The_Master

History
The Master, Heinrich Joseph Nest (his name was mentioned in the script of the pilot episode), arrived in America in the 1930s. We know little more of his history before this, apart from his possible age of about 600 years.

He came to Sunnydale planning to open the Hellmouth to release demons (�the Old Ones�), but in 1937 an earthquake destroyed much of the town, trapping him in underground in an old church.

He attempts to escape in �The Harvest� when Luke (as �The Vessel�) begins to kill lots of people in the Bronze. Buffy stakes him so the Master remains trapped

He does appear above ground in �Nightmares� when Buffy�s nightmare is revealed that he made her a vampire & so was able to escape.

In the Finale of Season One he fulfils the prophecy written in the Pergamum Codex by killing the Slayer which enables him to open the Hellmouth & arise to the surface.

In �The Wish�, Cordelia�s wish that the Slayer had never come to Sunnydale is granted by Anyanka, a vengeance demon. In this alternate reality the Master rules & actually kills Buffy when she does arrive, after Giles sends a desperate request to her Watcher.

In Angel Season Two �Darla�, some of Darla�s history is revealed. The Master appears in this episode showing how he sired Darla in Virginia colony in 1609.

Outcome
Buffy staked him in �Prophecy Girl� (the Season Finale) by throwing him through the skylight in the roof of the Library. He landed on a broken part of a table & was staked. He didn�t turn to dust though, like other vampires, his bones remained intact at the end of Season One.

In the first episode of Season Two, �When She Was Bad�, Absolom & Colin attempted to resurrect him but were thwarted by Buffy who then destroyed the Master�s bones with a hammer/mallet thingie.