unscathed, and for the first time in seven years, Xander is hurt, because of Buffy, because he followed her into battle. That's never happened before and it goes a long way to explaining his actions in the next episode.

He's lost faith in her and her judgement and he can't do it anymore. It's only when Buffy proves herself again by going back to the vineyard and facing down Caleb and retrieving the Scythe that Xander's confidence in her comes back.

 

[Kean]

It's to make what's to come hurt on whole new levels.

Buffy is that person. Nothing Xander said is untrue. But she made the wrong call and Xander paid a massive price for it. And that was the difference, because normally it is Buffy or Giles who suffer those bad decisions, who lose what cannot be replaced. The two Scoobies with callings and predetermined responsibilities. The two Scoobies who are supposed to get hurt in the line of duty.

I'm telling you right now she cares more about your lives than you will ever know.

That speech is there so you watch the scenes in the hospital and literally feel this show punching you in the gut. Because what Xander says is all true but it doesn't matter, not anymore.

 

[EVIL UU]

Basically, it's propaganda and like all propaganda, Xander's entire speech is full of lies.

She stopped everything that's ever come up against her.

Lie. Buffy didn't stop Angelus, Willow did by cursing him. Buffy didn't stop Warren, Willow did. Buffy didn't stop Willow, Xander did.

I'm telling you right now she cares more about your lives than you will ever know.

Lie. Somebody who sends a bunch of children straight into the lair of Big Bad cannot possibly care about their lives. It's a complete garbage. Buffy knows how powerful Caleb is, seriously, what are those kids supposed to do against him? Well, die. That's it.

Xander has to realize this. So either he's delusional or he's outright lying. I don't know which is worse.
[MENTION=12236]itssmiletime[/MENTION]

If it was supposed to be Buffy-worshipping, why would such a speech exist in an episode that ends on such a sour note, in bloody massacre?

To show that every Scoobie is rotten, even Xander. Spirit, Mind, Hand and Heart who turns out to be a spineless, manipulative little liar.

 

[Cohen]

Lie. Somebody who sends a bunch of children straight into the lair of Big Bad cannot possibly care about their lives. It's a complete garbage. Buffy knows how powerful Caleb is, seriously, what are those kids supposed to do against him? Well, die. That's it.

Xander has to realize this. So either he's delusional or he's outright lying. I don't know which is worse.

i'm pretty sure she didnt know how powerful caleb was until she took them to the lair. in fact, wasn't that the first time they met? before that, she just saw a ran-down girl in the hospital. and considering she's faced bringers before, she didnt think they would be so hard to kill, especially taking an army SHE HAD BEEN TRAINING into battle. They knew the consequences at this point. They knew this was life and death. If they wanted to go off on their own, they had that choice. Re: annabelle.

 

[EVIL UU]

[MENTION=6094]sk8rj04[/MENTION]

i'm pretty sure she didnt know how powerful caleb was until she took them to the lair. in fact, wasn't that the first time they met?

That's true, my mistake, still, potentials stand no chance against bringers. They're just kids.

 

[TotallySpiked]

'It's kill or be killed here. Take your bloody pick'.
Just thought I'd quote Spike here- seems relevant. It doesn't really matter that they're potentials, the bringers and Caleb were after them, they had to fight.

 

[dexeded]

Lie. Buffy didn't stop Angelus, Willow did by cursing him. Buffy didn't stop Warren, Willow did. Buffy didn't stop Willow, Xander did.

Buffy would've stopped Angelus, she was just about to send him into Hell when the curse took effect. Warren wasn't exactly a threat, Buffy could've easily taken care of him. Which leaves Willow. So geez, fine, Buffy has stopped 'almost everything that's ever come against her'. What a whopping lie. I don't think Xander stopped to think and count every single enemy Buffy's come across to see if she'd actually stopped every single one of them, and by my count it was all but two (one she could've handled anyway, and one that was of her team, stopped by another of her team).

That's true, my mistake, still, potentials stand no chance against bringers. They're just kids.

