Mrs. Gwendolyn Post was a Watcher supposedly sent by the Watchers Council to train Faith Lehane and also report on the performance of Rupert Giles. She was portrayed by Serena Scott Thomas.
Biography
Arriving in Sunnydale shortly after Faith, Mrs. Post claims she has been sent to the Hellmouth under orders from the Watcher's Council not only to act as Faith's Watcher, but to report back on Buffy Summers and her own Watcher, Rupert Giles, claiming the Council was becoming worried he might have been losing focus on the mission.
Post treats Giles with contempt and criticizes him for being inefficient, having no control over his charge and his incomplete collection of books. Her caustic style badgers others into submission and stops them from examining her closely.
Mrs. Post also warns Giles and Buffy of the Glove of Myhnegon, a magical glove of metal thousands of years old that contained dangerous power, which is being sought by a demon known as Lagos, who is on his way to Sunnydale to claim the artifact, and orders Faith to stop him. However, Faith isn't able to kill the demon. Buffy succeeds in slaying Lagos.
Gwendolyn Post then reveals her true agenda: acquiring the Glove for herself. Mrs. Post learns that the Glove is being kept in Angel's mansion. She attacks Giles, knocking him unconscious before he can perform the Living Flame spell that will destroy the glove.
Meanwhile, Faith has been informed by Xander Harris earlier on that Angel is back, that he has the Glove in his power and tells Faith that he has killed people in the past and would do so again unless Faith kills him. Faith takes a number of weapons and sets course for the mansion.
Gwendolyn arrives at Angel's mansion and tells him she has been sent by Giles to make sure he destroys the Glove properly and to supervise the spell, but when Angel's back is turned, she attacks him with a shovel. Upon seeing him in vampire face, she tries to stake him. However, she's no match for him.
Faith walks in just on time to see Gwendolyn lying almost unconscious on the floor before the victorious Angel. Mrs. Post prompts Faith to kill Angel. Faith defeats Angel but is stopped from staking him by Buffy. Gwendolyn tells Faith that Buffy is blinded by her love for Angel and orders Faith to fight her.
With Faith and Buffy engaged in combat. Mrs. Post breaks the wooden chest containing the Glove of Myhnegon open. She puts on the Glove, and its metal talons nail themselves into Gwen's arm. She activates the Glove's power and chides Faith for being an idiot. With the Glove, the rogue Watcher is capable of conjuring bolts of lighting and directing them with the Glove. Her first target is the recently arrived Willow, who is saved by Angel.
Buffy and Faith stop fighting when Mrs. Post attacks. Faith distracts Gwendolyn while Buffy quickly comes to the realization that Post could only be stopped if separated from the Glove. She throws a glass shard at her arm, amputating it. As she had already invoked a bolt of lighting, Gwendolyn Post is incinerated by the massive burst of electricity.
Later in the episode, Giles explains that Gwendolyn had, in fact, been a Watcher, but was fired from the Council position a few years before arriving in Sunnydale for abusing black magic. The Council supposedly issued a memorandum informing all Watchers of Mrs. Post no longer being one of them.
Powers
Thanks to her Watcher training, Gwendolyn had a great knowledge of demonology, the dark arts and mystical artifacts. In fact, her knowledge rivalled and perhaps even surpassed Giles' own.
The fact that she went to such an extreme measure to obtain mystical power - a Glove that she would never be capable of removing - indicates Gwendolyn's extreme lust for power and perhaps an inability to manipulate other dark forces through witchcraft.
Once the Glove is in her power, Gwendolyn creates an electrical storm and summons bolts of lightning through a Gaelic summoning. The lighting strikes the Glove itself and is then directed by pointing in the desired direction.
Trivia
- Mrs. Post was created by the writers of the show to strengthen Faith's failing belief in trusting people, having been betrayed by a woman that had taken the role of a mother figure and praised her for her strength, and then by Buffy when she saved Angel, an evil Vampire in her mind, from certain death.
- The fact that she introduces herself as Mrs. indicates that she might have been married. Another possibility is that she prefers to be called Mrs. instead of Miss to assert a stronger and more dominant role, which better suits her personality and intentions. It's also worth noting that under strict British tradition, the formal use of the name 'Mrs. Gwendolyn Post' would imply that she is actually divorced; if she were still married, she would be 'Mrs. John Post', or similar.