Buffy issue 8 - summary and analysis

[moscow_watcher]

Issue 6 review Issue 7 review

Summary:

Although Gigi and Faith have met less than 12 hours ago, Faith is already Gigi's best friend and she trusts her completely. Gigi tells Faith that she has bought surveillance tapes with Buffy, although they cost her a fortune/ and she's studying Buffy for months. She regards Buffy as a "misguided monarch" who has to be assasinated. After Buffy's death Gigi will lead "her brainwashed slayers out of the shadows of servitude and into the light of..." But, of course, Roden interrupts her so the puppetmaster stays undisclosed. Roden says Gigi has to prepare to the "evening battle". She counters that she's ready and she'll spend the day with "Hope" (Faith).

Meanwhile Giles who hired a freelancer gnome Trafalgar tries to break the invisible magical barrier around the estate and contact Faith. Gnome suggests that his secret agent could get corrupted by rich life.

And, as a confirmation of his words, the next panel shows Faith and Gigi having a bath, bonding and discovering they're kindred spirits. Gigi complains that she had never been allowed to commuticate with other children and endured "home schooling with increasingly pervy tutors". Turns out Gigi has nightmares and Roden assured her they'll stop as soon as Buffy will be assasinated.

Buffy and Willow are at Command Central. Willow reports that their radar system is online and running, and enquires about financing the whole slayer system. "We have friends with pockets deeper than the ones in Dawnie's giant pants, Will," Buffy replies. "But some donors like to stay anonimous, you know?" Willow asks about Twilight and Buffy replies that she's ready to fight them. "Not killing humans is that separates us from bad guys", Willow says. "No, not being bad is what separates us from the bad guys," Buffy replies. "You're really ready to go all slayer on human beings? For keeps?" Willow asks. "I honestly don't know. I guess we'll cross that bridge..." and Buffy disappears, teleported by Rodin...

... straight into the armoury in the Savidge estate. Gigi attacks Buffy with a sword, bragging that she killed another slayer. Buffy trips up Gigi, grabs her sword, but, before she can attack Gigi Faith leaps at her and together they fall out of the window down into the swimming pool. They fight in the water; Faith tries to explain that she's working undercover and was sent here by Giles, but Buffy doesn't believe her. Evil voices in Faith's head urge her to kill Buffy but she squashes them and asks Buffy to go away. And away Buffy goes, teleported back to the castle by Willow. "Get me Giles", she says. The expression of her face isn't Giles-friendly.

Speaking of Giles, the last panel with Faith and Gigi reenacts that famous last scene in Sleeper when Bringer raises an axe intent to decapitate Giles...



Analysis:

As a character arc, it's great storytelling. Faith's past comes back to haunt her; she always was used and exploited, and she tries to break down this vicious circle by helping another girl not to be used, exploited and killed. But, Faith's luck is... well... Faith's luck. No matter what she does she ends up guilty. It will stay forever unclear if she has saved Buffy's life when she killed Mayor's deputy in Bad Girls. I suppose it will stay forever unclear if she has saved Buffy again in this issue (because Roden was definitely conjuring some evil magic in the background when Faith pushed Buffy out of the window).

But no matter what happens Buffy is the winner and Faith is the loser. And, the more the writer tortures the character, the more we love him.

Interestingly, this issue's hidden storylines are at direct opposition to the open ones. On the surface we have Faith as the ultimate loner, who's cut off the other slayers and their sisterhood. She's losing herself, losing the battle, losing the meaning of life. But if we look at the situation more closely, it's Buffy who's losing it. Her organization is financed by anonimous sponsor. Giles is working behind her back. She's ready to kill humans.

I just can't figure out if it's a temporary plot necessity or a seasonal throughline. On the TV show Buffy killed humans, directly and indirectly, without consequences, when current story demanded it (The Pack, Revelations, Spiral). Then another story demanded "no killing humans" approach (Bad Girls, Dead Things) and Buffyverse moral twisted accordingly.

Anyway, today's partyline is obviously "no killing humans", so, in the end, Faith is right when she stops Buffy from killing Gigi. Vaughan did great job with Faith - her dialogues and thoughts sound very true to character. It's obvious with whom his sympathy lies. :)

But, as great as the personal character journey is, the universe characters live in becomes less and less coherent.

