Essay: ‘Apocalypses on BtVS’ or ‘Why Buffy smiled’
I was thinking about ‘Chosen’ a while ago, and about Buffy’s smile and her friends’ banter at the end and how sharply it contrasted with everyone’s grief at the end of ‘The Gift’. Did this mean that no-one cared about Spike, Anya and all the dead Potentials? Personally I never thought so, but I began to wonder about the differences between Glory’s apocalypse and The Firsts’ apocalypse. And then I thought about all the other times the world nearly went to hell, and if there was some sort of pattern - and if so, did this apply to S7? Here is what I came up with:
First a list of all the apocalypses on the show and thoughts on why The First was different. Then a comparison between 'The Gift' and 'Chosen' re. the mindset before the battle and the deaths:
Every apocalypse we encountered until S7 has one or both of the following:
-A prophecy or particular time where-in the apocalypse is possible.
-An antagonist who is hellbent on destroying the world.
In the first type, the apocalypse can be averted by delaying or stopping the cause of the apocalypse.
In the second type, killing the antagonist will save the world.
Here is what I believe to be a complete list of all the apocalypses during the 7 years of Buffy and how they were averted. Delays in italics, killings underlined:
The Harvest: Kill ‘The Vessel’ (Luke) and the day is saved.
Prophecy Girl: Kill The Master and he can’t open the Hellmouth. (Also, if Buffy hadn’t shown up (delay), he wouldn’t have been able to escape).
Surprise: Take one part of The Judge far away, so he can’t be assembled. (Delay)
Innocence: Destroy The Judge and the world is safe.
Becoming: Kill/re-ensoul Angel before he can awaken Acathla, or use his blood (kill him) to seal it again.
The Zeppo: Kill the Hellbeastie.
Graduation: Wait until Mayor ascends and is no longer impervious, then kill him.
Doomed: Kill the demons that want to end the world.
(Primeval: Destroy Adam and his scheme dies too.)
The Gift: Delay Glory so she can’t start the ritual and open the portal. Alternatively kill Dawn (or Ben).
Grave: Stop Willow from ending the world (preferably without killing her).
Now this all brings us to S7 and The First Evil. I always liked The First as a Big Bad, because it seemed so impossible to fight, much more-so than Glory. Glory wanted to go home - ending the world was just a side-effect. But The First had much grander plans. It didn’t just want to open the Hellmouth, as so many others, it was making an army. Like Hitler and his Third Reich, The First wanted to build an Empire. It wanted to enslave or kill all human because it enjoyed pain and suffering. Also, it was targeting the Slayer and the Slayer-line specifically. No other Big Bad ever did this. Yes, most of them tried to kill Buffy or get her out of the way, because she might interfere, but for The First ‘it was personal’. It did have a timetable of some sort (it was waiting for it’s army to grow large enough I presume, but I’ll get back to this), but it wasn’t bound by any prophecy or star-constellation. The Scoobies couldn’t just try to delay the fight, since that would just make it stronger.
But the greatest difference compared to other opponents, is that The First is incorporeal. It can’t be fought. It can’t be killed. Until...
CALEB/THE FIRST: “I will overrun this Earth. And when my army outnumbers the humans on this Earth, the scales will tip and I will be made flesh.”
Until it has won. When the Earth is under it’s control and the humans are loosing - *then* it will become corporeal. In some ways a bit like the Mayor being invincible until he turns into a pure demon... but the Mayor didn't have an army of thousands (but apparently well on their way to becoming billions) of uber-vampires to fight on his behalf first.
So onto Buffy. This fight is different. A lot of people didn’t like her in S7. And they didn’t like Giles. They thought that Buffy was cold and bitchy (f.ex. speech in ‘Get It Done’) and that Giles was too remote. But I think that these two were particularly scared. Giles could usually find a way out with his books, resources and contacts... but there was precious little info on The First and The Council got blown up, so there was no ‘back-up’ available. He became desperate and resorted to any means to keep the world safe - he even went along with the plan to kill Spike. After all he killed Ben, who was more or less innocent.
And Buffy is scared. She can’t kill something that doesn’t have a body. She suddenly has to lead a bunch of girls into battle and death, and nothing has ever really prepared her for this. She’s good at making quick plans and bringing them about. Fighting something that can’t be fought... how do you do that? How can a few girls defeat an army that grows every day?
The contrast between plans and mindset in S5 and S7:
In S5 they were woefully unprepared to fight Glory. They spend most of the season scraping together information, but are not much wiser by the end. They just know that they can’t stop Glory, except by killing Dawn:
BUFFY: No! No, you don't understand. We are not talking about this.
