New and updated entries marked with **NEW!!** so you can use the 'Find' feature to pick them out.

This time, there's a lot of them - many shows were rearranged to fit with Tara's birthday.

2000

August 21 - 23
Buffy comes face-to-face with the legendary Dracula, who makes Buffy face up not only to her Slayer heritage, but her actions since the gang performed the spell and brought forth the first Slayer. Xander becomes Dracula's slave, luring Buffy to his mansion. After a fierce battle, Drac is defeated but not permanently. Buffy tells Giles that she wants to learn what it really means to be a Slayer and that she wants him to be her Watcher again, then her and Riley plan on going to the movies. It would be almost the perfect end to a perfect day, except as she gets ready to go out for the night, Buffy's mom tells her to take her little sister, Dawn, with her.
"Buffy vs. Dracula"

August 30 - September 1
Buffy is trying to get into full Slayer training mode, not easy while also babysitting Dawn.
Dawn tags along with Buffy and Giles to the magic shop in Giles' new BMW. Willow and Tara join them just in time to find out the store has been ransacked and the latest owner, Mr. Bogarty, killed. They make Dawn wait outside while they investigate. She's accosted by a crazy man who tells her she doesn't belong. Tara goes out to keep her company while Giles, Willow and Buffy look around. While checking the paperwork to try and determine what was taken, Giles realizes how much money there is to be made in the shop, assuming he's not killed. They also discover a cheap unicorn statue was taken. Turns out it was Harmony's "minions" - Brad (who got the unicorn for Harmony), Cyrus, Peaches and Mort- that attacked the shop. She's out to be a full-fledged Slayer-killer. Tara talks with Willow about Dawn and how she feels left out while they're setting up their dorm room for the coming semester. Xander and Anya take Dawn Patrol (meaning, babysitting) while Buffy and Riley do vampire patrol. Harmony and her minions go to Buffy's house to call Buffy out, but of course she's not there. Xander enjoys taunting them from the safety of the doorway and Harmony makes cracks about how easy it was for Dracula to put Xander under his control until Dawn gets mad and yells at Harmony to "come inside and say that!" She does, and after a short struggle with Xander is forced out of the house. Buffy is furious that Dawn slipped and invited a vampire inside, especially Harmony who Buffy wouldn't have had over even when she was alive. While Xander tries to calm Buffy down, and upset Dawn runs out the back door. Anya goes out to bring her back in when Harmony's minions attack. Anya is knocked back into the house and hurt. Dawn is abducted. While Xander and Riley take Anya to the hospital, Buffy goes to Spike to find out where Harmony is hiding. Harmony's minions get tired of her plans and vote (except for Brad who abstains) to kill Harmony, eat Dawn and then deal with Buffy when she shows. Buffy shows sooner than planned, and takes out the minions while Harmony escapes. The next day the gang is in the magic shop, which Giles has decided to take over. It'll give the gang a nice spot to do research and there's even a spot for Buffy to use in back for training.
"The Real Me"

