The Chain

[eunsoma]

I don't think i completely 'got' this one.. Season 8 part 5 - the chain... were those fairies and stuff real? why have we never heard of them before... it looked more like Fern Gully than BTVS lol

[goldenboy]

I was kinda thinking...what's with Tinkerbell? And Jar Jar (the slug thing)? They didn't feel particularly buffyverse-like. But it's still one of my fave issues so far.

[eunsoma]

lol, jar jar.. have u read #6 yet? its still not out here...

[goldenboy]

6 is awesome! (how's that for brilliant analysis). It's just pitch perfect.

[eunsoma]

oh i cant wait 2 read it lol.. i went bak and read #5 last night its not too bad i guess just yer didnt seem very buffyversy!!

[Hawke]

I dunno, I always figured fairies and stuff existed in the Buffyverse anyway and they just havn't crossed paths yet. I loved The Chain and loved the idea of the girl who know one will ever know about. I hope they do another one shot about the Buffy in Italy. The one thats dating the Immortal. It would be funny if they crossed that one with the Angel episode The Girl In Question.

[Blondie Bear]

Well, all that stuff was deep underground. Buffy's never been further underground than when she fell into that hole in the cemetary. The one Willow's flaming ball blew open. So it makes sense that she wouldn't have run across the fairies and Jar-Jar demon thing.

[MrGordo]

I read #5 at least three times before I "got" it, it's poetic in a way, and non-linear, so at first it's confusing...but I love it!

[Windowlicker]

yeh i gota say the chain really confused me first time, and was a little disapointed after hearing how good it was.
i read it secoud time and sorta got it a little more, but didnt really think it was that great and still slightly unshore on parts of the story
anyone care to explain exactly whats its about ? ::huh1::

[Lyri]

The Chain is a stroy based on one of the 'Buffy Doubles' the Council or whoever has set up to take some of the heat off of the real Buffy. basically, it's about this girl's fight to keep her own identity even as she 'plays' someone else.

to start with, i think she's quiet annoyed at being asked to play Buffy, like she thinks that just being herself isn't good enough for the Council, that she has to be someone else to fit in. she's p****d that no one will know who she is, 'cause she's living Buffy's life, using her name, her looks. but at the end, as she dies, she realizes that it doesn't matter that no one knows who she is, that no one knows her name. SHE knows who she is, and when it comes down to it, that's all that really matters.

The 'Chain' of the title refers to the chain that connects all of the Slayers through time, the chain that connects this girl to the First Slayer, to Lucy Hanover, to the girl during the Boxer Rebellion, to Nikki Wood, to Faith, to Buffy herself, and to the thousands of other Slayers who were Called the day she was. at the end, she gets that every Slayer is different, has a different part to play in the grand scheme, but none of them are alone.

personally, i loved this isssue. i thought it was sad and beautiful and extremely well written.

[Keanoite]

The Chain is a stroy based on one of the 'Buffy Doubles' the Council or whoever has set up to take some of the heat off of the real Buffy. basically, it's about this girl's fight to keep her own identity even as she 'plays' someone else.

to start with, i think she's quiet annoyed at being asked to play Buffy, like she thinks that just being herself isn't good enough for the Council, that she has to be someone else to fit in. she's p****d that no one will know who she is, 'cause she's living Buffy's life, using her name, her looks. but at the end, as she dies, she realizes that it doesn't matter that no one knows who she is, that no one knows her name. SHE knows who she is, and when it comes down to it, that's all that really matters.

The 'Chain' of the title refers to the chain that connects all of the Slayers through time, the chain that connects this girl to the First Slayer, to Lucy Hanover, to the girl during the Boxer Rebellion, to Nikki Wood, to Faith, to Buffy herself, and to the thousands of other Slayers who were Called the day she was. at the end, she gets that every Slayer is different, has a different part to play in the grand scheme, but none of them are alone.

personally, i loved this isssue. i thought it was sad and beautiful and extremely well written.

This was my favourite issue untill six. I think this faceless girl summed it up the best...There is no truth, there's just what you believe...possibly my fav Buffy quote ever!

