Season 7 and Giles’ Dream:
An excessively wordy and far from erudite analysis, including virginally unspoiled speculation just begging to be painfully Jossed at the first opportunity
by a rather embarrassed Plin
(Since this is really unforgivably long, there's also a PDF version available. Also useful for burning afterwards!)
For some unknowable and probably best unknown reason, while rewatching the landmark episode 4.22 Restless of Buffy the Vampire Slayer the other night, I was struck by an Idea. One of those ideas, the kind that don’t go away no matter how hard you try to reason with them and explain that, really, yes you do have an actual life, and writing essays about a soon-to-be-extinct television show really doesn’t play a part in said life. Those ideas never listen to reason, though, and they have a grip not unlike what we’ve been told about those mysterious Slayer muscles. You’re better off just giving in and writing the damned essay. Or not-really-an-essay, as the case may be, but just the fevered workings of a runaway imagination posing as an essay. Ideas can be tricky that way, they resist labels.
So it is that I find myself taking a close look at Giles’ dream in particular, and attempting to relate it to what we’ve seen so far in the seventh and final season of Buffy (as of this writing, the most recently aired episode was 7.17 Lies My Parents Told Me, or LMPTM). I also speculate on possible future events based on my utterly uninformed and unknowledgeable interpretation of said dream. There are no spoilers here beyond the aired episodes because I don’t know any, and don’t want to. This almost certainly means that my efforts will be rendered null and void when episode 7.18 airs next week, but the Idea refused to leave me alone. There are a few references to recent episodes in Angel (the Series) as well, including vague allusions to 7.18 Shiny Happy People, insofar as they relate to the Buffyverse.
Now that this rambling and uneven non-essay is written, I might as well share it with the group. I hereby expose myself to public ridicule, and invite any and all criticism and commentary on what is to follow. There are plenty of holes to be filled in, and faulty logic to correct, I’m certain. (Oh, and all of the direct quotes and descriptions from episodes are taken from the transcripts at Psyche.de, so I’m relying on their accuracy as it meshes with my own memory.)
Let’s get on with it. When the dream sequence begins, we see:
A pocket watch on a chain, swinging back and forth in front of a chest wearing Giles’ tweedy conservative clothes.
GILES
voiceover You have to stop thinking.
Fade to Buffy’s face, looking pleased. The reflection of the watch moves across her face.GILES
voiceover Let it wash over you.
BUFFY
Don’t you think it’s a little old-fashioned?
GILES
This is the way women and men have behaved since the beginning...
We see Giles’ apartment, with no furniture except one chair, which Buffy is sitting on. Giles stands in front of her with the pocket watch.GILES
…before time. Now look into the light.
Shot of the watch swinging.
Shot of Buffy’s face. Suddenly she bursts out laughing.
There couldn’t be a much more obvious symbol of the Watcher/Watcher’s Council than, well, a watch. Here Giles is trying to coerce Buffy into the traditional mold of how “women and men have behaved since the beginning.” Even more disturbing, especially in light of recent developments on Angel, is the line “you have to stop thinking.” If there’s any message I’m getting from the Jossverse these days, is that you must never, ever stop thinking and questioning authority. Giles apparently wants to do all of the thinking for Buffy. Of course, she laughs in his face: just as she refused the demon essence of the Shaman in episode 7.15 Get It Done (GID), just as she later in Restless tells the First Slayer “you’re not the source of me,” Buffy refuses to abdicate responsibility to an arbitrary authority figure. She remains, throughout every season, firmly in possession of her own power, never caving in to what’s expected of her—as a young woman, as the Slayer. She forges her own path. The show isn’t named after her for nothing.
On the other hand, she herself is in a position of authority, especially now that she’s been handed responsibility for the welfare not only of the world at large, but of the Slayerettes in particular. Now that Buffy’s growing up, she’s moving into a position of more formally acknowledged power; she’s no longer a secret superhero posing as “just a girl,” but has been put in charge of her “troops” and asked (even by Giles himself) to behave as a “general.” Buffy has learned over the years to question the authority figures in her life, but she’s never learned to be one herself. It’s something she’s struggled with ever since she became responsible for Dawn after their mother’s death, and she still hasn’t quite got the hang of it. She doesn’t involve her charges in her decisions, or even explain them, she hasn’t learned the fine art of motivating her subordinates. This leads to frustration all around, clearly evident in the confrontation in GID:
BUFFY
Because I use the power that I have. The rest of you are just waiting for me.
XANDER
Well, yeah, but only because you kinda told us to. You’re our leader, Buffy, as in “follow the”.
BUFFY
Well, from now on I’m your leader as in “do what I say”.
