What do you think about the foiling between Giles and the Mayor?
Hi!
Thank you for this Buffy's ask <3 (I know it is you @hamliet :P)
So, for some context: I have just finished watching the series together with hamliet and I LOVED it! Can't wait to write some metas on it tbh. It has some of my favorite characters ever, after all.
Going back to your ask, is it okay if I write a post on Giles, in general? I will touch on Giles and the Mayor's foiling as I do so.
So, I like Giles's character a lot. I also think he works within the narrative only if you consider him a character who fails his arc.
Giles is similar to Buffy in the sense he has a duality to him. If Buffy is both a Girl and the Slayer, then Giles is both Buffy's Father Figure and Buffy's Watcher. Both are asked to balance these two sides of themselves. The difference is that Buffy succeeds and grows up, whereas Giles fails and stagnates.
To better make my point, let's discuss Giles's arc starting with a key episode of season 1: Nightmares. Its premise is that everyone's worst dreams come true. Well, this idea is used to set up all the major characters' arcs. Specifically, every character's worst fear ends up being at the very core of their stories. What is Giles's fear?
Giles's nightmare is that Buffy dies. It is pretty straightforward, but it actually has layers.
Firstly, it is a fear centered around the idea of "loss". Giles is afraid he is going to lose a person he cares for. Interestingly, this "nightmare" comes true the moment Jenny Calendar dies:
Giles: In my years as… Watcher… I've buried… too many people. But Jenny was the first I've loved.
Secondly, Giles's fear can be interpreted in two different ways.
Giles the Father is scared to lose a child he clearly adores ("you were so gifted")
Giles the Watcher is scared to fail his mission ("I failed my duty to protect you")
Let's explore these ideas by focusing on two major foils of Giles: his love interest Jenny Calendar and his Jungian Shadow the Mayor.
JENNY: THE LOST LENORE
Jenny is Giles's love interest, who gets killed early on in season 2. She challenges Giles both when it comes to the theme of "loss" and to his duality as a Parent (personal relationships) and Watcher (greater good).
On the one hand she is a person Giles loves deeply and that he loses as a consequence of the fight against evil he and Buffy are involved with. What is interesting is that Giles never truly falls in love with anyone else after Jenny. At one point he starts a casual relationship with Olivia, "an orgasm friend", but nothing truly comes from it. If anything, Giles's dream in Restless implies Giles is scared of forming lasting familial bonds with others:
(We see Olivia walking beside Giles, pushing a baby carriage. But there's no baby in it.) BUFFY: We're gonna miss all the good stuff. OLIVIA: Does she always want to train this badly? GILES: Well, it appears she's never heard the fable about patience. (Buffy pulls them through crowds of people. Carnival booths, colorful lights. OLIVIA: Which one is that? GILES: The, the one about the fox, and the, uh, less patient fox. BUFFY: (stops in front of a game booth) Here, I want to, I want to! (Jumping up and down) GILES: Yes, go ahead. BUFFY: (turns to the booth. There's a big coffin with a fake-looking vampire standing behind it.) VAMP: (bouncing) I am a vampire! (Buffy throws a yellow ball at it, misses by a mile.) GILES: (exasperated) Buffy, you have a sacred birthright to protect mankind. (Buffy turns to look at him, pouting) Don't stick out your elbow. (Olivia sighs) (Buffy looks chastised. She picks up another ball.) VAMP: (bouncing) I am a vampire! (Buffy throws, hits it right in the chest. It falls backward.) VAMP: Ahh, you staked me! (Buffy spins around, grinning with delight. Giles looks unimpressed.) GILES: I haven't got any treats. OLIVIA: For god's sake, Rupert, go easy on the girl. (Smiling) ... (We see Olivia sitting on a coffin next to the baby carriage, which is lying on its side. She's crying.)
In this dream scenario Giles, Olivia and Buffy clearly make up a little family of their own, but the sequence ends with Olivia crying alone on the grave of her and Giles's nonexistent child. So, this vision is a metaphorical representation of Giles's fear of loss that makes him avoid deep relationships.
On the other hand Jenny is Giles's mirror as she too has her own duality. Specifically, she is both a computer teacher and a member of the group who cursed Angel with a soul. Jenny the teacher grows attached to Giles and Buffy's group. Jenny the avenger keeps an eye on Angel, so that he never gets a moment of true happiness. To do so she lies to everyone, including Giles. Her lack of communication is among the factors which lead to Angel losing his soul and turning evil. As a result, the group gets angry at Jenny and cuts her off. This is Jenny trying to explain herself to Giles:
Jenny: (looks down at her desk) Rupert... I was raised by the people that Angel hurt the most. (looks up at Giles) My duty to them was the first thing I was ever taught. I didn't come here to hurt anyone, (looks away) a-and I lied to you because I thought it was the right thing to do. I... I didn't know what would happen. I didn't know I was gonna fall in love with you.
