When Buffy was catatonic

[Joshua]

Do you think when Buffy was in catatonic near the end of season 5 after

Spoiler

Glory took Dawn

do you think that gave us a little taste of what would have happened if one of her best friends were killed

 

[Cast No Shadow]

It would depend how they were killed, Buffy loves her friends but not in the same way she loved Dawn (IMO).

Buffy felt responsible for Dawn being taken, so it would depend how responsible she felt for the deaths of her friends.

 

[frenchy]

No because Dawn is a part of Buffy. I think it's stronger that her friendship with the others.

 

[PassionBecoming]

I agree, her connection with Dawn was stronger than that to her friends. Dawn was part of her, she was responsible for her, not to mention that if/when Dawn died the world would end. Dawn being taken not only signified the end of Dawn, but the end of the world, which Buffy has been fighting against for 5 years.

 

[Gum Gnome33]

I think it was not only the fact that Glory had Dawn, but that for the first time in her life she realized how powerless she truly was. In just a few months she had learned that nature was more powerful than magic and superpowers, (when she lost her mother), there were beings who she could not beat down with physical force, (Glory), and that if Glory was successful, everyone she loved and the entire world would die. She'd been through some horrific times before then, but at their worst the gravity of each of those individual events paled in comparison to what she was dealing with now.

Before that moment, she was one of the tools that the universe had to fight back evil and death. It was a lot of pressure but it was a sense of control. If she relied on her instincts and trained hard physically and mentally, she could do a lot of good and save those she cared about. But as of "WotW," she was fully aware how ineffective all that could be in the grand scheme of things. Talk about being overwhelmed. 🙂

 

[white avenger]

Certainly, losing dawn to Glory was a shock for Buffy, but I can't help but wonder if at least part of her desire to protect Dawn wasn't a result of the spell that the monks invoked when transforming the Key into Buffy's younger sister. If they were able to literally create and animate a human body and alter the memories of everyone associated with her false life, instilling a near fanatical obsession for keeping her out of Glory's control wouldn't be particularly difficult (Willow did it, basically in "Tabula Rasa," Lorne in "Spin The Bottle." and the Senior Partners had it done in order to lure Angel into taking over Wolfram & Hart), and would also explain somewhat why her attitude about sacrificing Dawn had changed by Season 7.

As for Buffy's reaction to losing one of her friends, I honestly don't think that her reaction would be that strong unless she, herself, were responsible for killing them.

 

[Ripper666]

Well there died friends of Buffy, Tara, Faith, Angel but she was never so broken as when she thought that Dawn will die ! Dawn has a higher position for Buffy than her friends. You can see how much she really care about her in this catatonic-moments. Really important episode!

 

[SlayerFest]

It happened so unbelievably fast. One minute, Dawn and the others are safe...and the next she's gone. I think Buffy just couldn't handle any of it. Giles was hurt, Tara was crazed, her mom was dead, and now her sister was gone. It all just happened way too fast. She blamed herself. Not for what happened in the gas station, but for giving up...for that one second in the Magic Box. It kind of reminds me of this one episode of Grey's Anatomy that I randomly watched...Meredith is drowning and she's trying to fight/swim, and then for an instant she just lets go. All of this horrible crap has happened recently and she lets go for just a second, but it's enough, and she drowns. When Buffy thought for a second that she was going to lose, she gave up. That's why she was convinced that she had "killed her sister". It only takes a moment to lose it all.

Ugh, that is so good, in terms of the writing in that episode. That "moment" could apply to Buffy giving up in the Magic Box, for a second, and it could also apply to Dawn being taken in an instant.

I'm not sure if I explained that right, but it makes sense in my head! 😉

 

[Cheese Slices]

I think Buffy being catatonic is not only because Dawn is probably the most important person in her life right now, but also because it was "the last straw which breaks the camel's back". Riley's departure, her mom's death, Dawn, Tara, Glory, it was too much for her, so she broke down.

So, I don't think she would react the same because the catatonia is the result of all these events put together.