Joyce Summers
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Joyce Summers is a fictional character from the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
She is the mother of the title character. She works at an art gallery in Sunnydale, having moved there from Los Angeles after her divorce.
Joyce Summers was played by Kristine Sutherland, who did not appear in the opening credits as a series regular, but was billed as a recurring guest-star.
Joyce Summers died in Season 5, at the end of the episode "I Was Made To Love You", presumably from natural causes. However, her death from brain cancer occurred in the same season that she was dealing with implanted memories Dawn Summers. This timing, and her behavior in those episodes, creates some ambiguity as to whether her disease, or symptoms from it, were related to Dawn's new presence in her life. For instance, in one episode Joyce stared at Dawn and said "who are you? I don't know you" before fainting. This could be interpreted in several possible ways: as Joyce's original memories breaking through, a brief moment of clarity induced by her disease; merely as a symptom of her brain cancer; or as the heightened recognition of Dawn's supernatural origins that was induced by madness.
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