A Question about Taras Mother

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Will we ever find out what happened to her? Like how she died? During that scene in "The Body" where Tara's talking to Buffy I was expecting what happened to come out but it never did. So will it ever or will it remain one of the many mysteries surrounding Tara?

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Willow: We can come by between classes. Usually I use that time to copy over my class notes with a system of different colored pens, but it's been pointed out to me that that's, you know, insane.

Tara: I said "quirky".

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - "Triangle"

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I'm guessing we'll find out early next year, or at least we'll get more clues anyway.

Mind you, that's only a guess.

I

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I certainly hope we find out. Joss has dropped enough tantalizing clues our way, and now I'm thoroughly curious.

Must find out . . . must find out . . . must know!!! Must have more Tara-focus!

*manic wild-eyed look*

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"Oh, baby, want me to rub your tummy? She likes it when I . . . stop explaining things."
-- Tara, "The Body"

"No, she likes what I do . . . I think she likes what she's doing."
-- Gabrielle, "A Day in the Life"

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Okay... I'm not sure I want to go stalking... er, I mean scouting... with you Shanie...

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Who thinks Tara's whacko father had something to do with her Mom's death? I bet he did.

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Willow: We can come by between classes. Usually I use that time to copy over my class notes with a system of different colored pens, but it's been pointed out to me that that's, you know, insane.

Tara: I said "quirky".

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - "Triangle"

I

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Im hoping more info on mommy dearest will be unveiled next season during a Tara-centered episode along the lines of Family.

If foul play is involved in her death, dear old dad does seem like prime suspect.

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Sassy eggs.

[This message has been edited by imperfectly (edited May 17, 2001).]

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I also have a feeling that we'll learn more about Tara's mother next season, although if I had to guess Willow aready knows the circumstances surrounding her death.

[This message has been edited by Roxton (edited May 17, 2001).]

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Oh Roxton, that's so sweet. That Tara told Willow all about it. After all, she was old enough to remember it painfully clearly.

I'm guessing that Joss wants to make more Tara-centric eps. There's still a lot we don't know about her.

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"It doesn't matter, really, if I don't see Willow tonight, she knew. Willow was in her life, for keeps. That was what mattered." ~ Tara, Unseen: The Burning

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Roxton, youre right. Willow already knows. Whats interesting is that much of the relationship seems to have matured off screen. Its unlike other and past relationships where most of the first times (kisses and otherwise) were shown on screen. Though we did get to see the first fight (bummer). I wont get into the pros and cons of this here(see WOTW thread for an extended analysis).

I do, however, like the fact that we can assume that these things have happened. Its just a given that the girls are intimate, that theyve shared their pasts and that relationship is a secure, caring and mature one. Or was until the brainsuckage.

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Sassy eggs.

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I think joss will more than likely get in to that next season.He's brought it up this season too much just to leave it alone.I figure we'll have at least 1 entire ep about Tara pass next season. I hope anyway.

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At least this gives us the idea a bit that Tara will be sticking around for a long time yet, because Joss can't kill Tara off and leave the mystery of her mother never revealed.

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I hope they do do an episode next season where we find out what happened the curiosity is killing me.

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Willow: We can come by between classes. Usually I use that time to copy over my class notes with a system of different colored pens, but it's been pointed out to me that that's, you know, insane.

Tara: I said "quirky".

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - "Triangle"

I

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I'm sure we'll get another Taracentric ep next year, because Joss loves her so--almost as much as we do, I think. Not only that, but I'm sure she will have more to do in all of the eps, since Amber will be a regular. And I'd love to know the story of Tara's mother, but I wouldn't want to lay odds on it actually happening...except for Joyce, Scooby parents have remained largely a mystery. We've seen Willow's mom exactly once and know next-to-nothing about her; her dad is little more than a name. Xander's parents are an argument heard through the floorboards. Oh yeah, we did see his dad ripping Xander's heart out of his chest, but...still. My point is, I think there are good stories that could be told about anyone's parents, but we never seem to get them--because the show emphasizes the familial relationships of the Scooby Gang, and a unique and wonderful family it is. Now that Tara is part of it, we will probably never hear much about her "blood kin."

Of course, her mother is dead--and was a powerful witch when she was alive. With issues of witchy power now coming to the fore, we may yet hear more of the late Mrs. Maclay. But I won't be surprised if much of the mystery remains.