So, Jenny is like Giles. She genuinely falls for him, but she also has a greater mission to prioritize. So, despite her feelings, she chooses to hide things, which in turn leads to tragedy. She is caught between her mission and her loved ones. Eventually Jenny dies because she fails to reconcile her two halves in time.
Moreover, she and Giles are unable to immediately accept the other's darkest part:
Jenny grows distant from Giles after his "Ripper" persona gets revealed; if she hadn't maybe she could have told him about Angel's curse sooner
Giles avoids Jenny after the reveal of her mission to observe Angel; if he hadn't maybe he could have protected Jenny
So, Jenny is symbolic of a missed integration. Giles fails to accept her grayness in time, just like he still can't fully embrace his own. What is Giles's grayness? It starts coming out in season 3.
THE MAYOR: A GOOD FATHER
The Mayor is Giles's shadow, which means he represents a part of Giles he is hiding. Which part? Well, the one that comes out in the episode Helpless, where Giles drugs Buffy to force her into a dangerous and pointless rite of passage. As Buffy's Watcher, Giles is asked by the Watchers Council to take away her powers, so that Buffy has to fight a vampire with only her wits. This episode pits Giles the Father versus Giles the Watcher.
On the one hand Buffy sees Giles as a parental substitute:
Buffy: You know, it's not just cartoon characters. They do pieces from operas and ballets. Brian Boitano, doing Carmen, is a life changer. Oh, he doesn't actually play Carmen, but a lot of sophisticated people go. Giles: (absently) Yes, I think we should start with the grounding crystal again. He sets the largest blue crystal on the table in front of Buffy. Buffy: You know, it's usually something that families do together. He absently sets the box aside. Giles: Now, look very carefully for the tiny flaw at its core. Buffy: I-if someone were free, they'd take their daughters or their student... or their Slayer. (looks up at him hopefully) Giles: Hmm? Yes, but, Buffy, I think we should concentrate now.
On the other hand the Council insists Giles does his job as a Watcher:
Quentin: Cruciamentum is not easy... for Slayer or Watcher. But it's been done this way for a dozen centuries. Whenever a Slayer turns eighteen. It's a time-honored rite of passage. Giles: It's an archaic exercise in cruelty. To lock her in this... tomb... weakened, defenseless. (looks at the crate behind him) And to unleash *that* on her. He stares at the crate in the other room for a long moment before turning back to Quentin. Giles: If any one of the Council still had actual contact with a Slayer, they would see, but I'm the one in the thick of it. Quentin: Which is why you're not qualified to make this decision. You're too close. Giles: That's not true. Quentin: A Slayer is not just physical prowess. She must have cunning, imagination, a confidence derived from self-reliance. And believe me, once this is all over, your Buffy will be stronger for it. Giles: Or she'll be dead for it.
Giles is asked to choose and he eventually chooses to be a Father and to think of Buffy's wellbeing:
Giles: (angrily) He's k*lled Hobson and made Blair one of his own. Your perfectly controlled test seems to have spun rather impressively out of control, don't you think? Quentin turns and gives him a long look, then paces back the other way to the teapot. Quentin: It changes nothing. (lifts the lid from the teapot) Giles: Well, then, allow me. (leans on his desk) I've told Buffy everything. Quentin: (looks up from the teapot) That is in direct opposition to the Council's orders. (sets the lid back down) Giles: Yes. (crosses his arms) Interestingly, I don't give a rat's a*s about the Council's orders. There will be no test. Quentin: (pours a cup of tea) The test has already begun. Your Slayer entered the field of play about ten minutes ago. Giles: (stands up, surprised) Why? Quentin: I don't know. I returned there just as she entered. Giles grabs his keys from his desk and starts out of the office. Quentin tries to stop him. Quentin: Now Giles, we've no business... Giles grabs him by the coat and shoves him up against the doorframe. Giles: This is *not* business!
