The Buffyverse Has Lost Three Main Characters

I started a Buffy the Vampire Slayer rewatch back in March of this year. I'd wanted to start it much ealier, but the death of Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Buffy's sister, Dawn, in February of last year made me wait. It's always more difficult to watch a series when one of the actors has passed on...at least it is for me.

I've only been able to binge a few episodes a week because of my schedule. I had barely made it to season two when the news came of Nicholas Brendon's death.

Playing Xander, Brendon brought a sarcastic, loveable character to life, and he quickly became a fan favorite...at least he was one of mine. Who couldn't resist his pithy one-liners and how often he put his foot in his mouth? Or the way he made Xander's fear so laughable? I don't think the series would have been the same without him. So when I saw the news, I sat in shock, staring at my computer screen, trying to comprehend if this was a hoax.

While the tributes came in from his castmates and Buffy fans, I put the show on the backburner, deciding I would come back to it later when more time had passed just like I had before. I thought this one would be a longer wait because Xander was a favorite.

I haven't returned to watching the show, and now we've learned that Anthony Head, who played Buffy's Watcher, Giles, passed away on June 1st. It was difficult enough imagining myself watching the show knowing Nicholas Brendon was no longer with us, but now Giles? The wise-cracking, quick-witted leader of the Buffy squad? How am I supposed to watch the show now? And I'm sure this is a question many fans are asking.

There isn't an easy answer to this one because, in all honesty, watching the series won't be the same. We can still replay the episodes, laugh at the jokes, cry at the heartbreaking moments, and cheer when good triumphed over evil. But we'll know the actors who poured their hearts and souls into these three characters are gone. And yes, we realize they were fictional characters, but they made us fall in love with a quirky bunch of teenagers and a stodgy Englishman.

The actors had gone on to other roles over the years, but they will forever be embedded in our hearts as Dawn, Xander, and Giles. They were part of the door that opened to a universe filled with vampires, witches, slayers, and werewolves. They helped create much more than a television series. It was a world that originally existed in Joss Whedon's mind, and these talented actors made them real to us.

I write this now as a woman in her late fifties, who began watching Buffy when I was still in my twenties. And I've lost count of the number of times I've watched it since the last episode aired. Because Buffy is comfort to me. When the world feels like it's falling apart, Sunnydale awaits. And things are so much worse there that it's almost a way of saying "well, things could be worse here."

Sir Prize Radio, a Youtube Channel, expressed our feelings in the best way, with a video remembering Giles, Xander, and Dawn set to the song, So Long, Goodbye.

We don't have to say goodbye to the characters, but sadly, there will never be a new Xander moment. No more instances of Giles cleaning his glasses so he won't have to watch something. And not one more fresh minute of Dawn getting into trouble for something she knew she wasn't supposed to do.

And these farewells have changed the face of the Buffyverse, and it reminds us that nothing stays the same. There's always another goodbye around the corner. But these characters from a show that started in a decade when AOL's "You've Got Mail" was popular will forever own a place in our hearts no matter how much time has passed.