September 19 - 22
The gang are in Xander's basement abode watching bad kung-fu movies when his parents come home and argue quite loudly upstairs.
That's the final straw and the next day, Xander starts apartment hunting. Meanwhile, a demon called Toth is after the Slayer. It shows up at the magic shop as Giles is trying to get stuff sorted out, but leaves when it realizes Buffy isn't there. Giles notes it has an odor and the gang go to the dump to look for its hideout. They find it and during the fight, Xander is hit by a bolt from his staff. While the gang rush to Xander's aid, Toth disappears. Groggy but okay, Xander lets them lead him away.
The next morning at the dump, Xander wakes up from where he was blasted by Toth. When he gets home, his door is locked. He looks in the window and is startled to see...himself! An exact double, only somewhat more neat in appearance, is in his home. Xander follows this double and is distressed to see how well it lives his life. It even gets a promotion at Xander's construction job. Meanwhile, Buffy's mom starts to have headaches, which Buffy and Dawn each blame on the other's actions. Xander watches in dismay as his double not only manages to rent the apartment Xander had been looking at the day before (and can afford now thanks to that promotion) but also has the manager lady coming on to him. Then the double calls Anya and tells her to come over. This is more than Xander can take and he attacks the double. He's promptly knocked flat. He heads to Giles' apartment to get help, but the double has already thought of that and is telling Giles, Buffy and Riley that there's a double out there. Buffy tells the double not to worry. She'll take care of the fiend with Xander's face. Xander high-tails it to Willow and Tara's dorm room. He convinces Willow he's really Xander (not hard since she didn't know there was another Xander around anyway). They decide the blast Toth hit Xander with must've allowed Toth to take Xander's form. Buffy, Giles and Riley come to the same conclusion with the Xander-double. Buffy prepares to go on a search-and-destroy mission for the Xander duplicate. Xander starts to think maybe he should just give up and let the double have his life since everyone is treating it better than they treat him. Then he remembers it had called Anya and he can't let it near her because he needs Anya. He goes to her place but she's already gone, so he digs out her gun. Xander arrives at the new apartment just as Anya and the Xander-double start to get clingy. Willow goes to Giles' and tells them about Xander and they realize that Willow had the real Xander and they had the double. But then Giles realizes that neither of them had a double. He's studied some books and found out that Toth's staff is a ferula-gemina, which splits a person into two distinct personality types - one of the person's strongest traits and one of their weakest. Toth evidently planned to split Buffy and kill the weak one, because once one dies, they both die. Back and the Xander-double's apartment, Anya has sided with strong-Xander, who's ready to kick weak-Xander's tail until weak-Xander pulls a gun. Buffy and the others arrive in time to keep Xander from killing himself, and Toth arrives shortly after that. After a short scuffle, Buffy kills Toth. At the magic shop, Willow does the spell to break Toth's spell, thereby rejoining the Xanders (over Anya's request that they wait until she's had a chance to have sex with the two of them - after all, if they're both Xander it wouldn't be cheating). The next day, the gang helps Xander pack up his stuff - after all, he still has the promotion and the apartment. During a moment alone, Xander and Riley talk with uncommon seriousness. Riley sees how much Anya really digs Xander, and tells Xander how much he's into Buffy but makes the startling announcement: "But she doesn't love me." Xander is speechless.
(Anya is still wearing a sling after her encounter with Harmony's minions in "The Real Me".)
"The Replacement"

October 17 - 19
Buffy's nightly patrol is interrupted by Riley patrolling alone and Spike just causing trouble. Buffy is a little miffed because she doesn't like Riley going out by himself.
The next day Buffy and Willow head to the magic shop where Xander, Anya and Tara are helping Giles get the place ready for a grand re-opening. Giles leads Buffy into the back room where she's tackled. By Riley. Her shock at seeing him is overshadowed by her shock at seeing the room. It's a full-fledged gym for her to train in. Spike's evening of watching Dawson's Creek is interrupted by Harmony who's certain Buffy is after her. In the morning, Joyce is fixing breakfast for herself and Dawn when she suddenly gets dizzy. She looks at Dawn and says "who are you?" before passing out. Dawn dials 911. Buffy and Riley make it to the hospital and Dawn, who introduces them to an intern named Ben. While Buffy talks to Ben, Dawn plays with a stethescope, listening to heartbeats. When she gets to Riley, she hears his heart beating like a jackhammer. A doctor examines Riley and doesn't want him to leave the hospital but can't force him to stay. Buffy is concerned but Riley tells her his heart is just different after all the experiments Prof. Walsh had done on him. The hospital lets Buffy's mom go, so they all go back to the Summers' home. Buffy is still worried about Riley but doesn't know how to get in touch with the government folks who may be able to help until Dawn gives her an idea. She goes to Riley's and picks up the phone. "Riley's in trouble," she says. "He needs help."
The next day while Riley is playing basketball, he's visited by some old Initiative buddies who try and get him to come in for an operation to help undo all that Walsh had done to them. Riley decks them and runs off. They go to Buffy and tell her that she needs to get Riley to the hospital where they have a doctor on call, and get him there FAST. At the magic shop, Buffy is frustrated, not able to find Riley. They decide he may be in the Initiative caves and Buffy goes to Spike since he's so familiar with the caves. While Harmony hides, Buffy lays out the deal to Spike. He gets Riley to the government doctor - she pays him. At the hospital, Dr. Overheiser finally has a patient but not who he expects. Spike and Harmony show up so they can get the doctor to finally get the chip out of Spike's head. Despite the doc's protests that he can't do it, Harmony, still in her 'super-villian' mode, forces him to operate on Spike's brain. Buffy finds Riley in a cave, methodically punching the rock wall and feeling no pain. He doesn't want to undergo the operation because he doesn't want to be normal again. He feels Buffy won't stay with him if he was a regular guy because her last boyfriend (Angel) wasn't exactly Joe Normal either. Buffy convinces Riley that's not the case and that she wasn't with him just because he had super-powers. They go to the hospital and find out that Spike and Harmony have taken the doctor. The doctor says he's done and the chip is out, and just in time as Buffy arrives. Spike attacts her with glee, then reels back in pain. The doc lied. Spike and Harmony head for the hills and Buffy gets the doctor to operate on Riley. Meanwhile - back in his crypt, Spike is visited by Buffy. She's finally going to kill him and he's finally ready for her to do it. He tells her to go ahead and end his torment. She starts to stake him but hesitates. They stare into each others' eyes for a moment before Spike takes her in his arms and they kiss passionately. Spike tells her he loves her. Then wakes up next to Harmony with a start. "Oh god, no," Spike moans.
"Out Of My Mind"