Still, he betrays her before coming to this realization:
Buffy: (sobbing angrily) You bastard. All this time, you saw what it was doing to me. All this time, and you didn't say a word! Giles: (faces her) I wanted to. Buffy: (sobs) Liar. Giles: In matters of tradition and protocol, I must answer to the Council. Buffy runs her hands through her hair in disbelief of her betrayal. Giles: My role in this... was very specific. I was to administer the injections and to direct you to the old boardinghouse on Prescott Lane. Buffy: (crying and shaking her head) I can't... I can't hear this. Giles: Buffy, please. Buffy: (looks him in the face) Who are you? (lowers her hands) How could you do this to me? Giles: I am deeply sorry, Buffy, (reaches out to her) and you have to understand... She backs away and warns him off with her hand. Buffy: (shaking with hatred) If you touch me, I'll kill you.
Not only that, but once Giles chooses to be a Father he discovers he can't be a Watcher anymore:
Giles: The test is done. We're finished. Quentin: Not quite. She passed. You didn't. (faces him) The Slayer is not the only one who must perform in this situation. I've recommended to the Council, and they've agreed, that you be relieved of your duties as Watcher immediately. You're fired. Giles: (taken aback) On what grounds? Quentin: Your affection for your charge has rendered you incapable of clear and impartial judgment. (Buffy looks at Giles) You have a father's love for the child, and that is useless to the cause. (Giles looks down). It would be best if you had no further contact with the Slayer.
Giles is told point blank in this episode he can't be both a Father and a Watcher. He must choose between the needs of Buffy as a person and what's best for the world. Personal relationships are in conflict with the greater good. This is Giles's major struggle as the series goes on. Does he do what he feels is right? Or what he thinks it must be done? Heart or mind?
Well, the Mayor as a villain embodies this tension.
Richard Wilking III is an amazing mayor. He is good at his job, passionate about the needs of his citizens and he genuinely likes and loves all the people he works with. He is also willing to sacrifice a bunch of kids to rise and become immortal. After all, he is the most powerful person in town and he uses this power for the good of the system. So, what's the problem if he gets more? What is one dead body or two, if society as a whole benefits from it? Hey, doesn't this remind you of anything?
Quentin: I understand that you're upset... Buffy: (with controlled fury) You understand *nothing*. You set that monster loose, and he came after my mother. Quentin: You think the test was unfair? Buffy: I think you better leave town before I get my strength back. Quentin: (evenly) We're not in the business of fair, Miss Summers, we're fighting a war. Giles: You're *waging* a war. She's fighting it. There is a difference.
The Mayor is symbolic of a society that makes use of the weakest and most frail people with the excuse of the "greater good". And yet, this society seems a lot like the one the Watchers created. The Watchers Council is a bunch of people who choose to watch as a child loses her sanity and life fighting monsters on her own. They share the same mentality the Mayor embodies. They are society. They are the Mayor.
This is true especially for Giles, who gets foiled directly with Richard Wilking III. After all, both men end up with a daughter they adore. Giles has Buffy, while the Mayor adopts Faith. Both genuinely love their found daughters, but their feelings get in the way of their respective missions. Giles's mission is for the greater good. The Mayor's mission is for the greater evil. What's interesting is that the difference between good and evil isn't as substantial. Sure, Giles wants to fight demons, while the Mayor wants to become a demon. And yet, both characters are asked the same question: "Will you lose your humanity and become a monster for a greater purpose?".
The Mayor gives us an answer in season 3:
Faith: "You want to know the deal? Human weakness - never goes away. Not even his." ... Angel: "Faith." Buffy : "Faith?" Angel: "At the hospital he was grieving. Seriously crazed, and not just in a homicidal I want to be a demon way. She is his weak link."
He chooses to ascend and to fuse with a demon, but even then he can't fully lose his humanity and dies because of it. He is defeated because he can't give up his love for Faith, who ended up in a coma as a consequence of the Mayor's "greater plans". The Mayor spends the whole season preparing a complicated ritual where a bunch of kids die only to lose the one kid he loved. And it destroys him.
So, the Mayor tells us that no matter how great the purpose is, a person can never stop being a person. Even if they think they can. This is true for Giles, as well. However, Giles doesn't see this and ironically the parts of himself that fail him are his most human and vulnerable ones. The ones he refuses to aknowledge. Like where his fear of losing Buffy truly comes from.
LOSING BUFFY
Giles is scared of losing Buffy, but the idea of "loss" is more complicated than simply Buffy dying. In fact, season 4 introduces another way Giles might actually lose Buffy:
Giles: I'm her Watcher. Spike: I think you're neglecting the past-tense there, Rupert. Besides, she barely listened to you when you were in charge. I've seen the way she treats you. Giles: Oh, yes? And how's that? Spike: Very much like a retired librarian.
