# Buffyverse question--Dawn? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2002, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577 "2002-05-23T23:16:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/1 "2002-05-23T23:16:52Z")
OK, I was taking a class this week and must have missed something. At the end of Buffy vs Dracula all of a sudden Dawn is there? Where the hell did she come from? Don’t tell me she just popped up out of nowhere?!?! Thanks… ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/2 "2002-05-23T23:55:17Z")
That’s exactly what happened. At the end of Dracula is the first we see Dawn. And the next episode picks up just like she’s always been there. I assume you know how Dawn came into being? I’ll give a brief synopsis just incase. Dawn was originially a energy source that could open up different (demon) dimensions to this one. The monks who had custody of The Key needed a way to hide her from Glory and made the Key flesh and sent her to the Slayer. They created memories for her as well to make it seem like she’d always been a part of the Summers’ family. I don’t remember what episode Buffy finds out about Dawn. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/3 "2002-05-23T23:59:05Z")
Wow. Crazy! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Frink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Mr.Frink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Frink)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/4 "2002-05-24T00:00:33Z")
Yep…she “just pops up”. No explaination is given at first. But don’t worry…much of Season Five deals with the orgin of l’il Dawnie. Now, we could explain it all to you…but do you really want to find out that way? Part of the fun of **Buffy** is the way the writers tease you, and gradually reveal what’s going on. Wouldn’t you rather watch the show to find out? You’ll find out what the deal is with Dawn next week…I’d suggest just watching…it’s more fun that way! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Frink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Mr.Frink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Frink)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/5 "2002-05-24T00:01:58Z")
Ah…never mind… ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/6 "2002-05-24T01:02:03Z")
S’alright **Mr. Frink** , trying to participate in Buffy season 6 episodes sorta forced me to know a bit about Dawn’s background… I was just worried I missed some crucial episode when it looks like I didn’t miss squat. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/7 "2002-05-24T01:37:11Z")
Yeah, 'sgreat. In the first half-hour of “Buffy vs Dracula”, Buff is an only child. In the last scene, she isn’t–and hasn’t been for 14 years! But I have this weird memory of a line spoken by Faith in season 4, _seven episodes earlier,_ which at the time I took to be metaphorical, odd, & well, just Faith. Something about “you [Buffy] & little sister.” Can anyone back me up on this? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Frink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Mr.Frink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Frink)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/8 "2002-05-24T02:26:22Z")
Yep…I can back you up. There’s actually been _two_ dream references to Buffy’s future sibling. The first was from Faith’s dream in This Year’s Girl: > [@](#): > > \*\*_Faith and Buffy making a bed. Folding clean sheet._ > Buffy: They smell good don’t they? > Faith: What? > Buffy: Clean sheets. Like summer. > Faith: I wouldn’t know. > Buffy: Right. I forgot. > Faith: I noticed. > Buffy: I wish I could stay, but… > Faith: Oh, you have to go. > Buffy: That’s just what… > Faith: Little sis coming. I know. > Buffy: So much to do before she gets here. > _They walk around to end of bed._ > Buffy: Now I really have to… > Faith: So go. Don’t let me keep. \*\* This second reference is a little iffy, I’ll admit. But I still think it’s legit. It’s from Buffy’s dream in the Season Four finale Restless > [@](#): > > \*\*BUFFY: Faith and I just made that bed. > _(Shot of the bed, still rumpled but now without Buffy in it.)_ > TARA: (offscreen) For who? > _(Buffy frowns, looks to her left.)_ > BUFFY: I thought you were here to tell me. > _\_ > TARA: You think you know … what’s to come … what you are. You haven’t even begun. > > - (Shot of the bed, now neatly made.) (Buffy frowns.)\* > BUFFY: I think I need to go find the others. > \*(She leaves.) \* > TARA (softly) Be back before dawn. \*\* So that’s all a pretty good foreshadowing in those dreams. And now that Spike’s got his soul back…it won’t be much longer until the Restless tease of him following in Giles’ footsteps to become a Watcher comes to fruitition… ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/9 "2002-05-24T02:39:26Z")
Is Dawn still the Key? If she is, do they know about it still? If not why is she still around? I mean its not like she is needed anymore if she isn’t the key. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Green\_Fool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mr.Green\_Fool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Green_Fool)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/10 "2002-05-24T03:04:28Z")
She’s “needed” the same way you need a sibling or friend. Regardless of the memories being fake, everyone has them and Dawn is and “always” has been a part of their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Frink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Mr.Frink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Frink)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/11 "2002-05-24T04:14:58Z")