November 3 - 5
After dusting a vampire outside a warehouse, Buffy's caught by a night watchman who tells her to move along and take her glowing ball with her. Buffy doesn't have any idea what it is, but takes it anyway.
The next day, Buffy tries to make her mom breakfast since the doctors still don't know what's wrong with her. Then at the lackluster grand-opening of the Magic Box (Giles' magic store) she puts it to the group to try and find out what it is. They don't know, but it Giles suspects it's paranormal in origin because it's so shiny. Riley suggest they go back out that night but Dawn tells him no, Buffy said Riley couldn't patrol because she's worried about him getting hurt, which doesn't set well with Riley at all. Or Buffy, for that matter. Buffy and Dawn go back home and find Joyce in pain. Buffy heads to the hospital pharmacy and again meets Ben the man-nurse. In the hospital a crazy man is wheeled past on a gurney. It's the night watchman from the night before, when he wasn't crazy. He sees the drugs in Buffy's hand and tells her it doesn't work and that "they come through the family!" Back at the factory, a Czech monk is trying to do a spell with a map of Sunnydale but something is after him. The Beast. The giant steel door is struck repeatedly and finally breaks down. The Beast enters. It's an extremely attractive lady in a tight red dress.
The next day the Magic Box is brimming with customers. Buffy tells the gang what the watchman said, that whatever is wrong with her mom is supernatural and she's going to hunt it down and kill it. The Beast is torturing the monk, looking for the Key, but he won't tell her anything. Anya and Willow end up helping Giles as the Magic Box is being overrun with customers. Anya shows a surprising ability at the cash register and knows her magic stuff so Giles hires her to help out. Anya suggests they try out Cloutier's trance to see spells to find out what's happening to Buffy's mom. Buffy goes home and prepares to get all trance-y, letting Riley light the magick incense and pour the spooky sand so he won't feel cute and weak and kitteny. But the spell has to be done alone so he leaves her, telling her he's okay with not being super-guy anymore. Dawn wants to know what Buffy's doing but Buffy yells at her to go do whatever she wants but just go! Dawn is dejected and goes to her room. Once in a trance state, Buffy goes out and walks around the house and sees her mom going out. Looking for some sign of the magic affecting her mom Buffy sees nothing unusual until a family portrait catches her eye. In the photo of her, Dawn and their mother, Dawn's image is fading in and out. Another photo reveals the same thing. Buffy goes into Dawn's room, and sees it flicker in and out, replaced by an image of the room full of nothing but boxes. Dawn finally gets her attention, asking Buffy what she's doing in her room. "You're not my sister," Buffy realizes. Giles calls, breaking the moment. He tells her the glowing orb is a Dagon Sphere - a protective device to ward off That Which Can Not Be Named. Buffy goes out to check out the factory again and finds Spike outsider her house. He tells her he was just passing by, but after he leaves she notices a dozen or so cigerrette butts behind the tree he was standing at. At the factory, Buffy finds the monk. She starts to free him but the Beast (still looking and acting like Claudia Christain in "Hexed") attacks. Buffy tries to fight but is absolutely no match for the powerful woman, who seems more annoyed by Buffy's punches than anything else. Buffy manages to get the monk free and jumps out the window. The Beast stomps her foot petulantly and brings the whole warehouse down on her head. The monk is half dead. He tells her about the Key - that it's a portal and they have to protect it from the Beast. How it was energy until the monks gave it form and sent it someplace safe. Buffy realizes he's talking about Dawn. The monks invented everyone's memories of Dawn, knowing the Slayer could protect her, since as Dawn she has no power. And as far as Dawn knows, Buffy really is her big sister. Buffy makes it back home and goes to apologize to Dawn for upsetting her. Together, they sit and worry about their mother.
"No Place Like Home"