Kids or not, Amanda seemed to do pretty well against the Bringer in Potential. That should be impossible with regular kids, so they aren't just kids. They're Potentials, and apparently, their innate instincts/strengths/differences do make enough of a difference to matter significantly.

 

[EVIL UU]

[MENTION=11500]drizzlydaze[/MENTION]

Warren wasn't exactly a threat, Buffy could've easily taken care of him.

First he kicked her ass, managed to run away, then murdered her friend and almost killed her.

they aren't just kids.

No, that's exactly what they are. Powers or not, they are still children. Buffy does the same thing Shadow Men and the Council did. It's the same crap, just with a different ass in charge.

They're Potentials, and apparently, their innate instincts/strengths/differences do make enough of a difference to matter significantly.

Yeah, they die just fine.

 

[dexeded]

First he kicked her ass, managed to run away, then murdered her friend and almost killed her.

Kicked her ass with the power orbs, which she broke. By murdered her friend, you mean hit her unintentionally with a stray bullet? Almost killed her, sure. Anyone with a gun can kill Buffy. That doesn't make Warren more powerful than, say, Glory (who was defeated by Buffy), just because Willow happened to defeat him instead of Buffy.

No, that's exactly what they are. Powers or not, they are still children. Buffy does the same thing Shadow Men and the Council did. It's the same crap, just with a different ass in charge.



Yeah, they die just fine.

They died to Caleb, and as you said earlier, Buffy didn't know about him before going there. And in my previous post I showed that they weren't just kids because of what Amanda could do. And what they could do locked in the crypt with vampires.

 

[white avenger]

Buffy's problem here is one that she's had from the beginning of the season, that you would think by 7 years, she would have at least recognized and made some effort to control: overconfidence. One of the famous most scenes to illustrate this is in Season 2, "School Hard," when she is almost killed, and probably WOULD have been killed, by Spike if not for the intervention of her mother with a fire ax. Buffy is good, but there are others who are just as good, if not a little bit better than she is. Spike is one, Glory is another. For that matter, even the plain, ordinary vampire in Season 4 that stabbed her with her own stake was an even better example.

My point is, Caleb was a totally unknown adversary, and Buffy should have erred on the side caution rather than taking a bunch of untried teenaged girls into that place. Sure, they needed experience, but they would have been better off getting it in a more controlled situation, like finding a small band of Bringers to work on. By that time, Buffy had two experienced, super powered allies at her disposal, Faith and Spike. The three of them should have gone into the vineyard alone, maybe with Xander and the Potentials a safe way for mop up after the major fight was done, but they shouldn't have been led in there for Caleb to slaughter like that. If Faith, Spike, and Buffy had hit Caleb in a coordinated attack, never letting him follow up on one opponent before being hit from another direction by one of the other two. Kept constantly off balance that way, no matter how powerful he was, he would have to go down eventually.

As it was, Buffy's bad decision cost some girls their lives and Xander his eye. Her decision to go to the vineyard was good and the right thing to do under the circumstances, but her strategy was flawed. We'll never know just what her plan was for that second attack, but I would be surprised if it would have been another frontal assault like the first one.

 

[Zeppelin92]

Yah I found that speech strange mainly because the following episode Xander stops trusting Buffy's calls. It was a complete 180 within 2 episodes.

 

[CSIgirl86]

Hey I'm new to this site but I felt the need to register to comment when I read this thread. I've always felt that the point of Xander's speech is to show that he has blind faith in Buffy. Throughout everything that has happened in their lives he still believes that Buffy will always win. He ends up paying the price for that blind faith by literally losing his eyesight (well partially anyway). We all know that Joss is a fan of metaphors and I feel like this was a pretty literal metaphor for Xander's faith in Buffy. I think his actions in the following episode make perfect since. He has now seen that she does have the potential to fail. In losing his eye he ironically ends up seeing more than he ever had before. There were two other instances where Xander's eyesight is discussed. Once in the episode "Potential" where he tells Dawn that he "sees more than anybody realizes because nobody is watching me" and again right before Caleb gouges out his eye he says "so you're the one who sees everything".