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alexxkaySo, I thought I wrote this up in my LJ before, but I can't find it with Google. It having come up in conversation recently, I am rewriting it.
Alexx's Wacky Theory about Buffy Season Seven
Season Seven had a lot of problems. The foremost of these, to my mind, was the way in which The First Evil, an apparently omniscient and nigh-all-powerful force, remained so ineffective throughout. At least, *apparently* ineffective. Let's see if we can repair the situation, by looking at things in a slightly different light. First, some ground rules:
*) Events we were *shown* definitely happened (or, at least, were what the characters perceived to have happened); no writing off inconvenient scenes.
*) What we were *told*, however, especially by The First Evil, may well have been false.
*) The First Evil is neither incompetent nor stupid.
OK, given that TFE is competent, then it seems likely that its goal was achievable, and probably even *achieved*. What *was* its goal? Two goals are overtly implied over the course of the season, but neither holds up under close examination.
I) Destroy the Slayer lineage. TFE had *lots* of opportunities to kill Slayers or Potentials that he didn't take. The final episode shows that there were a significant number of Potentials that had not been rounded up in Sunnydale, and may even have been unknown to the Watcher's Council. These were completely unprotected, yet were not killed.
II) Unleash an army of Uber-Vamps. Given the number of minions that TFE had (and the non-existant security over the Seal), it seems clear that if he had *wanted* to open the gate fully and unleash an army, he could have done so at almost any time. At any rate, certainly well before the end of the season.
OK, so now we're pretty sure that TFE's goal was *not* either of those two, what *was* his goal? To infer it, let's examine his actions. The first thing that leaps out, is that his plan requires Buffy. Not a *dead* Buffy, but a Buffy who has been put into a specific mental state. TFE consistently passes on opportunities to kill her, but spends a *lot* of time trying to wear her down psychologically. He wants to make her desperate, but desperate enough to do -- what?
Exactly what she eventually *did* do.
So, what was that exactly? A bunch of people got killed, a bunch of Uber-Vamps got killed, the Hellmouth was sealed, and Sunnydale fell into a hole. But I think these were all incidental. The *significant* act she took was that of empowering all the Potential Slayers -- of whom there seemed to be a considerable number. Why would he want that?
Let's back up a bit. At one point, Giles and Anya consult an oracle about TFE. [Oracles in this sort of story are invariably truthful, though often subject to misinterpretation.] The Oracle says that TFE is moving now because Buffy came back to life. But this story-thread is dropped, and never mentioned again. One assumes that he is referring to the resurrection at the beginning of season six. But not necessarily. She's died and come back once before, after all, at the end of season one.
The source of the Slayer power is mystical, but even magic has to obey some rules. Power has a price, and there is no such thing as infinite power. So what exactly happens when more than one Slayer is called simultaneously?
I'd like to posit some behind-the-scenes events. I have no *direct* textual support for these, but it's at least consistent with what we did see. Normally, when a Slayer dies, a new one is called immediately. But when Buffy died the first time, maybe this didn't happen. Maybe there was a delay between Buffy's "death" and the calling of Kendra. The Watcher's COuncil would take note of such a happening, but probably wouldn't announce it widely (certainly, Giles and Buffy weren't even informed that a new Slayer was called at all). Perhaps this was a blip, a one-time occurrence, they think. But what if it happened again, with Faith? Has the power source been permanently weakened? What happened when Buffy died the second time? Did *another* Slayer get called (without the Scoobies being informed)? Did it take even *longer* than it had before?
Late in season seven, Joss introduced into the tv show the "traditional Slayer weapon" that he had previously established in his futuristic comic book, Fray. From this, we can infer that he intends Fray to be canonical. The back story of Fray includes the detail that, after an apocalyptic battle in the early 21st century, no new Slayers had been called for eight hundred years. Perhaps, when Buffy did her "mass calling", she strained the Source of Slayer-ness so badly that it took centuries to recover.
So now we see the plan of The First Evil, plain and clear. It's a long-term investment. The simultaneous calling of hundreds of Slayers will probably cause the Forces Of Evil (tm) a great deal of trouble -- for one generation. And, Buffy aside, Slayers seem to have a half-life of just a few years. Once that generation is *over*, however, there won't be any more Slayers to deal with for a long, *long* time. He's perfectly content to let Buffy think she won, and to let her lead her Slayer Army against the forces of darkness. He is eternal, and never runs out of reinforcements, but she inevitably will.
This still can come out to a reasonably happy ending. Also in the back story of Fray, one of the results of the dimly-remembered "final Slayer battle" was that all demons were banished from Earth, at least for a very long time. Perhaps Buffy eventually realized that she had been manipulated, and took steps to ensure that, even if it took a long time for the Source to recover, that the Forces Of Evil couldn't gain too much ground during that time.
