Dawn Summers anyone?

POSTED BY: HobanIWashburne
UPDATED: Monday, February 20, 2006 17:14
VIEWED: 9320
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VISITINGMYINTENTIONS

Monday, November 14, 2005 11:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by thiefjehat:
A lot of people are harsh on Dawn.

I never disliked her personally, but the arc that brought her into the picture was slightly flimsy and by season 5 the show had lost that great charm it had when Buffy was in high school.

I'm a Kennedy hater. Season 7 is a stupid ruined final season for reasons I've expounded about far to much on this site and cannot revisit for fear of working myself up again. But I never felt that Dawn ruined the show. I thought her inclusion was goofy in season 5, but by season 6 I had just accepted her and moved on.

I actually enjoyed the arc that brought her into the show quite a bit, even though Dawn can be annoying. I can understand why people were irritated at her inclusion, but she certainly didn't ruin anything.

I see you on the Kennedy bit. Most of that season I was pretty 'eh' on, but Kennedy...

What idiot decided to put her on the show, I'd like to know.
The only other thing in 7 that I had a strong reaction to was Caleb. Caleb was amazing, so when I first saw Firefly I thought "AAH! Crazy evil misogynist preacher!" It took me half the pilot to not be frightened by the sight of the captain. Nathan Fillion is very good.

"it has some sweet character deaths -- I mean moments!" - Joss Whedon

THESOMNAMBULIST

Tuesday, November 29, 2005 2:56 PM

Do you mind spoilers ? Because to inform you to any degree of understanding is going to spoil season 5 for you.

Thing is while many seemed to have taken a disliking to the Dawn character - she is used quite well for comedy sake, early on in the season, thereafter she's a product of placement, i.e. "What should Dawn be doing here????"

The
Somnambulist

www.cirqus.com

PARKER6097

Thursday, February 16, 2006 10:37 PM

Ok, well Dawn as you hopefully know is an incarnation of a mystical energy known as the key. The key of course has the power to break down the barriers between dimensions and let them spill into eachother.

The demon goddess Glory wanted to use the key to return to her dimension from which she had been banished by the other gods. So the monks protecting the key...whose name escapes me at the moment, wanted to protect it from glory, they felt it would be safest in the hands of the slayer. So in order to ensure the slayer would protect it with her life, they molded it into flesh, into a sister and mystically altered all memories to make is seems as though this sister, Dawn, had always been there.

So then season 5 happens, glory chases dawn, eventually catches her, uses her to open the barrier yadda yadda. Then buffy sacrifices herself to close the barrier. She's able to do this because the monks had to use her blood to forge the key into a human. So basically there's a little bit of dawn in buffy, and a little bit of buffy in dawn.

The fact that there's a little bit of buffy in dawn, is also the reason that when buffy sacrificed herself, there was not another slayer called. Because part of buffy was still alive.

Now the question is, what is Dawn now. Since in theory the key was only useable at one specific place at one specific time, why should the key exist anymore at all? Well according to the original script for the series finale, chosen, Dawn is still the key, and she apparantly still has some mystical abilities, unfortunately the story never went down that path so we are left to wonder what exactly Dawn's keyness really means anymore.

I think that about covers everything about her...feel free to ask me anymore questions, I'd be happy to offer my knowledge and/or opinions.

KWICKO

Thursday, February 16, 2006 10:53 PM

Quote:
The fact that there's a little bit of buffy in dawn, is also the reason that when buffy sacrificed herself, there was not another slayer called. Because part of buffy was still alive.

I never looked at it that way. I just assumed that Buffy sacrificing herself to save Dawn didn't call forth another slayer simply because Buffy had already died once and a new slayer had come forth at that time. Either scenario kind of fits, but yours makes more sense to me, in a poetic kind of way...

Thanks for the clarification!

A baby seal walks into a club...

JOSSISAGOD

Thursday, February 16, 2006 10:55 PM

I thought the reason another slayer wasn't called was that; when Buffy died the first time Kendra was called then Kendra dies and Faith is called. point being, when Kendra is called Buffy is no longer "The" slayer, then Kendra dies and Faith is "The" slayer, So when Faith dies another slayer will be born.

