Kennedy & Her Mystical Death

[VampSlayer]

So, I can't help but wonder more about this. What was the point of Kennedy dying a 'mystical death'? And then Willow resurrecting her? I think this situation needs to be explained a little bit more.

Thoughts?

[Jaz ♀♀]

Agreed!

In the season 8 #40 thread, there was talk about Willow having her own spin-off series during Buffy s9, maybe then it will finally cover Kennedy's mystical death. It would be really lame to toss that story arc away.

[dragonweaver]

At this point Kennedy's supposed mystical death seems to be nothing more than a throw away line. It hasn't been explained or expanded on since Willow mentioned it in the first arc, and I have serious doubts that we will get much of a back story on that in Season 8.

I guess there is always time to re-visit it either in Season 9 or perhaps another one-shot, but at this point it feels like they just completely dropped the ball. It's disappointing to think that Joss would write in such a major event, especially considering Willow's past, and not use it in some way.

I hope I'm wrong.

[wenxina]

I think the throwaway line about Kennedy's mystical death was less an important plot point, as some people think, and rather just Joss' way of ribbing fans of the "I hate Kennedy" fanclub.
I mean, there were probably premature celebrations right as Willow mentioned that Kennedy had died, only for kittens to be drowned in frustration when the next bit is Willow hurriedly explaining that Kennedy only bit it for a short sec.

[VampSlayer]

... Wouldn't Willow have needed an Urn of Osiris to bring Kennedy back? And it's broken?

[wenxina]

Resurrections spells are aplenty in the Buffyverse. Some reanimate the dead as zombies, others bring them back whole. Then there's also the funky case of Darla being brought back from literal dust. And Spike coming back all incorporeal.

I think the Urn of Osiris was just one way to resurrect the dead... it's clearly been established before that it's not the only way.

[AndrewCrossett]

The only rules seem to be:

1. No coming back from a non-mystical death to full human life. (See: "Villains") (Getting vamped and/or staked seems to count as mystical death.)

2. No coming back to full human life more than once under any circumstances. (See: "The Trial")

(Getting vamped or zombified doesn't count as "full human life.")

[VampSlayer]

Oct 19, 2010 22:34:40 GMT -5 wenxina said:

Resurrections spells are aplenty in the Buffyverse. Some reanimate the dead as zombies, others bring them back whole. Then there's also the funky case of Darla being brought back from literal dust. And Spike coming back all incorporeal.

I think the Urn of Osiris was just one way to resurrect the dead... it's clearly been established before that it's not the only way.

Gotcha. Thanks for that. I was a bit curious. *Karmas*

[waitingtodie]

i don't think it was just a throwaway line.

kennedy also mentioned it again in anywhere but here, in willows "i won't betray you any more than i already have" flashback.

something like "i died for you" as far as i can remember.
so that makes it seem like theres more to it, than just joking about the ken-doll haters

but yeah. i hope season nine will get into willows stuff a bit more.
with her possible immortality, saga vasuki and kennedy's mystical death and whatnot.

soo many interesting hints, there has to be a good story there.

[VampSlayer]

Oct 19, 2010 23:47:57 GMT -5 waitingtodie said:

i don't think it was just a throwaway line.

kennedy also mentioned it again in anywhere but here, in willows "i won't betray you any more than i already have" flashback.

something like "i died for you" as far as i can remember.
so that makes it seem like theres more to it, than just joking about the ken-doll haters

but yeah. i hope season nine will get into willows stuff a bit more.
with her possible immortality, saga vasuki and kennedy's mystical death and whatnot.

soo many interesting hints, there has to be a good story there.

Agree.

I can't wait to see what they do with Willow in S9. She has so many possibilities now.

[wenxina]

I was speaking in context of S8. In that context, it's pretty much a throwaway line, with one reference to it, because it was poignant. It doesn't necessarily make it an important plot point.

[waitingtodie]

yeah,
i wasn't trying to convince anybody that its relevant to season 8,
or critisize your use of the term throwaway.

my bad, if it sounded like that.

