A/N A recent discussion post in a Buffy group discussed the Normal Again episode. Joss is on record as wanting it to be canon, that Buffy had been in a psych unit all long, the director of the episode left the ending vague on purpose so the audience could decide for themselves and Marti Noxon stated she wants to believe Buffy's reality is real, which is all information that can be found on the Buffy wiki by the the way. The discussion post offered the idea that maybe both worlds were real and Buffy switched back and forth between the two. Evidence for this as a possibility exists because of vampWillow. Undoing Cordelia's wish by breaking Anyanka's power center didn't destroy that reality, after all and she crossed into Buffy's because of the botched spell Anya and Willow did. All are possibilities worth thinking about and worth writing about.
Also, bear in mind, this Watchers Council is the same one from canon that did the Cruciamentum on Buffy. Both competent hunters and cruel caretakers of the Slayers.
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"Mrs. Summers says Buffy's being moved to a long term care facility." Willow told the group a couple of weeks later. "Physically she's recovered just fine, mentally she's still unresponsive and her lawyer says that means she can't help in her own defense, either in regards to the Angel/Angelus stuff or the fighting/vandalism crap Detective Stein is trying to accuse her of. Until she comes out of it, if she comes out of it, she'll have to stay in there."
"And her Slayer strength? How are they handling that?" Faith asked.
"A drug the Watchers Council developed that can suppress her strength according to the lawyer." Willow answered. "The overhaul of the Watchers Council found out about it. And that their treatment of Slayers is even worse than we suspected."
"How much worse?" Xander asked.
"Buffy's eighteenth birthday is in January, less then two months from now and would have seen Giles, as her Watcher, dosing her with it and pitting her against a vampire, on purpose. They claim it's a test and a rite of passage for any Slayer that reaches eighteen. If Mrs. Summers wasn't already feeling homicidal toward Giles, this would have her buying a gun and hunting him down."
"Than it's a good thing he's pled guilty to all the charges England's leveling against him." Xander snarled. "Because I know quite a bit about guns and I'd be willing to teach Mrs. Summers just so she could blow his kneecaps out. That's just plain sick, if she survived and that's a big if, how the Hell could she ever trust him again? It's murder, however you look at it. They don't want Slayers growing up, brainwashed kids are so much easier to convince to fight and die for the cause."
"I hope they don't let the Watchers Council go back to being in charge of the Slayers and Potentials." Cordelia put in. "Not after finding out everything they're finding out about them. Sure, they've proven they're great demon hunters, but caretakers for the Slayer? No way."
"The Watchers Council isn't going anywhere near the Executioner Potentials." Xander said flatly. "Sure, we don't know how to find them yet, but they're my responsibility and I'll make sure they're not treated that way. Whole different set of rules. Hell, modern armies don't accept recruits unless they're seventeen or eighteen years old. Whether an Executioner actives prior to that or not, I'm going to make sure they don't go out until they're eighteen and only if they agree. No one's forcing them if I have anything to say about it and I'll do what I have to make sure I do!"
"Being a Slayer is the best thing that ever happened to me." Faith admitted. "But it's also the worst. It gave me the strength, literally and figuratively, to fight for myself. It also cost me my own Watcher, Diana. Someone who really seemed to care about me. And on the surface Giles seemed to care about Buffy. But he let her get involved with a vampire under a curse and then he made her deal with the vampire once the curse broke, no matter how many times she proved she couldn't handle it when she kept letting him go and now he would have drugged her as a birthday present. Would Diana have drugged me? I want to say I hope not, but I'm sure Buffy would never have thought Giles would drug her either."
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A/N Buffy's forgiveness of Giles after the Cruciamentum is another of those things that just doesn't make any sense. How could she continue to trust him? And why does no one else in the show ever seem upset about it? The writers glossed over the whole thing and wanted the audience to just forget about it too, but it was basically a repeat of when Buffy and Cordelia were roofied and nearly sacrificed by frat boys and both were problem episodes that should have generated more outrage, instead they're all awww at the supposedly great father/daughter bonding moment Buffy and Giles have at the end of the episode.
