[keyofjetwolf]

MY HEART GILES CAN YOU FUCKING NOT IT’S ONLY FIVE MINUTES IN

So here’s a big honking spoiler coming for this episode if you haven’t seen it yet, oops. So the “Prophecy Girl” of the episode is Buffy, and that prophecy is that she is about to die. That’s what Giles uncovered in his research just before the earthquake.

This moment, the next day when Buffy’s walking into the library, is the first time we’ve seen Giles since he finally figured out the prophecy the night before. We see him completely disheveled – for Giles. Tie loose, collar crooked, vest unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up. Even his hair is a mess, and it’s possible he’s got some stubble going on. It’s clear that Giles has been right here in the library all fucking night.

Buffy questions the structural stability of the library with all the damage. Giles has basically no idea what she’s talking about. It’s a lovely little bit of quiet side commentary on how he would in a heartbeat give up his life for Buffy right now if it would bring him answers.

Here’s the part that really kills though. When Giles realizes Buffy’s there, it’s all in the way he says her name. It’s soft and cherished. It’s disbelieving. How could she be there right now, in front of him?

YOU GUYS IN GILES’ MIND BUFFY IS ALREADY DEAD

He believes in that prophecy. He knows it will come true. He knows there is nothing he can do about it. He KNOWS, and yet still here he is, looking for ANYTHING AT ALL that will make it not true. Giles is fooling himself and has been since the second he learned what the damned thing said.

Just in the way he says her name, we know how far beyond a mere Watcher he’s gone. The Slayer is an instrument, Travers will later tell Buffy. Giles would tell him right now how wrong he is. (And probably punch him, but yeah.) Buffy is Buffy first and will always be Buffy first. It may have taken Giles a little while to get there, but never doubt that he has.

[tinsnip]

My! Kind! Of! Content!