Should buffy have accepted the power

[Caleb]

do you think buffy should have just accepted the power from the people that creatored the first slayer??

as she could have been stronger and more powerful and still have gotten willow to do the slayer spell. this way buffy wouldnt have been stabed during the fight and wouldnt have had to run ontop of the building to get to the bus

[Blondie Bear]

I think the trade-off was that she would be less human and even more cut off than she already was. She wasn't willing to become that Buffy, who probably would have been reminiscent of the Wishverse Buffy. I think she made the right call, all around.

[Caleb]

although if she had acceted the power im sure willow would have found a way to reverse it if she could perform the type of magic that made all potentials become slayers

also if she had accepted the power she may have been able to save more of the potentials lives and anya's as well

[Blondie Bear]

When Buffy refused the power, however, she didn't know exactly what they'd be facing, or whether Willow would be able to do anything about it. Given her knowledge and her choice at the time, I think she chose right.

[Caleb]

although willow was "the most powerful witch on the westenhemspheare" at the time they were given the slayer emergency kit she must just have thought that willow could have done something which lead on to the whole lots of slayers

also they invoked the power of the first slayer in seson 4 when defeating adam if she was that powerful when she went into the hell mouth she could have desorted it without sacerficeing spike

[Dyoll]

I defiantly agree with you 100% Caleb. Buffy is always going on about sacrifice and when it comes down to it if she has to lose something she says no. just because she would become less human. When Cordelia is asked if she would want to keep her visions and become part demon she doesn’t even think twice.

[littlewilly]

Buffy made the right choice, i would have done the same

[Joyce Summers]

I think Buffy made the right decision. Letting them infect her, emphasis on the word infect, with the heart, soul and essence of a demon would have changed her dramtically. Taken her to a darker place than she already was as the Slayer, cutting her off even more from those her around her.

She could have potentially become like the Slayer the Watcher's Council always wanted her to be- solitary, not caring for friends or family, only about the 'big picture'. With so much more demon and darkness to her, she may have ended up seeing the lives of the people around her, less valuable/ more worthless. Perhaps believing it was worth sacrificing them for the good of the many.

But that thinking isn't who Buffy is, and so it's not what she wanted to become. She would rather fight the battle as weak and more human rather than strong and more demonic/dark.

[ILLYRIAN]

As a vampire slayer she would already have had to spirit of a demon in her, so would that have made any difference to her?. I see it the same as having Window XP as the operating software on your computer, letting the Windows XP disc run again doesn't put a second copy of Windows on the computer, and if there's nothing wrong with what you have already it would only be a check up.

Maybe I got the over riding theme of the series wrong, but I always saw it as 'girl power'.
Letting three men have her chained to a rock and then letting them do what they wanted to her would have been against the reasoning for the series.

[InsaneMystic]

I don't agree with your "Windows" analogy. To stay in the metaphor, the tradeoff "strength vs. connection" would be an update of the system that vastly speeds up offline computing power but slows internet access to a crawl. The decision would really depend on what you intend to use the machine for.

So we must look at that tradeoff. Would accepting it be the right choice using cold, hard logic? Most probably yes. More strength for the Slayer equals more lives to be saved.

However, it would be totally out of character for Buffy, who's never run heavy on cold, hard logic. In fact, a very sizeable part of her personal strength lay exactly in the connection to friends/family, because she was never one who could motivate herself to the Slaying Business by duty alone (just compare her to Kendra!). So, in Buffy's view, it would amount to losing some of your strength for gaining some other, with the effect in whole probably adding up to zero. Would you agree to have darkly demonic presence forced inside you, if you don't see anything to gain from it? I don't think I would.

[palabravampiress]

As a vampire slayer she would already have had to spirit of a demon in her, so would that have made any difference to her?. I see it the same as having Window XP as the operating software on your computer, letting the Windows XP disc run again doesn't put a second copy of Windows on the computer, and if there's nothing wrong with what you have already it would only be a check up.

Maybe I got the over riding theme of the series wrong, but I always saw it as 'girl power'.
Letting three men have her chained to a rock and then letting them do what they wanted to her would have been against the reasoning for the series.

I agree with the girl power thing.

Maybe if the men had offered it to her with an explanation of exactly what the power would do and let Buffy make the decision, she would have taken it and used it to her advantage against the First.

But these men weren't offering her a gift or giving her a choice. They weren’t even giving her much in the way of information, let alone informed consent. They had her chained up and were summoning an evil and unknown force to thrust upon her whether she willed it or no. They were using her for their own purposes. They were polluting her mind, body, and soul. They were doing so against her will. *That* is what made the power evil and *that* is why she refused it. That’s not a very subtle metaphor, there.

Ultimately, the message here is that free will must never be compromised, not even for the good of the world.

Now, I, personally, probably would have taken the power. I wouldn’t have been like Buffy. I’m a rather cold and unfeeling individual. My inner darkness doesn’t bother me much and I tend to think the end justifies the means, so I’m not sure I wouldn’t have seen the weirdo shadow men thing as a rather unpleasant means to obtaining an apocalypse free end. But that’s not Buffy; Buffy draws her strength from her interpersonal connections and from her emotional ties. I agree that, in the long run, a less human Buffy would have been a less effective Buffy. I’m glad Buffy didn’t accept the slayer power boost; it would have drastically changed the tone and the end of the series. I’m also glad Buffy isn’t like me. Buffy is the champion of the humans. It’s probably best that the human champion retain her humanity.

[The Kinslayer]

Ultimately, the message here is that free will must never be compromised, not even for the good of the world.
Jasmine anyone? It´s an interesting question none the less. How much can/should we sacrifice as human beings for the greater good? Can dictatorship ever be good?

Buffy is the champion of the humans. It’s probably best that the human champion retain her humanity.
It sounds like a real good idé.

[LorneyTunes]

Buffy did do the right thing the power offered was being forced on her by these dudes that just said so!! It was undair and she saw that look at the first slayer and how Buffys face is when she looks at her almost sad and disgusted . Buffy is the little girl with superpowers who needs no more just some scoobie back up you know without them kickin her outta her house an that lol x

[LittleMissLikesToFight]

I just remember kind of being dissapointed that she didn't. Only because i REALLY wanted to see what would happen. Physically, mentally, how it would effect relationships she had (ooo fan fic brewing in my mind, tho im sure its been done already).

But, you know, the fact that she didn't showed how strong she was as a person, to refuse all that power. Most people would jump on it, no matter the consequences.