Saving the World, and What it Costs

[deird_lj]

Rather randomly, it has occurred to me that, really, Buffy has a lot in common with the Ninth Doctor.


Or rather…

Buffy’s relationship with Dawn has a lot in common with Nine’s relationship with Rose.

Especially when we’re talking life-or-death situations.


The first time I watched the New!Who episodes, I thought the Doctor was pretty dumb, in some ways.
After all, the blonde girl might be cute and sassy, but when saving her life will mean inflicting a mass-murdering invincible psychotic robot on the world, you let the blonde girl die!

Aliens are about to nuke the entire planet? Forget about protecting the blonde girl, and just launch the alien-stopping missiles, already.

And, you know what? Being a pacifist is all well and good, but when your choices narrow down to killing off an army of psychotic robots or letting the psychotic robots kill everyone else, you should kill the robots, every single time.


(And yes, I am in fact aware that the Daleks aren’t really robots. Just go with it.)


But, when I rewatched the season, it all suddenly made much more sense.

Because it wasn’t that he couldn’t kill off a humungous army to save the universe. It was that he couldn’t do it again.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t lose Rose. It was that he’d already lost everything, and couldn’t bear to lose anyone else.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t destroy. It was that he couldn’t keep on destroying.


And, in a lot of ways, he’s a lot like Buffy.


Over the last few years, I’ve seen a number of discussions about the end of season 2, and also a whole bunch of completely unrelated discussions about the end of season 5. (Plus the occasional discussion comparing the two, which is what I’m doing here.)

And, you know, there are a couple of questions that keep coming up.

Firstly:
Should Buffy have killed Angel to save the world?
…to which my answer is always “yes”.

And then:
Should Buffy have killed Dawn to save the world?
…to which my answer is inevitably “no”.


Of course, it helps that in the second case we’re well aware that there’s a third alternative.
But at the start of the episode, Buffy didn’t know that. And she was still absolutely prepared to save Dawn at all costs, no matter what happened to everything else.


In season 2, Buffy is willing to kill someone she loves to save the world.
In season 5, Buffy is going to protect someone she loves, and screw over the world.

It could be a contradiction. It could be that Dawn, for some reason, is way way better than Angel, and Buffy likes her a lot more.

Or…
It could be that Buffy, in fact, is just like the Ninth Doctor.

(Which is what I think, if that wasn’t clear.)


I think that, in season 2, Buffy was perfectly willing to kill Angel to save the world, because, very obviously, it had to be done.
She was willing to do this thing that cost her more than anything else ever had (or would) because it needed to be done.

She didn’t think she’d need to do it twice.

And the idea of having to do it again, and over and over again, forever… it’s exhausting. And impossible. And she just CAN’T.


It’s not that Buffy can’t let someone she loves die. It’s that she can’t do it again.

And I think that’s actually remarkably consistent with season 2.

Comments

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

....huh.

Interesting. I never really thought of it that way - but it so works.


Although, the reason he keeps saving Rose is cause she's damn sexy. UHBUHDUH.

[deird1]

Heh. True. Very true.

(That reason probably wouldn't apply to Buffy saving Dawn... Sexy as Dawn undoubtably is...)

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

Well, sort of - Buffy saw her duty to the legions of people who would benefit from Dawn's sexiness surviving, even if for just a few minutes longer. After all, she is Buffy's sister, and Buffy does consider herself sexy, surely...:D

[deird1]

Hee!


(See my icon.)

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

*frowns and flounces off*


I think it makes sense.

:P

[aisalynn.livejournal.com]

Heh, I saw your topic before the cut and I was all "The Doctor and Buffy? Ooo.. Intrigued...."

You make total sense. They both had already sacrificed so much in order to save everything else, they just couldn't do it again. Plus, I imagine the first time, they did it because like you said, they knew it had to be done, but they probably didn't actually understand what it would cost them--until the deed was already done. After experiencing that, I don't think it is any wonder they wouldn't be able to go through that again.

[deird1]

Hooray! *is glad to be of the sense-making*

And yeah, I think knowing just how much it's going to affect you really wouldn't help.

[spuffyduds.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, good thinkiness here.

[deird1]

Why, thank you. :)

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

I always thought that. You mean other people don't? It just seems pretty obvious. (In fact the drabble I'm writing right now is exactly that.)

[deird1]

You are clearly very very smart. It had seriously never occurred to me. Not like that, anyway.

[debris4spike]

Mmm - good thinking!

I was not a fan of Dr 9, so find it hard to watch, but I like this comparison.

[deird1]

Why, thank you!

(I love Dr 9. He's what got me into Doctor Who.)

[debris4spike]

LOL - I'm old enough to have loved Dr #2 & 4!!

[clevermonikerr.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with this. Buffy (and the Doctor) had already given up way too much at this point.

[deird1]

They really had.

(And hurrah! Complete agreement! That's always fun.)

[rahirah]

That's how I've always seen it. (I think that's why she refuses to sacrifice Willow in S3, too.) And that's what saddens me about LMPT when Buffy tells Giles that if she had to do it again, she'd let Dawn die without hesitation. It's the 'right' decision. But I think it shows that somewhere along the line, she's made the decision that she has to be a Slayer first and foremost, 24/7, and everyone is expendable. Giles may not realize it there, but he really has won the war even if he's lost this battle - it just wasn't the right time to sacrifice Spike yet.

[deird1]

True. I'm not sure that Buffy's permanently changed her mind by then, though. I'd say it's more a temporary, I'm-really-stressed-and-leading-lots-of-people-who-are-doomed-to-die-horribly sort of reaction.

[next_to_normal]

Huh. I've always thought of Buffy that way, and used that exact theory to explain why she can kill Angel but not Dawn. Never thought to relate it to the Doctor, though. Probably because I don't have many thinky thoughts about Nine, because I didn't actually take Doctor Who seriously until somewhere in Ten's run.

[deird1]

How fascinating - I was the opposite. I'd always considered the Doctor that way, but never really related that to Buffy...

[lyr]

That's very interesting, and, I think, very astute. It's possible to nerve themselves up to make a horrible sacrifice once, but the second time, just no. Not again.