[Joyce Summers]

I thought this was fab stand-alone issue. It was just cute yet powerful if ya get me. And it was complete proof that while Buffy may longer be acted out on our screens it still hasn't the same tone and brilliantness as it did on the previous seven seasons. It definitely hasn't lost its edge

[tommy]

I didn't completely understand the message, but it sounded good. Will read this one again soon, see if I can make more sense of it.

I prefer four-issue arcs. Twenty-ish comic pages doesn't feel enough to tell a good story.

[alexa]

Seemed pretty straight forward to me, in a non linear fashion. I might just be used to watching and reading stories that bounce back and forth through time.
I like this comic the more I read it though. It's great even though it's all squished into one book. Should probably merge this thread with the actual thread about the Chain shouldn't we?

[tommy]

I mean the message at the end, mostly, is what I'm trying to understand.

"There's always a name. Lincoln. Hitler. Gandhi. The name can inspire terror, awe... sometimes great things. But there's millions of people go into making a name. People facing things they couldn't imagine they would. In the moments that matter, even our own names are just sounds people make to tell us apart. What we are isn't that. The real questions run deeper. Can I fight? Did I help? Did I do for my sisters? My comrades, children, slimy slug-clan... There's a chain, between each and every one of us. And like the man said, you either feel its tug or you ignore it. I tried to feel it. I tried to face the darkness like a woman and I don't need any more than that. You don't have to remember me. You don't even know who I am. But I do."

Sorry for being a dummy. Is she saying that what we do is more important than the legend of a name? And she is satisfied with what she did to help so it doesn't matter that her name isn't remembered? Wait, I think I worked something out.

[Lyri]

yes, that's exactly it. she's saying that a single name can evoke powerful feelings, like Hitler. the name Buffy Summers evokes terror in the demon community, yet she was able to use that name and do some good, even though she's NOT Buffy Summers. she's saying that what we do in our lives is more important than the name we use. she was able to do something important to help the world, yet no one will ever know her name but her and a few other select people. does that make what she did any less important?

[Windowlicker]

The Chain is a stroy based on one of the 'Buffy Doubles' the Council or whoever has set up to take some of the heat off of the real Buffy. basically, it's about this girl's fight to keep her own identity even as she 'plays' someone else.

to start with, i think she's quiet annoyed at being asked to play Buffy, like she thinks that just being herself isn't good enough for the Council, that she has to be someone else to fit in. she's p****d that no one will know who she is, 'cause she's living Buffy's life, using her name, her looks. but at the end, as she dies, she realizes that it doesn't matter that no one knows who she is, that no one knows her name. SHE knows who she is, and when it comes down to it, that's all that really matters.

The 'Chain' of the title refers to the chain that connects all of the Slayers through time, the chain that connects this girl to the First Slayer, to Lucy Hanover, to the girl during the Boxer Rebellion, to Nikki Wood, to Faith, to Buffy herself, and to the thousands of other Slayers who were Called the day she was. at the end, she gets that every Slayer is different, has a different part to play in the grand scheme, but none of them are alone.

personally, i loved this isssue. i thought it was sad and beautiful and extremely well written.


thanks for that so much !! thats actually really kool and makes alot more sence to me now :P
cant wait to re-re-read it

[GATEGOD]

All I got from the chain was that it's sad and depressing lol. The girl gives up her life to protect someone she's never seen Heroic and sad. And we don't even know who she was!! At least she inspired them to fight.
Last Page was sad :cry: and beautiful

[Keanoite]

I loved it. It was the first comic to get me really excited about the new season. It just felt like the Buffyverse more than the previous arc had. It was like a reminder of why the show as so fantastic and why we love the characters. They fight even though they don't have to, even though they don't get glory. It was perfect.

[GATEGOD]

I loved it. It was the first comic to get me really excited about the new season. It just felt like the Buffyverse more than the previous arc had. It was like a reminder of why the show as so fantastic and why we love the characters. They fight even though they don't have to, even though they don't get glory. It was perfect.

Nah Number 3 did that for me that one was hilarious!! A tad better then this definitely ^_^ This one wasn't even about a character we new which sucked because she dies and we don't even get to know her, and she seemed so .. worth getting to know, ^_^

[Keanoite]

Nah Number 3 did that for me that one was hilarious!! A tad better then this definitely ^_^ This one wasn't even about a character we new which sucked because she dies and we don't even get to know her, and she seemed so .. worth getting to know, ^_^

I liked the poignancy of it and thought it was fantastic that someone who didn't even know the scoobies could embody everything good that they are.