Buffy might simply grow up and not need Giles as much anymore. Neither as a Father nor as a Watcher. Here lies Giles's complexity. He genuinely loves Buffy and truly wants to protect the world. However, there is some selfishness in these feelings because they are tied to Giles's own sense of self. He has organized his own life around Buffy, both as her Father and her Watcher. She is all that defines him, so the moment she starts becoming more independent Giles is left with nothing to do. He is left with being no-one.
Giles's reaction to this is contradictory and it is summed up in his only interaction with Maggie Walsh:
Giles: Oh, uh, I think it's best if-if. . . if we let a young person find their own strengths. If you lead a child by the hand then they'll never find their own footing. Walsh: And if it's true about hiking, ergo, it must be true about life. Giles: That's not, uh . . . I'm just saying Buffy is, uh, well she's not the typical student. Once you get to know her, she's a very unique girl. I hope you're not going to push her. Walsh: I think I do know her. And I have found her to be a unique woman. Walsh rounds to the front of her desk to sit in a chair facing him. Giles: "Woman." Of course. How wrong of me to choose my own words. Walsh: She's very self-reliant, very independent-- Giles: Exactly! Walsh: --which is not always a good thing. I think it can be unhealthy to take on adult roles too early. What I suspect I'm seeing is a reaction to the absence of a male role model.
Maggie is like the Mayor, as she is another (minor) shadow to Giles. Specifically, she foils him when it comes to their parenting styles:
Maggie insists you should always be there for your children to the point of controlling them
Giles argues you should let go of your children, so that they can become their own people
The twist is that a part of Giles feels the same way as Maggie. He too would want to always be there for Buffy and for Buffy to always look up at him as a wise mentor. However, this is not possible, which deep down upsets Giles. As a result of this struggle, we see Giles adopting these two contradictory styles of parenting in the following seasons:
Season 6 has him cut himself off from Buffy completely, so that she is forced to grow
Season 7 has him trying to enforce his own point of view on her, even through lying and manipulation
Neither approach is correct, but the point is that they are the result of a deeper conflict Giles is going through and can never truly solve. This inner struggle is conveyed metaphorically by Giles's dream sequence in Restless that I mentioned before. Restless is basically the thematic sequel of Nightmares. The latter sets up everyone's arc, whereas the former goes deeper and foreshadows their major flaws and how they are going to impact the narrative.
Here's Giles's dream sequence (with some cuts):
It is very complex and frankly it needs a meta of its own to be fully analyzed. For now, let's consider some of the major points.
A Watch For The Watcher
The first sequence is a call back to Helpless and Giles's hypnosis of Buffy. However, in the dream Buffy does not let herself be hypnotized. Moreover, Giles is using a watch and he tells Buffy men and women have been doing this since before the beginning of time. The watch comes back at the very end of the dream, when the first Slayer attacks Giles and he comments she never had a Watcher. So, the watch is symbolic of two things:
Time
Giles's role as a a Watcher (to watch)
Deep down Giles wants to keep the same dynamic with Buffy forever (this is the way men and women have been behaving since before the beginning of time). However, time passes and things have already changed (Buffy does not follow Giles's instructions and laughs). The watch is also symbolic of the Watchers Council and the Slayer/Watcher system as a whole. Men (Watchers) have always been using Women (Slayers) to fight their war. These two ideas come together in the final scene where Giles meets the very first Slayer and it is revealed she did not even have a Watcher. So, it is not true the Slayer/Watcher system is eternal and that it has been there before time. In fact, it turns out Slayers do not necessarily need Watchers. Just like Buffy does not necessarily need Giles.
A Father's Loss
The second sequence focuses on the ideas of family and loss. Giles, Olivia and Buffy are together at an amusement park. They form a family and Buffy behaves like a little girl. The scene is a metaphor for Giles and Buffy's familial relationship. Giles sees himself as Buffy's father who teaches her how to kill vampires and has to be stern, even if it upsets her. However, things change the moment Spike appears and leads Giles into his crypt. This place has two meanings:
It is a grave, so it foreshadows Buffy's death in season 5. That is why Olivia cries on the empty baby carriage. It is a hint Giles is going to lose Buffy physically, even if only temporarily.
It is the place where Buffy and Spike will spend much time together during their relationship in season 6. It foreshadows Buffy's romantic bond with Spike and how it will upset Giles ("I still think Buffy should have killed you"). It is a metaphor of Buffy growing up. She goes from the amusement park booths she visits with Giles to a "new attraction" (in the dream Spike has sold himself out as an attraction). It is a hint Giles is going to "lose" Buffy, like a father does a daughter when she grows up.
