It makes the announcements more palatable.
Sort of like Giles as Exposition Guy. Which means Hurley's more a plot convenience than a character. I mean...I'm not dying to know his backstory. In fact I'm pretty sure his life up until the crash was stock boy at Wal-Mart and getting stoned with his buds and watching Scooby Doo and Kevin Smith movies.
I mean Herald, as Ms. Goodin has layed it out.
I mean Herald, as Ms. Goodin has layed it out.
BtVS really conforms to the archetypes. Herald would be Buffy's first Watcher. Giles as mentor. Faith as shadow. Spike as Trickster.
Herald would be Buffy's first Watcher
Only if you assume Buffy to have accepted her calling in the movie and not during season one of BtVS. In season one, we had a very reluctant Slayer. She didn't really accept her calling until the final episode. I'd be more likely to consider Angel or Giles as the Herald. Or, the Prophecy, actually. It was Buffy's compliance with it, that finally made her realize she could not fight her destiny. She could change it, but she couldn't fight it.
Only if you assume Buffy to have accepted her calling
The herald provides a pointer to the challenge. Refusal of the call is always a huge element in epics.
The willingness of the hero to deny the challenge is almost part of the definition of herald.
Take
Fray,
for example. Nut case Watcher shows up and sets himself on fire. Herald action at its finest. Fray is all "Dude, what a nutcase." Then the challenges come, just as the nutcase has described.
In fact I'm pretty sure his life up until the crash was stock boy at Wal-Mart and getting stoned with his buds and watching Scooby Doo and Kevin Smith movies.
Maybe the writers will surprise you.
My info bar tells me I'm 70% closer to getting Kate's story (thanks for the link, Daniel). Very exciting.
Maybe the writers will surprise you.
Hurley is a dot.com zillionaire cruising the world in first class. He neglects to admit that his father
owned
the Santa Monica Pier, from which he once fished.
The herald provides a pointer to the challenge
Hmm. Then I think Hec and I are both right. Because Merrick pointed Buffy towards slayerdom and she refused at first, so he's definitely a Herald. I'm thinking, though, that we don't need to be limited to one Herald. There are a number of stages to the hero's journey and each one could conceivably be "heralded" by a major change in the hero's path. New challenges arise, another herald points the hero towards it. Which gives me pause. I sure as hell hope Hurley is not going to be the only Herald. It could get a bit boring.
a dot.com zillionaire
I said "surprise you" not make you want to hurl (objects at the TV or your dinner. Whichever).
We're at 72% now. Woo!
I sure as hell hope Hurley is not going to be the only Herald. It could get a bit boring.
This is the danger of deconstruction. I will still laugh, when Hurley comes up with some Hurley-ism in future episodes.
t begins to threadsuck for the Kate-ometer.
eta: Grr. Where is the Kate-ometer? I need to do better than JenP, because I am competitive, in that way.