In the first seven seasons, human world and magic world existed in parallel without attempts to conquer each other. Incidentally, demons and sorcerers exploited human foibles but demons didn't want to rule human world. Either they were peaceful demons or we looked too unappealing to them.

Season 8 introduces Roden who is a powerful wizard, has global plans and wants to dominate humanity. So - the rules has changed. But the writers don't notice it. Or just don't care.

But - if Roden can teleport any person to any place, he rules the world by default. He can abduct world leaders. He can abduct wealthiest people in the world. Why on earth is he wasting his time on a bitchy slayer? Is he in love with her? Not likely. Is he using her to compromise the whole slayer movement? From a logical standpoint is seems to be the most likely option - but, again, what for? If Roden can teleport slayers anywhere he wants why not teleport Buffy (and other girls) into a blast-furnace?

One can argue that Rodin wanted to pander to Gigi and to give her the satisfaction of killing Buffy. But, again - why Roden needs Gigi at all? As a future head of his security service? Hardly: she's volatile and can't be controlled. And - does Roden need slayers to protect him? His magical barrier around the estate can be broken only by a very powerful magician, and slayers are powerless against magic.

Which brings another interesting point. In the first arc the axis of real power was between Willow and Amy. In this one the axis of real power is between Roden and Willow. It's magic that ultimately decides the outcome of this or that battle. It's magic that raises zomby army and neutralizes it. It's magic that abducts people and returns them. Buffy and other slayers are just puppets in the battle of wizards and witches.

Yet the show is still called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (although we only meet vampires in Buffy's erotic dream), not Willow the Good Witch. And this discrepancy slowly becomes more and more obvious. So far Willow-ex-machina is handled deftly enough, and if the reader doesn't dig too deep, it works. Just don't try to think about it too much.

Bits and pieces:

-- Gigi says she has paid a fortune for the surveillance tapes. Are these tapes from the castle of from the stores Buffy visits? Why would store surveillance tapes cost a fortune? Is there a traitor in the castle?

-- Before Roden interrupts her, Gigi says: "We can lead her brainwashed slayers... into the light of--" Of what? "Into the light of the Twilight?" Sounds so very wrong. Obviously Gigi was planning to say something else. Yet Roden was using the "guidebook" with Twilight symbols when he was teleporting Buffy.

-- Gigi talking about "just another filthy pedo" was quite disturbing. Was she raped?

-- Willow installs radar system in the castle. Then she talks about "non-inexpensive defences". But radar itself isn't "defences". I'm technically ignorant but I've got the impression that radar only warns about approaching dangerous objects. And, since Willow talks about "defences" does it mean they have missiles and other stuff?

-- Roden calls Buffy "the first of the last", when he reads his "guidebook". Interesting.

Comments

[goodbyebird]

I'm thinking it's very probable that she's got a spy somewhere in the castle. In the previous issue her walls were plastered with photos of Buffy, some of the taken at the castle I believe.

I'll agree with you on Roden though. Why he would need Gigi is beyond me. If he can teleport people from miles away, he could probably take care of Buffy himself.

And it's obvious to em too, it's Buffy that seems to be losing her foothold some here. Faith's desperately trying to do good, to make the right choices and fight the demons of her past, while the gang keeps using her for the dirty work and leaving her out in the cold. I hope this isn't the last we see of her though.

[sueworld2003.livejournal.com]

"Just don't try to think about it too much."

I think thats the motto for the whole damn series so far. *g*

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

In the first seven seasons, human world and magic world existed in parallel without attempts to conquer each other. Incidentally, demons and sorcerers exploited human foibles but demons didn't want to rule human world.

Um... isn't ruling the human world exactly what the Master wanted to do? With 'The Wish' there to show us what things would look like if he won? And Mayor Wilkins was a human sorceror who wanted to become the demonic ruler of humanity - much like Roden.


if Roden can teleport any person to any place, he rules the world by default.

I think that's a big assumption. So far, all we've seen him do is teleport one specific person to his own location. The wording of his spell - "Bring the first of the last to me" - implies that that's all he can do. In fact, since he's casting the spell at twilight and invoking the power of "the magic hour", it looks like he can only cast the spell at one precise moment, too...