So, this whole sequence is about Giles and Buffy's separation, both physical and psychological. Fittingly, Buffy does not appear in Giles's dream anymore after this scene.
Giles's Own Gig
The final section of the dream is about Giles trying to redefine himself outside of his role as Watcher and Father. He goes meet Willow and Xander at the Bronze to help them research the enemy who is haunting their dreams. However, Giles tries to deflect responsibility:
WILLOW: Do you know this is your fault? GILES: We have to think of the facts, Willow. I'm very busy. I have a gig myself, you know.
He insists he has a gig of his own, which turns out it is him singing. This is both:
A call back to Giles's performance in Where the Wild Things Are. This performance was an attempt Giles did to re-invent himself outside of the kids.
Foreshadowing for the musical episode, where he makes the decision to leave Buffy "for her own good".
Both situations have Giles try to give up his role of Watcher. The first time he does so because Buffy is growing more independent. The second time he does so because Buffy is too dependent. However, Giles deep down fails both times. He is not able to truly re-invent himself as someone different than a Watcher in season 4. He can't fully step in the role of Father in season 6, but uses the excuse of his role as a Watcher to treat Buffy as the Slayer and not a kid who needs help.
The same happens in the dream. No matter that Giles says he has his own gig going on. Once this gig starts he can't help, but to still work on the case and give Willow and Xander instructions. In the end, Giles is unable to become anything different than Buffy's Watcher. This is why Giles's final word in the dream is "watcher" and he says it as he is squeezing the watch.
A BLIND WATCHER
Giles's arc is about reconciling his mission (the Watcher) with his personal feelings (the Father), but as the story goes on he keeps choosing the Watcher over the Father. This choice is symbolically highlighted in season 5 by two moments.
1- He refuses to step in as a father to both Buffy and Dawn after Joyce's death (not choosing personal relationships):
BUFFY: I just don't know what I'm gonna do. I mean, she's messing up ... I'm messing up ... it's a mess. GILES: You're just going to have to put your foot down with her. BUFFY: I try. It's just ... my foot's not used to being put down. I want you to do it. You can be the foot-putting-downer. GILES: No, Buffy, I don't think I can. BUFFY: Please? Pretty please? I mean, your foot is way bigger than mine! And you're so much more a grownup than me. Dawn needs an authority figure. A strong guiding hand. She'll listen to you. GILES: Just like you always have. BUFFY: I listen! Giles gives her a look. BUFFY: I do. GILES: Well, then perk up your ears. I may be a grownup, but you're her family. Her only real family now. She needs you to do this.
2- He kills Ben, even if he is not a threat anymore (choosing the mission):
GILES: Can you move? BEN: Need a ... a minute. She could've k*lled me. GILES: No she couldn't. Never. And sooner or later Glory will re-emerge, and ... make Buffy pay for that mercy. And the world with her. Buffy even knows that... (reaches into his pocket, takes out his glasses) and still she couldn't take a human life. Shot of Ben listening. GILES: She's a hero, you see. (Giles puts his glasses on) She's not like us. BEN: Us? Giles suddenly reaches down and puts his hand over Ben's nose and mouth, holding them shut. Ben struggles weakly as Giles keeps him still. Giles keeps his calm expression throughout.
And importantly it is from season 5 onward that he keeps trying to make Buffy grow as a Slayer rather than a person. Specifically he keeps pushing for her to become an adult, but he does so in deeply traumatic ways:
He asks Buffy to kill Dawn in season 5; Dawn is Buffy's inner child, so metaphorically Giles wants her to keep pushing forward and to accept adulthood. Still, to kill your inner child is a deeply traumatic way to grow and Buffy refuses to and kills herself.
He leaves Buffy when she is traumatized and lost in season 6. She clearly needs his help, but he decides it is better for the Slayer to be alone, so that she can grow stronger.
He insists that Buffy is ready to sacrifice everything and everyone in season 7. He even tries to kill Spike behind her back, so that she is forced to grow as a general.
Deep down, all these actions are rooted in Giles's desire for Buffy to grow up as a strong person. However, they are counterproductive because Giles tries to reduce his own relationship with Buffy to that of a Slayer and her Watcher. He does so to protect himself from the agonizing pain of seeing your daughter both suffer and grow into her own person. So, in a sense, Giles himself refuses to grow and to fully develop as a person. The mentor fails to become an adult. The Watcher fails to take a long look at his Slayer. He fails to face what he doesn't wanna see.
