Willow’s power

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

In “Tough Love,” Tara admits to Willow that her increasing power with magic “frightens” and worries her.

When Willow is clearly offended by this comment, Tara tries to backtrack, but it’s clear how she feels.

Was this comment just a classic case of foreshadowing or do you think Tara had a feeling what was to come? That Willow would start abusing magic and go dark? Keep in mind, this is before the spell Willow does to her to erase her memory.

 

[Stake fodder]

Tara was a witch and was part of a college group of witches, so she would have some sense of how fast skills in witchcraft usually progress. It obviously is foreshadowing in the writing, but I think Tara could have just been expressing concern that Willow's abilities were outpacing her respect for the power of witchcraft. I'm thinking of Harry Potter for comparison, that their skills match pace with their understanding of the dangers, mostly. If Tara had truly believed Willow would go dark, she probably wouldn't have stayed with her.

 

[NotASlayer]

Tara at least seemed to have had proper training from her mother in witchcraft - I am not sure how that was managed, given the Maclays, but it was - so had far more knowledge, albeit less power, than Willow. The college group does not really count; they clearly had no real power. They may well have been Wiccans, though they were not witches in the power sense of the word. I think Tara's concern was a combination of knowing that Willow was outclassing her in power - feelings of insecurity on Tara's part regarding her power had earlier cropped up in "Family" - and a knowledge that with great power comes great responsibility ( 😀 ), and perhaps a, justified, feeling that Willow was lacking in the responsibility part. Willow was never truly a Wiccan as she certainly did not follow the Wiccan rede.

 

[hoponlilmama]

Tara was a witch and was part of a college group of witches, so she would have some sense of how fast skills in witchcraft usually progress. It obviously is foreshadowing in the writing, but I think Tara could have just been expressing concern that Willow's abilities were outpacing her respect for the power of witchcraft. I'm thinking of Harry Potter for comparison, that their skills match pace with their understanding of the dangers, mostly. If Tara had truly believed Willow would go dark, she probably wouldn't have stayed with her.

I think that's probably what she should've said to Willow, instead of saying it frightens her.

 

[AlphaFoxtrot]

Foreshadowing? I think it's clear from the evidence that one of the long term plans for the series was a "Dark Phoenix" storyline, going as far back as when Oz was a regular.

We never really get an explanation of how witchcraft works in this world, or how one gains power in it. The implication is, Amy inherited her Mother's library, Willow borrowed a lot of Giles stuff. Wil was supercharged by the Gypsy curse, Amy cultivated underworld contacts, both had the benefit of living in a Hellmouth. So, both were able to bypass the drinking tea and communing with the spirits phase of magic training. In truth, I'd wager Willow was a de facto Dark Witch who simply lacked the malice for truly wicked magic, but wasn't properly protecting herself from dark influence.

 

[garfan]

Foreshadowing? I think it's clear from the evidence that one of the long term plans for the series was a "Dark Phoenix" storyline, going as far back as when Oz was a regular.

I don't know. The early implications I got felt more like playing with explosives rather than power corrupting. And anyway, the Dark Phoenix story arc required the Hellfire Club to screw with Jean's head before she went Dark Phoenix

 

[TheAnnoyingOne]

It's obviously a foreshadowing, they even initially planned to have Willow turn to the dark side at the end of season 5. But I don't think Tara was scared in the sense that she thought Willow might become evil, she was afraid of change, of them growing apart. She was a bit overwhelmed by the situation and was worried about how it would impact their relationship in the future.

 

[garfan]

It's obviously a foreshadowing, they even initially planned to have Willow turn to the dark side at the end of season 5. But I don't think Tara was scared in the sense that she thought Willow might become evil, she was afraid of change, of them growing apart. She was a bit overwhelmed by the situation and was worried about how it would impact their relationship in the future.

nah, I don't buy that. That makes Willow's claims in the argument to close to being right and I don't think they were going for that. I think it was more she was messing with dangerous stuff than going to go evil though and I do think she was wrong

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Quote: The AnnoyingOne said,
It's obviously a foreshadowing, they (?) even initially planned to have Willow turn to the dark side by the end of season 5.

Who planned for Willow to turn to the dark side? I missed that one if it was official, either that or my memory is worse than I remember.

It is true that Willow took info from Rack and she used some of the power from the dark side but she used the power to help create potentials become vampire slayers so it is false that Willow turned to the dark side. Tara was what I considered her to be an American 'Born again Wicca' not a proper witch and Willow was more akin to being a European Wizard.