"vague disclaimer" <l64o-1rj5@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:l64o-1rj5-CCF1ED.22133606052008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> In article <COidndvF8dzWG4fVnZ2dnUVZ_uOdnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> "One Bit Shy" <OBS@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>> the im****tant comparison is Willow. Her trigger is magic.
>
> But in this season the only person she has been a danger two is herself
> and, briefly, Kennedy - and that was dealt with explicitly in-story.
Which time? When she was about to shoot Kennedy or when she stole her
life
force? I guess it must be the former since Anya was also hurt in the
latter.
Willow's construct the entire season is that she's not sure that she won't
turn dark again if she uses magic. And it's not just her fear. It is
buttressed by other people's fears and actual events. She didn't complete
her education/treatment with the Coven, who fear her, and are supposed to
know about such things. She has a little moment of uncontrolled
aggression
when she deals with Anya's work at the fraternity house. She's physically
taken over by the First at one point - directly as a result of using
magic.
In STSP she only caused hurt to herself as you say, though I'm not sure
why
that's significant. It's still about her not in control of her magic
power.
That makes five examples of losing control that I recall. (Hurting only
herself, incidentally, presumes that Gnarl wasn't somehow called to
Sunnydale by Willow's uncontrolled power.)
Then, of course, there's the big kahuna itself, the very tangible source
of
this fear when Willow killed, injured and nearly destroyed the world.
That
makes six.
Willow herself is very forthright in saying she doubts her control and
risks
turning evil with any use of magic. (And sometimes, evidently without
purposeful magic.) Experience sup****ts her fears. Yet people still push
her to use magic, and she actively does use it in spite of the danger and
with no special protection beyond Xander trying to keep an eye on her when
he knows she's doing it. (Kind of like Buffy keeping an eye on Spike.)
You seem to place great stock in the Kennedy example being dealt with
in-story. If you mean TKIM, then I suppose you're talking about how it
was
a combination of a spell by Amy and Willow's psychological block
concerning
Tara. Or to put it another way, Willow had a subconscious "trigger"
inside
her head that she overcame by facing and understanding her emotional
problem.
Do you see the parallel? TKIM does exactly the same thing for Willow that
LMPTM does for Spike. (And people don't believe me when I say that TKIM
is
intended to settle Willow's main obstacle to using magic.) Do you really
think the parallels between them aren't intentional? There's a lot of
parallel with Andrew too. Anya's story occurs at an earlier time with so
much of it's own unique qualities that the connection is more obscure.
But
there are parallels there too. The Willow/Spike parallel remains the
biggest I believe. Mainly because of the contrast in perceptions by
people
at hand even where the distinction isn't that great. Spike and Willow
both
think they should be restrained in some fa****on, but Spike actually is -
or
complained about when he isn't. Willow runs free and is actually
encouraged
to use her magic and put everybody at risk. (Andrew, on the other hand,
is
restrained, then set free, but nobody complains about it, even though he's
a
risk too. He might, after all, have suc***bed to The First and actually
used that gun for a killing spree. Storyteller is his version of TKIM and
LMPTM.)
One of the most interesting parallels is a Giles/Buffy one. Giles is well
aware of the danger that Willow offers. He does not diminish it. Instead
he recognizes that Willow can't exist magic free - it's part of who and
what
she is. (Just as Spike can't not be a vampire.) Out of both necessity
and
love for Willow he doesn't seek to restrain Willow's magic use. Instead
he
encourages it as the only possible way through her conundrum. He sent a
still broken and dangerous Willow back to Sunnydale to find the only
possible cure, set free and among friends. Alas, Giles can't mentally
think
of Spike in the same terms. But Buffy can and does. She sets Spike free
-
from the chip much more so than the chains - so both he and Willow
dangerously run free and both solve their problem the same way.
> (something, incidentally, the First seemed quite happy to foster,
> because it wanted her out of the game.)
The First mercilessly points people at the evil they've done. Maybe
that'll
get them to do more. Or maybe it'll get them to kill themselves. Either
way works for The First. That pattern goes back to Amends and is repeated
in S7. Added to it this season appears to be taking people out of the
game
through self doubt. (Though I'm sure it would be happy to pursue the
former
two if the latter works well.)
> There is such a thing as a clear and present danger. And there was a
> simple, expedient measure that keeps everyone safe and Spike no grumpier
> than usual *while the problem is worked*. Even Spike understands that
> until his mummy issues get him in a snit.
Buffy handles much poorly. I believe I go more into criticism of Buffy in
my original response to AOQ in his first series run through. That doesn't
change how much better she sees the possibilities in Spike, nor how Spike
is
treated differently by Giles and others than Willow or Andrew, nor the
story
parallel of all three. This thread is driven off of the observation that
there are lots of murderers in the Summers abode. It's a valid and
im****tant observation, emphasized directly in story as well as through
parallels.
>> The story isn't so simple as failed leader****p.
>
> Indeed. It is a story of hubris, flagged as early as the Conversation
> With Holden.
The argument in Selfless with regard to Buffy. I'd agree that hubris is
part of the story (not all), but only with the understanding that it's not
limited to Buffy. Giles has plenty of his own. But then Giles isn't the
way out of Buffy's problem. Indeed, a considerable part of how so much is
centered on Buffy now is because Giles pushed her into that position.
It's
his model that she's building on.
Or perhaps the Shadowmen. One of the little things to enjoy in Get it
Done
is how Buffy's do what I say attitude gets echoed by the Shadowmen's
attitude towards her. She's been drawing from their tradition. As has
Giles. "This is how it was then. How it must be now," from the Shadowmen
is
in the same spirit as Giles saying, "This is the way wars are won."
The heart of the dispute between Buffy and Giles isn't the details for
best
handling Spike. If Giles believed the payoff would somehow defeat the
First, he'd go right ahead and make the "hard decision" to let Spike run
free even though that might mean run amok. In the context of S7 it's
about
the approach to dealing with people trumping the particular objective.
The
means don't justify the end. Giles wants to control (Spike's chains).
Buffy's instinct is to liberate. Spike isn't just the flashpoint in their
divide. He's one of the im****tant clues to Buffy's greater understanding
to
come that liberates everybody. In the context of the greater story, I
believe Buffy pretty much has to be considered as being more in the right
than Giles here. Buffy needs to look on everybody as having real
potential
(not just the name) the way she looks upon Spike. Giles needs to think of
Spike in much the same terms he does Willow.
OBS
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