Why does buffys mom die

Lately, Whedon and his writers have found some terrific ways to explore the show's central themes of female empowerment, destiny vs. The show's most audaciously wiggy plotline this season was also the one that required the most patience on the part of viewers: Buffy suddenly had a bratty year-old sister, with no immediate explanation. We'd never seen or heard about "Dawn" Michelle Trachtenberg before, but there she was, and Buffy, her mom and everybody else acted as if her presence was perfectly normal.

As it turned out, Dawn isn't really human; she's an orb of pure energy called "the Key," and she supposedly figures into an evil recipe for disaster. The order of monks that had been protecting the Key for centuries sent it to Buffy in the form of something she would protect with her life obviously, those monks never had a bratty little sister and put everybody under a "veiling spell" so they would accept Dawn as human.

Only the mentally ill and certain animals are able to see Dawn for the empty shell she is. But, listen, the "my sister, my energy orb" plot line isn't all good vs. The fact that Dawn is "negative space" is a breathtaking metaphor for an adolescent's lack of self-esteem -- Dawn feels completely overshadowed by her so-important, bossy big sister.

As for Big Sis, Buffy is no longer the perky high schooler who pouted when her Watcher mentor Giles Anthony Stewart Head made her patrol the graveyard for vamps and miss the big dance. Buffy is now 20, a college sophomore still a mediocre student, alas , and she's come to understand some hard truths about herself.

For instance, deep down, she likes all the fighting and slaying -- she needs it. If given a choice, she'd rather be a normal girl than a predestined vanquisher of evil, but she's past feeling sorry for herself; this is her job, and she's focussed on being the most ass-kicking demon-killer she can be.

Buffy has also realized that her perfectionism and self-reliance -- useful traits for a well-oiled Slayer -- kind of get in the way of romance. She tried to be all girly and yielding for her last boyfriend, macho soldier Riley Finn, but he complained that she didn't need him enough. He was right; she never felt the same soul-deep passion for Riley that she did for Angel, the good vampire cursed to turn evil when he felt "perfect happiness.

And this season, she's working overtime to keep it in check. Recently, Buffy's old nemesis, the bleached-blond punk vampire Spike James Marsters , has fallen daffily, perhaps dangerously, in love with her.

But Buffy's "you repulse me" responses to Spike's declarations of love seem overly harsh, even cruel -- maybe because she's trying so hard not to relive l'affaire Angel. Or, maybe, she fears that little bit of darkness curled up inside her. Each season, the writers have given Buffy a character-building crisis to deal with. She lost her virginity to Angel and he turned on her.

She had to lead an apocalyptic battle with evil at her graduation ceremony. She was almost beaten to a pulp by Faith, a vicious, thrill-killing Slayer who represented what Buffy could become if she lost sight of her nobler purpose.

Riley dumped her he was last seen flying off to lick his wounds in a secret jungle military operation. But they were only dress rehearsals for what she's facing now.

You have to hand it to the writers; Joyce's demise came as a complete surprise. She'd had surgery for a brain tumor, but had seemingly recovered, and Buffy was starting to relax again. She'd nursed her mom and maternally soothed Dawn's worries, but you could sense that she was happy to only be playing the role of mom, confident that the world would soon slide back onto its proper axis. And that's why "The Body" was so devastating. In the very first scene, Buffy comes home and starts chattering to Joyce, who she thinks is upstairs.

When she sees her mother lying face up on the couch, she casually calls, "Mom? Whatcha doin'? Even if "Buffy" gets stiffed in every other Emmy category this year, "The Body" should convince the nominating committee that Gellar is for real. In last season's hair-raising "Hush" episode which unexpectedly received an Emmy nomination for best writing , Whedon experimented with the power of silence as a storytelling device.

Grinning, skull-headed, eerily gliding demons had stolen the voices of everyone in Sunnydale to prevent screams when they cut people's hearts out , so Whedon staged the second half of the episode like a silent movie, using pantomime and notes written on cards, chalkboards and computer screens in place of dialogue.

It was such a shock, and the death was so silent compared to others on the show. A show that was full of fantasy and monsters and horror. Again, the doctors ruled that Joyce died of a brain aneurysm. Being the mother of the Chosen One came with its fair share of dangers. But she ended up dying from natural medical causes, which seemed like a cruel joke and was the final punch in the gut for this sad episode; one of the saddest if not the saddest in the series.

While that could just be a wayward line, does that also add to this theory? When the monks created Dawn, they had to change the memory of every single person who had contact with the Summers family. While Willow's back in turned, Anya finds the blue shirt under chair cushions but puts it in the open dresser drawer, not knowing it is being searched for.

The room goes silent, and Xander punches his fist through a wall, getting his hand stuck in the hole. He is soon freed, and Tara arrives, failing to find the blue shirt, but Willow tells her it doesn't matter.

After tending to Xander's wounds, the group leaves the room, while Xander's car gets a ticket. The Scooby Gang meets up at the hospital, exchanging hugs and supporting words towards Buffy, Dawn, and each other. Doctor Kriegel tells Buffy that Joyce's autopsy has revealed that she died of an aneurysm resulting from her brain surgery, and assures her that Joyce died quickly, with almost no pain, and that even if she'd been by Joyce's side there would have been little she could have done.

Buffy, however, imagines he confesses he's lying to make her feel better. Giles leaves to sign the release forms, and Dawn goes to the bathroom. The remaining Scoobies discuss how Dawn is doing, and Buffy feels that Dawn is angry with her for being the one to break the news.

Anya tells her she wishes Joyce didn't die, and Buffy thanks her. Willow, Xander and Anya then decide to go and buy food from the vending machines for the two sisters, leaving Buffy and Tara sitting in silence in the waiting room.

Buffy explains that everyone is trying to help, while she still can't believe it's happening. Tara then reveals that her own mother had died when she was seventeen, and shares some helpful words for Buffy on the subject.

When Buffy asks Tara if her mother's death was sudden like Joyce's, Tara tells her it wasn't and yet it was, because all death is unexpected. Meanwhile, Dawn leaves the washroom and decides to head for the morgue to see Joyce's body.

Ignoring the "authorized personnel only" signs, she enters, locking the door behind her. Dawn approaches Joyce's covered body, trying to reach out to remove the sheet, but can't. She doesn't notice a vampire rising from one of the tables behind her. He approaches, and Dawn hears him as he walks up behind her. As her friends arrive back with armfuls of food and stating they panicked about what to buy, Buffy realizes that Dawn should have returned. Knowing where Dawn has gone, she sets out for the morgue and finds Dawn struggling with the vampire.

Buffy kicks the door in and takes on the vampire, and in the scuffle the sheet covering Joyce is pulled down. Buffy finally beheads the vampire using a bone saw, and finds Dawn staring at Joyce's body.

Dawn asks if their mother is cold, but Buffy tells her that the body isn't their mother anymore. Slowly, Dawn reaches with her fingertips toward the body's cheek. Buffyverse Wiki Explore. Angel season 1 Angel season 2 Angel season 3 Angel season 4 Angel season 5. Other media. Novels Buffy novels Angel novels Crossover novels Slayer series. Video games Board games Card games. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? The Body. Edit source History Talk 0.

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