Was Giles right to leave?

[Beck]

Mantioned in another thread I thought it warranted its own discussion.

Should Giles have left Sunnydale? Was it only his timing that sucked, or was it necessary? Things certainly fell apart once he left, but remembering Giles was not their parent, and wasn't even Buffy's watcher anymore. I believe his intentions were good, though he should have checked on the group more often. Had he gone to visit even once, he would have seen what was going on especially with Willow. Buffy I think did end up stronger and a better slayer after Giles left, but only after reaching a massive low. Willow on the other hand could have used Giles guidence, and he saw how bad she was when she threatened him after bringing Buffy back.

[Glenn]

I was very shocked Gils left, not so much the Buffy thing but more the Willow thing. He too was once embroiled in a slight magic addiction and should have seen that Willow was going the same way. Giles got very lucky when it came to Buffy. He left and her life turned to absolute shit, if Buffy didnt show some deep inner strength then it could have proven to be a terrible decision.

[Nico]

I was also shocked he left, His heart was in the right Place, but I dont understand why he rarely got in contact with them, at such a crucial time, I love Giles, and I hate finding fault in him , he took a chance i'm not sure he thought it threw, although he was going to leave earlier, I remember a conversation he had with Willow and then buffy unknowingly changed his mind, (I think on buffy vs dracula?) .

It was definetly interesting, they were used to having Giles there all the time, to run to when they needed help, and suddenly he was gone and they were in charge of there own lives. I think he overlooked Willows addiction, or maybe he felt she would have the guidance that she needed from her friends and tara.

[Allan]

I think he made the wrong decision.

His intentions were good, and he did what he thought was best for Buffy. He thought that for her to stand on her own two feet and be the Slayer she needed to be, he needed to leave.

Personally, I think the "right" decision to make at the time would have been to stay in Sunnydale, but not be there so much for Buffy. Be there if she REALLY needed him, but not for everything.

That said, it's a tough call. They did have a father/daughter type relationship (and he even took it as far as having sex with Joyce - "Three times? On the hood of a police car?" ), and Buffy knows how to push his buttons. That could have been much of the reason he left, because he knew he couldn't watch Buffy and not get involved - he loves her too much.

[Nico]

I very much agree with your last point Allan, I remember this quote

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 ... (pause, sighs) Because I can't bear to see you suffer.

He decided to Force her to stand on her own two feet, It shows incredible Conidence he had in Buffy, she had just admitted she was pulled out of heaven by the people she loves, Somehere slayers arent supposed to go, somewhere she probably wont be able to get back to, Giles said the urge to give up now is ging to be over whelming and although she pulled erself back up she fell.

[Kana]

Absolutely agree with Allan and Nico. Giles couldn't stay and watch Buffy suffer. It might have been better for Buffy if he stayed but didn't help her so much and found that balance but I understand completely, he made the decision mostly with his heart bless him.

[Allan]

That's it in one.

And it wasn't an easy decision for him to make. For better or worse, it was tough love.

[shred]

He was right to leave - I can understand his reasons - but he chose the wrong time to leave.

After hearing about Buffy's after death experience, he should have stayed and helped her through it. Maybe help her find some answers. I believe that if he did, a lot of the things that happened after he left wouldn't have happened at all. One example would be Buffy sleeping with Spike.

I understand why Giles would leave. He was right in saying that Buffy should learn to depend on herself and not so much on Giles. He should have left after season 6, after he has helped Buffy sort her problems out. Buffy needed a father figure at that point of time and I don't see how she's going to get that with Giles leaving.

[Allan]

But I think that was Giles' motivation - let Buffy stand on her own, rather than rely on a father figure.

[Laura]

I was also surprised when Giles left so suddenly. He seemed to push Buffy away a lot (i,e. in season 4, season 6, and season 7). He was trying to make her stronger, but that hurt her along the way. I don't think he should have left, especially when Buffy came back from the dead and Willow was having trouble with magic. If anyone could have helped those two, it would have been Giles. Perhaps it was something they just had to go through:

Do you think Joss removed Giles to have the characters go through it without a father figure or someone to really stop them? Giles also leaving hurt the gang, as they seemed to grow apart in season 6.

[Lizzie]

bringonthenight said:

Do you think Joss removed Giles to have the characters go through it without a father figure or someone to really stop them? Giles also leaving hurt the gang, as they seemed to grow apart in season 6.

Maybe...I always thought Tony just wanted to go back to England.

[Allan]

hellie said:

bringonthenight said:

Do you think Joss removed Giles to have the characters go through it without a father figure or someone to really stop them? Giles also leaving hurt the gang, as they seemed to grow apart in season 6.

Maybe...I always thought Tony just wanted to go back to England.

Yeah, that's the story. He wanted to move back to England, but came back fairly regularly for Joss.

The Giles/Willow scenes in "Lessons" were actually filmed at Tony's place in England.

[Laura]

I figured it had something to do with the actor lol. However, he seemed to try to seclude himself from Buffy's life before. Perhaps it was partially the reason then...?

[Glenn]

It was poor timing. He had just confronted Willow for her magic abuse and then he goes. Plus, most fathers dont leave the country to help you learnto cope on your own

[Laura]

nopowerintheverse said:

It was poor timing. He had just confronted Willow for her magic abuse and then he goes. Plus, most fathers dont leave the country to help you learnto cope on your own

I was refearring to when he secluded himself in season 4 and again partially in season 7. I understand most fathers don't leave to teach you something, but kids move away? Someone leaves, and Buffy couldn't leave, so it had to be Giles. However, I was actually refearring to that being Joss' plans (disregarding the fact that Tony himself left the show for a while) .

[Glenn]

I was responding to the question of the thread really.

And the part about moving away was in response to this.

batmite79 said:

But I think that was Giles' motivation - let Buffy stand on her own, rather than rely on a father figure.

[Laura]

Oh, so you really weren't talking to me lol.

Well, I'll respond anyway . I agree with Allan. Sometimes you need to let someone learn themselves, instead of always teaching them.

[Ameer]

I think, in the long run, it was a good thing that Giles left. In my opinion, it was the right decision to make but I don't think that he should have left when he did. Buffy had just come back from heaven, and was completely disoriented from her experience there. I wish Giles had stuck around for a little longer than he did so that he could make sure that Buffy was settled and getting used to her life.

Like I said, I'm glad that he did leave when he did because in the long run, Buffy became stronger after hitting an incredibly low point in her life and learned how to survive on her own. However, I do wish that he hadn't left right then.