commentary: Musty Old Books and Summer Nights

[deird1]

One day I’m going to finish moving all my fic over here – and then I’m going to start reposting all my fic commentaries.

In the meantime, snickfic has specially asked for a commentary of Musty Old Books and Summer Nights, which I am more than happy to provide.

(The original fic still looks like it did, and my notes are the bits in blockquotes.)


Musty Old Books and Summer Nights

…you will stand and fight, and then you will die, and the one they call Master will rise and claim his kingdom…

Prophecy number one. All the bits in italics are directly out of the Pergamum Codex.

This bit is referring to the events of Prophecy Girl.

Giles spends his summer lost in a book.

“Lost” being the operative word.

So, Giles gets this book. Which is filled with entirely accurate prophecies concerning the Slayer. Whom he is supposed to be guiding.

…and then he never ever refers to it again.

Ever wonder why?

…‘ware! ‘ware! the day of plans and plots, spells and battles. For you are looking the wrong way, and She Who Sees will come and slit your throat. The awakening draws nearer…

This is referring to Becoming. Specifically, to Drusilla killing Kendra. (And the “awakening” of Acathla.)

His desk is set up neatly - with a notepad, a selection of pens, a few of the more significant texts he might need to check, cards for cross-referencing, a cup of tea close to hand…

…and in pride of place, the Codex.

Everything ready and waiting for him to read through the later pages, and find out exactly what Buffy can expect over the next few years.


…will turn and face the darkness, and let it claim you.
O unhappy day, when…

Faith, in season 3.

I decided to write the Codex in second person, because it sounds bizarre. Putting it in any other form wouldn’t work as well for something I’m deliberately trying to make obscure.

It’s odd, though.

There are prophecies concerning different Slayers throughout history. The 15th century, the 16th, the 17th, and so on…

Then there are two paragraphs concerning Buffy - ending with her death at the Master’s hands.

And then it moves on.

Here’s my theory:
- Buffy is The Slayer.
- Then she dies, so Kendra is The Slayer.
- The fact that Buffy is still alive and has Slayerish powers is simply an anomaly.
- Then, Kendra dies, and Faith is The Slayer.
- Buffy? Still just an anomaly.
- Then, Buffy dies again. And that’s where it gets interesting…

…your Twin comes to kill you.
Two cannot exist as one…

Faith’s “twin” (Buffy) is coming to kill her, in Graduation Day. (There’s also a slight nod to later events, there.)

Buffy is alive and well and visiting her father, but the Codex seems to think that she’s dead and gone.

(Because she should be.)

After confidently predicting her demise, it continues to confidently predict the calling of the next Slayer, and the Slayer after that.

Interestingly, Giles only gets two more Slayers into the book. So he never finds out what’s going to happen next…

Two short paragraphs. Just two.

It’s as if Buffy didn’t survive at all.


…the world turns, the days pass, and yet you sleep, with nothing but your dark dreams to…

Faith is in a coma. Obviously.

He’s always been told that the Codex is correct in every particular - but it’s clearly not as accurate as it claims.

Oh, but it is.

Giles isn’t sure what to make of it.


…burns, and yet you will stay in chains. For you cannot trust yourself. And the world is better without your rage, your violence…

Faith in prison. The reference to “burning” was about Apocalyse Nowish, with fire falling from the sky – which Faith didn’t consider sufficient reason to break out of jail. After all, she was a murderer. Way better to stay out of it.

In the end, he puts it aside.

The notepad goes back in its drawer, the pens are packed away, the tea is drunk.

The Codex ends up at the back of his bookcase, behind the books on 12th century potion-making. And Giles tries not to think about it anymore. It’s too unsettling.

Hence it not being referred to again during the show. Which is a pity, because he missed the next bit.

…the witch. Your line will divide, and you will be two.
You will be guardian and captive, awake and asleep, teacher and martyr, one and the other.
And long-held plans will come to…

Willow resurrects “the warrior of the people”, and suddenly there are two Official Slayers, and the prophecy doesn’t know which one to talk about. (Buffy is “guardian” of the Hellmouth, Faith is “captive” in prison; Buffy is “awake” and fighting, Faith is “asleep” and waiting; Buffy is “teacher” to Potentials, Faith is “martyr” to re-capturing Angel at the (probable) cost of her life.

The “long held plans” are the First’s – I agree with stormwreath that it was the two of them co-existing in the same position that allowed the First to start wiping out the Slayer line.

And after all - when it comes right down to it, predicting the future isn’t nearly as impressive as it’s cracked up to be.




I hope you found this interesting!

Comments

[velvetwhip]

I think it's very interesting reading your take on your work. I am never able to dissect my own work that way.


Gabrielle

[deird1]

Glad you liked reading this!

[snickfic]

Very interesting! I don't think I'd caught all the significance of Willow resurrecting the Warrior of the People. I think I don't understand (in the context of the show, not just in your fic) why Buffy coming back the second time is so much more earth-shaking than coming back the first time. I mean, yes, it's a much more spectacular recovery, but I would have thought for this sort of thing that dead was dead, regardless of whether you'd actually decomposed or not.

Thank you so much for the commentary. :)

[deird1]

I think I don't understand (in the context of the show, not just in your fic) why Buffy coming back the second time is so much more earth-shaking than coming back the first time.

For that, I refer you to stormwreath's meta. Particularly this bit:

Eventually, the forces protecting the binding spell on the Slayer Spirit became disrupted by the event long ago foreseen by the Guardians: the mystical resurrection and calling back from Heaven of a dead Slayer. As long as she was [still] alive, the binding spell was overloaded and so vulnerable to being broken. However, this posed a huge risk to humanity. If there were no living Potentials at the moment the binding was broken and the actual Slayer was then killed, the Slayer Spirit would be completely released. No more Slayers would be called, ever.

(What would have happened in the hypothetical situation that there were no Potentials alive at the death of a Slayer before Buffy's resurrection? Presumably, the Slayer Spirit would have waited around, caught by the binding spell, until a potential-Potential hit puberty, then immediately empowered her as the Slayer. I'm assuming that it took The First a vast expenditure of Its power to even attempt to kill all the Potentials at once, especially since new ones are constantly being born. This Whack-a-Mole game was worthwhile for It in season 7 because if It ever once managed to get rid of all of the Potentials for even a single moment - then kill Faith and Buffy - there'd be no more Slayer ever. Before the binding spell was broken, it would have had to keep on killing the new-born Potentials forever; and It lacked the strength to maintain Itself and the army of Bringers It would need for such a huge task on a permanent basis.)

The general idea being that Willow hasn't just resurrected her friend; she's resurrected the Slayer. While there already is a Slayer...

[snickfic]

Hmm. I will have to think about that some more.

[lutamira]

Very cool story and interesting commentary too! I love stories like this that fill in blanks in canon. (Why the heck didn't we hear any more about the Pergamum Codex is an excellent question.) Thanks for posting!