In the words of librarian Rupert Giles, "This world is older than any of you know, and contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, Demons walked the earth; made it their home -- their Hell. In time they (the demons) lost their purchase on this reality, and the way was made for the mortal animals. For Man. What remains of the Old Ones are vestiges."

A watcher's job is to find the next Slayer and lead her on her path to...ummm ...Slayerhood. Before Giles, his father was a watcher and his father's mother was also a watcher.

What I want to know is when did they have time to settle down and you know...procreate? 0:-) If you spend your entire life killing vampires and chaperoning teenaged killers...When do you find time? And how do you get to be a Watcher? Is this a hereditary type of deal? So many unanswered questions... 0:-)

Anyways...Giles supposedly learned his fate when he was thirteen and sought to escape it. He drepped out of school to become part of this weird ring of outcasts and bikers who conjured up evil demons. (Perhaps that is why it took so long for Buffy to learn her true destiny.) That's where he met Ethan Rayne - the notoriously gay recurring character who keeps calling Giles "Ripper." But you can't hold it against Giles - I mean how many people (over the age of ten) would like to spend their whole life as a superhero?

Or even a Superhero's sidekick? ESPECIALLY if all the job entailed was searching through dusty books. Giles poses as their school librarian, in a school where no one uses the library. Once a couple of students went there in search of books (perish the thought) and were almost killed by a trigger happy Buffy. That's what you get for tiptoeing around Sunnydale. *LOL* Giles had one true love: Jenny. Their romance was beautiful. She was a lovely young teacher at the school. Unfortunately she was also a gypsy sent to make sure Angel was punished throughout eternity (not a fun job) - so you can see why that relationship didn't exactly end in flowers. (well besides the ones Angelus strew up the stairs the night he killed her)

Their relationship ended soon after Angel lost his soul.

The truth about Ms Calendar came out and Buffy was livid. Even poor Giles turned his back on Ms. Calendar. She did A LOT of research and bought a cool crystal ball with which she was supposed to restore Angel's soul. Unfortunately, Angelus found out about it and broke her neck. Everything she knew was saved on a yellow floppy disk, which was lodged between two desks at Sunnydale High until the Becomings.

One of the funny spots in the Becomings occurred when Willow said they could not perform the spell because they didn't have an orb. Giles went into his office and brought out his favorite paperweight. 0:-) Later in the Becomings Giles was kidnapped by Angellus and Dru who enjoyed torturing him for a while. Nothing specific was shown on the screen although vague references to chain saws kept being made. Anyway, Giles, prime example of studly manhood refused to reveal anything until Drusilla made herself look like Jenny and seduced the poor guy. Giles lay there bloodied and anguished as Drusilla mocked his love for the poor gypsy girl. It almost made me stop liking her.

This season Giles has been a wonderful Watcher, as always. Unfortunately The Council has become quite meddlesome and have been snooping around his office and work. In Helpless a test was administered to the Slayer. Weakened and defenseless she was pitted against a crazed vampire. According to The Council, all slayers her age must undergo that rite of passage...Giles thought it was as much bunk as I did and rebelled. After Buffy's mother was kidnapped, Giles told her what had really happened and why she was suddenly weak. She could not believe the person she trusted most in the world had betrayed her and even as the tears streamed down her face, she ran away from him.

Because, according to the Council, Giles affections for Buffy were interfering with his duties as the Watcher, he was relieved of his position and Wesley was sent out. Wesley is a younger version of Giles and has captured Cordelia's affections. Unfortunately, he is as pompous as all other Watchers and refuses to acknowledge Giles' superiority.

The bright side of his showing up is that Giles seems more relaxed and dresses a lot more casually. Now Wesley is the librarian completely buttoned up on a sweltering day while Giles rolls up his sleeves and sips tea. 0:-) Although I was VERY offended by Wesley's comment that he allows Giles to work under him! Hmm!

We can only wait and hope for Giles triumph and hopefully, more chest shots 0:-)

ICQ #8557096