[The Night Lord]

I also wondered about this, but as the story moved on, I forgot about it. That and I don't really care much for Kennedy....too bad she had to come back

[Paul]

A quote from Scott Allie:

"[T]here are some other of those things that'll show up in "Season 9" or somewhere else. But some of it, you won't. That's the thing I think some Buffy fans can't overcome. Some of it doesn't need to be spelled out. It's not about spelling out every minute of someone's life. Sometimes it's just a good line to throw out there. That's all you get."

Now I don't necessarily agree with that quote... I think if you're going to do something huge like turn Angel into a genocidal terrorist then you damn well better explain it in detail (which S8 hasn't done) so that it's believable. But in the case of Kennedy's death, I think Scott's 100% right. Shit happened between S7 and S8, we don't need to see all of it.

[BlueJay]

I don't care to see it, but I would at least like more information about it. An event like that seems important for Willow's current arc. Birthdays and summer vacays aren't all that important to showcase in the series, but I think certain scenes that get characters from Point A to Point B need to be shown or discussed.

[waitingtodie]

i agree that it doesn't all need to be spelled out everything that happened in that time, in extensive flashbacks or whatever.

i just think there is a story there.
that its something that would be worth going back to.

it's been mentioned in an arc, and hinted at in a oneshot both written by joss.

and considering what a big deal buffy's mystical death and resurrection was,
i can't really imagine he just throws that around for fun without having something in mind.

15. Emmie: "Goddesses and Monsters" was incredible entertainment, but the issue ends on a note of mystery - it feels more like the first installment of a mini-series, leaving questions unanswered. Will these mysteries bear fruit in the main story of Season 8 and perhaps even the upcoming Twilight arc?

Scott Allie: Well, in a way you could look at this as the first issue of Season 8, in that it does take place before the real #1. Will these mysteries bear fruit in the remaining issues of Twilight? Only a bit. But what was hinted at here, and what we've seen a little bit of through Season 8, will come back at you in Season 9.

meh xD

[AndrewCrossett]

In real life you don't always get all the answers, and not every interesting event gets an explanation.

But a story is not real life. I think in a story, if you're going to throw out something as interesting as "Kennedy died, but then she came back to life... so how was your summer?" you really need to follow up on it. Otherwise it's just a waste of space and a distraction from the story.

[BlueJay]

Oct 20, 2010 7:48:53 GMT -5 AndrewCrossett said:

In real life you don't always get all the answers, and not every interesting event gets an explanation.

But a story is not real life. I think in a story, if you're going to throw out something as interesting as "Kennedy died, but then she came back to life... so how was your summer?" you really need to follow up on it. Otherwise it's just a waste of space and a distraction from the story.

Exactly.

It's like in LA, Angel went through a lot, being in Hell-A and all. We got an amazing story there. But in Season Eight all we get from Angel is "Things in LA were funky". So if a vague comment like that can sum up an epic story, I feel that Willow could be holding out. She must have gone through a lot in that year without the Scoobies. We have yet to find out how she went from scared-to-do-magics-but-I'll-try-this-Slayer-empowerment-spell Willow to Flying-Mother-Earth-Goddess Willow. And I agree that the Willow one-shot felt a lot like a #1 of a Willow series. There's a lot of elements for a potential story, I'm not getting why it's not being followed up on.

[AndrewCrossett]

Maybe we could get a one-shot called "What Willow and Kennedy Did On Their Vacation."

[Josh]

Yeah, I had honestly completely forgotten about this and was actually a little peeved that someone would put a spoiler in a thread title since I thought it was something from the Last Gleaming Arc which I haven't read yet. Then I remembered that it was something old that had happened in the beginning of the season

Kennedy (though, granted she hasn't really had a huge role) hasn't really bothered me as much in the comics so I think maybe my partial hate for Kennedy was the actress who played her. I wasn't so much with the YAY Kennedy's dead when it was announced.

And honestly, it doesn't really bother me whether it's fully explained or not. I don't personally feel that it's going to be something that really matters and is a big deal to where it actually needs to be explained in the Buffy Season 8 line of things.