XANDER
Jawohl. But let’s not try to forget, we’re also your friends.
There is dissension in the ranks, which we glimpse in 7.16 Storyteller and LMPTM as well, as the others are alternately bored by her “speechifying” and upset with her willingness to let a dangerous vampire roam freely throughout the household. Buffy hasn’t yet managed to apply what she’s learned about dealing with and challenging authority to how she exercises it herself, and I think that’s a lesson awaiting her before the season is over. I suspect it will be painful, like most important lessons, but it will also represent that final, missing piece of growing up.
Returning to Giles’ dream, we have the first, abrupt change in scenery, so characteristic of real-life dreams:
Cut to a park at night. A hedge cut into the shape of an elephant, covered with Christmas-lights. People walking around. We hear a circus huckster calling out.
Buffy is wearing overalls and pigtails, pulling Giles by the hand.BUFFY
Come on! Come on!
We see Olivia walking beside Giles, pushing a baby carriage. But there’s no baby in it.BUFFY
We’re gonna miss all the good stuff.
It’s clear from this whole scene that Giles takes a paternalistic attitude toward Buffy. He is often referred to as her surrogate father, and we are shown time and time again that the affection between them is real and strong. However—perhaps like a real father—he fails to accept that his “daughter” is growing up, and in his dream he relegates her to the role of a small child, presumably in need of his strong guidance and instruction. Interesting that it follows directly on the heels of a scene in which she laughs at his attempt to assert his influence over her. We might consider this section of the dream to be his desired relationship with Buffy.
OLIVIA
Does she always want to train this badly?
GILES
Well, it appears she’s never heard the fable about patience.
Buffy pulls them through crowds of people. Carnival booths, colorful lights.
OLIVIA
Which one is that?
GILES
The, the one about the fox, and the, uh, less patient fox.
It seems Giles has forgotten this fable, too, since I see Wood as the fox, and Giles himself as the “less patient fox” in LMPTM. After all, Wood has been seeking vengeance for years, but Giles gives up on his own proposed solution to Spike’s trigger problem in a flash. This is one parable that Buffy won’t be forgetting any time soon, I’d wager.
BUFFY
stops in front of a game booth Here, I want to, I want to! Jumping up and down
GILES
Yes, go ahead.
Buffy turns to the booth. There’s a big coffin with a fake-looking vampire standing behind it.VAMP
bouncing I am a vampire!
Buffy throws a yellow ball at it, misses by a mile.
GILES
exasperated Buffy, you have a sacred birthright to protect mankind.
Buffy turns to look at him, pouting
Don’t stick out your elbow.
Olivia sighs. Buffy looks chastised. She picks up another ball.VAMP
bouncing I am a vampire!
Buffy throws, hits it right in the chest. It falls backward.
VAMP
Ahh, you staked me!
Buffy spins around, grinning with delight. Giles looks unimpressed.GILES
I haven’t got any treats.
This scene is very interesting. We see Buffy asking for Giles’ permission, which he grants in the manner of a patient father dealing with an unruly child. When did Buffy ever ask for Giles’ permission to do anything at all? I think this is further evidence that this segment represents his idealized version of reality. We are also given a look at the simplistic manner in which Giles views the Slayer/vampire dynamic: the vamp is a caricature, nothing more than an arcade figure, hopping around and waiting passively for the Slayer to uphold her calling. Here, too, Giles sees Buffy as someone who doesn’t take her “sacred birthright to protect mankind” seriously: she fails to slay the vampire until Giles chides her and corrects her technique. To fit with the idea of expressing Giles’ desires, he would apparently prefer that Buffy be unable to fulfill her duty without his valuable guidance. Once again, he wishes she were less independent, and in this portion of his dream Buffy relies heavily on him.
Here Buffy is still seeking his approval, which he withholds, preferring instead to remind her of her duty. Yet, even when she succeeds in slaying the vampire, he refuses to reward her with a smile or a “treat.” Only now, at this point in the seventh season, has Buffy definitively (and literally) closed the door on this aspect of their relationship. She’s no longer interested in Giles’ approval, but in his dream she still relies on his permission and support.
OLIVIA
For god’s sake, Rupert, go easy on the girl. Smiling
Buffy turns to get some cotton candyGILES
to Olivia This is my business. Blood of the lamb and all that. Looks at Buffy Oh, now you’re gonna get that all over your face.
Buffy turns. Her face is covered in mud. The color changes as if a negative were inverted. The color goes back to normal. Giles frowns in confusion. His face goes blurry.