Fittingly, this idea comes out symbolically a couple of times:
Giles removes his glasses and begins to clean them. Buffy watches this with an expression of outrage. BUFFY: (shocked) Is that why you're always cleaning your glasses? So you don't have to see what we're doing? GILES: Tell no one. (puts glasses on)
Buffy realizes Giles has been taking his glasses away whenever he does not want to see things.
Willow: Oh, you care. Yeah. Everybody cares. Nobody wants to be inconvenienced. You all want me to take the time and go through the pain, as long as you don't have to hear about it anymore. Giles: No, that's not fair. Willow: Isn't it? ‘Cause I'm doing the best I can and it doesn't seem to be enough for you guys. Giles: And I see how you could feel that way, I do— Willow: No, you don't. You say that you do, but you don't see anything.
In Something Blue (which is all foreshadowing) Willow's magic makes Giles blind as she accuses him of not seeing anything.
So, Giles is a Watcher who fails to truly see both others and himself. He looks away from disturbing things, so he does not have to face them. This trait becomes key in season 6.
SEASON 6: RUNNING AWAY FROM THE SHADOW
Season 6 is the season of the shadow archetype. It is where everyone reaches their lowest point ever, so that they are forced to face their darkest selves and grow up. Well, everyone, but Giles, who simply runs away.
Giles's key choice in season 6 is to leave the group of kids when they need him the most. This is his reasoning explained both in song form:
GILES You're not ready for the world outside You keep pretending, but you just can't hide I know I said that I'd be standing by your side But I... Your path's unbeaten and it's all uphill And you can meet it, but you never will And I'm the reason that you're standing still But I... I wish I could say the right words to lead you through this land Wish I could play the father and take you by the hand Wish I could stay here But now I understand I'm standing in the way The cries around you, you don't hear at all 'Cuz you know I'm here to take that call So you just lie there when you should be standing tall But I... I wish I could lay your arms down And let you rest at last Wish I could slay your demons But now that time has passed Wish I could stay here, your stalwart, standing fast But I'm standing in the way I'm just standing in the way
And to Buffy directly:
GILES: You have to be strong. I'm, I'm trying to- BUFFY: (jumps up) Trying to, to what? (angrily) Desert me? Abandon me? Leave me all alone when I really need somebody? GILES: (quietly) I don't want to leave- BUFFY: So don't. Please don't. She goes to sit beside him. BUFFY: I can't do this without you. GILES: You can. That's why I'm going. As long as I stay you'll always turn to me if there's something comes up that you feel that you can't handle, and I'll step in because, because ... Because I can't bear to see you suffer. BUFFY: Me too. Hate suffering. Had about as much of it as I can take. GILES: Believe me, I'm loathe to cause you more, but this... Giles pauses. Buffy looks on the verge of tears. GILES: I've taught you all I can about being a slayer, and your mother taught you what you needed to know about life. (Buffy looks away, pouting) You ... you're not gonna trust that until you're forced to stand alone. BUFFY: But why now? Now that you know where I've been, what I'm going through? GILES: Now more than ever. The temptation to give up is gonna be overwhelming, and I can't let- BUFFY: So I won't! No giving up. You can be here, and I can still be strong. Beat. She stares at him anxiously. GILES: Buffy, I've thought this over ... and over. I believe it's the right thing to do. BUFFY: You're wrong.
Superficially, it seems Giles may make sense. However, there are two elements to notice:
Both times Giles highligths how he can't be or isn't Buffy's father. In "Standing" he mentions he would like to "play the father". In his conversation with Buffy he says he taught Buffy everything she needed to be a Slayer, whereas Joyce taught her everything about life. So, he never positions himself as Buffy's father, even if it is obvious Buffy sees him like this and is asking him to support her like a parent.
Giles takes his final choice to leave after he discovers Buffy is traumatized because she was in Heaven and Willow and the others brought her back. Similarly, the episode he departs is one where Willow uses magic to erase everyone's memories after promising she would not use magic for one week. This proves Willow's struggle with magic is worse than thought. Basically, Giles has it confirmed to him that his two daughters are both struggling psychologically in the worst way possible. However, instead of staying to help, he runs away with the excuse of making them stronger.
Basically, Giles runs away from the people he loves not to deal with their pain and darkest sides. However, by doing so he fails to face his own flaws.
