Dawn!
quote:
Originally posted by Squishy:
It’s up for debate as to whether Dawn could become a slayer, there’s still a chance she could.
About as much chance as Giles being revealed as being Jack the Ripper, I’ll give you that much. [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
quote[quote]Buffy when in L.A had no idea who she was or what powers she had, she was probably taught by Merik on how to develop her powers, he must have brought her powers forward, otherwise she would have been tossing 5 year old boys around like rag dolls when she was 3!!![/quote]
That’s essentially what I said. All Slayers are *born* with their powers, but have to be trained on how to use them and bring them forward.
quote[quote]It’s seems that there would have to be many slayers just waiting to be told there destiny, and each one in turn is told of this when the previous slayer dies, it could well be that they continue their lives oblivious to their potential as a slayer, while the current slayer lives a long while.[/quote]
No, because Kendra was in training to become a Slayer from the time she was old enough to walk. She was taken from her parents by the Council as a youth. This is while there had to have been a Slayer in action. Like I said, if they waited until the active Slayer died to inform anyone of their destiny, they’d have huge freakin’ chunks of time floating about wherein any demonic influence could come along and cause the end of the world. Buffy’s situation was an *exception* to the normal progression of Slayers. Buffy isn’t supposed to have contact with the outside world. Buffy was supposed to have been in training all her life. She was simply found too late, and had to go into it blindly. That’s part of the point of the whole show, at least at the beginning, and the source of all the friction between her and Giles.
quote[quote]Buffy is unique in that she by rights is no longer the true slayer as laid down in watcher lore, and that her life as a slayer seems to have gone beyond that of an average slayer.[/quote]
No, the council still recognizes Buffy as a true Slayer. They’ve just found themselves in the unprecedented position where there are 2 Slayers active at once.
quote[quote]Dawn could not have protected herself as she would have had no idea of her abilities, the key was obviously a one time hit, and she is now 100% human.[/quote]
Why would the monks create someone with latent Slayer abilities, and not let her have any idea about them? What good would that have possibly done? If she has *any* abilities beyond picking up some kick-ass moves from her sister, they’re only going to be exploited from her supernatural origins (Willow, in the last or second-to-last episode seemed to suggest that she could be able to reduce Dawn to her status as a key), but aren’t going to be Slayer-related. Unless, of course, as you say, she’s 100 percent human, and then she’s on the same level as Xander.
quote[quote]But the slayer thing might not happen until their 16th birthday, which I think Dawn is approaching, I couldn’t seeing it being a family gene, but as we don’t precisely know how a slayer is determined we couldn’t say as to whether the idea of Dawn becoming one is really that ridiculous after all.[/quote]
Yeah, we can say. The idea is ridiculous. If Slayer status was passed along family lines, then Buffy’s family would have had a lot of stuff going on, and it would have probably been a bit of information leaked to her from a relative, instead of from some member of the Council. There would have been a lot of people snatched away from their parents in the Summers family. But anyway, we know this: Kendra is not related to Buffy. Faith is not related to Buffy. We know how Kendra’s selection and training went, and we know that she and her Watcher were sticklers for the rules and procedures laid down by the Council, so we can rightfully deduce that Kendra’s experience was typical. Slayers are taken from their families at a very young age, and essentially raised under the tutelage of their Watchers. As both Kendra and Faith were completely prepared at the time of their succession into activity, we can assume that several Slayers-in-waiting are in reserve and prepared to take over in the case of the active Slayer’s death. With all the contact Dawn has had with Giles, and the exposure via osmosis to the Council, it makes no sense at all that they’d suddenly pop in and say “hey, you’re a Slayer now.” Plus, the fact that she’s a creation instead of an actual human being, and has been shown to be extremely vulnerable because of this (you know, attracting demons that want to cause dimensions to break down and the like, and being unable to actually *do anything* about them) makes her an exceptionally unlikely candidate for Slayerhood.
quote[quote]It’s a bit of a contradiction with how slayers come about, if they are the only one then when they die it should take until the next one to be born to become a new slayer, but that’s unlikely as the world would have no protection until the slayer is of an age that she can fight. So it’s got to be that there would be many girls who are slayers and know of it and are just awaiting their turn, like I’m sure Kendra mentioned that she was taken at an early age, so I guess slayers can pop up anyhwhere.[/quote]
THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN SAYING!
There are multiple Slayers-in-waiting. Kendra was one. Faith was one. They’re awaiting their turn to take over as active Slayer, and there is only one active Slayer. There’s no contradiction there. The Council is small and secretive, and can only devote their time and attention to one Slayer at a time, and is unable to handle an entire army. Therefore, active Slayers are used in the most critical areas of demonic activity, while the Slayers-in-waiting ready themselves for the inevitable. By the way, hasn’t it been said before that Buffy has survived the longest out of all the Slayers? This would indicate that Slayers are Slayers from an early age, and don’t just start doing what they’re doing at age 16. The Council, being a deliberate and very careful bunch, knows better than to just take some 16-year-old girl, tell her she’s a Vampire Slayer, and just let her loose. That’s why the Buffy scenario is so unique: that’s precisely what they *had* to do, and that’s what creates that palpable frustration in the first season as Giles tries to get Buffy to stay in line. It ain’t supposed to work this way, but it has to. But you can bet that the Council wouldn’t do it like this *again*.
–Aleck