Would Buffy's Sacrifice have been less meaningful if she'd planned to slay Dawn?

[CordelliasHeart]

Would buffys Sacrafice in "The Gift" HAve been any less meaningfull if she went in planning to kill Dawn, with a heavy heart, then figured out the "Death is your gift" thing.


Would it have made the "The hardest thing in this world is to live in it" speach any less touching?

 

[Xin Rong]

I think it would have been more meaningful if she'd have gone in there with the attempt to slay Dawn. I always disliked Buffy's whole 'the last thing she'll see is me protecting her'. If
Buffy had intended to kill Dawn it would have been a true sacrifice, whereas going in there knowing that she would never kill Dawn means that it's less of a sacrifice and more just an opportunity to ensure her death has meaning, whereas in her other plan she was going to die fighting, let Dawn die after her and all of her friends.

 

[chasesummers]

I could imagine the garbage she would go through if she let that happen.
"oh Buffy killed Dawn"
"Buffy is a killer"
"she should have sacrificed herself"

 

[CordelliasHeart]

main reason they didnt do that that I can see, is so dawn could express a willingnness to die to save the world.

but as buffy draws ber blade saying "Im sorry Dawnie, but I have no choice... you can hate me if you want to you have every right to"

"Do it Buffy, its the only way it has to have the blood"

thats probaly part of what they were going for with the "Last thing she'll see is me protecting her" bit

and I thoroughly liked a lot of the "Buffy as the mom scenes"

I know some people hate them.

just saying Buffy being psychoticly irrational, wasnt neccessary.

Giles made the wrong argument I think when he said "shes not your sister"

the right argument is

"That is part of the cross the slayer must beart, Im afraid, at times usualy because they've been turned by a vampire, she must slay a loved one., this is no different"

 

[Blaze]

People sometimes hate on Buffy for the sacrifice. Personally I think it was the most perfect moment of the entire series.

Buffy wouldn't be Buffy to me if she didn't do this.

 

[CordelliasHeart]

Blaze, to clarify, I am NOT Hating on the Sacrafice...

I'm asking would it have been diminished, in any way, if Buffy had gone there originaly intent on killing Dawn, if neccessaryl to save the world.

But then realized she could kill herself instead.

I DO love the sacrafice, and the "The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it" speach.

 

[Blaze]

Blaze, to clarify, I am NOT Hating on the Sacrafice...

I'm asking would it have been diminished, in any way, if Buffy had gone there originaly intent on killing Dawn, if neccessaryl to save the world.

But then realized she could kill herself instead.

I DO love the sacrafice, and the "The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it" speach.

Sorry, I didn't aim that at you, I just meant in general some fans hate on it. I guess to answer the question, deciding to sacrifice Dawn would have somewhat changed my view of Buffy. I don't think it would have diminished the sacrifice though, because in the end Buffy would have taken the right decision for the right reason (at least in my opinion).

 

[Nowhere]

The point of it is pretty simply that at the time, Buffy couldn't imagine killing her own sister even if it meant the end of the world.

"That is part of the cross the slayer must beart, Im afraid, at times usualy because they've been turned by a vampire, she must slay a loved one., this is no different"

It is completely different. A vampire is a distorted version of the person that used to be and needs to be slain because it's the only way to prevent it from wreaking havoc (apart from planting a chip in its brain, apparently). Dawn is still Dawn, killing her just happens to be a way to stop the apocalypse.

Also, I think it needs to be noted that Buffy was determined to not let it get to the point where Dawn would have to die. I think her being "psychotically irrational" was necessary, because it is actually a very human reaction, and it brings tension to the whole story climax and keeps the viewer guessing on what might happen if it actually comes down to it in the end.

Let's not forget that Buffy did indeed "kill" Angel in an earlier season in somewhat similar circumstances, and as it happened, it was certainly not a planned thing. It was just what she had to do at that moment. We'll never know if Buffy would have let Dawn jump down from the tower if there had been no alternate way, but what she said earlier might not be completely relevant at the actual moment.

 

[CordelliasHeart]

Personally I'd like to think the main reason for her "We are not discussing this" was to force Giles to find a way to stop the ritual.

I still, nontwithstanding any statements I made

LOVED the whole "The hardest thing in this world is to live in it"

 

[Wild At Heart]

All I know is that never would've happened. That is way out of Buffy's character. Even if she had no other choice, she wouldn't have killed Dawn. That's why Giles tells Ben that Buffy's a hero, "she's not like us". Personally, if she HAD gone forward with facing Glory planning to kill Dawn, I would've been too busy feeling like what the hell, instead of feeling less or more moved by her sacrifice at the end.

 

[CordelliasHeart]

She kills Angel, and tryed to kill Anya, and threatened to kill Giles... And I think she'd have done so if he had tried touching her.