GILES: Yes, we bloody well are!
[...]
GILES: (quietly) If the ritual starts, then every living creature in this and every other dimension imaginable will suffer unbearable torment and death ... (looks up at Buffy) including Dawn.
BUFFY: Then the last thing she'll see is me protecting her.
GILES: (quietly) You'll fail. You'll die. We all will.
BUFFY: I'm sorry.
Most of their final plan is made up on the spot by Anya, and is essentially an attempt to delay Glory - they know she’s on a tight schedule, so this seems like the best option. And it would have worked if it hadn’t been for Doc. They’re all desperate and there are a lot of arguments before they finally settle on a plan. Mostly between Buffy and Giles, actually yelling at each other. He’s prepared to kill Dawn and she’s prepared to kill him to stop him. They work together, but it's a fragile balance. And the scenario is grim - Dawn’s life is on the line and it’s the last drop for Buffy. She is practically suicidal at this point and is finding it very hard to find a reason to keep going. Her final words are:
BUFFY: Everybody knows their jobs. Remember, the ritual starts, we all die. And I'll kill anyone who comes near Dawn.
It is harsh - as Buffy says, she doesn’t know how to live in the world, if those are her choices. It is a set-up for tragedy.
Now, getting on to Chosen. I would say the situation is worse - theoretically anyway. The town has been abandoned - even a lot of the demons have left. They are more cut off than ever before. But yet, the mood is not as downbeat as in The Gift. And then - then Buffy has her big idea! Look how different this conversation is from the previous one. Particularly Buffy and Giles, healing the rift between them after 2 years.
BUFFY: You don't think it's a good idea?
FAITH: It's pretty radical, B.
GILES: It's a lot more than that. Buffy, what you said, it - it flies in the face of everything we've ever - every generation has ever done in the fight against evil. I think it's bloody brilliant.
BUFFY: You mean that?
GILES: If you want my opinion.
BUFFY: I really do.
Especially note the use of the word ‘bloody’ on both occasions, creating an obvious link. Buffy’s idea is a pre-emptive strike, going from just killing or delaying to something new, something different. She has faith in herself, in her friends, in her army. And she leads out her troops with hope, not despair:
BUFFY: Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the scythe to change our destiny.
From now on, every girl in the world who might be a slayer... will be a slayer. Every girl who could have the power... will have the power... can stand up, will stand up. Slayers... every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?
And there is that word again - ‘choice’. But turned around: Choose life, choose power, choose strength. They go into that final fight confident and strong.
The contrast of deaths in S5 and S7:
Buffy’s death was as a result of a lot of different circumstances - a series of unfortunate events: Doc showed up, which was a surprise. Spike failed to best him and thereby Doc was able to start the ritual. Then there was a choice - Buffy realised that she could stand in for Dawn, that her death could be a gift to her sister. And these were her final words (abridged):
Buffy: But this is the work that I have to do. [...] Dawn, the hardest thing in this world ... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me.
Spike died because of the amulet. The amulet that no-one knew very much about, except that it was volatile, powerful and could only be worn by a champion. That Buffy took from Angel and gave to Spike, when she must have known that there is always a price for magic. And I think Spike still felt the sting of that broken promise - if he had beaten Doc, Buffy would have lived. She knows that his life is hers. And so, in the Hellmouth, when he’s dying, she knows that he’s made the same choice that she made two years previously. His death is a gift to her:
SPIKE: I mean it! I gotta do this!
It is the work he has to do. And going all the way back to OMWF, there is an early echo of Buffy's words to Dawn, now spoken to Buffy:
SPIKE: You have to go one living. So one of us is living.
So Buffy chooses life. She runs as fast as she can, so she can live for both of them. And of course she smiles. Because she knows what it is to sacrifice yourself for the one you love - for the world.
Now about all the others - about Anya and Amanda and Chao Ahn and all the other young girls... they chose to fight, all of them. They helped defeat the oldest evil in the world against impossible odds. The Slayers went out at the height of their powers and strength - potential more than fulfilled. And Anya, who spent a thousand years wreaking havoc, caring not for the pain she caused, stayed and fought - not for love or any gain, but because she had come to admire humans, their strength and spirit.
So when the survivors all stand there, by the edge of the crater, I think the sheer magnitude of what they did makes them almost giddy. Adrenaline still pumping, they see the fight of their lives that seemed impossible to win just a few days ago, vanished into dust before their eyes. They did something incredible and they are proud. Probably also stunned to be alive. And I can’t understand why anyone wants to take away from that.
