Farewell to Dawn

Probably one of the most well-known quotes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, these words were spoken by the title character at the end of the season 5 finale, “The Gift,” before she plunges to her death to close a portal that would bring hell on earth, and saves her younger sister, Dawn, from that same fate. Earlier this week, the news that the actress who had portrayed the teenage Dawn, Michelle Trachtenberg, had died unexpectedly at age 39, rocked the world of Buffy fandom. Indeed, the day after Trachtenberg’s death was announced, the show’s star, Sarah Michelle Gellar (SMG), used these words on a touching Instagram post paying tribute to her friend and onscreen sister, reversing the roles and saying “I will live. For you.”

As my readers, and most of my friends, know, I am a forever Buffy fan who watched the show from the beginning and was one of the first wave of academic writers who focused on the show as an object of critical study. When the revelations about Joss Whedon emerged, I struggled with my deep fandom, but ultimately stayed loyal to the show itself and its characters, if not its problematic creator.

Having had to settle for various uneven runs on different comic imprints to keep my Buffy connection going (I still haven’t listened to the Audible series that came out two years ago), I was thrilled to hear the announcement that an official continuation of the story was in the works, with SMG involved, but thankfully, not Whedon. With this announcement came the speculation: who would be involved? Would certain actors decline because of Whedon’s absence? Were David Boreanaz (Angel) and James Marsters (Spike) too old? Would Eliza Dushku (Faith) come out of retirement? How would Dawn be involved, if at all? Sadly, Trachtenberg’s absence will certainly weigh heavy on any resurrection of the Vampire Slayer mythos.

But far beyond my interest in the franchise, I was personally rocked by the news on many levels. For many audiences, we watched Ms. Trachtenberg grow up on our screens. From playing Iggy Pop’s young daughter in the strange Nickelodeon show, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, a role in All My Children, the daytime soap that also launched Gellar’s career, to fan favorite Harriet the Spy, she was a precocious young actress who took on interesting roles. Later generations knew her from Gossip Girl, Eurotrip, and Ice Princess. I had to be reminded that she had a supporting role alongside Joseph Gordon-Leavitt in Gregg Araki poignant but disturbing Mysterious Skin (2004), a film I loved not least because of its soundtrack by ambient piano legend Harold Budd and Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie. Needless to say, everyone had a personal touchstone that they associate with Ms. Trachtenberg.

For me, of course, that touchstone was Dawn. Not every Buffy fan’s favorite character (indeed, when there was a brief Rocky Horror-esque theatrical run of the Buffy musical, “Once More with Feeling,” a favorite audience line was “shut up, Dawn!”), Trachtenberg nevertheless embodied the awkward young teen archetype, struggling to find her way in an environment of magical and super-powered beings. Ironically, though powerless herself, Dawn was a being created by magic. And that odd, magical quality is something that stays with me as I think about the importance of that character in the mythos.

Predicted as early as the end of season 3 by Faith’s references to “Little Miss Muffet,” Dawn didn’t appear on the show until the second episode of season 5. A walking retcon, she was created by monks to hide the mystical “Key” that could open the portal to a hell dimension. That dimension was home to the preternatural “goddess,” Glory, the “big bad” of season 5, portrayed in all her vanity and fashion sense by Clare Kramer. It is Glory’s relentless search for the Key that underlines the action of season 5, along with the discovery by Buffy and the gang that all their memories of Dawn growing up with them were implanted by magic and that Dawn herself wasn’t a “real” being. Of course, it is Buffy’s personal journey as an older sister and caregiver where she realizes that “real” or not, her feelings for her sister are real, and she will protect her with her life, which is exactly what she does.

I think there’s something to that theme of the retcon reality, that the characters on the show all have false memories of Dawn, as always being part of their lives. As fans who mourn the death of a beloved celebrity actor, we have memories of Dawn and the rest of the Scoobies being an intimate part of our lives, even though those memories aren’t “real.” Further, Dawn’s presence in season 5 as a source of light, is strongly contrasted by the negative space left by the death of Joyce Summers, the girls’ mother, towards the end of that season. In “The Body,” arguably Whedon’s strongest and most intensely written episode, we see Dawn tracing that negative space in an art class, when she receives the news that her mother has unexpectedly died, and we see her collapse through a window without a word of dialogue. As a depiction of grief, loss, and shock, that moment, among many others in that episode, haunts me as I think about Trachtenberg’s untimely death.

Though I was a few years off from being old enough to be her father, I absolutely understood the paternal and parental attitudes most of the characters had towards Dawn, especially Giles, Spike (who lovingly referred to her as “Little Bit,” and “Niblet.”) Like many, I was somewhat creeped out by Whedon’s decision to have an adult Dawn in a romantic relationship with Xander, who many viewers saw as a Whedon surrogate, in the comics. This was compounded by Trachtenberg’s comments about the Joss Whedon controversy in 2021, calling out his “very not appropriate behavior” towards her on set and revealed an unspoken rule that she was never to be left alone with him.

While Dawn had many great moments later in the show, such as her Persephone-inspired dance with Sweet the demon in the “Once More with Feeling” musical, and her selfless support of the potential slayers in season seven, it is that 5th season arc that stays with me. Dawn’s realization of her true nature, Buffy and the Scoobies reaffirming her place in their family, even after they learn the truth about her, and her relationship with Joyce, are all important parts of the story. But it is Buffy’s final sacrifice that stands the test of time.

Dawn is made from Summers’ blood and that blood is the conduit for the Key’s mystical energy, which opens the portal to hell. Even though Glory is defeated, only Summers blood will close it. While the moment between the two of them is not heard by the audience, the compelling lines that started this piece are actually heard in voice over, lending even more importance. With Buffy’s sacrifice, she fulfills the promise of the First Slayer at the end of the previous season when she prophetically tells Buffy: “Death is your gift.” Of course, Buffy is cruelly resurrected and pulled from heaven in the following season, revealed in the season 6 musical episode. Then, it is Dawn that repeats the line “the hardest thing in the world is to live in it” back to Buffy, adding resonance, as Buffy struggles to adjust to the mundanities of life in a cruel world, after already earning her eternal reward.

As we mourn the untimely passing of our beloved Dawnie, it is ok to acknowledge the impact that Tractenberg’s characters had on us. In the realm of popular occulture, connecting with magical themes allows us to unpack those feelings in the context of our own development and our own awkward and painful teen years. For genre fans, these connections to beloved concepts and characters may indeed be The Key to living in this world.