One thing that I think is interesting is how different Wishverse Buffy is from Faith. Faith is obviously a reflection of Buffy, what she could be if she let go. Faith accuses Buffy of being exactly the same as her, and that what's holding Buffy back is weakness. It's obvious that's not so, but I think Wishverse Buffy and S6 Buffy make it even more clear that Buffy's sense of right and justice and good are something absolutely fundamental to her; she's not trembling on the brink of immorality, like Faith; her darkness is something completely different. Her darkness is a devotion to duty and good so stringent that she won't accept help, hates herself when she fails, and takes it out on herself. That is, Buffy's darkness is an inward spiral that destroys herself; Faith's is an outward one that destroys others. What gets me is how much of that is THERE is wishverse Buffy; even as they're pushing us toward paralleling Faith and Buffy more and more, they're showing us their fundamental differences, and creating something that's echoed much less clearly in S6.
One of the big differences is that Faith was second. And in addition to all that inferiority, it's also part of why it's easier for her to be irresponsible. Because a part of her knows that no matter how much she messes up, Buffy will do things right. So she can let herself fail.
And Buffy never had that - Buffy knows that she's got to do things right and can't let herself fail. Even with Kendra around and later Faith, Buffy still knows she has to take her duty dead serious.
What the Wishverse/S7 and S6 showed me, was that a Buffy who tried to live like Kendra (all duty) or Faith (lots of wildness) was going to not be a happy/fulfilled person.
BTW - It's kind of a neat thing that Faith really proves that she's going to grow up and do things right in AtS-4 when Wesley tells her that Angel is gone and Buffy's not coming - without them as a security blanket Faith steps up and acts like she should have in the first place.
That's a good point. And yet, I don't feel like if Faith had been called before Buffy things would be all that different. I feel like it's in the make-up of the person, in Buffy and in Faith. I think Faith needed to fall before she could stand up straight and tall. I think Buffy needed to fall before she'd hunch lower to the ground.
True. I think Faith would have had problems regardless. The difference is... without a Buffy, I think Faith probably just gets herself killed before she ever really hits the bottom that she does. With Buffy around to take care of things, Faith really lets herself go and winds up worse off than ever. But, she also has a positive example to strive for too, and ends up doing better than she probably expected too...
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And Buffy never had that - Buffy knows that she's got to do things right and can't let herself fail. Even with Kendra around and later Faith, Buffy still knows she has to take her duty dead serious.
What the Wishverse/S7 and S6 showed me, was that a Buffy who tried to live like Kendra (all duty) or Faith (lots of wildness) was going to not be a happy/fulfilled person.
BTW - It's kind of a neat thing that Faith really proves that she's going to grow up and do things right in AtS-4 when Wesley tells her that Angel is gone and Buffy's not coming - without them as a security blanket Faith steps up and acts like she should have in the first place.
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