3 theories about Buffy's resurrection.

[elisi]

Finally getting round to posting this. I've been tweaking for days now, so it feels good to 'get it out there'. Having said that, it doesn't really follow the most logical of paths, since I got an idea half-way through and I thought it'd be fun to keep my stream-of-conciousness as it first unfolded. So please forgive the jumps - I think I've sorted it out by numbering the different theories though. :)

So - did Buffy come back wrong? And why? And why did her resurrection make The First Evil rise? Follow me...

3 theories about Buffy’s resurrection.

First of all, the show never bothered to explain why or how the spell the Scoobies used to resurrect Buffy created an opportunity for The First Evil to rise. All we have is this snippet from ‘Showtime’ (7.11):

BELJOXA’S EYE: “The mystical forces surrounding the Chosen line have been irrevocably altered. Become... unstable. Vulnerable.”

That isn’t a lot to go on. Now the first time Buffy died, she was brought back to life by Xander. But it was a natural way of revival, and Buffy quite simply carried on. Later we found out that her death had triggered the next Slayer, Kendra, to be called. When Kendra was killed, Faith was called. So the line went on as it had before, and - to put it bluntly - now Faith was The Slayer. Essentially ‘destiny’ was done with Buffy after The Master killed her. Any prophecies that there might be would now be Faith’s to fulfil. So now, Buffy is just a Slayer - f.ex. when she dies the second time no new Slayer is called. (I know that is never proven as such, but from the knowledge we are given, I’d say it’s a fact.)

Theory #1

Now when The Scoobies bring Buffy back to life in ‘Bargaining’ they somehow ‘irrevocably change’ the mystical forces around the Slayer line. Here’s the spell (well the bit that Willow says out loud):

“Osiris, keeper of the gate, master of all fate, hear us.
Before time, and after. Before knowing and nothing.
Accept our offering. Know our prayer.
Osiris! Here lies the warrior of the people. Let her cross over.
Osiris, let her cross over! Aah...
[snake]
Osiris, release her!”

Note the phrase ‘warrior of the people’. Now... what if that meant that resurrected Buffy was The Slayer again - that somehow they split the Slayer line, so now it runs through both of the living Slayers. That would be an instability, and a big one.

I’ll come back to that.

First I want to explain where I got the idea - because this isn’t just me making it up (well of course it is - duh! - but I think I have a good foundation!). You see I came across an unused line in the original ‘Chosen’ script. There is a bit of Buffy’s big ‘Are you ready to be strong?’ speech that (for whatever reason) was cut out. Buffy says:

“It's true none of you has the power Faith and I have. I think both of us would have to die for a new Slayer to be called, and we can't even be sure that girl is in this room.”

Both of them! The Slayer line split in two! Joss says so!

So - how did the Scoobies do that? They obviously wanted to make sure they got Buffy the Slayer back, and not just Buffy the Girl. I think this is why they used the line ‘Warrior of the people’ - to make sure they got the Slayer back. But considering the forces they were messing with, it’s not surprising that they got back The Slayer rather than A Slayer. It’s a very fine distinction - and one they probably weren’t even aware of. They just knew they needed her to be full of Slayer-y goodness. But messing with the Slayer power is dangerous ('Restless' anyone?), and also that Spike's chip no longer registered Buffy as human...

So what exactly was that 'molecular sunburn'? We know that a Slayer is a girl infused with 'the essence of the demon’ - in short very near to a vampire - except of course that a Slayer is still alive...

Oh! Big Thought! What if...

Theory #2

Now we know that a vampire is a demon occupying a dead husk. It retains the dead person’s memories and personality (usually anyway), but not that person’s soul - it is replaced with the 'demon soul' (for lack of a better word). It can operate the body it inhabits (move and speak f.ex.) and to some extent be influenced by it (f.ex get drunk or high).