I guess that Dawnie is still the key…but a key that unlocks nothing. I believe that after the events in The Gift, Dawn is now pretty much a regular human being. **Why is she still around?** Well, where exactly should she go? Seriously, I think she’s around because Buffy has lost her mother, and I believe the writers wanted Buffy to still have family around. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/12 "2002-05-24T06:08:49Z")
Joss Whedon admitted in several interviews that Buffy was supposed to have a sister from the beginning. An error of omission was rectified in the usual Joss fashion. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/13 "2002-05-24T13:37:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Restless tease of him following in Giles’ footsteps to become a Watcher comes to fruitition… Right, Dawn’s Watcher-- she is supposedly part Buffy. So, IMHO, it looks like they are setting up Dawn as junior-Slayerette for next season. Of course I could be completely wrong, but you saw the season finale. . . . _-me_ ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/14 "2002-05-24T16:52:10Z")
Yeah, but Dawn’s definitely still the Key. That much was made clear by “Two to Go” and “Grave.” Willow was going to turn Dawn back into energy and then somehow use that energy to add to her own power. Or something. I wasn’t all that clear about it… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/15 "2002-05-25T04:43:31Z")
Yeah, it can be wierd tuning in to _Buffy_ when you haven’t watched the show from the beginning. I’ve never seen any of the first 2 1/2 seasons (counting on the FX reruns for that, they show two episodes most weeknights, so catching up shouldn’t take long.) The show has a remarkable continuity to it that, aside from soap operas/serials, I’ve only seen in the Conspiracy Episodes of _The X-Files_. There are threads that will start early in a season, go underground, resurface, disappear again, and show up again in the next season… I like Dawn, although several Dopers have complained that she is an annoying whiner. Well, what do you expect, growing up in the shadow of the Slayer, then finding out you didn’t, then having your mom die, then your big sister, then having Sis get resurrected, and basically having to question the reality of your own existence. 'Course, I’ve only seen about five episodes that she’s in. But I’m getting fond of the kid. I’m also watching Buffy’s relationship with Riley start to unravel. And Spike coming to the edge of realizing he’s in love with the Buffstress. The big question in the Buffyverse, IMHO, is, will William the Bloody (Awful Poet) be a vampire with a soul and a chip in his head, or has he become human again? My vote goes with the former, just 'cause I like the idea of the Slayer having a vampire for a lover. ---
**Author:** ![Wisp00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/977dab/32.png) [@Wisp00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wisp00)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/16 "2002-05-25T05:33:09Z")
I can’t imagine they’ll make Spike a vampire with a soul. It’s kind of a been there, done that thing. I think he’ll be human again. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/17 "2002-05-25T05:53:03Z")
But, he still has a chip in his head… And Spike, even with a soul, is a far cry from being Angel. Angel had that happiness-even-for-a-moment curse thingy and no chip restraining him from harming the living. Spike has that chip-in-the-head thingy, but no curse, so if he experiences happiness for a moment, he won’t lose his soul. And the two guys have radically different personalities, chips and curses aside. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/18 "2002-05-25T06:03:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wisp00 \* > \*\*I can’t imagine they’ll make Spike a vampire with a soul. It’s kind of a been there, done that thing. I think he’ll be human again. \*\* But the demon or whatever who’d been testing him didn’t say “Okay, back to being human,” he said (something along the lines of), “Okay, here’s your soul back.” I took that to mean vampire-with-a-soul. Of course, it could be that getting your soul back normally means you become human again, and Angel’s some kind of exception. Either way, I’m wondering what the story will be re the chip. Will it stop effecting him once he has a soul? (Being intended to prevent violent acts by a souless vampire.) Or will he still be unable to harm any human? And I’m wondering what Spike’s actual intentions were. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/19 "2002-05-25T06:14:12Z")
Shoot, even if they give Spike the _exact_ same lines they gave Angel, it would still be different, just because Spike’s whole worldview is so radically different from Angel’s. (Also, IMHO, James Marsters is by far the superior actor.) ---
**Author:** ![weeds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@weeds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weeds)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577/20 "2002-05-25T11:26:54Z")
Since so many Buffy fans wanted Spike & Buffy together in the worst way, they got their wish. Now many Dawn haters would love to see an episode directed by Tobe Hooper having Dawn dissected by a leather masked demon with a chainsaw. I get the feeling Joss will make me feel bad about that too.:rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffyverse-question-dawn/110577.md?page=2)