Solitude1056

I've noticed a few posts in different threads remark that Buffy & Dawn carry the same DNA, so Buffy may be able to save Dawn by sacrificing herself. Uh, I dunno. Where does it say (other than spoilers) that the only way to lock the Key is to kill it? We've got the basic assumption from spoilers (mostly) that the only way to open the Key is to bleed it. But I'd guess it requires a ritual at the same time, or every 28 days we'd have a helluva lotta chaos on this planet once the Key enters womanhood. Not to be gross, but let's be pragmatic about the whole bleeding idea. :)

I'm not positive Buffy's death - in the pure simple sense - would necessarily stop anything, unless she could take Glory with her, somehow. And as to other posts, I think the assessment is right-on that if Glory can be offed with a simple one-two, then the whole idea of "this is a god" seems a bit, well, anti-climactic.

Humanitas

There's definitely more to unleashing the power of the key than simple bloodletting. After all, we've seen Dawn bleed before, in "Blood Ties." No appocalypse there, unless you count Dawn's emotional trauma!

Rufus

What you said makes sense except for the fact that Buffy may decide to sacrifice herself after Glory is already dead. If the ceremony had started, Buffy would have to figure out a way to stop the portal from opening. This is where she would have to depend on her belief that she and Dawn are truly sisters with the same DNA and sacrifice herself. The reality plot has alot to do with belief. Buffy knows that Dawn isn't her sister but the planted memories of a loving relationship plus the time spent together has made Buffy believe Dawn to be a part of her family. The facts don't matter anymore it's the belief of a familial connection along with love that will make the difference.

It doesn't matter how Buffy defeats Glory it will be love that will bring them to the gift and the ability to defeat Glory.

Leah

This may be completely irrelevent but in "Blood Ties" Buffy and Dawn mixed their blood. Maybe there is something to Buffy having a bit of the key in her and Dawn having a bit of the slayer in her.

Solitude1056

But I've never gotten the impression that Slayership was genetically linked, since it seems to jump to girls all over the planet without concern for their familial background. A girl from the Boston projects, a girl from Jamacian farmers, and a girl from middle class Los Angeles? The Slayer's blood may be mutated as a result of interaction with the Slayer Spirit, but that would mean Dawn just has a few drops of mutated blood somewhere in her. It doesn't mean (to me) that the Spirit of who-they-are has altered in anyway the physical form of the other sister. It just means that perhaps physically each could handle the other's spirit, but it doesn't mean they do.

rowan

Yes, trying to puzzle this out is difficult. Here goes what my confused mind can come up with.

1. A ritual bloodletting ceremony at a precise time opens the portals. It appears that Glory and the minions have just figured this out, based on Glory's remarks to Dawn that blood is the key to the Key in WOTW. So regular old menses or a wound wouldn't do it. Plus, when Glory freaks in WOTW and wants to go early, the scabby minion cleric tells her she'll be trapped on earth forever if she kills Dawn too early. I think I also picked up that all Dawn's blood must be shed before the act is complete and the portals are open.

2. The ritual texts that Spike & Xander rescued from Doc as interpreted by Giles say that once the ritual has begun, only Dawn's death can stop it. Now, this is the part I find hard to understand. Why can't we just wrap a tourniquet on this girl? Is it because her heart must stop beating? Someone suggested in another post that Spike could vamp Dawn after she's been almost bled out, but I'm thinking that MT and Dawn's age make that possibility unlikely...would Joss go that far and do Interview with a Vampire?