So what if... what if the spell that brought Buffy back was similar to a vampiric rising? Only much bigger and more complex (there was blood magic and sacrifice and an urn of Osiris and tests...)? Because it was a very big and ambitious spell: They restored her body back to a functioning level, pulled her soul out of heaven and... maybe... tapped the Slayer power, the essence of the demon, to 'fuel' her - to run the whole thing. So, like Dawn is fully human, but still created out of The Key and her blood can open portals (at the auspicious time), so Buffy (post-resurrection) is fully human, but created out of the Slayer demon essence. And that would throw Spike's chip.

Am I making sense?

Theory #3

Actually what’s just occurred to me is that there might be another explanation. Spike only encountered Buffy after she had died the first time - when she was just ‘a Slayer’. He never met Faith (properly) until after the chip had come out. What if the chip didn’t register The Slayer as human, what with being the direct recipient of the Slayer power? Or something. What would have happened if he’d met and tried to hit Faith in ‘This Year’s Girl’ (pre-body swap)? Would the chip have gone off or not? Maybe... maybe Buffy didn’t come back wrong - maybe she came back right? ETA: This one is obviously a bit confusing - let me try to clarify my jumbled thoughts a little more: When Spike got the chip implanted it was after Buffy died the first time, and hence she was only 'a Slayer' and thus more human (or something), and gave Spike headaches. After her second resurrection she was The Slayer' (again) and therefore registered as 'not-human' to Spike's chip. In any case: many thoughts, few answers.

Theory #1 (cont.)

Anyway, the split in the Slayer line would foreshadow the Chosen spell - or mirror it. If in 'Bargaining' the Slayer line was split in 2 - using the Slayer power to bring Buffy back to life - then in Chosen it was split out into hundreds (or thousands) of potentials. Altering the Slayer lines in a much more fundamental way - changing the rules of the game, rather than moving a piece in the wrong way.

So what about The First? To begin with, this would certainly explain why The First made an attempt at Faith's life - apparently just for the hell of it. If Faith’s death alone could not trigger a new Slayer, then The First had nothing to lose by killing her. Esp since it would have known that she would fight on the side of good if given the chance.

But back to our conundrum that’s never explained. From ‘Showtime’:

BELJOXA'S EYE: The First Evil did not cause the disruption, only seized upon it to extinguish the lives of the chosen forever.
GILES: Then what has caused the disruption? What—what is responsible for letting this happen?
BELJOXA'S EYE: The slayer.
[...]
ANYA: Yeah, I just—I don't understand how Buffy's death mucked up the whole slayer mojo. You know, it's not like she hasn't died before.
GILES: It's not because she died. The Beljoxa's Eye was quite clear about that in its enigmatic way. It's because she lives. Again. Buffy's not responsible for that.

So far so clear. Her resurrection was responsible. And if her resurrection did indeed split the Slayer line in half, then that would have implications for the future - if nothing else than for the number of prophecies concerned with ‘The Slayer’.

We know from AtS ‘Destiny’ that if there are two candidates for a prophecy, then the fabric of reality can begin to unravel, creating a big, gaping tear in the balance of the universe. My guess is that there being Two Slayers would be no different. Well there were no telephones going bananas and no one started bleeding from their eyes, but imbalances can manifest themselves in millions of different ways I should imagine. And Beljoxa’s Eyes says that it’s a Slayer-shaped disruption - the Slayer line is unstable and The First can now extinguish The Chosen forever. How exactly that works is uncertain - but it would seem obvious that The First stepped in through that breach in the universe and made a space for itself, building an army, getting ready to unleash hell - the Slayer might be just one girl, but the magic surrounding her creation was obviously very powerful. With that magic gone awry it’s obvious that something nasty would jump at the opportunity.


I think that’s all. I started going off on a tangent about the Scythe and stuff, but that’s really another topic. With this post I’m basically putting forth three theories - I think #1 is probably correct, #2 and 3 are just wild speculation. To summarise:

1) The resurrection spell split the Slayer line in two, and it was this instability which allowed The First to rise.