GILES
I know you. Echoing
Giles may not have any treats to give her, but Buffy decides to reward herself. Not surprisingly, her Watcher is exasperated and continues to treat her like a child, or a pet, refusing to validate her chosen means of gratification. Giles is certainly intent on playing an authoritative role, isn’t he? He, in contrast to Little Girl Buffy, takes his responsibilities seriously. So why is the setting for their training session a carnival? It’s his dream, after all. If he were really so serious, you’d think his subconscious would have chosen a more suitable location, more Gladiator-ish.
The line that most intrigues me here is, “This is my business. Blood of the lamb and all that.” Who’s the sacrificial lamb in this context? Could this possibly be a reference to his attempt to sacrifice Spike for the “greater good” in LMPTM? Newly ensouled Spike is arguably the only true innocent of the gang, having committed no infractions of his own free will since his return from Africa. The more likely explanation, though, has Giles offering up his Slayer on the sacrificial altar of her duty to mankind, the same violation of the free will of innocent girls that has been repeated down through the generations since the very first “watchers” chained the first slayer to the earth to “get knocked up with some demon dust,” as we saw in 7.15 Get It Done (GID). It is, after all, the “way women and men have behaved since the beginning,” as Giles recalls at the start of his dream. As an aside, note that the “blood of the lamb”—well, okay, a fawn—was part of Willow’s resurrection spell, the vino de madre that constituted the final ingredient, and the first time Willow stained her hands with blood. Of an innocent. Not quite up to Connor’s level, but then, Buffy was no Clorox.
Buffy’s face then appears smeared with mud (the same mud she later takes from her weapons bag, the same bag that we saw in GID and that revealed the origins of the Slayer line). Here again, though, it’s interesting to note how Buffy with the Beauty Mask of Slayerdom is shown in unnatural colors—to highlight how she is so different from her forebears? Or simply to show that she is not really just a little girl, as Giles sees her, but the Slayer? The latter seems more likely
The next sequence has been analyzed to death, I know, especially by Spike fans, but it really does provide some fascinating insights for the current season.
SPIKE
offscreen Hey!
Giles turns, sees Spike standing near the entrance to his crypt.SPIKE
Come on! Gesturing You’re gonna miss everything!
Turns and goes into the crypt.
Cut to Giles entering the crypt. Crying noises. Candles are lit all around.GILES
Don’t push me around. You know I have a great deal to do.
Spike is nothing more than a distraction, here, from Giles’ point of view. The vampire is trying to show the Watcher what’s really important, but mostly succeeds merely in arousing the latter’s irritation. Giles is resentful at being forced into situations he’d rather avoid. This is the first mention (but not the last) of Giles having other business to attend to, and being unwillingly dragged into the matter at hand. In the earlier scenes he was focused on being an (ineffectual, rigidly patriarchal) Watcher, but by this point in the dream he appears to have lost interest. Another explanation is that, while he sees Buffy as his responsibility, he refuses to accept that Spike/the vampire is the necessary flip side of the Slayer coin, and that he has to deal with both in order to see the whole picture. Either way, he’d clearly rather be anywhere else than Spike’s crypt, as the next part illustrates.
Oh, wait, but first there’s this:
We see Olivia sitting on a coffin next to the baby carriage, which is lying on its side. She’s crying.
Hmm. Is this a reference to his ruined personal life? Meaning that Giles’ Watcherly duties have led him to forfeit the chance for a family of his own? Or does the baby carriage (which we first saw in the earlier scene with Little Girl Buffy) represent his role as surrogate father to his charge, destroyed as the result of entering Spike’s domain? That may be pushing it, but given the latest events, it’s a thought.
Another thought is that Olivia herself represents “normal” life. She was quite put off by the reality of the Hellmouth after her experiences in episode 4.10 Hush, and if I recall correctly we never heard her mentioned again. But it’s possible that she stands not only for Giles’ own chances at a normal life, but also Buffy’s. Watcher and Slayer are, after all, joined to some extent in their calling. Even though Giles is no longer Buffy’s official Watcher (just as Buffy is no longer the official Slayer), he still feels obligated to her, in addition to his fatherly role and affections.
Okay, now back to Spike:
Black & white shot of a bunch of people with cameras, and Spike looking past them at Giles.SPIKE
I’ve hired myself out as an attraction.
Strikes a threatening pose. The people ooh and ahh, camera flashes going off.
(Color shot) Giles staring at Spike, Olivia still crying in the background.GILES
Sideshow freak?
(B&W shot) Spike flips up the collar of his coat.SPIKE
Well, at least it’s showbiz.
Poses again. More oohs and camera flashes from the crowd.
(Color) Giles moves forward, looks in confusion at Olivia, back in Spike’s direction.GILES
very confused What am I supposed to do with all of this?
SPIKE
offscreen You gotta make up your mind, Rupes. B&W shot of Spike.