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Speculation here...

Although a hint was dropped in "The Body" that Tara's mother died of some lingering chronic illness (because her death was not "sudden"), what if it was something else?
What if it turns out that, as soon as Tara recovers her faculties, she is HORRIFIED to learn that Willow has been practicing the "Darkest Magicks", since it was exactly such practices that killed her mother!

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Remember it was Wanda who said that Buffy saved Spike from a run-amok Buffy Bot in IWMTLY while Giles(!) was in the middle of a custody battle for Dawn with Pa Summers, so take Wanda spoilers with a salt lick.

Given what Tara and her father said about her mother, she couldn't have been any younger than her early to mid thirties when she died, which means she was around for more than a decade after she apparently demonstated magical ability at 20. (Of course, since Tara's g'mom owned the Doll's Eye Xtal, she likely was a witch too, and may even have trained her mom.) For all we know, they kept her locked in the attic like Mrs. Rochester (Jane Eyre).

In any case, there's definitely a story there. Rane has mined this territory extensively in her fascinating serial fics about Tara's family at Extra Flamey.

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The one scene that stays in my mind is in Forever when Tara leaked that she knew where the resurrection spells were in the book, but wouldn't tell Willow why.

With all her wisdom about "healing spells gone bad" and her respect for Wicca philosophy about messing with the dead, it's always made me wonder if Tara tried to heal her Mom or raise her after she died.

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A HULLO and shout out to fellow Xena forum old-timer, WolfB8 (at least I [i:b1f9a1367f]hope[/i:b1f9a1367f] you are one and the same *G*). It's good to see you here.

Peace on ya!
Former NutForum old-timer,
Kieli

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"My heart doesn't stutter."--Amber in WBB

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quote:

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Originally posted by Naturegal:
The one scene that stays in my mind is in Forever when Tara leaked that she knew where the resurrection spells were in the book, but wouldn't tell Willow why.

With all her wisdom about "healing spells gone bad" and her respect for Wicca philosophy about messing with the dead, it's always made me wonder if Tara tried to heal her Mom or raise her after she died.

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I think it's possible she did try to raise her mother, but in that scene in Forever- Tara did *NOT* refuse to tell Willow anything. Tara mentions that the book references specific ressurection spells and potions (She knows this cause she's read the book, as has Willow, who knew to point this book out to Dawn)

Willow asks "Hey, how'd *she* (as in Dawn, NOT Tara) know that?

Tara realizes, I think, that Willow's hiding something, but she puts the issue aside, saying that how Dawn knew wasn't important right then, they needed to warn Buffy.

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Tracy

Hear that Baby? You're my always.

I

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I heard it as "how'd you know that" and then Tara said she didn't know. But you're right, the shooting script says "she."

Thanks for pointing that out!

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What stuck out for me in [i:bd4e0395b5]Forever[/i:bd4e0395b5] was that in the scene as shot you'd think Tara actually believed Willow. And...well...Will's the worst liar ever

The only theories I have about Tara's mother's death are weird and twisted (and I'm thinking my mind is a weird and horrible place.) And also very unlikely so I'm not going to scare you all by sharing them I do think it's unlikely that Tara tried to raise her mother though. She was just [i:bd4e0395b5]too[/i:bd4e0395b5] against it, and for such good reasons that I don't think she would have tried it. Also, if she had done it and really wanted to talk Dawn out of it wouldn't she have talked about her own experience and showed Dawn what a mistake it was?

Wonko

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The Miss Kitty Fantastico Appreciation Society - where it's all Miss Kitty all the time!

I

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The one scene that keeps nagging at me is during "The Body," where there's a slow push in on Tara's face while Xander is saying "They should've checked her over, they should've had her in!" (In reference to Joyce's care at the doctors' hands.)

While Xander's saying all this, Tara looks worried, almost haunted. Combined with her later response to Buffy's question "Was it sudden?" I tend to think that maybe Mrs. Maclay died of a combination of natural and supernatural causes.

I just really hope we find out more about her, because what we know so far is just so tantalizing . . .