2) The Scoobies somehow used the Slayer power to reassemble Buffy, and this was ‘the molecular sunburn’.

3) Making Buffy The Slayer again was what confused Spike’s chip.


So there you go - three theories for the price of none! What do you think?

Comments

[elisi]

I just wish Joss would have been a little more explicit in canon about what, exactly, the resurrection spell did to give The First Evil the opportunity...
Don't we all... *g* But then that is Joss all over - he's hopeless at stuff like that - and he knows it:

"I don't know from science, I don't know -I never took any science; I don't know how things work, I can barely tie my shoes - but I understand emotions. So if we can get past that by going, 'well these things happen when you're on a Hellmouth' , um, then we can get to what's important."
Joss Whedon, 'BtVS - Television with a Bite'

With both Buffy and Faith able to call Slayers upon their deaths
Ah, but that's not what I'm saying - I'm saying they would BOTH have to die before another Slayer was called. Or maybe another Slayer wouldn't be called because the line was divided? Hmmm, possibilities.

I'll be honest and say I never liked the idea of Buffy and Faith sharing out their power to the Potentials.
Now if you're coming from a strict story POV I can see why, but looking at the show metaphorically it strikes me as the only possible ending. (stoney321 has written a very interesting post that sums up most of my thoughts: Buffy season 7 - REAL female empowerment.)

More explanations would have been good - but considering that the characters never really worked it out, then maybe ME just restricted itself too much? *shrug* I'm not too bothered, really, since I never watched Buffy for the logic - to me, the emotions are more important too! :)

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Ah, but that's not what I'm saying - I'm saying they would BOTH have to die before another Slayer was called. Or maybe another Slayer wouldn't be called because the line was divided? Hmmm, possibilities.


Yeah, okay, but in either case then why would that give the First Evil a toe-hold? If both Slayers have to die and only one Slayer is called to take their place, then the status quo returns. And if no Slayer would be called, why go after the Potentials? If the ability to call new Slayers has been destroyed, then they're just ordinary girls who once had potential, but no more. If the ability to call Slayers was made null and void by Buffy's resurrection and the division of the Slayer power, and that was what gave The First its toe-hold, then all it needed to do was somehow kill off Faith and Buffy, there would be no more Slayers, and it could ravage the Earth at its will.

Now if you're coming from a strict story POV I can see why, but looking at the show metaphorically it strikes me as the only possible ending.

I'm not sure why that would be the only possible ending. In fact, the complete destruction of the Slayer line is just as possible an ending. Have you ever read the Fray comics? In that Joss used the plot that after a major battle between a Slayer, her companions, and a horde of demons, the Slayer line was destroyed and no Slayer was called again for 400 years. Now that makes as much, if not more, sense to me than an endless supply of new Slayers who all call new Slayers and so on and so on and so on.

[rahirah]

Well, we don't know that they can--if Fray is still canon, then it's likely that the axe dealie was a one-time thing and once the current crop of Slayers die off, it goes back to being one girl in all the world.

Of course, if splitting the Slayer line once caused all that trouble, you'd think that splitting it a thousand ways would be a catastrophe. But then again, it's possible that the new Slayers are getting their power from a different source.

[sp23.livejournal.com]

I think I'd like to go with the Fray canon certainly. Even though in Fray, Joss didn't mention a cadre of Slayers being called, we can still go that all those Slayers were the one that wiped out the demons making the calling unnecessary until Fray's time. It would be interesting if the reason there was a split in the Slayer powers between Fray and her twin brother was because of the doling out of Slayer's powers at the time of the battle with the First Evil. Certainly that would be an interesting consequence of the spell.

I need to reread my Fray comics though because my memory of the complete mythos is a little shaky. :)

[elisi]

But then again, it's possible that the new Slayers are getting their power from a different source.
This is where the Scythe comes in. I tried to work it out before, and why it was so special, but your reply made me come up with something that could work...