SPIKE
What are you wasting your time for? Pose, flashbulbs
(Color) Giles turning to look at Spike again. B&W shot of Spike.
Here is a hint at just how little weight Giles attributes to Spike’s soul quest, reducing him to a “sideshow freak.” Spike is unfazed at the lack of interest from Giles, though, because at least he’s still in showbiz, still on the stage, fighting the good fight to the approval and admiration of the onlookers (us, the audience?). Meanwhile, Giles is wandering around, complaining about how busy he is, but in reality so far in the dream we’ve seen him do little but complain. What’s more, his complaints have all been to, and about, Spike and Buffy. He really has no idea what to do “with all of this,” how to handle the vampire’s situation. It doesn’t fit into his carefully constructed, rigid view of the world and his role in it.
We continue to see Olivia crying in Spike’s crypt, with Giles looking back and forth between the two, urged to make a choice—for himself, or for Buffy? As Klytaimnestra already pointed out so insightfully, there’s also the issue of B&W vs. color: “normal” Olivia is shown in color, Spike in black and white. Finally, everyone has already remarked on the reference to this scene in episode 7.16 Storyteller, where Spike is clearly playing the role of the Big Bad for the camera, just as he is shown here. Behind his public persona, in typical Spike fashion he’s trying to get Giles to face up to some hard truths.
SPIKE
Haven’t you figured it all out yet, with your enormous squishy frontal lobes? Another pose, more oohs, flashbulbs
Well, no, he hasn’t. The frontal lobes are spinning without gaining any traction whatsoever (or maybe they’re just in neutral; we haven’t really seen much evidence of spinning). The only tangible “research” we’ve seen him do so far this season was to visit the Botox Eye with Anya back in episode 7.11 Showtime, and a) that hasn’t been discussed further on screen, and b) we have no idea whether the conclusion he stated (that Buffy’s resurrection spell was the cause of the imbalance of which the First allegedly took advantage) is correct. I frankly don’t think it is, but more about that later.
Still in Spike’s crypt:
(Color) Giles walking across the crypt.
GILES
I still think Buffy should have killed you.
(B&W) Spike looks annoyed. He strikes a Jesus-on-the-cross pose. Very loud oohs, cameras flashing.
Heh. Aside from the crucifixion imagery reminiscent of the final scene of 7.02 Beneath You, this bit could nearly have come straight from the latest episode. Giles does, indeed, think Buffy should have killed Spike, but since she hasn’t and shows no intention of doing so anytime soon, he decides to take matters into his own hands… only not really. He merely plays Judas, betraying both Spike and Buffy so that the vampire can be sacrificed on the altar of vengeance in a room full of crucifixes. Because to Giles it’s still all black and white: he doesn’t like to exercise his enormous lobes when it comes to Spike.
(Color) Giles walking through crypt. The bald man stops him.
BALD MAN
I wear the cheese. It does not wear me.
He has cheese slices on his head and shoulders. He slides past Giles.GILES
Honestly, you meet the most appalling sorts of people.
He walks on. In the background we see Spike still in Jesus pose, more flashbulbs going off.
I honestly have never really known what to make of the Cheese Man, either. I’ll leave that to Klytaimnestra and HarmonyB, and others who have clever thoughts about the Meaning of Cheese. But I will say that one may well ask whether Giles wears his Watcher-ness, or it wears him. Lately it certainly seems to be the latter, and that’s not a good thing—for Giles, or for Buffy. It’s definitely not a good thing for their relationship.
Personally, I like to include Wood in the “appalling sorts of people” one meets hanging around Spike these days, but I suspect Giles was simply referring to Spike and his demonic kind, in addition to the colorfully cryptic Cheese Man.
Now, back to Sunnydale and the Scoobies:
Giles goes through a door and is in the Bronze. Young people talking, laughing, drinking. The stage is lit, but there’s no band, and we hear no music. Giles walks over to a couch where Willow and Xander are sitting looking at old magic books. Giles is suddenly holding a book.
GILES
I’m so sorry I’m late. There’s a great deal going on. And all at once!
Well, Giles was certainly late getting to Sunnydale this season (not to mention, he showed up with the first of a long series of unexpected houseguests). Still complaining about how busy he is, too, and still contributing nothing of value. He’s been elsewhere while Xander and Willow were busy, first almost getting killed, and then working to figure out just what’s after them, as Willow points out:
Goes to sit on a chair opposite them. Willow nods.
WILLOW
Don’t we know it. Only at death’s door over here, look at Xander!