[GATEGOD]

I liked the poignancy of it and thought it was fantastic that someone who didn't even know the scoobies could embody everything good that they are.

Yea that was so great about, and why I liked it, but it was a bit weird with the fairies... slug monster things. lol But the new character that impersonated Buffy was awesome. I liked her from the little we saw ^_^

[Keanoite]

Yea that was so great about, and why I liked it, but it was a bit weird with the fairies... slug monster things. lol But the new character that impersonated Buffy was awesome. I liked her from the little we saw ^_^

The fairy thing was off putting but I think it may or may not having something to do with the big bad. It's all speculation but they just stood out in a weird way.

[nerd4hire]

There has been this Celtic-Germanic-Norse-LOTRish mythological backfeel to Season 8 so far. It's going to be interesting to see what they do with this upcoming Drew Goddard Tokyo arc. I wonder if they'll continue with the European mythology insinuations, or if they'll go Japanese

[Keanoite]

There has been this Celtic-Germanic-Norse-LOTRish mythological backfeel to Season 8 so far. It's going to interesting to see what they do with this upcoming Drew Goddard Tokyo arc. I wonder if they'll continue with the European mythology insinuations, or if they'll go Japanese

I think Goddard said something about the Japenese arc would involve vampires that we have encountered before but in a new way or something like that. For the life of me I can't think of anything that would fit.

[Senior Watcher]

Nah Number 3 did that for me that one was hilarious!! A tad better then this definitely ^_^ This one wasn't even about a character we new which sucked because she dies and we don't even get to know her, and she seemed so .. worth getting to know, ^_^

i know what you mean about her being "worth" getting to know ;-) anyone that fits buffy's specs has got to be smokin hot.

anyway, sexist comments aside, since we didnt get to know her, i feel that we should remember her by having a day of mourning tomorrow. i am going to bow my head at some point tomorrow in rememberance of her. i mean, she gave her life before it even began. really sad.

[sk8rj04]

I didn't feel a sense of depression from it. I felt it was more about insecurity and self-awareness. This girl, "Buffy", was facing her last moments before death, and she saw her life, since she was called, unfold before her eyes. I don't think she was pissed about having to play the role of Buffy Summers. She was unsure of how she played the role, and if she made a difference. She failed her mission. She died. But she did preventive measures against the "Jar-Jar". She wasn't concerned that nobody would remember who she was. She was more concerned on if anything that she did mattered. If the things she did with her life and her power mattered in the fight against evil. I loved this issue. I can just imagine how this could have played out on-screen. I think that this would have been another "The Body" or "Hush" emmy-nominating episode. I love when Joss pushes real-life issues on us, and makes us think.

[The Chosen]

I just got to read this issue in my trade paperback (as I got the TPB only a few days ago) and I have to say I absolutely loved it. Probably my favorite of the season so far. I think Cliff Richards did a WAY better job when it came to making people look realistic. Georges just adds that baby fat that wouldn't ever be on full time Slayers...but Cliff got it right. I loved how I could tell that it was Vi right away in that commercial. Rona I wasn't too sure about...my six year old sister could tell that Giles was Giles in Cliff's work.

My views on the art is over, here's my thoughts on the actual issue: I didn't really get this one the first time around. (As many people didn't.) But rereading it, I think sk8rj04 is right. It's about "Buffy's" thoughts on whether or not she made a difference. She didn't particularly care whether or not anyone would remember her- because the only person she felt that the only person that really needed to remember her was herself. I thought that was kinda cool, in a way. It came to show she was truly dedicated and found the life and the sisterhood of being a Slayer "beautiful." She knew that she was called for something bigger than herself and she totally gave her whole self to the cause. It was also very nice that she goes from a typical teen into a grown up, mature Slayer.

All in all, from "facism" to facing destiny, this issue was a great one. I can only hope that the next few standalones can stand up to this one. It really does come to show that no matter what format Joss is truly dedicated to his series. Be it a TV show or a big ass $300 million movie or a picture drawn on the back of a bubblegum wrapper that all his work is top notch and high quality. And that's why Buffy fans are the best, because we get treated to very amazing things...

- TC