The old lady in the temple says that the Scythe was forged specifically for the Slayer and used (only the one time) to kill the last pure demon on earth. Now having seen what a pure demon is capable of (taking Illyria as the obvious example - remember Wesley's axe breaking to itty bitty pieces against her head?) that would mean the Scythe has an awful lot of mojo. Probably enough to activate all the potentials and possibly more besides.

Or maybe it goes back to being just the one girl? Not too bothered really, I just love the concept of empowering all the girls. :)

[elisi]

Yeah, okay, but in either case then why would that give the First Evil a toe-hold?
Well the 'two candidates for the prophecies' seems to be the best bet. How exactly it works I don't know... oh wait! If no new Slayer would be called until both were dead - then if all the potentials were dead, there would be no one to call. And if the line was fragmented into two already, then maybe the magicks surrounding the Slayer calling would not be able to call a new slayer once the next generation got old enough? Does that make sense?

I'm not sure why that would be the only possible ending.
What I mean, is that Buffy's story was always about ONE girl in all the world. The Chosen one, always struggling against this choice that was made on her behalf, and against her loneliness. Season 7 in particular is full of talk about how the Slayer is alone ("I guess everyone's alone. But being a slayer? There's a burden we can't share."End of Days 7.21)
- listen out, it's there again and again. So in the end Buffy breaks all the rules - she will not be lonely anymore, she'll not be the protector of 'the little girls', she'll not go along with what she's been tought. She shares her power - she has so much she's giving it away ("I got so much strength, I'm giving it away." Same Time, Same Place. 7.03), and 'the little girls' grow up, and need no protection anymore. The long term consequences really don't matter all that much, because the whole thing just works for me beautifully. :)

(Also see this essay by avrelia)

Getting to your last point - I haven't read 'Fray' but I might one day. I keep hearing good things.

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Well the 'two candidates for the prophecies' seems to be the best bet. How exactly it works I don't know... oh wait! If no new Slayer would be called until both were dead - then if all the potentials were dead, there would be no one to call.

This is actually what I thought that the season was all about. The First Evil was killing all the Potentials, then was going to kill Faith (and it jumped the gun there for whatever reason) and then kill Buffy, thereby wiping out the Slayer line. ME never really brought that out very clearly if that was The First's plan, but it certainly made sense. As many times as the First Evil seemed to change its plan of attack, I sometimes got the impression that it had the attention span of Homer Simpson. "I'm going to conquer the wor...oh, donuts." :)

And if the line was fragmented into two already, then maybe the magicks surrounding the Slayer calling would not be able to call a new slayer once the next generation got old enough? Does that make sense?

Actually this is the scenario I used in my story that I mentioned earlier. After the last Slayer died, there were no more Slayers because the magic that had allowed Buffy and Faith to share their power totally buggered up the Calling.

And I see now where you were going about the ending, and yes, I guess you could say that it was the best possible ending for Buffy since it was All About Buffy. *g* I still like to think about the consequences though, because Joss always hammered consequences into his stories.

[elisi]

This is actually what I thought that the season was all about.
Yes, I think so too - sorry about repeating obvious stuff. It was late and I was tired...

As many times as the First Evil seemed to change its plan of attack, I sometimes got the impression that it had the attention span of Homer Simpson. "I'm going to conquer the wor...oh, donuts." :)
I actually wrote an essay a while ago about The First that you might be interested in:
Epiphany: I think I understand The First Evil!

The other option is to go with frenchani's theory and see The First as wholly metaphorical. (You can find her essay here - I really love her idea!)

Re. the consequences, then Joss might be addressing them in the comic books? (Just read that he's definitely writing about 'what happened after'). :)

[ladylavinia.livejournal.com]

Why would you need more explanation about how all of the Potentials became Slayers?

Why don't we examine the convenience of Kendra showing up in Sunnydale with the Sword of Acaltha, back in Season 2.

[elisi]

To be honest I'm not all that bothered. It's all so deeply satisfying on a metaphorical level, that I never found myself wondering much about the repercussions. But people keep brining them up, so I wish I had a good answer!