She pulls back Xander’s jacket to show his ripped T-shirt and the bloody stain on his chest from having his heart pulled out.XANDER
Got the sucking chest wound swingin’. Points at it, then at the stage I promised Anya I’d be there for her big night. Giles looks at the stage Now I’ll probably be pushing up daisies, in the sense of being in the ground underneath them and fertilizing the soil with decomposition.
Xander has already alluded to his “sucking chest wound” with his Heart
of Darkness speech in episode 7.09 Never Leave Me, and he continues to be known as the "heart of the Slayer
machine" in Storyteller (7.16).
Enough about Xander. Let’s get back to Giles.
Shot of Giles’ face in the foreground. In the background, we see Anya standing on stage in front of the mike, holding some papers.ANYA
Okay. A man ... walks into the office of a doctor. Willow and Xander go back to their books He’s wearing on his head, um... Cut to Anya looking at her papers
ANYA
Wait, there’s, there’s a, there’s a duck. Is that right?
MAN IN CROWD
You suck!
ANYA
Quiet! You’ll miss the humorous conclusion.
GILES
She’s doing quite well.
Just in case it wasn’t clear before, Giles has no grasp of reality. She’s bombing up there! But that only lasts as long as he’s actively watching her, as we’ll see in a moment. Giles of Season 7 doesn’t seem to really understand what’s going on, either: he clearly misjudged Buffy in LMPTM, and she ends up shutting the door in his face. Not quite the reaction he was expecting; his enormous frontal lobes weren’t up to par when he made that deal behind his Slayer’s back. He knows that she values trust above all else—how could he ever think to breach that trust without suffering possible fatal damage to their relationship? I guess the lobes in question are just a bit too squishy at times to grab onto the slippery aspects of reality.
Next, Willow gets straight to the point:
WILLOW
Do you know this is your fault?
Hmm. Very interesting. How is it Giles’ fault? If we consider the current season and the espoused theory of what’s behind the FE, Giles had nothing to do with it, since he was not part of the resurrection spell, nor did he condone it. This is just one clue that, in my opinion, suggests that we’re being misdirected, and the problem actually has nothing to do with Buffy having been brought back to life.
For several episodes over the endless winter, viewers were tormented with wondering whether the Giles we were seeing was the First Evil itself. After all, until he showed up with the Potentials in BOTN, the last time we’d seen him “Giles’ head was about to get real familiar with the Bringer’s very sharp axe” (from episode 7. 13 The Killer In Me, TKIM). Those fears were shown to be unfounded by tackling Giles to demonstrate that his form is quite corporeal indeed, thank you very much, but many audience members are left wondering whether everything is truly normal with Giles, after all. Could this all still be his fault, even if he’s not a manifestation of the source of all evil? More on my theory about that a bit later.
Meanwhile, back at the Bronze:
While Giles talks, we still see Anya in the background telling her joke.
GILES
We have to think of the facts, Willow . I’m very busy. I have a gig myself, you know.
WILLOW
sighs Something’s after us. It’s, uh, like some primal ... some animal force.
In the background we see Anya doing a funny walk.GILES
That used to be us.
XANDER
Don’t get linear on me now, man.
ANYA
And ... then the duck tells the doctor that there’s a man, that’s attached to my ass.
Crowd laughs Xander laughsANYA
See, it was the duck, and not the man that spoke. Smiles proudly. General applause. Xander applauds. Willow is still looking at her book. Anya turns and leaves the stage.
There are a few things worthy of note going on in this scene. Starting with the least significant, once Giles stopped actively watching her Anya seems to have found her stride, become more confident in her delivery of the joke, and even gets a big laugh and applause from the audience. Buffy, too, has grown more confident in her ability to be the Slayer independent of Giles, ever since he left her on her own last season. This is exactly what backfired on him in LMPTM, as a matter of fact, when he tried to reassert his Watcherly authority as a means of betraying Buffy. She does a better job when he’s not watching over her, and now she’s officially fired him to remove the last of his illusions of authority over her.
Giles impatiently brushes off Willow ’s accusation, insisting that the group limit themselves to “the facts” and complaining once again that he has other things to do, his own “gig” to worry about. From the perspective of the current season, this just might be a hint that Giles is pursuing his own agenda that is separate and distinct from the “mission,” or even in direct conflict with it. That would certainly explain the sensation of “that’s not Giles” that many viewers have expressed: he’s got another gig going on. Maybe even an evil gig. Xander tells Giles not to “get linear,” but it does seem that Giles has reverted from the man who backed his Slayer even when she rebelled against tradition, respected her decisions even when he strongly disagreed with them (like, for instance, protecting a souled vampire mysteriously returned from a hell dimension). Now he’s back to toeing the party line; he’s gone linear. Meanwhile, in the dream, Willow alone continues to focus on the problem, diligently researching and trying in vain to get Giles to concentrate long enough to help.