That said, he can't escape this reckoning completely because season 6 forces him to come back and to face the shadow in the form of Dark Willow:
Dark Willow is the embodiment of the shadow, which is why she challenges everyone else with their worst fear and hidden truths. She does the same with Giles:
WILLOW: You're such a hypocrite. Waltzing in here with your borrowed magicks. So you can tell me what? Magic's bad? Behave? Be a good girl? Well, I ... I don't think you're in any position to be telling me what to do. Willow looks up. Pan up to reveal Giles pinned against the ceiling, groaning in pain. WILLOW: Do you? Willow gestures with one finger and Giles falls to the floor. He lands hard, on his stomach, and stays there making pained faces. He still has blood all over his face. WILLOW: I used to think you had all the answers. That I had so much to learn from you. GILES: Willow... She gestures again. Giles flies up to the ceiling again, groaning as he slams into it. WILLOW: You were jealous. Still are. Just couldn't bear that I was the one with power. That's why you ran away.
Willow points out Giles's hypocrisy and how he truly just ran away from both Willow and Buffy when they needed him the most. Finally, she highlights Giles's jealousy. Now, one could argue this is not particularly true when it comes to Willow and Giles's bond. Still, Willow is definitely on to something when it comes to Giles and Buffy's relationship. Giles has been struggling for years with his role in Buffy's life and has been unable to solve it. He just chooses to run away, not to face his inner contradictions. Dark Willow tries to call him out on it, but once again Giles turns a blind eye. This is why he does not conquer his demons in time and they take over in season 7.
SEASON 7: BECOMING THE SHADOW
By season 7 all the other major characters have faced their shadow and are in the process of integrating with it:
Buffy is integrating her darkest side through her relationship with Spike
Willow is slowly integrating Dark Willow and learning how to control her power
Spike is integrating his human and vampire selves, so that he can become a true person
The kids are all becoming adults. Not only that, but they are all surpassing Giles, because their mentor has not reconciled his repressed parts. So, those same parts take over in season 7, where Giles shows his worst traits.
Symbolically, he does so by becoming his two shadows: the Mayor and Maggie Walsh.
Like the Mayor, Giles decides to sacrifice his own humanity to the mission. Not only that, but he asks Buffy to do the same:
GILES: So, you really do understand the difficult decisions you'll have to make? That anyone of us is expendable in this war? BUFFY: Have you heard my speeches? GILES: That we cannot allow any threat that would jeopardize our chances at winning? BUFFY: Yes, I get it. GILES: And yet there is Spike.
Still, Giles never truly loses his humanity. If anything, his worst actions are motivated by his very human feelings:
GILES: Buffy, I want more for you. Your feelings for him are coloring your judgement. I can hear it in your voice. And that way lies a future filled with pain. I don't want that for you.
Giles justifies his conflict with Buffy over Spike by using the greater good as an excuse. Still, the true issue is that Giles does not want Buffy to be in a relationship with the vampire because he is scared she is going to be hurt. He even brings up Angel in his reasoning:
GILES: Spike's a liability, Buffy. He refuses to see it, and so do you. Angel left here because he realized how harmful your relationship with him was. Spike, on the other hand, lacks such self-awareness.
This happens because no matter how much Giles tries to negate his feelings, he does consider Buffy his daughter and struggles with seeing her grow into a different person. A person, who might not be his "little girl" anymore. So, he uses the mission to try and control the kind of adult Buffy will become. In short, he behaves like Maggie Walsh. In fact, he ends up doing to Buffy exactly what Walsh does to Riley.
Maggie Walsh tries to kill Buffy because she can't deal with Buffy and Riley's relationship and is scared the Slayer might ruin both her plans and her bond with her "favorite son". Giles tries to kill Spike because he can't deal with Buffy and Spike's relationship and is scared the vampire might ruin both his mission and who Buffy is as a person.
However, Giles can't control who Buffy is gonna be, which is why their relationship breaks in Lies My Parents Told Me. This episode is the inversion of Lie To Me, when it comes to Giles and Buffy.
In Lie To Me, Buffy is a child, who is at the beginning of her journey. She has just gotten a taste of complexity and of how hard life and people can be. Still, she is too young to truly deal with it, so she asks Giles to "lie to her":
BUFFY: Nothing's ever simple anymore. I'm constantly trying to work it out. Who to love or hate. Who to trust. It's just, like, the more I know, the more confused I get. GILES: I believe that's called growing up. BUFFY: I'd like to stop then, okay? GILES: I know the feeling. BUFFY: Does it ever get easy? GILES: You mean life? BUFFY: Yeah. Does it get easy? GILES: What do you want me to say? BUFFY: Lie to me. GILES: Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after. BUFFY: Liar.
Here, Giles is acting as a reassuring parental figure, who tells the kid everything is gonna end up well, just like in a fairy tale.
