THE GUARDIANS. Buffyverse Term/Concept/Idea/Intratext.
The Guardians are an ancient, very secret society of women who watch the Watchers, finally providing an answer to Juvenal’s rhetorical question, “Who is to guard the guardians?” The only Guardian (played by Christine Healy) to ever appear on Buffy turns up in the penultimate episode of Season Seven, “End of Days,” as an old, silver-haired woman (“let me put it this way: I look good for my age”) who has been preserving the Guardians’ arcane knowledge in a mysterious pyramid next to a cemetery. Although Buffy has spent six and a half years in Sunnydale “hang[ing] out a lot in cemeteries” (“Doomed”), she somehow never noticed this particular edifice before. Possible explanations for this oversight may include the large number of cemeteries in Sunnydale (assuming that many of the 43 churches [“What’s My Line,” Part 2] have their own graveyards), or that it was mystically disguised because the Guardians simply did not want to be found until the right time. The Guardian does not reveal her name (though she finds Buffy’s amusing), but tells Buffy that the Guardians created the Scythe, a weapon of great powers, for the Slayer, then hid it and themselves for centuries, and watched. If they took any active part in shaping events, it is unclear from the very brief conversation Buffy has with the last Guardian before Caleb kills her:
GUARDIAN: We forged [the scythe] in secrecy and kept it hidden from the Shadow Men who—
BUFFY: Yeah, met those guys. Didn’t really care too much for ’em.
GUARDIAN: Ah, yes. Then you know. And they became the Watchers and the Watchers watched the Slayers…but we were watching them.
BUFFY: Oh, so you’re like . . . what are you?
GUARDIAN: Guardians. Women who want to help and protect you. We forged this centuries ago, halfway around the world.
BUFFY: Hence the Luxor Casino theme.
GUARDIAN: Forged there, it was put to use right here . . . to kill the last pure demon that walked upon the earth. The rest were already driven under. And then there were men here, and then there were monks. And then there was a town . . . and now there is you. And the scythe remained hidden.
BUFFY: I don’t understand. How is it possible that we didn’t know any of this?
GUARDIAN: We hid, too. We had to until now. We’re the last surprise.
BUFFY: Does this mean I can win?
GUARDIAN: That is really up to you. This is a powerful weapon.
BUFFY: Yeah.
GUARDIAN: But you already have weapons. Use it wisely and perhaps you can beat back the rising dark. One way or another, it can only mean an end is truly near.
[Suddenly, a pair of hands shoot out from behind the curtain and seize the Guardian’s head, twisting it violently and snapping her neck.]
CALEB: I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that last part on account of her neck snappin’ and all. Did she say the end is near…or here? (“End of Days”)
In some ways, the last Guardian resembles the last Grail knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: she is the last of a group devoted to a cause and to secret wisdom; she is connected to a supernatural artifact (though the Scythe is not found in the Guardian’s pyramid, Buffy notes the similarities between the Scythe and Excalibur, commenting, “I King-Arthured it out of the stone”); her life has lasted far beyond its natural span, evidently by supernatural means; she waits in a secret location that can only be discovered by one who knows how to find it; and (perhaps) when she dies, her calling is passed on to a new devotee.
It is possible that Willow’s temporary transfiguration to white-haired glory as she uses the Scythe for the slayer-empowerment spell indicates that she has become or will become the first of a new generation of Guardians, an interpretation further supported by her statement as the survivors view the Sunnydale crater at the end of “Chosen”:
WILLOW: I can feel them, Buffy. All over. Slayers are awakening everywhere.
DAWN: We’ll have to find them.
WILLOW: We will.
Although Kennedy, after watching Willow’s transformation, says, “You’re a goddess!” she undoubtedly speaks with the voice of love and awe, rather than definite knowledge. Willow as Guardian seems more likely, given the evidence and circumstances.