The Dark Age

Eureka! I know why this episode follows "Lie To Me." It's the counterpoint, the answer, to Giles' closing speech--where he tells Buffy (at her request), that life is very simple, the men stalwart and true, good & evil easily identified, etc. He is the wise one, but in doing what Buffy wants--what they both know isn't true--he is still the mage, the Merlin. Ironically, Buffy scoffingly but fondly says "liar," as they walk out of the frame and the credits roll. We know she's right; life isn't black & white, and Giles is lying about the big picture. But the lies he tells there are only the shiny white snow covered tip--and they don't really count because we do see them.

However, "The Dark Age" reveals a Giles whose entire idenity is called into question. Ethan shows up again, and places everyone in danger. That's what he does. No big. But one snitch of dialogue is crucial: Ethan says something along the line of "They (the kids) have no idea who you are, do they? They believe the tweed covered librarian act. They don't have a clue.." And Giles is terse and powerful, making big, strong, definative movements. Ethan calls Giles "Ripper," a symbolic name--especially for a Briton. And Ethan seems to honestly believe that Giles can kill him, will kill him. Ethan, who's known Giles longer than anyone thus far, sees a morally ambigous person capable of unremorsedly killing.

Hmmmm....and Buffy and Willow and Xander see a harmless Dewey Decimal disciple, a font of wisdom and teaching who can handle weapons maybe, but....not the front line unless an obscure language needs translated.

We know Giles can kill--or we will know it, in season 5 when he barehandedly kills Ben after Buffy doesn't. Buffy claims to get confused when things get ethically complex. To a large extent, that's her modus operandi throughout the series. For all the whining and emotional hermit-y stuff she does at various times, her resolutions tend to be simplistic. At first glance, Giles is the barometer for what is good. So far, he is stalwart and true, and the Scoobies count on that. He's choosing that, though--having apparently walked through the fire earlier in his life. Until season 7 when he supports Robin's attempt to kill Spike, Giles consistently chooses good--I think. I'm going to have to watch for that. (Well, and Band Candy...but what's a little B&E?)

While I'm thinking about it: is it possible that Willow wants things black and white, but can't manuvor that; she is essentially gray, living in the moral ambiguities, with the goofy naive reactions as her default? That with the exception of his feelings about Spike, Xander ultimately is the stalwart and true one? And that Spike, who wants to see the world as black & white as Buffy, really understands the gray and sees what the others are---I know, I'm not there yet. And Cordelia, she almost unerringly speaks the truth, not sugar coating; she knows black & white in the deeper ethical sense, but her reality checks are undercut by her overt superficially.

I think there are some undercurrents about what manhood is, but I've gotten sidetracked with other topics this time. But sometime, I should think about what Giles and Ethan are modeling about manhood. Later, though.