Oh, thank you for your praise, as well as the bit of character analysis.

Personally, I feel that Giles's sense of duty was fractured when Buffy died. And that changed him. In my mind, he's damn lucky there were those who wouldn't let him destroy himself. I guess the great irony is that Ethan would be the one with strength and nobility. As for the unintentional coming out, I'm rather pleased that Ethan deflected Buffy's need to know exactly how Giles self-identifies. I believe that Ethan thought that conversation would be appropriate only between Watcher and Slayer.

BTW, your icon is so ... so .... ::is speechless::
But, hey, I certainly DO acknowledge those roots!