Jenny and Giles were only a couple for a total of sixteen episodes and still managed to have two awkward and emotionally devastating break-ups (even if the writers couldnât quite explain why one of them was happening). And there were still one hundred and fifteen episodes left of the series to go when Jenny died! So simple arithmetic tells us that if Jenny had survived up to Chosen, we could have watched that happen at least fourteen more times.
Teenage Ripper and Janna do not get on at all, but this does not stop them awkwardly having sex on top of a police car. Theyâre both so embarrassed about it afterwards that they donât talk to each other for a month.
Jenny breaks up with Giles for the second time this season when she finds out about his role in the Cruciamentum. Buffyâs attempt to persuade her that it was all fine really and she doesnât have any hard feelings about it and that Giles is still the best father figure sheâs ever had is, funnily enough, not quite as helpful as she thinks. (They get back together in The Zeppo but we donât get to see how it happens, only that Xander walks in at a very awkward moment and leaves in a hurry.)
Jenny has not exchanged more than two sentences with Faith all season (because sheâs somehow worked out that Faith thinks sheâs cool and doesnât want to shatter her illusions), which is why itâs only after Faith defects to the Mayor that she realizes Giles had let one of the Slayers heâd agreed to look after live out of a motel for half a year. They break up again.
Buffy and Angel break up for the last time in The Prom and the writers decide it would be a good thematic parallel to have Jenny and Giles break up again too. They canât think of a good in-universe reason for this to happen, given that theyâve only just gotten back together again, but figure that: hey, that never stopped them before.
Jenny breaks up with Giles five minutes into their Thanksgiving meal and walks right out of the house. It takes him a few months to work out why.
Giles breaks up with Jenny when she helps Ethan escape being captured by the US military. Sheâs outraged by this because itâs both obviously the right thing to do and something that she thought Giles himself was trying to signal her to do all episode.
Giles breaks up with Jenny again during The Yoko Factor. This does not have anything to do with Spike, who has been moderately terrified of Jenny all season ever since she threatened to give him a soul, but just something Giles does out of habit whenever heâs unduly stressed.
While discussing how the monks changed everyoneâs memories to fit Dawn in, Jenny and Giles remember an argument about books and computers theyâd had back in Season 1. They both remember it very slightly differently and end up relitigating it all episode, eventually culminating in a fully-fledged row in which they both say things they canât take back. (This memory wasnât changed by the monks at all and doesnât have anything to do with Dawn anyway.)
Technically Jenny and Giles co-own the magic shop, but somehow Anya still ends up doing all the work. Sometimes Anya offers them helpful relationship advice: this usually ends up with her being temporarily fired.
Jenny is a little bit too enthusiastic about agreeing to teach Dawn magic. When Giles warns her that Dawn might try to use her newfound magical knowledge to bring her recently dead mother back Jenny rolls her eyes and says yes, obviously, thatâs the whole point. This doesnât go well.
If Jenny finds out about Giles killing Ben she would not even think about breaking up with him over it, but rather view it as an entirely reasonable and pragmatic thing to do and something that Ben definitely had coming. That doesnât stop Giles somehow talking himself into breaking up with Jenny so that she can never find out his terrible dark secret.
Yeah, thereâs no way Jennyâs voluntarily going to England (or that sheâs on board with what Giles is proposing to do to Buffy). Guess what she does instead.
Not technically a break-up, but at some point after Xander and Anyaâs wedding, Jenny lets slip that sheâs been married to Giles since sometime in Season 3 and they never got around to divorcing at any point since. The idea simply didnât occur to them. They just didnât tell anyone about the marriage because they didnât want to make a big scene. (Theyâre still not speaking at this point.)
For some reason Jenny decides to prove that Giles is the First by punching him in the jaw as hard as she can. Itâs the first time sheâs seen him in over a year. When he regains consciousness she preemptively breaks up with him out of embarrassment even though technically they werenât dating at this point.
Jenny fully agrees with and supports Robin Woodâs plan to take revenge on the vampire that killed a beloved family member, even if said vampire now has a soul, but breaks up with Giles about it anyway because he refuses to accept how hypocritical heâs being about the whole thing.Â
Everyone else is hooking up and tentatively rebuilding emotional connections ahead of the big apocalyptic final battle, but Giles and Jenny are mature adults, not silly fickle young people. They have another big argument and spend the rest of the episode refusing to speak to each other. Like grown-ups. Â
(Also Jenny saves Anyaâs life in the final fight against the First Evil. This doesnât have anything to do with her relationship with Giles, itâs just important to mention that Anya survives the episode. Also Tara and Cordelia are there too and theyâre both doing fine. Why wouldnât they be?)
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