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Season 5, Episode 22
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by Joss Whedon
Original Airdate: 21 May 2001
"Dawn, listen to me, listen. I love you. I
will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell
Giles-tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my
friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each
other. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world… is to live in it. Be brave.
Live… for me."
Buffy
REGULAR CAST
GUEST CAST
CO-STARRING
SYNOPSIS
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In an alleyway, a young teen runs from a vampire,
but Buffy intervenes. Buffy slays him, leaving the teen questioning how
a simple girl could do that. Inside the magic shop, Buffy demands that
Giles repeat the process of the ritual as she desperately seeks out
another option other than killing Dawn. Giles has a more realistic look
at the situation than Buffy and knows killing Dawn is the only option.
Buffy's bond with Dawn is too strong for Buffy to be willing to allow
Dawn to die.
The gang brainstorm for a way to defeat Glory and Anya suggests using
the Dagon Sphere and Olaf's hammer. Then, they realize that Tara's
craziness can lead them to Glory. Ben offers a ritual robe to Dawn to
wear, but she doesn't want to look at him and demands Glory's presence.
Glory throws Dawn around as she reminds her that Buffy hasn't shown up
yet to rescue her.
Buffy brutally hits a punching bag then talks with Giles about the
upcoming battle and their differing opinions. Buffy tells him that she's
not able to sacrifice another person to save the world... she can't do
it again. Dawn screams as minions take her up to the top of a giant
tower. Xander attempts to calm Anya by having sex in the shop basement
when they're supposed to be looking for the Dagon Sphere. They spot the
BuffyBot down there in their search and then Xander pulls out a ring and
proposes to Anya. She freaks out a bit, worried that he's doing it
because they're going to die, but he convinces her to accept.
Willow explains her ideas to Buffy about possibly weakening Glory and
getting Tara's sanity back by reversing the effects of Glory's brain
suck. Willow goes to comfort Tara, but is met with a slap and an angry,
senseless reply, which Tara immediately feels guilty for. Buffy brings
Spike with her to gather clothes and weapons from her house, and she
invites him inside. He tells her he understands she never returned his
love, but he accepts that now and appreciates the way she always treated
him.
Tara leads the way to Glory as the gang follows slowly behind. Glory
catches Tara but Willow shows up, and casts her magic. Glory is
debilitated and in need of a brain to suck, so Buffy is there to offer
hers. A huge battle ensues as the gang takes on Glory's minions and
Buffy battles with Glory. Dawn remains helpless, tied up at the top of
the tower.
Willow recovers and goes to Tara, pleased to find that Tara is back to
her normal self again. Glory recovers enough strength in order to knock
Buffy's head off, but she finds that Buffy is actually the BuffyBot. The
real Buffy attacks Glory from behind with the troll hammer. Spotting
Dawn at the top, Buffy races to the top of the tower, fighting a fierce
battle against Glory on the way up. The girls fall down from the tower
and the fight continues on the ground.
As Buffy keeps Glory busy, a new complication arises as Doc appears at
the top of the tower, armed with a knife. Willow uses telepathic powers
to tell Spike to get up to the top of the tower and save Dawn. Willow
and Tara use their combined strength to move the minions out of Spike's
way. Doc stabs Spike with the knife before throwing him off the top of
the tower. Buffy hits Glory repeatedly with the troll hammer, until
Glory morphs into Ben and Buffy tells him and Glory to stay away
forever. Buffy leaves, but Giles arrives, telling Ben that Buffy
couldn't take a human life, but he could. He smothers Ben with his hand.
Doc places cuts into Dawn's skin until Buffy arrives at the top of the
tower and pushes him off to fall to his death. Dawn's blood has already
opened the portal and Hell begins to open on earth. Dawn is willing to
jump in the portal herself, but Buffy finally realizes that Dawn isn't
the only one who can stop the dimensional walls from crumbling. With
final inspiring words to Dawn, Buffy throws herself into the portal,
successfully closing it.
The gang gathers around Buffy's body, which has fallen to the ground and
remains lifeless. Tears fall and hearts break as everyone mourns the
loss of Buffy, the girl who put her life on the line and saved the
world.. Later, somewhere in a secluded are, she's laid to rest with a
fitting epitaph on her tombstone.
BUFFY ANNE SUMMERS. 1981-2000. BELOVED SISTER. DEVOTED
FRIEND. SHE SAVED THE WORLD. A LOT.
TRIVIA
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Sarah Michelle Gellar told the BBC about
when she found out that her character would die: "I've actually known
the [plot of the] entire last season for about three years. There was a
dream sequence that Buffy had - I think it was year three - with Faith.