November 5 - 7
In their dorm room, Tara tells Willow she doesn't feel useful to the group. They wonder if Buffy found out anything at the factory. While at Buffy's house, Buffy tells Giles what she did find out - that Dawn not only isn't her sister but isn't even really human, though she thinks she is. Buffy also tells him about the powerful young woman. They agree to keep Dawn's true nature a secret from the rest. Giles suggests sending Dawn away to Buffy's dad until they deal with the woman, but he's in Spain living with his secretary. At the site of the factory, the woman bursts forth from the ruins. Now she's mad.
Back at UC Sunnydale, the gang helps Buffy pack up her stuff. With Joyce sick and Dawn to take care of, Buffy is moving back home to Revello Drive. Willow reminds the gang to be at the Bronze the next night for Tara's birthday party. At the hospital, intern Ben notes the arrival of another mental patient. Another one with no previous history of trouble. At the Magic Box, while researching the new big evil in town, Xander and Buffy wonder what to do about a gift for Tara, since they really don't feel they know her. Meanwhile, at Spike's crypt, he's having sex with Harmony but thinking about Buffy. Back at the shop, a customer is joking about the gang using the magic stuff to turn folks into frogs when Willow and Tara walk in. Tara stops, stunned. The customer is her brother Donny. And he's not alone. Tara's dad and her cousin Beth are in town too for the birthday. Buffy goes home and stops Dawn from going out across the street to Melinda's. Riley gets upset with Buffy for not letting him get involved with what's going on and leaves in a huff. At the dorm, Tara goes to her room only to be surprised by her dad, early for their afternoon meeting. He's come to take her home. He'd hoped she'd dropped the witchcraft but now that she's turning twenty... That's the same age Tara's mother was when... Apparently, it was bad, and now it's going to happen to Tara. He calls it evil and tells her they're taking her home in the morning. The evil woman has a Lei-Ach demon captive and tells it to get it's friends and kill the Slayer. Tara sneaks to the magic shop and performs a spell on the others. Riley is sulking at Willy's. A blond named Sandy sits next to him and he buys her a drink. She offers to go someplace with him, but he tells her he doesn't go out with vampires. At Spike's, Harmony comes in all happy because she's heard about the Lei-Ach demom's quest to kill the Slayer. Spike leaves, telling Harmony that he's going to watch. Cousin Beth confronts Tara and gets mad when Tara says she's not going back home with them. Beth also realizes Tara's done some sort of spell so Willow and the gang won't see what she really is come her birthday. At the Magic Box, the Lei-Ach demon arrives, but thanks to Tara's spell nobody can see it. The demons attack Buffy in the training room, but she can't see it either. Spike arrives and joins in the fight. He can see the demons just fine. Tara arrives and the store and sees what is happening because of her. She quickly does reverses the spell and Buffy takes the demon out. Tara's dad shows up to take Tara away, but she doesn't want to go and the gang stands behind her, because she's family. Tara's dad tells them they'll be sorry because she's evil, but can't tell them what kind of demon she is. Spike gets tired of the arguing and punches Tara, resulting in the chip in his head causing him pain. Nope, Tara's no demon.
The gang celebrate Tara's birthday party at the Bronze.
"Family"

