Dawn's a key... so can she, like, open stuff?

[palabravampiress]

Dawn's a key... so can she, like, open stuff?

One thing that always surprised me about the usage of this character is that the key thing kind of ended with season 5. I thought that would be Dawn's power. I thought she could lock and unlock things.. anything from, say, the bathroom door to magical portals and barriers. Was anyone else surprised that they dropped the key thing with season 5? Oh well. Maybe they'll pick it up in the comics.

[Lyri]

no, i wasn't surprised the Key thing was dropped, because, as Dawn herself pointed out, she 'didn't open anything anymore'. i always figured that The Key was the Key for Glory to get back to her own dimension, and once it was used, it couldn't be used again. what was the thing Giles said 'The blood flows and the gates will open, the gates will close when the blood flows no more' or something like that. Dawn wasn't meant to survive to be used again, and even though her blood didn't stop flowing, Buffy's did, and becasue the monks made Dawn out of Buffy, this was enough to stop the energy of The Key. so Dawn became a real girl. lol

[white avenger]

Nothing was ever said after Season 5 about Dawn losing her key power or quality or potential or whatever, but I sort of got the impression that she fit only one "lock" and that was only a one shot deal. Once Glory was defeated, that pretty much ended the whole thing ((too bad Dawn didn't end with Glory). There may be something in store on that front in Season 8 (or 9, or 10...), but that's only speculation.

[Kemy]

Its possible that with the right ritual, the right spell and controlled blood letting there may be a way of opening another dimensional portal with her.

But from Season 5 it looks like the existence of such rituals is known to few Demons even if they've heard of the legendary "Key". And that the spells needed were all lost to time, the last remaining one took all of Glorys little...minion things to find "at great cost" so I'm guessing no one can find them anymore. That and I'd like to see anyone try and do that with Dawn again with a few hundred Slayers as bodyguards, and right now she could more or less pound any badguys into the ground herself :p

In other words, its a remote possibility, but would be so difficult to do, few or no Demons around could manage it, if they could even get at Dawn. No locks to open, a Key too well protected to bother.

[palabravampiress]

I was thinking more along the lines of Dawn figuring out how to do it herself... not having more demons try to kidnap her, shove her in a lock, and give her a good twirl.

[Kemy]

Ah. No.

Shes bled a few times now, season 5, 6, 7 and her cut hand in season 8 and no portals. There needs to be a ritual carried out by other people.

[Atren]

I think she still is the key, just that nobody really wants to open the door she opens. Besides, there also was clearly very specific conditions that had to be met, once of her lifetime possibly even (as i dont remember it been specified).

[white avenger]

It just occurred to me that Dawn's key power might be what is responsible for the situation as it exists with demons, magic, and successive Slayers that leads up to Malaka Fray being called in the 23rd Century (Is that obscure enough th qualify as a non-spoiler?)

[Kemy]

I doubt it was Dawn, shes both bled, and had magic performed on her without any effects on the space time continuum around her.

But, according to Fray a doorway was used to push all Demons back through to their dimension(s) in the 21st century, with Willow's Pie Mai style demon lady teaching her and the Japanese Vampire her abilities and making them uber witches, its possible she or a combination of the snake ladies students have the ability to use Dawn as a catalyst to open that doorway.

[LittleMissLikesToFight]

I thought she was just human now. Didn't willow at the end of season 6 say something about how she didn't always used to be human (when she threatens to turn her back into a little ball of energy). Or was that just meaning, before season 5 Dawn wasn't human, just energy.... not neccessarily after what happened now she's just human (i hope i am making sense).

[The Kinslayer]

Or was that just meaning, before season 5 Dawn wasn't human, just energy.... not neccessarily after what happened now she's just human (i hope i am making sense).
That´s how I see it. Doesn´t mean I´m right of course.

[Kemy]

Willow was refering to Dawn's original state as the Key prior to being molded to Human form.

But there are several important implications from Season's 5 and 6. Season 5 shows Dawn was created via the E=mc^2 principle of converting her plasma energy matrix to a solid organic matter form, but her blood opened the portal months after this, her form may be Human, but it still carries the quantum signature of the Key, possible the original quantum vibration. That might never go away.

Season 6, Willow's power is such that she can reverse the process and turn Dawn back into the Key's plasma energy state over a year, up to a year and a half after her being Human, enough of the Key state must still exist within Dawn to do this. Or Willow didn't know if she could and was just threatening Dawn, thats a little unclear.

Either way, the portal requires A) Major magical power B) Someone who knows how to use it C) Ancient rites/rituals/objects to start it D) Dawn herself kidnapped and prepared. Something that might never be achievable again if the magic or knowledge is lost (implied by Season 5) and with Dawn practically unkidnappable now (Season 8).

[LittleMissLikesToFight]

i always thought Willow COULD do it, and knew she could. Again, that was my interpretation. So i guess in that light Dawn still is the key, if only a defunct one.

[Superstar]

I thought she was just human now.
She was human before too. The monks made her human to be undetectable.

Besides, there also was clearly very specific conditions that had to be met, once of her lifetime possibly even (as i dont remember it been specified).
It wasn't specified. Closest was that if Glory killed the key prematurely they would be trapped in this dimension forever.

Its possible that with the right ritual, the right spell and controlled blood letting there may be a way of opening another dimensional portal with her.
Hey, maybe that's how HelLA survivors ultimately return.

[Kemy]

Los Angeles hasn't physically left the Earth, its currently being enveloped by a pocket of a Hell dimension superimposing itself on our reality, effectively making the city exist in both simultaneously which is having some very weird effects on everyone, including the sky from both visually (not actually) blending.

All thats required is to find a way to reverse the bubble and push LA entirely back into our reality again. No one person, even Willow has that kind of power which means TPTB themsevles did this, and are the only ones that can reverse it.

Edit:

What would be cool, but not likely, is if Dawn did develop some ability to control Key like powers, and had a mystical aura around her that quelled those kind of dimensional disparities, like a glowing blue field that made only the "true" reality exist. GiantDawn would be able to at least disrupt TPTB's hold on LA.

But that just sounds like the plot of a bad crossover fanfic haha.