Glory's history

[litzie]

As I've been rewatching season five, I've been thinking more about Glory and her history and powers. What we know about her is that she's a god from a demon dimension, that her fellow gods kicked her out, and that she's been trying to get back to her dimension using the Key. The monks hid the key, the knights tried to destroy it...all this through a significant swathe of history, so much so that she barely shows up in Giles books, she's too old. So, here's my question - what was Glory doing this whole time? Ben is obviously mortal, so it's not like she was trapped in his body this whole time. Is she genetic? Passed on from parent to child? Is she only really active when there is a chance to use the key (stars aligning or whatever)? Or does she get born into a new human every time her old one dies? In which case...(though obviously not intended by the writers) how do we know she died with Ben?

[holypotatoes]

I always took it as she got kicked out of her dimension around the same time as the end of season 4. I don't think she was in Ben since he was born I think that happened when he was an adult. I'm not sure if they ever addressed this during the season on whether or not they were always together, I assumed not. If she was really inside him since he was born than she would've been trying to get back to her dimension a lot sooner. Maybe she was bouncing around to different dimensions and just happened onto this one where she was then forced into Ben's body because she seemed like she was new to this dimension.

[kana]

I think she was in Ben his whole life because Ben actually said, he's had to clean up Glory's mess, his whole damn life. I'm not sure but I think Ben was created as a vessel for Glory.

[litzie]

I think she was in Ben his whole life because Ben actually said, he's had to clean up Glory's mess, his whole damn life. I'm not sure but I think Ben was created as a vessel for Glory.

That makes sense thematically to me (with ben as Dawn's opposite), but if that were the case, when did the monks and the knights get set up as organizations? From what we know about them, they've been around for a longass time...meaning to me, that Glory has too.

[BlasterBoy]

I always took in the way holypotatoes did. But, you're right, Ben did say that, but he might have been over exaggerating. We don't know, but I thought those knights were modern day and she was kicked out in Season 4ish time.

[kana]

I Glory also said she's been waiting 'in this skin' for 25 years, about as old as Ben would be. So I think all evidence seems to point to that she was with Ben his whole life.

[Wolfie Gilmore]

As I've been rewatching season five, I've been thinking more about Glory and her history and powers. What we know about her is that she's a god from a demon dimension, that her fellow gods kicked her out, and that she's been trying to get back to her dimension using the Key. The monks hid the key, the knights tried to destroy it...all this through a significant swathe of history, so much so that she barely shows up in Giles books, she's too old.

Perhaps she hasn't been to our dimension for a while but people haven't forgotten her? So, way back at the dawn of history, she made a trip to our dimension and kicked some cave-monk ass, then went back home...and people have kept her memory alive and hoped one day to destroy her, even though she wasn't around. Then when she was kicked out of her hell dimension 25 years ago, she was born/deposited on someone's doorstep in Ben's body?

[Illyrian]

I saw it as Glory was sent here by two other Hell-gods from another dimension. How the watchers council came up where she came from, who sent her and why is anybody's guess. For some reason or other I took it that Ben was always that age. If Glory had only been around for 25 years but Illyria had been in the greater well for eon's, I'd guess that time ran at a different speed on their home planet.
I took The Knights of Byzantium to be part of God's army of good, 'cos they said several times 'Let Gods will be done' which to me indicated that they merely saw Glory as the latest threat to God's will.
Where did the name Byzantium come from? was it anything to do with the City of Byzantium, now Istanbul? What ever the reason I don't think they were mutually exclusive.
How did the pot-faced mini-monks with brain damage know about The Knights? maybe Glory read about them somewhere and told them.

[ThePoet's<3]

I just finished watching S5 as well and I tried very hard to pay attention to the interaction between Ben and Glory. I'm still a bit confused!! And to our defense - it was pretty "murky" in the explanation department...

She did say she had waited 25 years in his body. And I believe they were like the opposite sides of a coin. Which is why no one could figure out in the beginning except Dawn and Spike that Ben was Glory and Glory was Ben. (Remember the whole, "Ben is Glory?" "Glory is Ben?" montage??)

But I can't remember a clear explaination of where she had been before Ben was born.

[Illyrian]

Spike said that it was only the humans that couldn't remember the Ben to Glory thing, him being not human, he was exempt. Dawn was made a human ( by the Monks of Dagon ) and as such she was included in not the remembering thing, as in the chat with Ben ( Dawn remembered Buffy telling her that marshmellows were monkey brains ) at the hospital.