November 15 - 16
Buffy is fighting a vampire in the cemetary (what's new?) when it suddenly gains the upper hand and she finds her stake buried in her own stomach. Luckily Riley shows in time to drive the vampire off and get Buffy back home, where he dresses the wound. They hide it from Buffy's mom, but tell Dawn so she'll help Buffy with the chores until her Slayer-healing powers do their thing. Riley says he'll finish the patrol, but Buffy makes him promise to take the gang with him. It's not the best idea, as Riley tries to be all stealthy and Willow, Anya and Xander totally don't.
At the Magic Box, Buffy wants to research past Slayers to find out what happened to them and why they lost that last fight. Unfortunately there's no details. Giles supposes most Watchers find it too painful and there's no one else left to tell the tale. Except there is, and Buffy goes straight to the source - Spike, who's killed two Slayers on his own. Spike gets Buffy to take him to the Bronze and buy the drinks (and pay him) to tell her how he did it. Riley and the gang find the vamp that nearly killed Buffy. It goes into a crypt and Riley realizes it's a nest. Too many of them. He tells the gang they'll wait until morning when the vamps are sleeping and the gang can be better armed. Meanwhile, Buffy and Spike are playing pool while Spike relates his tale. Riley sneaks back to the crypt without the gang. He stakes the vampire that stabbed Buffy then blows the rest up with a grenade. In the alley beside the Bronze, Spike continues his story as he and Buffy spar. He gets into it, the tension between them increasing as Spike challenges Buffy to a 'dance.' But Buffy tells Spike that he's beneath her, just as Cecily did all those years ago and for a moment, he's not Spike anymore, just lonely, hurt William. The moment passes, and Spike is all murderous rage again. He gets a shotgun and takes off after Buffy. Harmony tries to stop him, reminding about the chip, but he figures while he'll have a headache for a few hours, Buffy will be dead longer. Buffy arrives home to find packing for an extended hospital stay. Turns out the 'nothing' she's been dealing with for the past few weeks might not be nothing after all. Buffy stays brave for her mother, but later goes out and sits on the back step crying. Spike arrives with the shotgun and is ready to kill her but she senses him. Looking at her, sitting alone and crying on the stairs and looking so small, Spike can't bring himself to do it. He sits next to her on the step, hesitantly patting her back to offer some comfort. She lets him, and they sit silently together.
"Fool For Love"

November 17
Buffy and Dawn anxiously wait for Joyce's CAT scan to be done while at the Magic Box the gang are looking over the new phone book with Gile's ad. They also tell Giles about how Riley went back and blew up the vamp nest on his own. They also need to research this mysteriously powerful evil woman and find her lair. Meanwhile, in her lair (which is actually a rather nice apartment) Glorificus - Glory for short - is trying on shoes and talking to a demon named Dreg who's brought her a new spell. All she needs is to pick up a few items from the local magic shop. Riley drops by Buffy's house. The door is slightly open. Inside, he doesn't find Buffy but does find Spike pawing through her stuff. Riley throws Spike out, but not before Spike makes a few comments about how Buffy likes the dangerous type and how much that's not Riley. Spike also happens to know where Buffy is at, a fact she didn't tell Riley. Riley heads to the hospital to check on things. After the CAT scan, Dr. Isaacs wants to operate. They've found a shadow and want to do a biopsy. Researching the woman is going nowhere. Since the Dagon Sphere was created to protect against That Which Can Not Be Named, they begin to wonder if she's so old she predates language. During the researching process, Giles is distracted by customers purchasing items. The doctor finishes the biopsy and while the results aren't in, he tells Buffy that they did find a tumor and it could begin to affect Joyce's behavior. He starts quizzing Buffy on a variety of things but she's having trouble digesting it all. Intern Ben arrives and tells the doc he's needed elsewhere. He's not, but Ben wanted to rescue Buffy. She heads to the magic shop after asking Riley to look after Dawn. At the shop, Anya gets upset because Giles sold someone a Khul's amulet and a Sobekian bloodstone. Giles doesn't see the problem at first. While the Sobakites were an ancient Egyptian cult, heavy into dark magic and the Khul's amulet is a transmogrification conduit, he figures the Sobekian transmogrification spells were lost thousands of years ago. Also, whoever used them would have to be extremely powerful and the young woman he sold them to...then it hits him. Riley takes Dawn to the carousel where she had her tenth birthday party right after they moved to Sunnydale. Dawn talks to Riley about Angel and how Buffy used to cry all the time. How Buffy doesn't get anywhere near as worked up over Riley as she did over Angel. Dawn thinks it's a good thing, but Riley takes it as another sign that their relationship isn't what he'd like it to be. At the shop, Buffy tells the gang she wants to do a spell to heal her mother but Giles tells her it's not really a good idea. And reluctantly, they tell her about selling the magic items to Glory. But they have an idea what she has planned. She's going to create a monster out of a cobra. Glory and Dreg go the zoo for a snake. Buffy arrives but can't stop the spell. Glory pounds her again then sends the new snake-monster on its mission - find the Key - after Buffy staggers off. Buffy goes back to the hospital to be with her mom while Dawn goes to the Magic Box after school and Riley goes back to Willy's and drinks. He's joined by the vampire Sandy again. He goes with her this time, and lets her feed on him for a moment before staking her. Meanwhile, snake-monster is slithering around Sunnydale searching for Dawn. It checks out the churches and other Holy places first, then starts to home in on the Magic Box. It burst in and goes right to Dawn, getting a good look at her before heading back out. Buffy chases the snake down and manages to kill it before it gets back to Glory's place. Buffy takes Dawn to the hospital so Joyce can tell her what's going on. Riley is there (wearing a turtleneck) and wants to comfort Buffy. Wants her to let down her guard but she can't. She goes into her mom's room and shuts Riley out.
"Shadow"

