The upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot will have a significant change to the lore thanks to something that the original series changed 23 years ago. The new Buffy the Vampire Slayer series will bring back Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, but it will be a new Slayer in the lead, and her experience will be nothing like what Buffy had when she was starting as a Slayer. Instead, it is Buffy who will be serving as a mentor for the new Slayer, which means that an essential part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer lore is going to be missing from the series. This all started thanks to the events that happened on the episode, “Bring on the Night,” released on December 17, 2002.
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Here is what you need to know about the new series, not having Watchers for the Slayers, and what happened to his prestigious organization 23 years ago on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 7 Wiped Out the Watchers
The Watchers’ Council was the group that governed the Watchers and all Potential Slayers in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe. This was the group that was charged with leading the fight against demons and vampires all over the world. The Council had been around for centuries, since the First Slayer in prehistoric Africa was chosen. They assigned the Watchers, like Giles, to work with Potential Slayers, which is what started the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.
However, after centuries in existence, it all changed in the seventh and final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The First Evil was finally attacking and had plans to destroy all opposition to help clear the way for his eventual takeover. Giles showed up to everyone’s surprise, and he brought three young women with him. These were all Potential Slayers named Kennedy, Molly, and Annabelle. He then dropped the shocking news on Buffy that changed everything about the future of Slayers.
The First Evil planned to destroy all Slayers who were in training, their Watchers, and the two currently active Slayers, Buffy and Faith. However, the biggest news was that Caleb had attacked and destroyed the entire Council’s headquarters and brought down the Council itself, while also destroying almost all their records. With the Wathers Council destroyed, it was time to move the entire Slayer structure into the future, and the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot will deal with those changes.
How Will The Slayers Operate Without a Watcher?
There are no Watchers on the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot because of the destruction of the Watchers Council in the seventh and final season of the original series. While this might seem strange, it was set up in the final episodes of the original series, and in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer story as it continued after that in comic book form. The entire changeover from Watchers to Slayers training Slayers was completed by the last season’s final episode, which allowed for multiple Slayers to exist in the world at one time.
In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, the Watchers Council was replaced by the newly established Slayer Organization. This was similar to the Watchers Council, but it was primarily dedicated to training all Slayers, rather than training Watchers to train Slayers. However, when Rupert Giles died as one of the final members of the Watchers Council, the Slayer Organization also disbanded.
It will be interesting to see how the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot will deal with training new Slayers. The comics showed a giant source of training for the Potential Slayers, but the upcoming TV show will probably minimize that and have Buffy take on more of a Giles role in training the new Chosen One. Buffy is a little different from Giles. While Giles, as a Watcher, was a powerful magic user, Buffy is one of the most battle-tested Slayers of all time. Her training methods should be much more intense and will bring something new to the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.
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