That's my opinion anyway,
JOSSISAGOD

PARKER6097

Friday, February 17, 2006 12:30 AM

that's what I thought too, but I'm pretty sure I heard joss say that somewhere, it may have been in the original "chosen" script

CYBERSNARK

Friday, February 17, 2006 4:20 PM

Also, the idea of the "Slayer Line" now culminating in Faith could be a good setup for Fray:

See, as I understand it, Slayers are called at 15. Not 16, not 14, 15 only. So, every year there's X-number of potentials. If none of them get Called before turning 16, the window closes and we look to the next crop.

Trouble is, Willow's spell didn't just hit 15-year-olds, it got everyone under-15 as well. From now on, the only people who'll be eligible to be Called by Slayer-death are newborns. It'll take at least 15 years for a new child to grow old enough to be Called normally.

Select to view spoiler:

If Faith (as the "reigning" Slayer) dies within the next 15 years (perhaps sacrificing herself to destroy all demons on Earth, as the Fray flashback suggests), no new Slayer will be called 'cause there are no potentials left.

No new Slayer for 200 years, until Melaka Fray gets called.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

KARBO

Saturday, February 18, 2006 1:50 PM

Seriously, wouldn"t "The Body" have suffered a great deal without her character in it? Also, the next ep when Dawn tries to retrieve the character? Wouldn't anyone at her age with everything available to pull it off try to do the same thing? I have only watched every episode once and I started when she entered college. Therefore, I enjoyed the later seasons more than most people. I feel that they blew the part with all the slayers(including Kennedy) but it is still better than most of what has been offered on tv since it went off the air.

CHESS

Monday, February 20, 2006 10:29 AM

I really cared about Dawn, she was compleatly isolated from the group wanting to do more but couldn't. The frustration was awful for her especially when it finally came to a head when she made her wish.

Dawn is really mature, she understands things, maybe because she is so isolated from the group, she sees them from the outside.

XENOPROBE

Monday, February 20, 2006 5:02 PM

The dish on Dawn

Is she whiney? Sometimes... but so are young teens who, in some ways, are even younger than their age would dictate. Imagine being the younger sis of a Slayer- she gets sheltered and coddled and is more fearful than she really need be. (There are, of course, exceptions to the rule).

Is she smart? Hell yeah... Dawn has a certain Willow-like quality in that she is brainy and funny and a bit geeky too. She is a tad on the fringe of the high school experience, much like her older sibling and friends.

Is she a screamer? Yup... dawn's got pipes and can use them- especially when the sitch is dire and the Slayer is needed, stat.

I liked her addition to the show and, seeing as you have not seen season 5 yet, I will attepmt to explain around her arc.

Joss wanted a sister for Buffy. In fact, her arrival was crypticallyhinted at many seasons before her actual appearance. Originally they saught a 9 yr-old type, someone who would be more reliant on Buffy and Co. But Michelle Trachtenburg lobbied hard for her audition and got the part. The show's producers admitted that Dawn's first year on the show was hard, in that they had her 'play younger' than her age, to support the arc. In later seasons, we see Dawn really flower and become a strong-willed young woman with complex issues that really showcase her humanity and range.

I know many poo-pooed Dawn's addition to the show but I loved it. I am the biggest of Buffy fans and her arrival had a similar effect on me as she did on the characters she interracts with on the show... I really started to forget that she hadn't been there all along!

She has a 'grounding' effect, in my opinion. I really hope you can get your hands on the later seasons so you can see it all for yourself. After that, we can yak yak yak all we like about the younger Miss Summers.

For those who did not like Dawn, I have this to say... I trust Joss. It's as simple as that. I trust what he does and how he does it and if Dawn weren't the right choice for Buffy, Joss would not have introduced her.

'Nuff said... hope it helped!

~*~*~*~*~

Ching-wah TSAO duh liou mahng. Shiny.

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