The Gift

[celestialarrow]

dont know if this question's been asked before but after buffy died in the gift why wasn't another slayer activated you think because it was a mystical death that another slayer wasn't activated.

[LittleMissLikesToFight]

Because she already died in season 1. Therefore Kendra was activated, she died, Faith was activated, so only Faith's death could bring about a new slayer. Buffy could die a million more times and no one new would ever be called, since in a way its been "passed on" already as no one expected her to be revived.

[celestialarrow]

okay if that's true i have this question why in season 7 buffy kept saying that if she died one of the potentials would become a slayer.

[Lyri]

there are two theories for this:

1) that Buffy was just trying to scare the Potentials and put the fright in them so that they'd tow the line.

2) That when Willow resurrected Buffy, she somehow slotted her back into the Slayer line, thus creating two Chosen Lines...one that runs through Buffy and a second that runs through Faith.


but at the time of 'The Gift', Faith was the 'real' Slayer, the line ran through her from when Kendra passed it onto her, who in turn received it from Buffy. by the time of Buffy's death in S5 she had already called the girl to take over from her, she just didn't stay dead when it happened.

[celestialarrow]

alright i was thinking idk if it's right but the writers and creators let buffy die because the emotional effect it would have on the audience and just left out the whole a new slayer being called continuity.

[LittleMissLikesToFight]

yes it was for emotional effect (especially with the change of networks, it left everyone wondering what the crap was going on) but i dont think they left out the continuity. Its too large a part of the show and who buffy is.

[Cangel]

So if a slayer dies, passes her power on, gets revived and still has her power (like Buffy), wouldn't that be like a good way to activate all the potential slayers? It might sound a tad crazy, but I could imagine if you really thought this trough, it could work.
And who was the rightful slayer? Buffy because she got the power first, or Faith because she follows the original slayer line?

[TrueVengeance]

I think maybe the writers made an oopsie somewhere. But I think it's just because Faith was the actual slayer, and Buffy shouldn't be alive. When Faith would die, a new one would be called. Is it also possible that when Buffy said that, she wasn't really thinking about it? She just thought death of a slayer=new slayer. I honestly don't think she put too much thought into it.

[Elithustra]

What about when Faith was in a coma? Wouldn't they have gotten another Slayer then? Or what about when Faith went bad, I mean really bad? Why wouldn't she have been replaced then?

And if there were potential slayers in Season 7 - why haven't there been potential slayers previously? Like a Mini-Me side-kick/stand-in?

[TrueVengeance]

What about when Faith was in a coma? Wouldn't they have gotten another Slayer then? Or what about when Faith went bad, I mean really bad? Why wouldn't she have been replaced then?

Nope. The only way a slayer can be replaced is when the previous one dies.

And if there were potential slayers in Season 7 - why haven't there been potential slayers previously? Like a Mini-Me side-kick/stand-in?

There have always been potential slayers...its just no one knew about them. They themselves didn't know. They were just average girls unless they became activiated

[LittleMissLikesToFight]

well i think some did know, it seemed there were a couple who were trained ahead of time. but most didnt.

[white avenger]

It was always a mystery just as to how the Watchers found the Slayers, but according to the movie, Merrick told Buffy that her training had been delayed due to some sort of oversight, leading me to believe that at least SOME of the Potentials are approached and trained by Watchers prior to their being called. As for the "Why wasn't another Slayer called after Buffy died the second time," Joss said on several occasions that the Slayer line went from Buffy to Kendra to Faith. Apparently Faith's heart never stopped, even momentarily, after Buffy stabbed her (unless there were yet another "lost Slayer" somewhere in the world who has never been mentioned. That might have made an interesting story arc for Season 8 if all of the Potentials in the world hadn't been activated by Willow. Now it just seems redundant.) so there were never more than 2 Slayers until "Chosen."

[Elithustra]

okay if that's true i have this question why in season 7 buffy kept saying that if she died one of the potentials would become a slayer.

I was thinking about this and I thought maybe the reason for this was because I get the impression Faith gave up her rights to be a slayer after everything she'd done. Now, admittedly I've not watched any of Angel, so I don't know if she had her slayer-age re-given to her, but that's just something that popped into my head :)

[Lauryn Summers]

You have a point, Elithustra. Granted I just became part of this whole Buffy world, but it did seem that Faith had relinquished her Slayer destiny by turning "bad". When the Watchers were coming to get her how would they have brought about the new Slayer? Would they have had to actually kill Faith? One bad Slayer's life for the greater good? Or would they have actually had the powers to activate a new slayer? Interesting thing to think about for sure.

[Lindsey McDonald]

It was definately because the Slayer line had moved on. When Buffy died Season 1, Kendra was called, and so Buffy was passed over by the Slayer mojo. However, it does get a little complicated after The Gift, as we know from Season 7 that the Slayer line has been weakened. So what people are saying about Faith is kind of true, but for different reasons.

In Season 7, The First tries to destroy the Slayer line, by killing all the Potentials then killing the Slayer. Buffy also says that a Potential would be called on her death. Moreover, The First takes no interest in keeping Faith alive until all the Potentials are dead, whereas it does so for Buffy. This suggests that Faith in fact no longer carries the Slayer line, due to the spell Willow used to revive Buffy. The general theory is that because it had to make her a whole new body to house her soul, it also took her back to her rightful state: The Slayer. So basically, as of Bargaining the Slayer line lies in Buffy's life despite it not doing so as of The Gift.

[AgentX7k]

There is no 'answer' given in the show but I agree with that theory since it fills all the plot holes. It still explains why Buffy's 2nd death doesn't call a slayer, it explains why so many people say Buffy's death will call another slayer in S7, Beljox's Eye says the reason the slayer line is messed up is because Buffy lives.

Though I had never thought of Faiths title being stolen, that's interesting and makes sense because I never understood why it saved Buffy for last yet tried to kill Faith straight away. I thought that the problem with the Slayer line was that there were 2 active slayers for the first time.

And yes I know Joss says that the slayer line runs through Faith but unless he said that after Season 6 started the theory still holds because at the time he said it the Slayer line ran only through Faith.

Although there is still the issue of Buffys death in Season 6, though I don't know the medical specifics as what constitutes as death, or at least a death that will activate a second slayer.