November 19 - 23
Buffy and Dawn are staying with Joyce in the hospital. She's scheduled for surgery in a few days. Xander, Giles and Willow are taking care of the patrolling and fighting vamps. Willow actually manages to stake them both, after a big fight. They wonder where Riley is. He's in some dark warehouse looking place letting some vampire chick drink blood out of his arm. Willow drops by the hospital with gifts and is there when Joyce has a short outburst. Buffy tells her the docs told her to expect such sudden outbursts due to the tumor pressing on her brain. Outside the hospital room, Willow, Dawn and Buffy are accosted by the night watchman from Glory's factory. He's still nuts but his family is taking him home. He sees Dawn and starts raving about no one being in there. Later, Willow is on the dorm roof with Tara star gazing. They see a meteor crash in the woods nearby. The night watchman approaches the crater, still mumbling, and is attacked by something. Then the thing shows up at the hospital where Buffy and Dawn are talking Dr. Kriegel into letting them take Joyce home to rest up before the surgery. He relents. Willow and Tara get Anya, Xander, Giles and Riley to go with them to check out the meteor. They find it a hollow shell and find the guard's body and realize they have something new to worry about. Riley checks out the scene while the others go to do research. Riley calls in his government buddies. In the hospital psychiatric ward, the thing from the meteor attacks one of the patients, spitting goo into his face. The creature watches Buffy and Dawn take Joyce out of the hospital. At home, Joyce keeps having her outbursts and saying nonsense or hurtful things to Buffy and Dawn. They put her to bed, and she again looks at Dawn and calls her a thing and tells her not to touch her. Buffy tries to explain to Dawn that Joyce doesn't really know what she's saying and that she doesn't remember it later. The rest of the gang are in the university library astronomy section trying to find out info about their 'killer snot monster from outer space.' They realize it's a Queller demon - called forth to quell (or, ya know, kill) the mentally ill. They call Riley who's already on it. His team has tracked the demon to the hospital where there are five corpses in the psychiatric ward. Back at the Summers home, Joyce is ranting in bed and Dawn can hear her. She tries to block it out. Buffy is downstairs doing dishes and crying softly. What they don't know that at least part of Joyce's rant is due to the demon hanging from the ceiling above her bed. When the demon finally attacks and Joyce screams, Dawn runs into her room and sees the demon. Dawn screams for Buffy and she engages in a cat-and-mouse hunt for it in the house, running into Spike in her basement along the way. They fight the demon and after Buffy kills it, Spike gives her a hand up. Riley and his men come in just then and he sees Spike and Buffy holding hands. At the hospital, the demon Dreg confronts intern Ben and asks him why he summoned the demon. He replies he's just cleaning up Glory's mess like he's always done.
Before her operation, Joyce gets Buffy alone for a moment and asks her about Dawn. During her fits she realized that Dawn wasn't really hers, but that she's important. Buffy tells her it's true. Joyce says they need to protect Dawn, then the nurses take her away.
"Listening To Fear"

