( continues...) one or the other. I particularly love his killing of Ben.

Another meaningful moment, that still brings me to tears, is the moment in which Tara's mind has been restored, and she and Willow are reunited. I am still touched by Spike's monster-man discussion with Buffy, too. Finally, some of the initial impact of Buffy's death, and the Scoobies' reaction to it has, of course, worn off over time and multiple viewings, but it is still a perfect story for me--a story I completely believe. By the time I saw Buffy's headstone last night, I was comfortably convinced that I will never be completely over BtVS, no matter what.

That's what I'm telling myself as we move towards season six and seven, anyhow.

I particularly love his killing of Ben.

"She's not like us...."

I'm not likely to rewatch anytime soon, and it's been years - why did Glory allow Ben to be killed? I can't remember if there was a reason that she couldn't manifest then.

It seemed as if all the hits she'd been taking sapped her strength enough that she couldn't maintain dominance over their shared form.

Throughout The Gift (and maybe Weight of the World, they've kind of run together), Glory was having a harder and harder time manifesting and holding onto control of the entity that is Glory/Ben. Remember their argument in the alley (when Ben was initially trying to help Dawn escape, and then in the end was bought off by Glory by her promises of immortality)?

From my read on season five this time, when she was first imprisoned in Ben, it doesn't seem that she could immediately manifest--it was something she "learned" over time. By the end of season 5, she figures out that the thing that keeps her going for the hurt rather than the "kill" with Buffy and the Scoobies is that she's tainted by Ben's humanity. And by the end, he is remembering what she does, and she's remembering what he does, and can feel his feelings.

Now, in The Gift, one of the first things that happens to Glory when the Scoobies go to fight her, is that Willow takes back Tara's essence or whatever. Glory is dazed by this--says she needs to eat a brain, and feels a hole. She's really kind of out of it. Then Buffy beats her silly with the *jazz hands jazz hands* Trollgod hammer. Xander-the-glorified-bricklayer gets a spare (hits her with the wrecking ball) and Buffy beats her even sillier. It is then that Ben morphs. My guess is, Ben and Glory both gambled (well) that Buffy wouldn't/couldn't kill Ben. They didn't figure Giles into their calculations. And Ben, in that last manifestation appears physically beaten up, even though Buffy only pummeled Glory. The Glory/Ben entity was probably just too weak, and Giles was too fast.

And Ben, in that last manifestation appears physically beaten up,

Yeah, I think the implication there was that Glory had been hurt bad enough that it affected both her and Ben.

And Ben, in that last manifestation appears physically beaten up, even though Buffy only pummeled Glory.

I remember this, but I didn't understand

My guess is, Ben and Glory both gambled (well) that Buffy wouldn't/couldn't kill Ben.

at the time. I could kinda see that.

I do wonder why Ben was a refuge for a physically pummelled Glory.

I do wonder why Ben was a refuge for a physically pummelled Glory.

In general though, I think it was an act of will and skill on Glory's part, to be able to manifest at all. The Glory/Ben entity's natural state over most of the 25 years Ben was alive, was Glory imprisoned inside, with Ben being the primary physical manifestation, and retaining no memory of her actions/feelings/etc.

Glory probably wasn't strong enough to stay out, between the beating and the hole caused by Willow restoring Tara's mind. She probably also had little reason to. Why would she want to be on front line receiving end of Buffy's beating. By the time she and Ben processed what Giles was doing to Ben, I don't find it hard to accept she couldn't manifest. And maybe Ben even prevented her from doing so.

And maybe Ben even prevented her from doing so.

I remember arguing this point with my DH. I thought that Ben indicated with his acceptance of what Giles was doing that he was helping to hold Glory back.

And I hadn't looked at it this way - I'd totally forgotten about Tara's brain (because never a big Tara fan, and I can't really buy that giving up one little snack will ruin your whole life (and now someone replies that Tara's brain wasn't a little snack because, hello, witch! and I'm nesting parentheses so backing out) so I didn't see that as crucial). And I thought Glory was peaking with her ability to get out of Ben at will.

Basically, if I'm a god, and there's a team of mortals physically pummelling me with godlike amounts of damage, I'm not going to think hiding in a mortal is such a good idea. That's a big gamble to take that not only will Buffy not kill Ben, but no one else there (including a pissed off witch and a vampire) kill him...I mean, jeez, he could've been hit in the head with a brick and killed accidentally.

But if she got yanked back in because she'd taken too much damage, that I can buy. And hey, maybe Ben was yanking too.

All I know is that Ben looked a LOT like a guy I used to date, and I really wished I'd had Giles around to take care of that.

I don't think it was necessarily that Tara was such a big "snack" compared to Glory's other victims. I think it was that Willow reaching in and yanking back her mental energy/coherence/flobotnum was like puncturing a big unstable balloon. Glory seemed to have a big problem with incoherence in her debut episode—that brain-sucking people mitigated—and I get the impression she'd never been on the receiving end of the treatment before.