ETA: I think the main point I'm trying to make is, that in 'The Gift' they went into battle thinking that they might have to kill someone. In 'Chosen' they knew they might die. Also see aycheb's excellent comments!
First a list of all the apocalypses on the show and thoughts on why The First was different. Then a comparison between 'The Gift' and 'Chosen' re. the mindset before the battle and the deaths:
Every apocalypse we encountered until S7 has one or both of the following:
-A prophecy or particular time where-in the apocalypse is possible.
-An antagonist who is hellbent on destroying the world.
In the first type, the apocalypse can be averted by delaying or stopping the cause of the apocalypse.
In the second type, killing the antagonist will save the world.
Here is what I believe to be a complete list of all the apocalypses during the 7 years of Buffy and how they were averted. Delays in italics, killings underlined:
The Harvest: Kill ‘The Vessel’ (Luke) and the day is saved.
Prophecy Girl: Kill The Master and he can’t open the Hellmouth. (Also, if Buffy hadn’t shown up (delay), he wouldn’t have been able to escape).
Surprise: Take one part of The Judge far away, so he can’t be assembled. (Delay)
Innocence: Destroy The Judge and the world is safe.
Becoming: Kill/re-ensoul Angel before he can awaken Acathla, or use his blood (kill him) to seal it again.
The Zeppo: Kill the Hellbeastie.
Graduation: Wait until Mayor ascends and is no longer impervious, then kill him.
Doomed: Kill the demons that want to end the world.
(Primeval: Destroy Adam and his scheme dies too.)
The Gift: Delay Glory so she can’t start the ritual and open the portal. Alternatively kill Dawn (or Ben).
Grave: Stop Willow from ending the world (preferably without killing her).
Now this all brings us to S7 and The First Evil. I always liked The First as a Big Bad, because it seemed so impossible to fight, much more-so than Glory. Glory wanted to go home - ending the world was just a side-effect. But The First had much grander plans. It didn’t just want to open the Hellmouth, as so many others, it was making an army. Like Hitler and his Third Reich, The First wanted to build an Empire. It wanted to enslave or kill all human because it enjoyed pain and suffering. Also, it was targeting the Slayer and the Slayer-line specifically. No other Big Bad ever did this. Yes, most of them tried to kill Buffy or get her out of the way, because she might interfere, but for The First ‘it was personal’. It did have a timetable of some sort (it was waiting for it’s army to grow large enough I presume, but I’ll get back to this), but it wasn’t bound by any prophecy or star-constellation. The Scoobies couldn’t just try to delay the fight, since that would just make it stronger.
But the greatest difference compared to other opponents, is that The First is incorporeal. It can’t be fought. It can’t be killed. Until...
CALEB/THE FIRST: “I will overrun this Earth. And when my army outnumbers the humans on this Earth, the scales will tip and I will be made flesh.”
Until it has won. When the Earth is under it’s control and the humans are loosing - *then* it will become corporeal. In some ways a bit like the Mayor being invincible until he turns into a pure demon... but the Mayor didn't have an army of thousands (but apparently well on their way to becoming billions) of uber-vampires to fight on his behalf first.
So onto Buffy. This fight is different. A lot of people didn’t like her in S7. And they didn’t like Giles. They thought that Buffy was cold and bitchy (f.ex. speech in ‘Get It Done’) and that Giles was too remote. But I think that these two were particularly scared. Giles could usually find a way out with his books, resources and contacts... but there was precious little info on The First and The Council got blown up, so there was no ‘back-up’ available. He became desperate and resorted to any means to keep the world safe - he even went along with the plan to kill Spike. After all he killed Ben, who was more or less innocent.
And Buffy is scared. She can’t kill something that doesn’t have a body. She suddenly has to lead a bunch of girls into battle and death, and nothing has ever really prepared her for this. She’s good at making quick plans and bringing them about. Fighting something that can’t be fought... how do you do that? How can a few girls defeat an army that grows every day?
The contrast between plans and mindset in S5 and S7:
In S5 they were woefully unprepared to fight Glory. They spend most of the season scraping together information, but are not much wiser by the end. They just know that they can’t stop Glory, except by killing Dawn:
BUFFY: No! No, you don't understand. We are not talking about this.
GILES: Yes, we bloody well are!
[...]
GILES: (quietly) If the ritual starts, then every living creature in this and every other dimension imaginable will suffer unbearable torment and death ... (looks up at Buffy) including Dawn.