The most important part of this conversation, though, has to do with the discussion of what is after the group: a “primal force… that used to be us.” The implication here, and throughout the rest of Giles’ dream, is that the enjoining spell the Scoobies performed in episode 4.21 Primeval, to invoke the power of the ancient, first slayer, somehow angered the latter and caused it to “go all homicidal.” However, I’d suggest that this same argument holds for the latest imbalance, whatever it was about “the Slayer,” as Beljoxa’s Eye accused (back in Showtime) that allowed the First… Evil to manifest.
Well, what do you know? We’ve got two Firsts here: the First Slayer (presumably a force for good) and the First Evil (truth in advertising, one assumes). I’ll expand further upon this idea as we go along, and then, just like the First Evil itself, I’m going for a big finish. Wish me luck.
Getting back to the dream sequence, before I got sidetracked with my almost-theory our heroes were discussing this “primal force” that is trying to kill them, one by one.
WILLOW
Rupert. Giles turns to look at her You’ve gotta focus. You must have some kind of explanation. If we don’t know what we’re fighting, I don’t think we stand a chance.
Giles frowns, begins to sing.
GILES
sings It’s strange, it’s not like anything we’ve faced before.
He gets up. Suddenly there’s a piano player and a guitarist onstage, accompanying Giles’ song. People applaud as Giles walks toward the stage.
GILES
sings It seems familiar somehow. Of course!
Drums start up. Giles grabs the mike. We see there’s both a guitar and a bass player. People cheer enthusiastically.
Finally, when Willow addresses him sternly (even calling him by his first name), Giles gets with the program and manages to focus. The frontal lobes switch into gear.
Before taking a closer look at what he comes up with, I’d like to highlight what Willow says about the vital need to know just what it is the gang is up against. This has been one of the key themes of Season 7: what, exactly, are we fighting? It’s a shape-shifting, non-corporeal “essence,” that carries out its wetwork through surprisingly mobile blind agents, powerful ancient Chaka-Khans, and anyone with a weakness it can exploit. And who knows what else it’s got up its sleeve for the big finish? Willow ’s right, but even at this late date, the Scoobies still don’t really have a clear vision of the enemy. As things stand right now, they don’t stand a chance.
So, Giles. Who needs research when you’ve got astounding brainpower? The Watcher finds himself the center of attention, proudly explaining his “discovery” to the enthusiastic crowd. Backup musicians magically appear as he moves into the spotlight. What’s really interesting, though, is what he has to say. Compare his statement here to what he says in 7.10 BOTN:
GILES
The First is unlike anything we’ve faced before. I mean, there’s evil and then there’s the thing that created evil, the source.
BUFFY
And that’s what this thing claims to be?
GILES
That’s what it is. It has eternities to act, endless resources. How to defeat it… ( sighs) I honestly don’t know. But we have to find a way.
Once again, the Scoobies are up against something “unlike anything we’ve faced before”—except, wait, they have. It’s “familiar somehow” this time around because Buffy already butted heads with the First Evil four years ago, in 3.10 Amends (also the tenth episode, probably just a coincidence, right? Just how literally are we supposed to be taking this whole “back to the beginning” thing, anyway?). The first time around, the First backed down after being sprinkled with some miracle snow, and hasn’t shown its face (so to speak) since. The First Slayer is another familiar presence, after this dream. Remember that.
In the dream, the lobes keep trudging along:
Drums start up. Giles grabs the mike. We see there’s both a guitar and a bass player. People cheer enthusiastically.
GILES
sings The spell we cast with Buffy
Must have released
Some primal evil
that’s come back seeking… removes glasses
I’m not sure what
Willow , look through the Chronicles
Willow nods, reaches for another book
For some reference
To a warrior beastHe puts his glasses on, grabs the mike again. More excited cheering as the music swells.
Giles is very proud of his intellectual abilities, as he imagines an audience cheering him on. He tells Willow to research using the accounts in the Watchers’ Chronicles, looking for a “warrior beast.” Interesting choice of terms, since we later discover that it is the First Slayer who is on the warpath. We know that Buffy really doesn’t like being referred to as an animal. Is that how the Watchers’ Council views the Slayers? House pets to be trained to do the bidding of the patriarchy? Why, yes, come to think of it, that fits in with pretty much everything we’ve ever seen about the Council.
Of course, there’s something obviously wrong here. “Primal evil”? The First Slayer can’t possibly be evil! She’s on our side … isn’t she? What is she seeking? This all plays into my Crazy Theory, so I’ll save it for the end. I want to hear the rest of Giles’ song, which really is pretty good.
GILES
sings I’ve got to warn Buffy
There’s every chance she might be next.