November 23
After the surgery, Dr. Kriegel tells Buffy he thinks everything will be fine. Anya and Xander watch Dawn at Xander's new pad so Buffy and Riley can "boink." Spike watches Buffy and Riley together and then sees Riley sneak out. Spike follows him.
Buffy is with Joyce in the hospital. Some of Riley's commando buddies pick up reports of activity in Belize. Graham suggests they get Riley to join them. That night, Buffy is awakened by a noise. She thinks it's Riley but he's not there. Instead, it's Spike, telling her he has something she has to see. He leads her to a rundown warehouse with a lot of people and vampires. The people are letting the vamps feed off of them. They go upstairs to a room and Buffy sees Riley letting a vamp drink his blood. Buffy runs back home. Riley goes back to his place and finds Graham and Major Ellis waiting. The invite him on the Belize operation.
At the Magic Box, Buffy enters in a huff. She tells Giles about the nest where people were paying vamps to feed off of them. The gang is shocked but Giles has heard of such a thing before, explaining that some people get off of the danger. Buffy is out to destroy the place with surprising (to the gang) vehemence. Leaving Anya to watch the store, they head out. When they arrive at the warehouse, the place is empty, the vampire nest having cleared out after the Slayer's visit the previous night. An angry Buffy sets the place on fire. An angrier Riley pays a visit to Spike. He stakes Spike. Spike is shocked that he doesn't burst into a cloud of dust, but Riley is using a plastic stake. He warns Spike to stay away from Buffy and that he doesn't have a chance with her. Spike comes back with the fact that Riley doesn't have a chance, either. That Riley isn't "dangerous" enough for her, the same thing Riley has been worrying about himself. They end up sharing their misery and a drink. Back at the Magic Box, Buffy is working out her frustrations in the back. Riley comes in and asks Xander and Anya to leave so he can talk to Buffy alone. Riley tries to explain why he has been letting the vampires suck his blood. He tells her that on some level, they made him feel like they needed him in a way Buffy never did because she kept him out of her life. She disagrees, saying she gave him her heart and soul but he says he never felt it. He tells her about the Belize operation and that he's going unless she convinces him he has reason to stay. This just makes Buffy angrier and she walks out. In the alley, she's surrounded by vampires upset that she burnt down their clubhouse. They find out that confronting a peeved Slayer isn't a good idea, as she dusts all but one in short order. The last one is a woman, the same woman she saw Riley with earlier. She lets the woman run away, then launches a staff through air like a spear, dusting the woman as she's running. Xander comes out from the shadows. He wants to talk but she doesn't and goes into a random warehouse. Xander follows. He tells her he knows about Riley and Buffy's relationship breaking down and wonders how Buffy never realized it herself. More importantly he makes her realize just how good for her Riley was and how she really was keeping him shut out. He gets through to her, and she runs out after Riley. But she's too late, arriving just in time to see the helicopter take off with Riley aboard. Meanwhile, perhaps thinking about what he told Buffy, Xander goes back to Anya and tells her that he loves her.
"Into The Woods"