I'm guessing that whatever evil magic ritual Roden is planning requires that Buffy (the source of the Slayer power, the first of the last) is killed by another Slayer. That's why he needs Gigi. (Or maybe the ritual will also work if you substitute Faith for Buffy?).


Buffy and other slayers are just puppets in the battle of wizards and witches.

It's a fine line; but I think both Buffy and Willow herself would reject that idea. Willow might have the raw power, but as a rule (Season 6 being the exception, of course) she respects Buffy's leadership and decision-making ability. It's the difference between a soldier carrying a big, powerful weapon, and his commanding officer armed with nothing but a map and a radio. Who's the most powerful?


Gigi talking about "just another filthy pedo" was quite disturbing. Was she raped?

She sounds a bit too blasé about it for it to be anything so extreme, but maybe a previous tutor did get a bit over-familiar. For that matter, I think Gigi's the sort of person to make up stories about a tutor she disliked making sexual advances to her, just to get him fired.


since Willow talks about "defences" does it mean they have missiles and other stuff?

In the previous issue she's discussing that very question with Dawn and Renee - she says that the radar can only warn them if there are bad guys approaching, and asks what they do to them once they arrive. Dawn, you'll notice, is casually ruthless; it's interesting that her sister gets asked the same question by Willow this issue, and is rather more ambivalent. It's obviously something that's bothering Willow a lot...

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

On the TV show Buffy killed humans, directly and indirectly, without consequences, when current story demanded it (The Pack, Revelations, Spiral). Then another story demanded "no killing humans" approach (Bad Girls, Dead Things) and Buffyverse moral twisted accordingly.
I think you’re creating inconsistencies unnecessarily by conflating different instances of humans being killed.

In The Pack Buffy throws the zookeeper into the hyena pit after he has been (by his own will) possessed by them ie. chosen not to be human rather as the mayor did when he turned himself into a giant snake. The first instance of the idea that using slayer powers to kill humans is bad appears in Ted although he turns out to be neither dead nor human when Buffy thinks she is she’s ready to accept the legal (as defined by humans) consequences. In Revelations she separates Mrs Post from the glove but it’s unclear that this action will necessarily leads to Post’s death rather than simply remove her source of power. As with the zookeeper it appears that Post has chosen to trade part of her humanity for power and dies by it as he did. In Spiral she kills the knights while under attack by them in self-defence, a defence that human law also accepts. She clearly believes that that killing Warren would be wrong, although whether that is because Warren having undergone no magical tranformation should be dealt with by human laws or because Willow killing him as an act of vengeance would be entering down a path that would destroy Willow is unclear. Also important however is that this comes up in the context of Buffy being asked to consider killing Warren as similar to slaying vampires.

I think the show’s philosophy is quite consistent that Buffy using her Slayer powers to kill humans is bad. Even if it occurs accidentally while patrolling as happened with Deputy Finch and Katrina/Jonathan it’s a very serious matter. However, humans who voluntarily undergo some form of magical transformation in exchange for power no longer seem to be protected by this ‘rule’ and if humans attack her while knowing who she is and what they might expect (as the knights did) she is entitled to fight back. The possibility of human soldiers attacking castle Slayer seems most like the latter situation and she hasn’t said she’s prepared to kill them or let the other Slayers do so in the course of defensive action. When she says she thinks they should fight that’s before Willow’s told her that she may not be able to heal all the wounded in the way she did in issue 4. That healing power was something that Buffy explicitly depended on during that action and once she realises that it won’t always be an option she becomes quite uncertain as to what they should do.

Demons didn't want to rule human world
Some demons didn’t but The Master, The First, Illyria and Wolfram and Hart (via the apocalypse) had ambitions to.

Roden who is a powerful wizard, has global plans and wants to dominate humanity.
All we know about Roden’s plans are what he’s told Gigi and as it seems unlikely that he’s told her the whole truth or indeed any of it we have no idea what his plans are yet.

If Roden can teleport any person to any place
We don’t know he can do that all we seen is that he knows a spell that can call Buffy as “the first of the last.”