BUFFY: Then the last thing she'll see is me protecting her.
GILES: (quietly) You'll fail. You'll die. We all will.
BUFFY: I'm sorry.
Most of their final plan is made up on the spot by Anya, and is essentially an attempt to delay Glory - they know she’s on a tight schedule, so this seems like the best option. And it would have worked if it hadn’t been for Doc. They’re all desperate and there are a lot of arguments before they finally settle on a plan. Mostly between Buffy and Giles, actually yelling at each other. He’s prepared to kill Dawn and she’s prepared to kill him to stop him. They work together, but it's a fragile balance. And the scenario is grim - Dawn’s life is on the line and it’s the last drop for Buffy. She is practically suicidal at this point and is finding it very hard to find a reason to keep going. Her final words are:
BUFFY: Everybody knows their jobs. Remember, the ritual starts, we all die. And I'll kill anyone who comes near Dawn.
It is harsh - as Buffy says, she doesn’t know how to live in the world, if those are her choices. It is a set-up for tragedy.
Now, getting on to Chosen. I would say the situation is worse - theoretically anyway. The town has been abandoned - even a lot of the demons have left. They are more cut off than ever before. But yet, the mood is not as downbeat as in The Gift. And then - then Buffy has her big idea! Look how different this conversation is from the previous one. Particularly Buffy and Giles, healing the rift between them after 2 years.
BUFFY: You don't think it's a good idea?
FAITH: It's pretty radical, B.
GILES: It's a lot more than that. Buffy, what you said, it - it flies in the face of everything we've ever - every generation has ever done in the fight against evil. I think it's bloody brilliant.
BUFFY: You mean that?
GILES: If you want my opinion.
BUFFY: I really do.
Especially note the use of the word ‘bloody’ on both occasions, creating an obvious link. Buffy’s idea is a pre-emptive strike, going from just killing or delaying to something new, something different. She has faith in herself, in her friends, in her army. And she leads out her troops with hope, not despair:
BUFFY: Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the scythe to change our destiny.
From now on, every girl in the world who might be a slayer... will be a slayer. Every girl who could have the power... will have the power... can stand up, will stand up. Slayers... every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?
And there is that word again - ‘choice’. But turned around: Choose life, choose power, choose strength. They go into that final fight confident and strong.
The contrast of deaths in S5 and S7:
Buffy’s death was as a result of a lot of different circumstances - a series of unfortunate events: Doc showed up, which was a surprise. Spike failed to best him and thereby Doc was able to start the ritual. Then there was a choice - Buffy realised that she could stand in for Dawn, that her death could be a gift to her sister. And these were her final words (abridged):
Buffy: But this is the work that I have to do. [...] Dawn, the hardest thing in this world ... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me.
Spike died because of the amulet. The amulet that no-one knew very much about, except that it was volatile, powerful and could only be worn by a champion. That Buffy took from Angel and gave to Spike, when she must have known that there is always a price for magic. And I think Spike still felt the sting of that broken promise - if he had beaten Doc, Buffy would have lived. She knows that his life is hers. And so, in the Hellmouth, when he’s dying, she knows that he’s made the same choice that she made two years previously. His death is a gift to her:
SPIKE: I mean it! I gotta do this!
It is the work he has to do. And going all the way back to OMWF, there is an early echo of Buffy's words to Dawn, now spoken to Buffy:
SPIKE: You have to go one living. So one of us is living.
So Buffy chooses life. She runs as fast as she can, so she can live for both of them. And of course she smiles. Because she knows what it is to sacrifice yourself for the one you love - for the world.
Now about all the others - about Anya and Amanda and Chao Ahn and all the other young girls... they chose to fight, all of them. They helped defeat the oldest evil in the world against impossible odds. The Slayers went out at the height of their powers and strength - potential more than fulfilled. And Anya, who spent a thousand years wreaking havoc, caring not for the pain she caused, stayed and fought - not for love or any gain, but because she had come to admire humans, their strength and spirit.
So when the survivors all stand there, by the edge of the crater, I think the sheer magnitude of what they did makes them almost giddy. Adrenaline still pumping, they see the fight of their lives that seemed impossible to win just a few days ago, vanished into dust before their eyes. They did something incredible and they are proud. Probably also stunned to be alive. And I can’t understand why anyone wants to take away from that.
ETA: I think the main point I'm trying to make is, that in 'The Gift' they went into battle thinking that they might have to kill someone. In 'Chosen' they knew they might die. Also see aycheb's excellent comments!