The exact dialogue is GILES: (reads from book) "The blood flows, the gates will open. The gates will close when it flows no more." (removes his glasses) "When Dawn is dead."
He's quoting in the first part, not quoting after he removes his glasses. The text doesn't say that she must be dead, that's Giles' interpretation, and to me it doesn't follow from the text at all. 'When it flows no more' just means 'when she stops bleeding'; after all, 'the blood flows' doesn't mean 'when she comes to life' so why should the stopping mean that she dies?
Stories in which Dawn's bleeding is stopped non-fatally are not uncommon - in one, I remember, a styptic pencil is used - and I've never ever seen anyone in comments or reviews complaining about this not being a valid interpretation. It's just one instance among many of Joss being scientifically illiterate, and not concerned with the internal logic behind the story he wants to tell, and ending up not saying what he means.
The worst example, of course, is the song 'I've Got A Theory' where 'theory' is used to mean 'wild guess with no supporting evidence'. I blame Joss for the Creationists' 'It's only a theory' attack on Evolution as this inaccurate usage of the word was nothing like as widespread before 'Once More With Feeling' aired (and, as Season 8 showed, Joss is himself a Creationist with no understanding of Evolution).
no subject
GILES: (reads from book) "The blood flows, the gates will open. The gates will close when it flows no more." (removes his glasses) "When Dawn is dead."
He's quoting in the first part, not quoting after he removes his glasses. The text doesn't say that she must be dead, that's Giles' interpretation, and to me it doesn't follow from the text at all. 'When it flows no more' just means 'when she stops bleeding'; after all, 'the blood flows' doesn't mean 'when she comes to life' so why should the stopping mean that she dies?
Stories in which Dawn's bleeding is stopped non-fatally are not uncommon - in one, I remember, a styptic pencil is used - and I've never ever seen anyone in comments or reviews complaining about this not being a valid interpretation. It's just one instance among many of Joss being scientifically illiterate, and not concerned with the internal logic behind the story he wants to tell, and ending up not saying what he means.
The worst example, of course, is the song 'I've Got A Theory' where 'theory' is used to mean 'wild guess with no supporting evidence'. I blame Joss for the Creationists' 'It's only a theory' attack on Evolution as this inaccurate usage of the word was nothing like as widespread before 'Once More With Feeling' aired (and, as Season 8 showed, Joss is himself a Creationist with no understanding of Evolution).