Why did Buffy come back from the dead

dan k

Bangel Is Eternal
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This might be an obvious answer to some but after the Master kills her is there an explanation for why she returns?
 
Yes, Angel couldn't perform CPR because he *couldn't* breathe, so Xander gave it to her, thus reviving her.

Buffy has come back from the dead so many times; she died in "The Wish", in "Prophecy Girl", in "Seeing Red" and of course, in "The Gift." Her friends have always brought her back in some way.
 
Yes, Angel couldn't perform CPR because he *couldn't* breathe, so Xander gave it to her, thus reviving her.

Buffy has come back from the dead so many times; she died in "The Wish", in "Prophecy Girl", in "Seeing Red" and of course, in "The Gift." Her friends have always brought her back in some way.

I'm not sure I'd count "Seeing Red" as dying. She never actually snuffed it like in Prophecy Girl. She was just in critical condition.
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Joan the Vampire Slayer
No, she flatlined. Willow revived her.
R
redheadboi19
It is corect. She did flat line. The one I don't count is "The Wish" because it was an alternate reality
as to the why i think it's kinda to show also (on top of what's been said) that buffy is different from past slayers (in that they MOSTLY all seemed to be a lone warrior, no family, no friends ONLY the duty of slaying).

so... they fought alone, and died alone.

where buffy has her friends to help her, (hence xander saving her).
 
M
Ms.Trick
[No message]
I think another big reason they had Xander be the one to revive her and Angel be unable to is to set up Buffy and Xander for a relationship in season 2. Think about it, after she comes back to life, it's the 3 of them marching towards the final showdown with The Master and it's Xander and Angel, side by side, guarding her flank as equals. A good contrast between her dark knight and her white knight.

When you look at that and a number of hints they dropped throughout a good chunk of S2, especially once Angel turned bad (he never once backed down from Angellus when it came to protecting Buffy), I really think that Joss was planning for a good long while for them to be together. Unfortunately the show made a lot of major changes between S2 and S3 and that angle was one of the things that fell by the wayside. Kind of a shame imo as it would've been a lot more interesting than Xander becoming little more than comic relief and all the going in circles about wanting to but never being able to fully be together that comprised Buffy's relationship with Angel in S3. Oh what could have been hehe.
 
M
Marisa
very good point.
I think another big reason they had Xander be the one to revive her and Angel be unable to is to set up Buffy and Xander for a relationship in season 2. Think about it, after she comes back to life, it's the 3 of them marching towards the final showdown with The Master and it's Xander and Angel, side by side, guarding her flank as equals. A good contrast between her dark knight and her white knight.

When you look at that and a number of hints they dropped throughout a good chunk of S2, especially once Angel turned bad (he never once backed down from Angellus when it came to protecting Buffy), I really think that Joss was planning for a good long while for them to be together. Unfortunately the show made a lot of major changes between S2 and S3 and that angle was one of the things that fell by the wayside. Kind of a shame imo as it would've been a lot more interesting than Xander becoming little more than comic relief and all the going in circles about wanting to but never being able to fully be together that comprised Buffy's relationship with Angel in S3. Oh what could have been hehe.

You know I've been wondering about that a lot lately. There's really two main instances that stuck out the most for me that makes me think they were thinking about a Bander relationship.

One is the small moment they share in Phases after Xander slays Theresa. She looks into his eyes and after she leaves he says sarcastically "Oh no. My life's not too complicated."

Then in Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered at the end of the episode when they're talking about Xander not taking advantage of her when she was coming onto him, Buffy tells him "There may just be hope for you, yet."

I think this would be a good topic for a thread 🙂
 
S
Stanger406
There is also whats going on in season 8 for those who are reading it!
So it wasn't some sort of divine intervention, just that Xander gave her mouth to mouth. For some reason i thought it was more then that but i suppose even in Buffy things can be that simple.

In regard to Bander i'am curious to know whether Joss ever thought about it.
 