Xander, help Willow
Shot of Willow and Xander holding up cigarette lighters while reading the books.GILES
sings And try not to bleed on my couch I’ve just had it steam-cleaned.
Music slows; shot of people in the audience smiling, swaying, holding up lighters
Giles’ performance here is quite rousing. He’s got popular support, even from his own team who are simultaneously working. What kind of direction is he really offering, though? He tells Xander to help Willow, which he was doing on his own even before Giles arrived at the Bronze. He worries about his charge—who, coincidentally, somehow disappeared from view right around the time he entered Spike’s crypt. And finally, he expresses concern about his upholstery.
Well, that was constructive. Good thing the Watcher showed up, just in time to save the day. Or, uh, something. The audience doesn’t seem to mind, though: the people are just swept away by Giles’ catchy tune, not really noticing his lack of tangible contribution.
Maybe Giles himself notices, though. He does seem to sense that something’s not quite right:
GILES
sings No, wait...
Loud feedback. The mike goes dead and the band stops playing. Giles looks confused. He gets down on his knees and starts following the microphone cord backstage. He traces it to a big pile of tangled cord, digs in it and pulls out his pocket watch on its chain.GILES
Well, that was ... obvious.
We see the dark-haired creature braced on the wall above him, holding a weapon.GILES
I know who you are.
Another shot of the creature. Its weapon looks like a stake.
Behind the whole shiny-yet-ineffectual performance Giles finds, once again, the Watchers’ Council. Always working from the wings to manipulate the field operatives and their audiences. Following the microphone cord—a power cord, it’s worth pointing out—leads Giles to discover the “obvious” role of the Watcher’s Council, nestled at the heart of the tangled pile of power, a watch with a chain (to chain the girls to the earth?). The unpleasant side effect, alas, is that his search also draws Giles into the shadows, away from the cheering crowd, isolating him from the others and, ultimately, allowing him to be killed:
GILES
And I can defeat you ... with my intellect. We see the creature approaching from behind I ... can cripple you with my thoughts. It grabs his hair, puts a weapon against his forehead. Of course, you underestimate me. You couldn’t know.
Closeup of Giles’ face with blood dripping down from his forehead. We hear his voice but his lips don’t move.GILES
You never had a Watcher.
Cut to the real Giles sleeping on the chair, twitching, dropping his glasses on the floor.
Poor Giles. Right up until the bitter end, he continues to assert the primary importance of intellect, even while sitting helplessly as his assailant performs what must be a painful brain-ectomy. He refuses to believe that the enemy cannot be defeated by thought, by the “facts,” by research, even when forced to fatally confront his mistake. After all, what other weapon does he have? Notice also that the First Slayer is unimpressed with the power claimed by the Watcher’s Council, and how Giles attributes that to the fact that she “never had a Watcher” and thus “couldn’t know.” Buffy herself has had a Watcher, though, and has repeatedly bucked the WC herself, but when things get ugly, Giles falls back on the party line. He is unable to accept that his role is not crucial, that he’s not the one with the power. Interestingly, present-day Giles seems to be at least occasionally aware of the limits of tradition, when he describes how he stole some books and other research materials from the Watcher’s Council to avoid the red tape: “When I learned what was happening, I… I stole them. […] The knowledge contained in these files had to be protected and there wasn’t time for bureaucracy or debate. The Council knows no other way” (7.10 BOTN). Yet he cannot seem to escape their ideology completely.
To summarize: Giles spends much of his own dream out of the thick of the action, not contributing in any valuable way, complaining about being busy and having other things to do. He tells others to get with the mission, but can’t seem to do so himself. Compare that to this season, when he’s spent most of his time away from Command Central, running around gathering up those potential slayers who can’t seem to get to Sunnydale on their own. When he has home, he’s pontificated about the importance of trusting one’s instinct, soon afterward admitting privately to Buffy that he “made it up,” that despite his professorial demeanor he had no real knowledge or insight to impart (7.14 First Date). Later in the same episode he berates everyone for failing to concentrate on the mission, which he has been valiantly carrying forth by drawing scary flashcards of vampires and other nasties. He expresses his disagreement with Buffy’s decision to remove Spike’s chip. As quoted earlier, he moans about the near futility of trying to battle a being with “endless resources.” Finally, he once again forgets that he was making it up, and lectures Buffy on the need to stay focused on the mission and be a… well, a warrior beast, we might say. A speech that takes place while he is “training” her in a manner reminiscent of the carnival scene of his dream, with the vampire nothing more than an entertaining prop to Giles, part of a setup to distract her while he has arranged to betray Buffy’s authority and her trust. The last we’ve seen, she is truly no longer his Slayer, and he is no longer her Watcher, even unofficially: “ I think you’ve taught me everything I need to know,” Buffy tells Giles at the end of LMPTM. She’s done letting him try to think for her.
