I adore Giles - I really do. I can see part of what you're saying. He left, and in his mind (as usually happens to all of us) the people he left behind stayed the way they were when he left. Also - and I don't think this is given enough weight - he had to be in mourning for some of the people who died in the explosion as well as all of the knowledge destroyed.
Then he was met by people who were radically different than the ones he left. Spike and Buffy now had a healthy relationship - Xander and Anya did not. Willow he had kept close to, Tara was dead. So, at the same time he was tellin Buffy to lead, he was also trying to direct her, in essence trying to usurp the very power he was insisting that she take.
I don't know who appeared to Giles as the First but I suspect it had to be Jenny - which would have brought back all the fears of Buffy sleeping with a vampire. Or even getting close to one. Powerful - but if Spike could withstand the torture he went through, well Giles is smart enough to know when he is being used. Wood had less experience in the area, and he wouldn't have had the chance to go after Spike if Giles wasn't part of that scheme.
Part of the issue was the fact that Spike was now the first person Buffy went to for advice, for comfort and to watch her back. The more Giles fixated on Spike being THE PROBLEM, the more he was unable to assess the realities around him.
I thnk that Buffy valued Spike because he valued her ability as the Slayer. Whatever Buffy said was right, and whatever the First said was the opposite of what should be done. He was willing to trust her absolutely and follow her with no equivication. Given the stresses she was dealing with, that attitude had to be an oasis.
And I think Spike was right - the First had created enough tension that the others couldn't even see the real problem. She had surpassed Giles, and no matter how much he tried to wind her back, to become what he once was to her, he couldn't do it. The more adament and critical he became, the more she pushed him away. Killing Spike seemed like a way to get his primary position back - and he had never liked Spike so he didn't see it as much of a loss personally.
Overall we agree, I think. But even after his murder plan was thwarted, Giles was still arrogant enough to believe that he was the one who should be in charge with Buffy carrying out his plans or at least consulting him every step of the way. But Buffy had changed - ironically enough in the very ways he had wanted her to change when he left her.
The fact that he was no longer willing to trust her or follow her was part of the whole mutiny that put Faith in power. I don't think it was a coincedence that the blow up came when Spike had been sent away. I think that subconciouly Giles had seen an opportunity to get a slayer willing to value his advice, to lean on him, and to do what he wanted.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-02-09 03:37 am (UTC)Then he was met by people who were radically different than the ones he left. Spike and Buffy now had a healthy relationship - Xander and Anya did not. Willow he had kept close to, Tara was dead. So, at the same time he was tellin Buffy to lead, he was also trying to direct her, in essence trying to usurp the very power he was insisting that she take.
I don't know who appeared to Giles as the First but I suspect it had to be Jenny - which would have brought back all the fears of Buffy sleeping with a vampire. Or even getting close to one. Powerful - but if Spike could withstand the torture he went through, well Giles is smart enough to know when he is being used. Wood had less experience in the area, and he wouldn't have had the chance to go after Spike if Giles wasn't part of that scheme.
Part of the issue was the fact that Spike was now the first person Buffy went to for advice, for comfort and to watch her back. The more Giles fixated on Spike being THE PROBLEM, the more he was unable to assess the realities around him.
I thnk that Buffy valued Spike because he valued her ability as the Slayer. Whatever Buffy said was right, and whatever the First said was the opposite of what should be done. He was willing to trust her absolutely and follow her with no equivication. Given the stresses she was dealing with, that attitude had to be an oasis.
And I think Spike was right - the First had created enough tension that the others couldn't even see the real problem. She had surpassed Giles, and no matter how much he tried to wind her back, to become what he once was to her, he couldn't do it. The more adament and critical he became, the more she pushed him away. Killing Spike seemed like a way to get his primary position back - and he had never liked Spike so he didn't see it as much of a loss personally.
Overall we agree, I think. But even after his murder plan was thwarted, Giles was still arrogant enough to believe that he was the one who should be in charge with Buffy carrying out his plans or at least consulting him every step of the way. But Buffy had changed - ironically enough in the very ways he had wanted her to change when he left her.
The fact that he was no longer willing to trust her or follow her was part of the whole mutiny that put Faith in power. I don't think it was a coincedence that the blow up came when Spike had been sent away. I think that subconciouly Giles had seen an opportunity to get a slayer willing to value his advice, to lean on him, and to do what he wanted.