Faith had a riddle, and it was something like "Little Miss Muffet,
sitting on her tuffet, counting down from whatever the numbers were,"
and I went to Joss to ask what it meant. That's when he explained to me
that I was going to have a sister, that Dawn, the character of Dawn,
would be coming on the show. I think that's exactly when I became aware
also of what the future plans were, for the big surprise that we're not
mentioning. So I think that was when I found out."
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The inscription on Buffy's grave stone
reads: Buffy Anne Summers; 1981 - 200; Beloved Sister; Devoted Friend;
She saved the world; A lot.
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At the beginning of most Buffy
episodes, we see a recap of previous events. To celebrate it being the
100th, this episode begins with a montage of at least one clip from each
of the previous 99 episodes.
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It was rumoured that the entire town of
Sunnydale would be sucked into the Hellmouth in this episode. Marti
Noxon revealed in an interview with the BBC that, "Originally Joss’s
plan was that at the end of season five, Sunnydale was going to get
sucked into the Hellmouth and that was going to be the end of it." This
actually occurred in the show's final episode,
Chosen. Other rumours for this
season included: Xander being Glory's other half instead of Ben; the
entire cast of Angel to be in the episode; Willow becoming evil
after Tara dies, joining forces with Glory, and bleeding Dawn; and Seth
Green and Robia LaMorte appearing in the episode.
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This episode was the last original
episode to air on the WB, and it was promoted as the "series finale" and
not the "season finale". The final two seasons of Buffy aired on
UPN.
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Buffy fans who hate spoilers found
it hard to escape details of this episode. In the UK, a national
newspaper ran a Buffy Dies article, and Sky One, the channel which airs
the show first in the UK, kept showing shots of Buffy's grave.
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Joss Whedon says about this episode, "The
Gift was our 100th episode and just a monster shoot and had to be big.
We had to kill Buffy...." On Sarah Michelle Gellar's reaction to Buffy's
death, he says, "they just sort of take the scripts, they go "Gulp" and
learn the words. I did tell her somewhat beforehand, so she wasn't like
"huh?", but she had a 7 year contract, she knew she wasn't going
anywhere and she'd died once already, so I think she felt fairly safe."
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Joss teased fans at the Nocturnal N3K
Buffy convention by claiming that he'd planned to kill Anya during
this episode. He said the only reason she survived was that Emma
Caulfield kept moving in all the footage he shot of Nicholas Brendon
holding her at the end. Anya dies in
Chosen.
CONTINUITY
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Buffy has tried to come to terms with
killing a loved before: Angel in
Becoming (Part 2). The same problem comes up again when Anya returns
to her vengeance demon roots in season seven.
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Xander suggests joining essences like
they did with the First Slayer ritual in
Primeval.
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Anya suggests the Dagon Sphere as a
weapon, which was found in No Place Like
Home. She also suggests Olaf's hammer, which the Scooby Gang
acquired in
Triangle.
Spike comments that its too heavy to pick up, which he tried in
Blood Ties.
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The BuffyBot, created in
Intervention,
is used as a decoy in the battle with Glory.
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Anya's bunny fear, which was first
mentioned in Fear, Itself, makes a
comeback as she compares it to their impending doom.
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Buffy reminds Willow that magic has been
used to keep Glory in check in
Blood Ties,
Tough Love
and
Spiral.
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Willow blocked Spike from the Summers
house in
Crush.
It's reversed here when Spike is invited in.
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Buffy and Giles notes that this is at
least the sixth apocalypse for them. It's actually the seventh if you
count Prophecy Girl,
Innocence,
Becoming (Part 1) and
(Part 2),
The Zeppo,
Graduation Day (Part 1) and
(Part 2) and
Doomed.
GOOFS
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Why do the Scoobies provide a gravestone
for Buffy if they wanted her death kept quiet?
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When Murk says "This will be our day of
Glory!" You can see the padding on his chest, ready for when he gets
shot with a crossbow.
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When the camera pulls away from Buffy and
Dawn, we can see that Dawn's feet have no blood on them, though there
was blood all over them earlier.
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When Spike's stuntman falls from the tower,
his shoes are white, but Spike's shoes are black. The stuntman also wore
blue jeans, but Spike's jeans are black.
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We see a shot of Spike fighting two of
Glory's minions. Then we see another shot of exactly the same thing
happening.
Buffy Vs.
Dracula | Real Me |
The Replacement |
Out of My Mind |
No Place Like
Home
Family |
Fool for Love |
Shadow | Listening to Fear |
Into the Woods |
Triangle
Checkpoint
| Blood Ties |
Crush | I Was Made to Love You |
The Body |
Forever
Intervention
| Tough Love |
Spiral | The Weight of the World |
The Gift
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