It's magic that raises zomby army and neutralizes it. It's magic that abducts people and returns them.
So magic seems to cancel itself out as we saw when Warren used Willow’s strength against her – it’s basically a light show and not the determining factor in the battles we’ve seen so far. Buffy defeated Amy by figuring out her psychological weaknesses. Similarily, Roden’s main power seems to be to control a couple of stone demons that Faith killed with her brain.

[ntshpp.livejournal.com]

Привет.

Замечательно написано!

«Season 8 introduces Roden who is a powerful wizard, has global plans and wants to dominate humanity».

А мне показалось, что это была идея Gigi, а не Родена. Да и невозможно с 2000 slayers захватить даже Великобританию, не говоря обо всём мире. Стрелять они не умеют, магией не владеют, да, они сильны, но батальон десантников (с оружием) «сильнее».
ИМХО, вся эта идея захвата мира – сплошное надувательство Роденом недалекой Gigi. Если ж они хотели просто уничтожить организацию Баффи, начинать надо было с Уиллоу.

«But - if Roden can teleport any person to any place, he rules the world by default.»

Вот это очень верно замечено. Меня еще поразило то, как быстро Уиллоу поправилась после пыток Уоррена. Джосс перебарщивает с магией. Зачем нужны все эти слейерши, если Уиллоу сильнее, чем они все вместе взятые?

И вообще – если Gigi столько времени изучала Баффи, она обязана была знать кто такая Фейт и как она выглядит!

[elisi]

I think Roden needs Gigi as a leader to the Slayers, to take over after Buffy (The queen is dead, long live the queen) - and since *he* controls Gigi, that way he gets himself an army of superpowered beings (like what Maggie Walsh was aiming for in S4), and can thus take over the world. Yes abducting the world's leaders could be done, but having a superior force is far better - especially one as malleable and endlessly usable as a Slayer army. It's about power. The Slayers have it. (Magic is good, but also complicated, risky and takes a lot out of the magician.)

In the first seven seasons, human world and magic world existed in parallel without attempts to conquer each other.
Can I point out that roughly once every year, that was *exactly* what would happen? Beginning with 'The Harvest'...

[mrs-underhill.livejournal.com]

On the surface we have Faith as the ultimate loner, who's cut off the other slayers and their sisterhood. She's losing herself, losing the battle, losing the meaning of life. But if we look at the situation more closely, it's Buffy who's losing it.
Yes, that's how it comes across. Faith is more morally right here than our traditional good guys, and she, for the first time in her story, has a chance to make a stand *against* the "good guys" and show them the way, rather than follow good guys because she doesn't trust her own judgement.

Also I agree - the more they torture them, the more we love them. And it's very obvious whom BKV loves here. Seriously, it's the most compelling Faith I've seen so far, except maybe on Angel-4.

Gigi being raped - no, don't think so. That one would leave a mark. And with her upbringing she would be disgusted to no end with one of the "commoners" even touching her. I rather imagine teachers getting fired one after another after Gigi's enraged fits to her parents. And maybe a lot of that was in her imagination, too.

Roden: we know too little of him and his goals to draw any conclusions yet. And his powers could be limited to only summoning Buffy to the place where Gigi is, or, as was mentioned, maybe the magic he aimes for only works when a slayer kills the slayer who's the source of all other slayers powers. Or some such. With Joss & Co is better not to dig for technical details - he concentrates on characters impact from his world than on the world itself.

[caurielle.livejournal.com]

I haven't read anyone who has suggested that Gigi will not die. Gigi is very vulnerable right now and may be persuaded to take a look on the other side of Roden. Perhaps she has not seen another side to which she has not yet been exposed. If Roden is her only tutor, she may be intrigued by the notion that he has been misleading her. Perhaps she can be a fount of information to the Slayer organization.
Of course if that happens, she might also be used to infiltrate the Slayer Castle for Twilight's dusky purposes.
BTW, isn't the name "Dawn" also another term for "Twilight?"

[lilred26x.livejournal.com]

I enjoy reading everyone's thoughts on the comics. It really increases my enjoyment of them. Thanks for another entertaining and thought provoking review!