In Lies My Parents Told Me, Buffy is a young adult, who is close to the end of her journey. She is more mature and has dealt with the dark side of both others and herself multiple times. She does not need to be coddled anymore, which seems like the point of her and Giles's final training:
GILES: Um, Buffy, uh...while I'm not technically your Watcher anymore, the fact that your life is such chaos only underscores the importance of the lessons I can impart to you. BUFFY: Fine. Impart away. GILES: We're on the verge of w*r. It's time you looked at the big picture. BUFFY: Hello! All I do is look at the big picture. The other day, I gave an inspirational speech to the telephone repair man. GILES: It takes more than rousing speeches to lead, Buffy. If you're going to be a general, you need to be able to make difficult decisions regardless of cost. BUFFY: Have you seen me with those girls? I mean, the way I've treated my friends and my family and... Andrew. Believe me, I know how to make hard decisions.
Still, here Giles is still lying and, even if he is asking her to grow, he is really treating her as a kid, who is unable to make her own choices. However, Buffy really isn't and is able to see through Giles's lies:
BUFFY: Oh, my God. You're stalling me. You're keeping me away—
This episode marks Buffy growing into an adult as she establishes that she does not need Giles's guidance anymore:
GILES: Buffy...I—I understand your anger. Please believe me, we did what we— BUFFY: He's alive. Spike's alive. Wood failed. GILES: Well, that doesn't change anything. What I told you is still true. You need to learn— BUFFY: No, I think you've taught me everything I need to know.
Ironically, she does so by doing exactly what Giles asked her to do. He told her she should be ready to sacrifice anyone to be a good general. Well, by the end of the episode Buffy chooses the mission twice. On the one hand she makes it clear to Wood she won't tolerate personal fights and she will even let Spike kill him, if Wood were to try anything else. On the other hand she decides that the relationship she needs to cut for the mission isn't the one with Spike, but the one with Giles himself.
Buffy has already become the Slayer Giles wanted her to be, but deep down he isn't happy about it because this person does not need Giles anymore. Still, Giles fails to accept this truth and once again uses the greater mission to mask his selfish feelings. He and the others all lash out at Buffy in Empty Places and force her out of her own house.
Giles and the Scoobies justify themselves with the excuse they need a better leader, but this is not the root of the issue. Sure, Buffy made some mistakes and was not connecting properly with people. Still, none of them made the effort to try and connect with her in return. If anything, they vented their personal frustrations at her without trying to empathize with her feelings. They treated her poorly not as the Slayer, but as a person. Giles is the most prominent example of this, as he basically "leads the betrayal". Thankfully, Spikes arrives and immediately calls out everybody:
SPIKE: Oh, yeah. You all decided. You sad, sad, ungrateful traitors. Who do you think you are? WILLOW: We're her friends. We just want— SPIKE: Oh, that's ballsy of you. You're her friends, and you betray her like this?
Notice that the point of Spike's speech isn't the mission or Buffy's ability as a leader or whatnot. It is simply that they all were bad friends to her. They forgot to see her first and foremost as a person and not the Slayer. Then Spike zeroes on Giles in particular:
SPIKE: You know, I think I do... Rupert. You used to be the big man, didn't you? The teacher all full of wisdom. Now she's surpassed you, and you can't handle it.
Spike's words are remarkably similar to Dark Willow's ones. Giles isn't thinking about the greater good or the mission. He simply can't cope with being his own person outside of Buffy. Still, this is his personal problem and he should deal with it on his own, like he keeps saying adults do with their troubles.
CONCLUSION
Giles is the mentor archetype, who gets surpassed by the kids he initially guides and inspires. He fails to integrate his darkest parts (his shadow + Jenny in a romantic sense) and ends up controlled by them in the final season.
Unluckily we lack a proper resolution to his inner conflict because season 7 lacks an extra episode focused on the reconciliation between Buffy and the group. Still, Giles's final choice in the series suggests he has finally started to grow up:
GILES: It's a lot more than that. Buffy, what you said, it—it flies in the face of everything we've ever—every generation has ever done in the fight against evil. I think it's bloody brilliant. BUFFY: You mean that? GILES: If you want my opinion. BUFFY: I really do.
He chooses to support Buffy's plan to change the Slayer system once and for all. This might seem too little too late, but it is actually pretty important thematically. In the finale Buffy completely destroys and redesigns the system that has kept her a prisoner for 7 years, that same system built by Watchers (men) to trap Slayers (women). The system Giles has been an extension of since the beginning. For him to encourage Buffy to break this system is a sign of growth. It is a hint he is finally starting to let Buffy go and that he is slowly learning from his and the Watchers Council mistakes.
