It's only this season that we have, rather out of the blue, the suggestion that there was a selection process on the part of the Watchers or anyone else human.

I missed this -- when did it get said?

It's only this season that we have, rather out of the blue, the suggestion that there was a selection process on the part of the Watchers or anyone else human.

Where did we have that suggestion, this season?

It's only this season that we have, rather out of the blue, the suggestion that there was a selection process on the part of the Watchers or anyone else human.

Huh - I didn't get that at all. I thought the watchers found potentials and trained them IN CASE they were called, but they didn't know one way or the other. And I don't remember anything this season that contradicted that.

Hmm... now that you mention it, I felt like it was being at least strongly implied, but I don't have a specific quote to point to. I'll have to do some script research this evening.

(I kinda hope I'm wrong, actually, because it really did bug me.)

I think my favorite insane LJ-ism so far is the person who claimed that Giles saying "Watch your elbow" in "Restless" was representative of the Watchers attempting to control Slayers (check), a male attempt to control female power (check), and therefore rhetorically equivalent to someone telling a girl not to wear a low-cut blouse because it invited abuse (lost me).

Nah - he was telling her not to throw like a girl (which shows he still retained vestiges of the bias inherent in the CoW, but I don't want to get all preachy, so I'll shut up).

No - I never got the feeling that anyone selected the slayers. My read is:

Way back a two part spell was cast.

Part1) - tapped into the power of dark magic to given superpowers to certain girls to fight vampires other demons.

Part 2) limited that power to 1 girl at a time - otherwise every girl with those characteristics would have gotten the power.

My feeling is that part of the selection process for part I was that they would tend to use that power for fighting demons - that most of them would not use it selfishly. Because of the whole "free will" deal there was not guarantee - but that they loaded the dice that way as much as possilbe.

And so when Willow the White got involved - she either just cast part I, but not part II, or since the actual word "recast" was use, recast Part I while repealing part II. (Part I was still Black magic though - so her becoming Willow the White is an argument for her simply repealing part II.)

And I realize that this has absolutely nothing to do with Cindy's point, which is quite correct. It is just a side-note her post sparked that interests me.

That's all right, Gar. My point killed the thread. Besides, I think it's likely that your theory is right.

sj, good point about the core four. don't forget about giles, too. he was the first to lose a love.

"Watch your elbow" in "Restless".... and therefore rhetorically equivalent to someone telling a girl not to wear a low-cut blouse because it invited abuse (lost me).

Left elbow. Well known erogenous zone.

er... or just well known in my circles, perhaps!?

edited 'cause... errogenous zone? whole other thing :)