Hey as a fellow lover of all things Tara Maclay, I was wondering if you also thought she was a stronger witch than the show made her out to be, maybe even stronger than Willow. Soda machine wouldn't have moved without her, when running from the " Superstar" demon under Jonathan's spell, she shot magic out her hands as a distraction and got away, Willow definitely grew as a witch only after meeting Tara. I don't see why Willow is always the strongest witch?
Oh, I love this question!Let me see. I definitely think the show backtracked on what they had shown us about Tara in season 4. I mean, Willow literally says she is a very powerful witch. And let’s not forget that Tara is the first to realize it’s not Buffy in Buffy’s body at the Bronze, even if she had never met Ms. Summers before. That shows that Tara is definitely very good at reading auras, which is unfortunately forgotten for the rest of the show. And if I’m being completely honest with you, I think they kind of missed huge opportunities with Tara, and that a few things just don’t make sense. Like, she had studied magic with her mom from an early age, right? And she is all about kindness and respect. So it seems a little weird to me that she would never have discussed balance and connections with Willow. It seems to me that it would have made much more sense if they had made Tara guide Willow through the basics of magic, since she seemed to be really good at the theoretical and empathetic part. So yes, I do think they underused and downplayed Tara’s knowledge and talents. She was indeed a skilled witch who knew a lot about magic and could have been shown doing a lot more. But when we think raw power, I do believe Willow is stronger. She just had a lot ot potential and energy. Actually, by the end of the show, Willow seems to me like the most powerful character of all. Stronger than Buffy, for example. In the end, I’d say Willow and Tara are both really powerful, but that they have different kinds of power. Together, though? Wow, what a team. And it’s still how it is in my head, anyway :P