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"Oh, baby, want me to rub your tummy? She likes it when I . . . stop explaining things."
-- Tara, "The Body"

"No, she likes what I do . . . I think she likes what she's doing."
-- Gabrielle, "A Day in the Life"

I

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i'm studying mythology in my first period english class, and i know that it doesn't sounds WT related, but here's my theory: When the "hero" trys to find their respective parent(s), it's really a journey to find themselves, because parents are like older versions of the children. so i think that when the scoobs end up finding out about tara's mom, it won't be so much about her mom as it will be about tara. but that's just a opinion from a silly student, lol! . i deffinatley think we need more taracentricisim though, ok i'm done

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Purple Monkey Dishwasher

[This message has been edited by littlekitty (edited May 18, 2001).]

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HI Kieli! Yep I am indeed one of the original Nutforumers! How ya been? It's nice to see a familiar face!

WOW I hadn't even thought of Tara trying that spell! But now that it's been mentioned it does make sense, especially because Tara was adamant about not doing it and the consequences. Sounds like she knew what she was talking about. Oh great now I REALLY want them to do an episode about Tara's Mom, if only to find out if Tara had first hand knowledge about ressurection spells!

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Willow: We can come by between classes. Usually I use that time to copy over my class notes with a system of different colored pens, but it's been pointed out to me that that's, you know, insane.

Tara: I said "quirky".

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - "Triangle"

I

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quote:

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Originally posted by fell:
For all we know, they kept her locked in the attic like Mrs. Rochester (Jane Eyre).

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This thought occurred to me to fell. Funny how I was in a 'Bertha' frame of mind for Tara's mum. I can't imagine her having anything but a horrid life with Mr MacClay, and that oaf of a son. Thank God she must have found solace in little Tara...

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"It doesn't matter, really, if I don't see Willow tonight, she knew. Willow was in her life, for keeps. That was what mattered." ~ Tara, Unseen: The Burning

I

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Well see now I'm wondering why if Tara's Mom was a powerful witch she didn't just turn her butthead of a husband into a frog or something? Or why she even married him, she MUST have known before they got married how he felt about magic and stuff. And even if she didn't afterwards the subject would have come up and then why didn't she leave him?

OH and one more question is Donny older or younger then Tara? I thought he was older when I watched Family but then in Tough Love when Tara said she had to look after her brother when their Mom died it sounded like he was younger.

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Willow: We can come by between classes. Usually I use that time to copy over my class notes with a system of different colored pens, but it's been pointed out to me that that's, you know, insane.

Tara: I said "quirky".

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - "Triangle"

I

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Donnie is older than Tara.

From Family:

Donnie: What's the matter? Don't you have a hug for your big brother?

From Tough Love:

Tara: I had to deal with my brother's problems after...

So it wasn't that she had to take care of him, just that she had to deal with him.

D

[This message has been edited by GODisTigger (edited May 19, 2001).]

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I can definitely see Tara's mom as the Madwoman in the Attic...with all that that implies literarily. It is so a word. And it's seeming more and more likely that she suffered from some mental affliction--this could explain why Mr. Maclay was able to convince Tara that the demon legend was true, why Mrs. Maclay's death was both sudden and not, why Tara was so freaked by the notion of being brainsucked...am I missing anything out?

quote:

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Originally posted by WOLFB8:
Well see now I'm wondering why if Tara's Mom was a powerful witch she didn't just turn her butthead of a husband into a frog or something? Or why she even married him, she MUST have known before they got married how he felt about magic and stuff. And even if she didn't afterwards the subject would have come up and then why didn't she leave him?

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Good questions all, and ones I hope we get answers to eventually. Something that I think is important to note about Mr. Maclay: he may have been a dick, but he was not sadistic or cruel. I think he honestly believed that he was doing the right thing by Tara. Yes, he was hopelessly deluded and thinking like a gorilla in believing so...but in his way he loves Tara. And I think that Tara's mom probably loved him...lord knows women do some crazyass shit when they're in love with a man. Any episode of Oprah will tell you that.

And it says so much about Tara that she was able to love herself--and oh yeah, Willow--enough to break free from the stranglehold that her family had on her. *sigh* I love that girl.

I

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quote:

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Originally posted by Dazey:
...lord knows women do some crazyass shit when they're in love with a man. Any episode of Oprah will tell you that.

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And for those women in love with their daughter's ex-boyfriend's brother who likes to wear tutus and dog collars, just watch Springer.

D

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LOL Dazey and GODisTigger, you make a nice team.

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Probably something in that NJ water. Must be, because it always has a funny taste. Blech!

D

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