Alexx's Wacky Theory about Buffy Season Seven
Season Seven had a lot of problems. The foremost of these, to my mind, was the way in which The First Evil, an apparently omniscient and nigh-all-powerful force, remained so ineffective throughout. At least, *apparently* ineffective. Let's see if we can repair the situation, by looking at things in a slightly different light. First, some ground rules:
*) Events we were *shown* definitely happened (or, at least, were what the characters perceived to have happened); no writing off inconvenient scenes.
*) What we were *told*, however, especially by The First Evil, may well have been false.
*) The First Evil is neither incompetent nor stupid.
OK, given that TFE is competent, then it seems likely that its goal was achievable, and probably even *achieved*. What *was* its goal? Two goals are overtly implied over the course of the season, but neither holds up under close examination.
I) Destroy the Slayer lineage. TFE had *lots* of opportunities to kill Slayers or Potentials that he didn't take. The final episode shows that there were a significant number of Potentials that had not been rounded up in Sunnydale, and may even have been unknown to the Watcher's Council. These were completely unprotected, yet were not killed.
II) Unleash an army of Uber-Vamps. Given the number of minions that TFE had (and the non-existant security over the Seal), it seems clear that if he had *wanted* to open the gate fully and unleash an army, he could have done so at almost any time. At any rate, certainly well before the end of the season.
OK, so now we're pretty sure that TFE's goal was *not* either of those two, what *was* his goal? To infer it, let's examine his actions. The first thing that leaps out, is that his plan requires Buffy. Not a *dead* Buffy, but a Buffy who has been put into a specific mental state. TFE consistently passes on opportunities to kill her, but spends a *lot* of time trying to wear her down psychologically. He wants to make her desperate, but desperate enough to do -- what?
Exactly what she eventually *did* do.
So, what was that exactly? A bunch of people got killed, a bunch of Uber-Vamps got killed, the Hellmouth was sealed, and Sunnydale fell into a hole. But I think these were all incidental. The *significant* act she took was that of empowering all the Potential Slayers -- of whom there seemed to be a considerable number. Why would he want that?
Let's back up a bit. At one point, Giles and Anya consult an oracle about TFE. [Oracles in this sort of story are invariably truthful, though often subject to misinterpretation.] The Oracle says that TFE is moving now because Buffy came back to life. But this story-thread is dropped, and never mentioned again. One assumes that he is referring to the resurrection at the beginning of season six. But not necessarily. She's died and come back once before, after all, at the end of season one.
The source of the Slayer power is mystical, but even magic has to obey some rules. Power has a price, and there is no such thing as infinite power. So what exactly happens when more than one Slayer is called simultaneously?
I'd like to posit some behind-the-scenes events. I have no *direct* textual support for these, but it's at least consistent with what we did see. Normally, when a Slayer dies, a new one is called immediately. But when Buffy died the first time, maybe this didn't happen. Maybe there was a delay between Buffy's "death" and the calling of Kendra. The Watcher's COuncil would take note of such a happening, but probably wouldn't announce it widely (certainly, Giles and Buffy weren't even informed that a new Slayer was called at all). Perhaps this was a blip, a one-time occurrence, they think. But what if it happened again, with Faith? Has the power source been permanently weakened? What happened when Buffy died the second time? Did *another* Slayer get called (without the Scoobies being informed)? Did it take even *longer* than it had before?
Late in season seven, Joss introduced into the tv show the "traditional Slayer weapon" that he had previously established in his futuristic comic book, Fray. From this, we can infer that he intends Fray to be canonical. The back story of Fray includes the detail that, after an apocalyptic battle in the early 21st century, no new Slayers had been called for eight hundred years. Perhaps, when Buffy did her "mass calling", she strained the Source of Slayer-ness so badly that it took centuries to recover.
So now we see the plan of The First Evil, plain and clear. It's a long-term investment. The simultaneous calling of hundreds of Slayers will probably cause the Forces Of Evil (tm) a great deal of trouble -- for one generation. And, Buffy aside, Slayers seem to have a half-life of just a few years. Once that generation is *over*, however, there won't be any more Slayers to deal with for a long, *long* time. He's perfectly content to let Buffy think she won, and to let her lead her Slayer Army against the forces of darkness. He is eternal, and never runs out of reinforcements, but she inevitably will.
This still can come out to a reasonably happy ending. Also in the back story of Fray, one of the results of the dimly-remembered "final Slayer battle" was that all demons were banished from Earth, at least for a very long time. Perhaps Buffy eventually realized that she had been manipulated, and took steps to ensure that, even if it took a long time for the Source to recover, that the Forces Of Evil couldn't gain too much ground during that time.