Notable BtVS Speeches/Quotes

[IndianaSolo221]

I was, once again, looking at Buffy promos and screenshots, and was prompted to post this when my thoughts drifted to certain Buffy speeches and quotes. I'm sure we could all quote some of the laugh-out-loud one-liners that are spread throughout the series, but I kind want to use this post to focus on the more heartfelt, emotional moments that are seen throughout the show.

During one of my BtVS rewatches, I decided to rewatch S2, E14, "Innocence." Towards the end of this episode, a tearful Buffy speaks to Giles, who has thus far proven himself to be a father figure to her:

Buffy: "You must be so disappointed in me."

Giles: "No. No, I'm not."

When Buffy insists that Angel loosing his soul (and thus, presenting a very serious danger to every one of the Scoobies) is her fault, Giles continues, saying, "No, I don't believe it is. Do you want me to wag my finger at you and tell you that you acted rashly? You did. And I can....I know that you loved him. And he, he's proven more than once that he loved you. You couldn't have known what would happen. The coming months are going to be hard, I suspect on all of us, but...if it's guilt you're looking for, Buffy, I'm not your man. All you will get from me is my support. And my respect."

I had entirely forgotten that this moment existed until I rewatched that episode, and for the first time in a long time, I was genuinely moved by a Buffy quote. This was something I could relate to: I have days where I feel like all I do is crash and burn, and yet regardless, I know I have at least one Giles in my life that would very likely say to me, "If it's guilt you're looking for, I'm not your man," and since I rediscovered this speech as an adult, it will likely remain as a favorite of mine.

I could go on about Buffy quotes that give me chills and make me emote, such as Spike's speech to Buffy in "Touched," but I still have never related to Buffy more than in "Innocence" and episodes of the like.

Anyways, onto the big prompt/question that I always manage to ask in these posts....What BtVS/AtS speeches or quotes stick out to you? Which ones are you able to relate to? Do you have a favorite quote, or one that's just randomly etched into your brain? (*coughs* "Randy Giles? Why not just call me "horny" Giles or "desperate for a shag" Giles?" will never not be stuck in my head).

 

[Ethan Reigns]

There's always Illyria saying, "I wish to do more violence."

From "A New Man", the Citroen gets no respect:

Willow: It stole Giles' car!
Xander: Why would a demon steal a car?
Anya: Why would a demon steal that car?

from "Restless" "I wear the cheese, it does not wear me."

From "Checkpoint", one of my favourites:

Buffy: "You guys didn't come all the way from England to determine whether I was good enough to be let back in. You came to beg me to let you back in. To give your jobs, your lives, some semblance of meaning."
Nigel: "This is beyond insolence—" (Buffy hurls the sword at him, which he must jump aside to avoid.)
Buffy: "I'm fairly certain I said no interruptions."
Xander (quietly): "That was excellent!"
Buffy: "You're Watchers. Without a Slayer... you're pretty much just watching Masterpiece Theater. You can't stop Glory. You can't do anything with the information you have, except maybe publish it in the Everyone Thinks We're Insanos Home Journal. So here's how it's gonna work. You're gonna tell me everything you know. Then you're gonna go away. You'll contact me if and when you have any further information about Glory. The magic shop will remain open. Mr. Giles will stay here as my official Watcher, reinstated at full salary."
Giles (pretending to cough, muffling the word): "Retroactive."
Buffy: "To be paid retroactively from the month he was fired. I will continue my work with the help of my friends—"
Lydia: "I-I-I... don't want a sword thrown at me, but-but civilians — we're talking about children!"
Buffy: "We're talking about two very powerful witches and a thousand-year-old ex-demon."
Anya: "Willow's a demon?!"
Phillip: "The boy? No power there."
Buffy: "'The boy' has clocked more field time than all of you combined. He's part of the unit."
Willow (quietly): "That's Riley speak."
Xander (quietly and with pride): "I've clocked field time."
Buffy: "Now. You all may be very good at your jobs. The only way we're gonna find out is if you work with me. You can all take your time thinking about that. But I want an answer right now from Quentin. 'Cause I think he's understanding me."

 

[AnthonyCordova]

The quote that has stuck with me the most over the years is from Angel, episode "Inside Out":

FRED What do you think he'll do?

GUNN What he has to, like he always does.

Show they are staring at Angel.

FRED Will it make a difference? We really are just pieces being moved around a board.

GUNN Then we'll kick it over and start a new game. Look, monochrome can yap all he wants about no-name's cosmic plan, but here's a little something I picked up rubbing mojos these past couple of years. The final score can't be rigged. I don't care how many players you grease, that last shot always comes up a question mark. But here's the thing—you never know when you're taking it. It could be when you're duking it out with the Legion of Doom, or just crossing the street deciding where to have brunch. So you just treat it all like it was up to you—the world in the balance—'cause you never know when it is.

I've always been of the opinion that the issue of determinism and free-will is a fundamental distinction that, try as you might, simply cannot be collapsed into one or the other. My feeling is that, in for example such a binary as light and darkness, the one implies the other, the one is defined by the other. The exchange quoted above I've always liked because I feel like it expresses very effectively how the two antinomies can plausibly coexist. I don't think it can be denied that we as human beings are over-determined by a great many factors beyond our control. But those features of the world that we can ascribe to fate are also the very things that set up the boundaries within which freedom and indeterminism can find expression. As such things as even higher mathematics affirm, indeterminacy requires rule-boundedness. If deterministic elements didn't exist, only a chaos would ensue, and the purely chaotic wouldn't permit of freedom because there would be nothing for it to push up and give form against.

A lot has been discussed in the scholarly literature of the degree to which BtVS and AtS owe a debt to Existentialism. While I am doubtful of the extent to which Whedon & Co. possessed an explicit understanding of theoretical existentialism, I will say that I think the two shows demonstrate an improvement upon existential thought on the topic of freedom, particularly that of Jean-Paul Sartre's. Sartre's emphasis on absolute freedom has always seemed to me a self-flagellation. His view of man's responsibility with regard to this freedom, this idea that I am free every moment of my life and am always responsible for myself at every moment is simply unsustainable. I'd go farther and say that to demand such an orientation towards life is pathological and not just simply unsustainable. In comparison to this, I feel like the version of freedom we find in BtVS and AtS is much more realistic and plausible. As the quote above suggests, we act as if we are free not because it is actually the truth of our situation, but because we never know when and which of our decisions actually are free choices or a result of some determinate feature of our circumstances. We choose to insist on our freedom not because it is some unmitigated and absolute fact but because we never know where the one (determinism) ends and the other (freedom) begins. That's why it matters to insist on our freedom anyway, even if, understood in an absolute sense, it becomes a feckless illusion.

I tend to feel that the quote above represents the closest thing to a definitive and perhaps final statement Whedon & Co had to say about the topic. It certainly was a consistent theme that ran through the entire course of both shows.