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My theory about becoming a Slayer and the spell in “Chosen”
As everybody else after “Chosen” I was thinking about the spell that activated the Slayers, its possible consequences, and how it will work in the long term. Slowly a theory emerged. It is quite possibly wrong, and I am not sure if it works on all levels, but it works for me on mystical and metaphorical levels. I was trying to tidy it up and make it all clear and comprehensible, but since it took me too long time without much positive result, I decided to post it here for a test drive, and hope for some reasonable suggestions.
[Quotes are from Buffyverse Dialogue Database and Buffyworld.com]
The operational word for me was choice.
I believe this is important. Choice. Free will. Being the Chosen one vs. Making one’s own choices. That is what all BtVS was about. Well, one of the things BtVS was about.
How’s it can come into the play with the activation of all potentials in the world?
Let’s see what is happening.
The girl in the Hellmouth came there to fight evil, they know the score, their choice is clear. Who else we get to see?
EXT. BASEBALL DIAMOND - DAY
A girl stands at the plate staring at the pitcher, waiting to bat. She looks a little nervous.
INT. HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY - DAY
A young woman breathes heavily as she leans on her locker for support.
INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
A young woman is lying across the floor, having fallen out of her chair.
INT. DINING ROOM - DAY
In a Japanese-style dining room, a young woman stands up at family dinner.
INT. BASEMENT - DAY
A young woman grabs the wrist of a man who's trying to slap her face, preventing him.
EXT. BASEBALL DIAMOND - DAY
The girl at the plate changes from nervous to confident, smiling as she waits for the pitch.
So the “softball girl”, and “the trailer park girl” were in the middle of something that demanded their reaction – one way or another, others seemed to be just living their lives, without anything meaningful outside.
Let’s look now at Buffy’s words. She gave too many speeches, so our attention isn’t as focused, but let’s try again:
I hate this. I hate being here. I hate that you have to be here. I hate that there’s evil and that I was chosen to fight it. I wish a whole lot of the time that I hadn’t been. I know a lot of you wish I hadn’t been, either. But this isn’t about wishes. This is about choices.
She lived and died, and lived again through it, and came to terms with being chosen – her power, her duties, her gift. Faith too, more or less. They had their own ways of dealing with it, they both accepted what power gives them, good and bad. But it hasn’t been an easy ride. And here are these girls – who have something in them the same power, something that lies dormant now – until… or forever. What are their life prospects? Anya put it best in Potential:
Well, it is a mixed bag, you know. If she gets to be the slayer, then her life is short and brutal. And if she doesn't, then it smells of unfulfilled potential.
Because - remember the rules: one girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires...
Only there are two of them now, which means the rules are not set in stone.
The situation seems dire. The life of potential, it appears, gets to be short in any way. Every hour of waiting adds to strength of the “evil forces”, and yet what can they do but wait for their power to come? Or for the Slayer (whether Buffy or Faith) to save them. So they are waiting.
It’s true, none of you have the power that Faith and I do. So here’s the part where you make a choice.
Now we have a scythe (it doesn’t actually look like one, but it makes possible silly jokes and cool death imagery). Something in it calls to slayers – Buffy and Faith, so through Willow’s spell it reaches to that dormant part in the potentials, and wakes it up.
That simple? Nope.
Because here is the second part of the Buffy’s speech, and she asks to make a choice.
So here’s the part where you make a choice. What if you could have that power… now? In every generation one Slayer is born because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. (She points at Willow, who smiles nervously.) This woman is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power should be our power. Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the scythe to change our destiny. From now on, every girl in the world who might be a Slayer, will be a Slayer. Every girl who could have the power, will have the power. Can stand up, will stand up. Slayers… every one of us. Make your choice.
What choice?
Are you ready to be strong?
And here is my hypothesis:
It is the choice to be strong – to accept this power, to become a slayer. Girls are not stuffed with the power whether they wanted it or not, they are offered a possibility, and it is up to them to accept it, to make a choice out of free will. And this is the whole world of difference with the shadow men. Only those who have chosen it become slayers. And it was not a simultaneous event, either: it is a process, it is still happening.
Willow: Slayers are awakening everywhere.
Let’s look at the new Slayers again.
The softball girl and the trailer park girl have made their choices, the change in them is the most visible, and it didn’t come out of nowhere. If the girl didn’t choose to block the blow, special powers wouldn’t help. The girls in the hellmouth also made their choice, but what about others? I don’t know what was going on in their lives at that moment. Our breaking-through isn’t always visible from the outside. I think they’ve made their choice, too, but I really have no proof.
So, is it all good? It never is. Look at Dana.
Several months ago her condition changed. Increasing levels of agitation accompanied by explosive outbursts of inhuman strength.
When she speaks for herself, not repeating other slayers’ words, she talks about strength:
Yellows make you weak. Not weak anymore.
Can't hurt me anymore.
Not weak. Can't touch me anymore.
Can't hurt me. Not weak anymore.
She didn’t want to be weak anymore, she made her own choice, as well.
Some choices were rushed, some were made too late, some girls wouldn’t be able to handle the power at all, some wouldn’t want the corresponding responsibilities, some would wish they didn’t make that choice. There are many variants how it can and will go wrong. All magical gifts are twofold, power is moreso.