It was just the intervention of her friends, as someone else pointed out, it was to show everyone that Buffy wasn't like every other Slayer, she had her friends to help her.

In regard to Bander i'am curious to know whether Joss ever thought about it.

According to Nick Brendon, both he and SMG were convinced that was where Joss was going with the characters, and they played part of S6 and S7 with that idea in mind. But it never happened. He also said that he's more of a Bander shipper than a Dander.
 
Yes, Angel couldn't perform CPR because he *couldn't* breathe, so Xander gave it to her, thus reviving her.

Buffy has come back from the dead so many times; she died in "The Wish", in "Prophecy Girl", in "Seeing Red" and of course, in "The Gift." Her friends have always brought her back in some way.

There was also "Nightmares". She was buried alive and when she clawed her way out she was a vampire, a member of the undead club.

Willow didn't so much revive her as she did cause her to flatline in the first place. The doctors were operating on Buffy, Willow Jedi mind tricked them to leave mid-surgery, and that is when Buffy flatlined and Willow went over to her and healed her. Interrupted the doctors in the middle of taking the bullet out and when they were stopping bleeds near her heart, is what would've (or did, because of the flatline) kill her.

It's interesting that in The Wish it was one friend (Cordelia) that got her killed--making that stupid wish--and another friend (Giles) that saved her.
 
Depending what the injury is, there's always some window of opportunity to save someone after they die. In this case, drowning, there is usually a small window of opportunity to perform CPR on someone who's died - usually like 2 minutes I've heard. I'm positive Buffy died from the drowning in the little pond and not from the blood loss from the Master.

My one friend cracks on me because I died and came back and we're both obsessed with Buffy. lol It's a fun conversation breaker when things get awkward. "so, has anyone here died besides me?" lol
 
W
Willow My Love
That's actually a really awesome thing to be able to say!
Yes, Angel couldn't perform CPR because he *couldn't* breathe, so Xander gave it to her, thus reviving her.

Buffy has come back from the dead so many times; she died in "The Wish", in "Prophecy Girl", in "Seeing Red" and of course, in "The Gift." Her friends have always brought her back in some way.

Hah, that reminds me of that quote I like from the comics. I don't read them, but it pops up in the quote box on BB all the time. Something like:

Fray: Buffy Summers?
Buffy: Present.
Fray: Buffy Summers is dead.
Buffy: Occasionally.
 
G
GrrArghx
love that quote, lol.
Though I suppose there are different ways to define 'dying', I've never been impressed with the "Prophecy Girl" definition. Cardiac arrest is not the best definition really (are people with Pacemakers zombies?) Death is about the brain functioning. Once the heart stops, the brain stops receiving new energy in the form of new blood. Once this lack of energy causes the brain to irreversibly stop operating, then that person is dead.

After all, there's a reason they call them "near-death experiences", as opposed to "death experiences".
 
It's also called clinical death, so it works for me. Using CPR to defeat the prophecy really fits BtVS's tradition of having the characters defy the old ways. Like Buffy having friends, using rocket launchers and explosives, etc.
 
My impression was always that the Master didn't kill Buffy. He bit her and drained her blood but then dropped her in the water. Drowning is what had actually killed her, therefore when Xander showed up with the mouth to mouth she came back to life.
 
I watched this episode again today and came to the same conclusion in regard to the drowning. At first i was thinking how has he killed her because he only bit her for a few seconds.

That's what originally confused me about her coming back from the dead. I originally thought she died after being bitten so imagined something supernatural must have occurred to bring her back. Now i know she drowned which makes more sense in terms of how Xander revived her.
 
In Reptile Boy (I think) Buffy says, "I hate it when they drown me". That's a reference back to this episode.

After Xander revives her, Buffy claims to feel different, stronger. It's never explained why exactly this should be.
 
PrincessBuffy16
PrincessBuffy16
That's in Bad Girls ;)
D
dan k
good point
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