Some Questions About The First

[lady_windermere]

Ok, so I posted this at btvs_ats_q_a and buffyphilosophy, but then I thought, my own Flist are usually pretty knowledgeable, so though I would post here as well!



Ok, well in "Showtime" Anya and Giles visit Beljoxs's Eye, who tell them The First Evil has found a way into this dimension because of an irregularity in the Slayer line. Anya assumes it was them bringing Buffy back. Only the irregularity occurred in Season One, when The Master drowned Buffy, and Xander resuscitated her, activating Kendra.

Another point would be that The First tormented Angel in "Amends", after he was discharged from Hell. That the First is not actively trying to destroy the world until Season Seven, I thought could be because he was amassing his forces. Any other suggestions?

Also what can The First Do. In "Sleeper", Spike is tormented by the first, but Buffy doesn't see him, but when The First takes the form of Eve, everyone can see him while he sows discord with the Potentials at the Summer house. I believe this means he can control who can see him, and who cannot.

He also seems to be in Two places at one time, tormenting Spike, and influencing Andrew, and able to be seen in different geographical areas, such as Sunnydale, but also by Andrew in Mexico.

Agree/disagree?


Hope someone finds it interesting!

Comments

[aschicca.livejournal.com]

Hmm that's a quite interesting discussion. I think the irregularity that gave the First the chance to take more power was that Willow actually pulled Buffy out of Heaven by magic while Xander only resuscitated her after a couple of minutes. I mean we all know Joss doesn't do anything without a deep meaning: Buffy was in Heaven, she had concluded her path, she was at rest and when she got back the world was thrown into an anomaly, she actually found an hellish world as soon as she awoke. An hellish world can definitely be the First's playground!

Also the First tormented Angel in my opinion because he wanted to get rid of the only (in that moment) vampire with a soul that would "play a pivotal role in the Apocalypse". But Joss did a few mistakes there because if I remeber correctly the First wearing Jenny Calender's body actually *touched* Angel and in season 7 we all know the First can't touch anyone...

For what concerns the First's powers...well who can know just how many powers the evil of all evil can have?

[http://users.livejournal.com/woman_of_/]

Yes excellent points, but in the beginning of "Bring On the Night", Buffy knows it is The First bacause of the Bringers being his minions, from "Amends", which would mean that The First was in this dimension from Season Two. I know I think too much about this!

[yourlibrarian]

I would agree that the disruption in the Slayer line occurred in S6. As Spike was fond of saying magic always has consequences and Buffy's 2nd resurrection was not a natural thing. I would guess the First has always been around but essentially is kept in check by various forces for "good" in the world, the Slayers among them. The attack on the Slayers was also on the Watchers and we have to assume it was much more massive and international than we actually got to see on the show.

I believe this means he can control who can see him, and who cannot. He also seems to be in Two places at one time

Yes, I would agree. In fact I'd say it can be in many more than two places at one time. What I never understood about the First was that it seemed capable of knowing everything -- all that had happened in people's lives, who they cared about, what their fears were, etc. And since that was the case, why was it not capable of knowing in advance what they were going to do? That never made sense to me.

[http://users.livejournal.com/woman_of_/]

I have read in a few books that Angel's return let the First in a little, enough to torment him in season three "Amends", and have a few minions. Then Willow bringing Buffy back allowed him to come back full strenght, and amass his forces for season Six.

I thought that the first, in taking over the image of dead people, knew them from when they were dead. In that case, he would know what Spike or Drusilla did, but not Buffy when she was alive. He would have her memoires up until she died, but couldn't anticipate her because she was alive now.....

[yourlibrarian]

That's very interesting! Yes, I could see that about Angel's return, which is one of the great unexplained events in the verse. Also, your take on how the First knows the people from the memories of those around them who died also makes sense to me.

[http://users.livejournal.com/woman_of_/]

AH good glad it made sense. Thought I might be chaseing my own tail for a minute! :-)

[gillo]

My take on things is that the First is able to respond whenever the fabric of reality is seriously distorted. Resuscitation by CPR doesn't count - she was only technically dead. But being pulled out of a hell dimension where your girlfriend sent you to stop an apocalypse? Quite major mojo. Hence the focus on Angel in Amends, and the First's lengthy absence after Angel defeated him by the power of Lurve.

Buffy was dragged out of heaven - a nice inversion in some ways of what happened to Angel. Again the fabric of the metaphysical universe was distorted, again the First is let in. However, it only returns once Buffy has truly accepted her place back in the living world. (Up to that point her S6 existential angst kept him at bay?) Spike's soul is also a distortion of The Way Things Ought To Be - as we see in AtS S5. A double-size gateway perhaps gives extra opportunity?

Yes, I think the First has the ability to be in more than one place at once and to select whom he appears to. I think he/she/it has access to some of the dead person's memories and personality traits too, which is what makes it capable of wreaking such havoc.

[http://users.livejournal.com/woman_of_/]

Oh these are excellent points. Yes, Angel being sent back from a Hell dimension would be a major shift, and could've allowed him to torments Angel, and collect a few minons too him. But that the Slayer line being distorted in Season Six allowed him to really make inroads into this dimension. I would maybe be inclined to think it took him until Season Seven to amass his forces, and make the, what he though, killer blow in this dimension.

Yes in having the memories from the dead person, it is able to manipulate the living (or undead with Angel and Spike) to take action. In the case of poor Chloe, kill herself. And nearly kill Angel, but for Buffy