But just because the power is hard to handle, should we be powerless?
But just because we cannot foresee all consequences of our choices, should we reject the right to make a choice?
[Quotes are from Buffyverse Dialogue Database and Buffyworld.com]
The operational word for me was choice.
I believe this is important. Choice. Free will. Being the Chosen one vs. Making one’s own choices. That is what all BtVS was about. Well, one of the things BtVS was about.
How’s it can come into the play with the activation of all potentials in the world?
Let’s see what is happening.
The girl in the Hellmouth came there to fight evil, they know the score, their choice is clear. Who else we get to see?
EXT. BASEBALL DIAMOND - DAY
A girl stands at the plate staring at the pitcher, waiting to bat. She looks a little nervous.
INT. HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY - DAY
A young woman breathes heavily as she leans on her locker for support.
INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
A young woman is lying across the floor, having fallen out of her chair.
INT. DINING ROOM - DAY
In a Japanese-style dining room, a young woman stands up at family dinner.
INT. BASEMENT - DAY
A young woman grabs the wrist of a man who's trying to slap her face, preventing him.
EXT. BASEBALL DIAMOND - DAY
The girl at the plate changes from nervous to confident, smiling as she waits for the pitch.
So the “softball girl”, and “the trailer park girl” were in the middle of something that demanded their reaction – one way or another, others seemed to be just living their lives, without anything meaningful outside.
Let’s look now at Buffy’s words. She gave too many speeches, so our attention isn’t as focused, but let’s try again:
I hate this. I hate being here. I hate that you have to be here. I hate that there’s evil and that I was chosen to fight it. I wish a whole lot of the time that I hadn’t been. I know a lot of you wish I hadn’t been, either. But this isn’t about wishes. This is about choices.
She lived and died, and lived again through it, and came to terms with being chosen – her power, her duties, her gift. Faith too, more or less. They had their own ways of dealing with it, they both accepted what power gives them, good and bad. But it hasn’t been an easy ride. And here are these girls – who have something in them the same power, something that lies dormant now – until… or forever. What are their life prospects? Anya put it best in Potential:
Well, it is a mixed bag, you know. If she gets to be the slayer, then her life is short and brutal. And if she doesn't, then it smells of unfulfilled potential.
Because - remember the rules: one girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires...
Only there are two of them now, which means the rules are not set in stone.
The situation seems dire. The life of potential, it appears, gets to be short in any way. Every hour of waiting adds to strength of the “evil forces”, and yet what can they do but wait for their power to come? Or for the Slayer (whether Buffy or Faith) to save them. So they are waiting.
It’s true, none of you have the power that Faith and I do. So here’s the part where you make a choice.
Now we have a scythe (it doesn’t actually look like one, but it makes possible silly jokes and cool death imagery). Something in it calls to slayers – Buffy and Faith, so through Willow’s spell it reaches to that dormant part in the potentials, and wakes it up.
That simple? Nope.
Because here is the second part of the Buffy’s speech, and she asks to make a choice.
So here’s the part where you make a choice. What if you could have that power… now? In every generation one Slayer is born because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. (She points at Willow, who smiles nervously.) This woman is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power should be our power. Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the scythe to change our destiny. From now on, every girl in the world who might be a Slayer, will be a Slayer. Every girl who could have the power, will have the power. Can stand up, will stand up. Slayers… every one of us. Make your choice.
What choice?
Are you ready to be strong?
And here is my hypothesis:
It is the choice to be strong – to accept this power, to become a slayer. Girls are not stuffed with the power whether they wanted it or not, they are offered a possibility, and it is up to them to accept it, to make a choice out of free will. And this is the whole world of difference with the shadow men. Only those who have chosen it become slayers. And it was not a simultaneous event, either: it is a process, it is still happening.
Willow: Slayers are awakening everywhere.
Let’s look at the new Slayers again.
The softball girl and the trailer park girl have made their choices, the change in them is the most visible, and it didn’t come out of nowhere. If the girl didn’t choose to block the blow, special powers wouldn’t help. The girls in the hellmouth also made their choice, but what about others? I don’t know what was going on in their lives at that moment. Our breaking-through isn’t always visible from the outside. I think they’ve made their choice, too, but I really have no proof.
So, is it all good? It never is. Look at Dana.
Several months ago her condition changed. Increasing levels of agitation accompanied by explosive outbursts of inhuman strength.
When she speaks for herself, not repeating other slayers’ words, she talks about strength:
Yellows make you weak. Not weak anymore.
Can't hurt me anymore.
Not weak. Can't touch me anymore.
Can't hurt me. Not weak anymore.
She didn’t want to be weak anymore, she made her own choice, as well.
Some choices were rushed, some were made too late, some girls wouldn’t be able to handle the power at all, some wouldn’t want the corresponding responsibilities, some would wish they didn’t make that choice. There are many variants how it can and will go wrong. All magical gifts are twofold, power is moreso.
But just because the power is hard to handle, should we be powerless?
But just because we cannot foresee all consequences of our choices, should we reject the right to make a choice?