Giles’ dream ends with him dropping his glasses. He loses sight of what’s important, is unable to focus on the problem, and his hubris regarding his intellectual prowess leads to his demise. Foreshadowing, or just oneiric metaphors? We’ll find out soon enough.
First and Last By Any Other Name
Back to my Crazy Theory, which is not really complete enough to be called a theory. It’s a vague outline of a shadow of a thought, but theory is a lot shorter and sounds smarter.
One thing I find interesting is that the name “First Evil” is rarely used this season. It’s almost always abbreviated to just the “First.” That makes me wonder whether the gang really does know who or what it’s supposed to be fighting. Is it a coincidence that the story of the First Slayer—a tale of patriarchal violence stripping a young girl of her free will—is told this season? I think not. Could they simply be two sides of the same coin? This ties in neatly to the (possibly) parallel storylines we’re seeing over on AtS. Are “good” and “evil” merely empty labels that people assign at whim, as Cordelia claims in AtS 4.17 Inside Out? Maybe the First is just that, the First. Good, evil, those are just words. Sure, Cordelia says so while possessed by Evil and manipulating Connor into murdering an innocent, but as Anya said, “I used to tell the truth all the time when I was evil” (7.08 Sleeper). Could this be a case of overlapping identity? Consider:
WILLOW
Yeah, my search isn’t turning anything up either. (to Buffy) Are you sure this thing called itself The First?
BUFFY
Pretty sure. It claimed to be the original evil, the one that came before anything else.
(7.10 BOTN)
I don’t want to delve much into the events of the latest Angel episode (4.18 Shiny Happy People), although (and because) it offers ample fodder for discussion. Suffice it to say, for now, that I’m more convinced than ever that there’s something to this whole “First” theme that really goes Beyond Good and Evil.
Put as succinctly as possible, my “theory” is this: the Slayer that has caused the cosmic upset is not Buffy, but the First (slayer). She was called upon by the group to defeat Adam, and for whatever reason, this brought down her wrath, perhaps because she was pulled into this dimension against her will? In any case, spells always have consequences, as we’re told and shown in 6.03 Afterlife, and the bigger the spell, the more serious the consequences. It seems odd that the only consequences of such powerful, interdimensional magic as the enjoining spell was a series of strange group dreams, doesn’t it? Ordering out for Chinese might have done as much.
Then there’s the issue of Good and Evil, and what they really mean. This part is kind of hazy to me—these are big concepts to wrestle with, here—but my guess is that the Slayer line, in some way, draws its power from a blend of the two. I think the message is that both pure Good and pure Evil tend to negate free will and prevent self-actualization, so that it is impossible to truly do good work. The Slayer, on the other hand, is the very symbol of “doing good.” At the same time, I think the First Slayer is going to be proven wrong in what she says later in Restless, during Buffy’s own dream sequence. She may be crucial to maintaining the balance between Good and Evil by blending the two, but the First Slayer still tends to see things in very black and white terms (“No friends. Just the kill.”). We’ve been repeatedly shown, over the years, how important Buffy’s emotional connections to this world are to helping her not only survive, but carry out her mission to save the world.
What I’m saying is a lot like what the First (Evil?) says at the very beginning of the season.
MASTER
Right back to the beginning. Not the Bang, not the Word. The true beginning. The next few months are going to be quite a ride and I think we’re all going to learn something about ourselves in the process. […]You still don’t get it. It’s not about right. Not about wrong.
(7.01 Lessons)
We’re going back to the beginning—not the Bang, not the Word, but the beginning of the series, of human and demon history on earth, of the Slayer line. The end is the beginning, fittingly enough. The First (Good, Bad, Slayer) meets the Last (Guardian of the Hellmouth, aka Buffy, according to the shaman Watchers in GID). Back in 4.21 Primeval, the enjoining spell calls upon:
WILLOW
The power of the Slayer and all who yield it. Last to ancient first, we invoke thee. Grant us thy domain and primal strength. Accept us in the power we possess.
Last to first, First to Last. What does it come down to in the end?
Spike looks up as the Master disappears. In his place stands Buffy, a hard, cold look in her eye.
BUFFY
It’s about power.
(7.01 Lessons)
Who’s got it, and who doesn’t. Giles thinks he has it, between his own crushing intellect and the power vested in the Watcher’s Council, but he is powerless against the First. In the end, Buffy has the power, and has from the very beginning. She just needs to learn to use it to restore balance, and I think that, somehow, a bunch of Firsts are going to help the Last with this final lesson.