The law?

[Nico]

I was wondering who you guys would say is "the law" the slayer or the watchers/watchers council. (If you had to choose)

Thinking when buffy was first called, would she have survived without Giles input? .

Slayers have the power, what would the watchers council be without them?

[Deleted]

When Buffy was first called would she have been able to survive without the help of her Watcher? I don't think so. But, ultimately, I think it's the Slayer who has the power to decide how things are going to turn out. We saw Buffy (and Giles) turn her back on the Council a couple times throughout the series and I think in the end it worked out for the greater good. The Watchers may have the knowledge - and they derive from the ones who gave the First Slayer her demon essence - but the Slayer is in no other way tied to them. Regardless of what they might like to think.

[Allan]

I would say that the Watchers Council liked to consider themselves the law. And most of the time, they probably were. But we saw Buffy buck the system enough, and show that she was right. When she later put Quentin Travers in his place, I think that's when she established that once and for all, the Slayer is the law.

[Paul]

i think the watchers council liked to think that they were the law, they seemed to police the slayers even if the slayer had went rouge, like when they sent the squad after faith

[Allan]

It's things like that situation that had me thinking how cool something further exploring the inner workings of the Watchers Council would be. Something that looks more in depth at their history and hierarchy.

[Beck]

Buffy wouldn't have survived without her first watcher, and she wouldn't have survived without Giles. The watchers council were old fashioned, and as Giles has pointed out had hardly anything to do with the actual slayers personally. The actual watchers themselves are shown to get much closer to their slayers and genuinely care about them - Wood was even raised by Nikki's watcher after her death. Even Wesley grew softer when spending time in the danger, and with the slayers. Most slayers don't live as long as Buffy - she outgrew the need for their help, she grew into a woman capable of fighting without their aid. But she still had help, Giles was still there with the councils knowledge and books, to help. We all saw her struggle without Giles guidence in season 6, would it have been worse without Giles earlier? I think so. He was STILL functioning as her watcher, and she did need him.

[Allan]

Interesting points, Beck, but I consider the Slayers' Watchers as separate from the council in many ways. Getting a Slayer seems to put things in perspective for them, and it's something that, as a whole, the Council just doesn't seem to get.

[Beck]

Erm I already said that the council doesn't deal with slayers personally and are old fashioned But they are the ones who train the watchers who do, give them the knowledge and skills to be able to train their slayer, so without the council there would have been no watchers.

[Allan]

Oh, I agree that without the Council, there'd be no Watchers. I just mean that the Council itself is very driven by it's own set of rules and ethics, and doesn't seem to take emotion into the mix. To me, they seem to fail to account for the bond between a slayer and Watcher. Every time.

[Nico]

I always seen Buffy as more of a vigilante than 'the law', of course it came with the job, alot of the things she done, (like she had xander break into an army base to steal a rocket launcher) .

[Allan]

I think it's a "law" that exists outside the confines of regular society and law. I mean, if you could charge demons with crimes, then killing them would definitely constitute vigilante "justice".

[Forsaken]

I think it was briefly mentioned or touched on but when I think of the watchers/councils impact on the slayer I think of the resources that they bring to the slayer. Without them she couldn't do nearly as much good. Of course without the slayer they'd rarely accomplish any good so...the slayer is the law but the watchers are the hand that points the weapon.