Buffy the Vampire Slayer: 7 Unanswered Questions Fans Are Still Discussing 23 Years Later
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended its series run 23 years ago, and the final episode, “Chosen,” left a lot of unanswered questions when it aired on May 20, 2003. In this episode, Buffy and the Scooby Gang plan their all-out assault against the First to prevent the Hellmouth from opening, and it leads to a war that saw at least two major characters die before the gang finally won out and changed everything in the world of the Slayers. However, while it all seemed like a finale that tied up Buffy’s story properly, there were a lot of things left unsaid.
When it comes to the actual TV show, there were a lot of questions left unanswered after that series’ finale. While there were comic books that continued the storyline, fans wanting the answers on TV were left with more questions than answers.
7) What Happened With the Watchers Council?
There are so many questions surrounding the Watchers Council in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, both before the finale and after it. This entire organization makes little sense, and there was never a clear answer to how they even operated. They didn’t have government backing, but they had to have gotten their financing from somewhere. It is also clear they didn’t have a good grip on Buffy and Giles throughout the series, and their actions were morally questionable at best.
None of this was ever answered, and when the end of the series reveals their headquarters in England was destroyed, it was unclear what was next, or even if they were needed at all anymore. With the Watchers Council destroyed, and Buffy having shared her powers with all Slayers worldwide, the Watchers were now obsolete.. Giles formed a new Slayer Organization to have Slayers and Watchers work together, rather than in a master-servant dynamic. But there is a chance any surviving Watchers might be unwilling to accept this. What happened next remains a big question.
6) Can Willow Be Trusted?
Willow was always one of the best heroes in the entire Scooby Gang, but she also had her dark moments. This was shown in gory detail in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6 when she went dark after Tara’s death. Willow gave in to her dark impulses and tried to destroy the entire world. Dark Willow was one of the scariest villains Buffy ever had to face, and it was even worse because she was also one of Buffy’s closest friends. It took Xander and the power of friendship to bring her back from that edge.
Giles ended up taking Willow to England to help her learn to control her emotions and powers better, and that seemed to be working. However, there was a line in the final episode where Willow admitted that she still didn’t trust herself. Before the final battle with the First, Willow asked Kennedy to kill her if she got out of control again, making it sound like she still didn’t have full control over her magic.
5) What About Angel & Buffy?
There was a disappointing moment when the TV show Angel came to an end. David Boreanaz returned for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series finale, where he and Buffy talked about the future. However, Sarah Michelle Gellar refused the request to return for Angel’s series finale, and the final season of that show had to have a stand-in for Angel to look at from afar that represented Buffy. While the comics went into what happened, the TV show left things wide open.
What happened to Angel after his series ended, and what role did Buffy play in his life after this? The final season of Angel had him and his allies standing before an almost unstoppable demon army in what appeared to be the start of an apocalyptic event. There was no way that Buffy wouldn’t come running if she learned what was happening to Angel, but did she? Did Buffy and Angel ever reunite after this battle ended, and what happened to the couple that most considered one of the best in Buffy the Vampire Slayer history?
4) Where Does Buffy Go From Here?
Buffy Summers’ entire deal by the end of the series was that she was the Slayer and her job was to protect the world. There were moments where she tried to run away from it all, but she couldn’t, and she knew that was because she was the Slayer and that was who she was always going to be. After the series finale, Buffy was no longer “the” Slayer, but one of many Slayers. The one thing that made her special was now gone.
What is next for Buffy? Of course, the comic books showed that she started working to train the other Slayers and that she kept fighting evil all along the way as the most powerful of them all. But for the TV audience, this question was left up in the air. Buffy saved Sunnydale and stopped the Hellmouth from opening. The one place she was tasked with saving was gone, and she succeeded in her job. She could just go and get a real job and live a normal life. But that isn’t what fans would want, and the question of where Buffy would go next remained open-ended after the finale.
3) What Happens With All the New Slayers?
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer series finale had a huge moment in the final battle. Using the power of the Scythe, Willow executes a spell that turns all Potential Slayers into fully fledged Slayers. This was a huge moment in the finale, but it also has major ramifications. How many Potentials were there across the world? There were many who showed up, and some of them died, but there are surely a large number of young women all over the world who just got a major power-up.
Will all the new Slayers have the moral code of Buffy, or will more of them end up more like Faith was before she turned her life around? Will these new Slayers head to another Hellmouth, or will they use their powers for more self-centered reasons? The activation of all these Slayers could also cause problems when they want to be the one and are not willing to share the responsibility with others. The possibilities are endless.
2) What About the Other Hellmouths?
The big revelation in Buffy the Vampire Slayer was that Sunnydale wasn’t the only location over a Hellmouth in the world. In fact, the show itself said there was another major Hellmouth in Cleveland, Ohio. This series focused on the one in Sunnydale, with Buffy there protecting it. However, this was interesting because in the Slayer lore, there could be only one until that Slayer died, and Buffy is in Sunnydale, leaving the other towns with a Hellmouth unprotected.
Why would the First go after Sunnydale, knowing that Buffy was there protecting it? Why not just take out the one in Cleveland where there was no one to fight? It would seem that the unlocking of all the Potentials and their upgrades to Slayers could provide defenders for all the towns over a Hellmouth, but did that happen? There were maps on the show that hinted at other convergence points worldwide, and the Slayer Organization was set up to spread out to protect these. What happened next?
1) Was It All Just a Fantasy in Buffy’s Head?
One question today that Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans are still asking is whether anything on the show really happened. This comes from the Season 6 episode, “Normal Again,” which had Buffy wake up in a mental hospital, with her mom and dad both there. She was then told that she was living in a fantasy and suffered from a severe mental illness where she believed she was a Slayer living in a supernatural world that didn’t exist.
What really makes this episode hit so hard is that it ended with a moment that left it open to interpretation. There was a chance that Buffy was a troubled girl in a mental hospital who was imagining all these great adventures, while her mom was still alive and her dad never left. Buffy had been looking for a way out for most of the season, and this could have hinted that her only battles were in her mind. Could it be that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was just a fantasy for a troubled young woman?
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