December 12 - 16
Lying in bed together, Xander and Anya wonder how Buffy is doing with Riley being gone the past week or so. Buffy is dealing with it like she deals with most things - beating up vampires, this time in a convent of all places.
While training with Giles the next day, Giles talks about his upcoming trip to England. He's hoping the Council of Watchers will have something in their library to help them tackle Glory. Anya is eager to run the shop while he's gone, but not to eager to have the others drop in and get in her way. Back home, Buffy is happily surprised to see Joyce up and around and in real clothes instead of her pajamas. In Buffy's room, Dawn notices Buffy has finally taken Riley's pictures down. In his crypt, Spike uses a store manequin to practice talking to Buffy. It doesn't go well and he ends up bashing it with a box of chocalates.
Giles has been gone two days, and Anya gets mad at Willow because she's taking stuff off the shelves to do spells with no intention of paying. She's especially mad when Willow causes the cash register to disappear and brings it back in a smoking mess (but thankfully the money is okay). Anya and Willow try to get Xander on their side, which he wisely gets out of by leaving. Tara follows. Left alone, Willow tries to do the spell while Anya tallies up the cost and constantly interrupts. The interruptions screw the spell up and a giant troll appears in the middle of the shop. At UC Sunnydale, Tara and Buffy get out of class and decide to go to the Magic Box and see how things are going. Meanwhile, Willow and Anya are in Giles' car trying to follow the troll by the trail of destruction he's left behind. At the Bronze, Xander is being bugged by Spike's presence. Spike particularly likes the chicken wings and flowering onion. And bugging Xander. Buffy and Tara find the shop a wreck and head out to find whatever did the damage. The troll heads towards the smell of ale coming from the Bronze. The troll arrives at the Bronze, followed shortly by Anya and Willow and Buffy and Tara. The troll addresses Anya by name, and reveals they used to date back when he was a human named Olaf until Anya caught him cheating and turned him into the troll, launching her career as a vengeance demon. Later, it seems, witches trapped him in the crystal Willow used in her spell. Meaning he's not thrilled with Anya or Willow. Buffy and Olaf fight, and Olaf's hammer ends up bringing down a large portion of the Bronze's upper level. When Buffy gets free of the debris, Olaf is gone. She sees Spike kneeling by one of the victims, but he says he's not sampling, even though he could, because he knows Buffy wouldn't like it. It doesn't go over quite like he planned - she's still disgusted by him. Anya and Willow head back to the Magic Box for supplies, and Olaf bursts in on them. Xander shows and tries to fight but Olaf beats him down pretty easy then decides to let Xander choose which woman dies - Anya or Willow. Xander refuses. Olaf breaks Xander's arm but he still won't decide. Willow tries a spell and the cash register disappears. Buffy shows up and attacks. Anya tells Buffy Olaf's strength is in his hammer. They fight, during which Willow finally gets a spell that takes Olaf's hammer out of his hands Buffy attacks and is still knocked flat because, of course, Olaf still has his troll strength. Olaf comments that Xander and Anya will never last as a couple and this drives Buffy over the edge. With her relationship with Riley seemingly over, it's more important to her than ever that her friends are happy. She finally knocks Olaf unconcious. Willow uses a spell to send him to the land of trolls.
Giles is back from England and at the Summers house. The Council doesn't know anything about Glory but they'll use Giles' info and check into it. They talk briefly about the Key, as Dawn overhears part of it from the stairs.
(Xander remembers Riley asking for a wrench three weeks ago and thinks he still needs to give it to him, suggesting to me that it's been about that long since Riley left)
"Triangle"

December 25
Willow, Tara, Anya, Xander and Giles have Christmas dinner at Buffy's house.
"The Body"

2001

January 17 - 19
Buffy decides to tell the gang that Dawn is the Key that Glory is looking for. Glory is apparently one of three hellgods that rule a dimension. Somehow, Glory has crossed over to Earth, and as powerful as she is, being in human form is keeping her in check some. She has to do a brainsucking thing to keep going, explaining all the crazies popping up in Sunnydale.
Jinx and a few of Glory's minions interrupt the Knights of Byzanthium and get their butts kicked. Just as Orlando gets ready to stab Jinx, Glory arrives. She questions Orlando about the Key, but of course he doesn't know anything, so she sucks his brains out.
Tara and Willow do a warning spell around the shop to give them a heads-up in case something hellgodishly powerful gets close.
Buffy's birthday party gets a little wierd as the gang tries to act normal around Dawn now that they know she's the Key. Dawn gets mad and goes to her room, then climbs out the window. She catches Spike lurking outside with a smashed up box of chocalates. She tells him she's going to break into the Magic Box and Spike decides to go along for fun. Dawn's mission is to find Giles's notes. As Dawn reads about the Key, she remembers some wierd things that have happened to her lately. Spike takes the book and finishes reading and they both realize the truth - Dawn is the Key.
Back at the Summers's home, the party is interrupting by Dawn and a large knife. She's cut herself to see if she bleeds. Buffy and Joyce try to console her but Dawn screams at them to leave her alone. Buffy realizes that Spike was involved in Dawn's trip to the Magic Box and confronts him, but he points out that if Buffy had told Dawn up front, she wouldn't have had to find out by sneaking into Giles's papers.
Ben recognizes Orlando in the hospital mental ward. Jinx again tells Ben to help Glory and again Ben tells Jinx to get lost and that Glory can't touch him.
Dawn gets suspended from school for yelling at the teacher. At home, she comes in on the end of a conversation between Joyce and Buffy. Of course, the part she hears makes her think that they don't consider her real or part of their family. She trashes her room and runs away.
The Scooby Gang splits up to search for Dawn. Buffy takes Spike with her, and admits that he was right and she should've told Dawn. Spike assures Buffy they'll find her.
Dawn makes her way to the hospital and wanders into the mental ward, where all the patients get riled at her presence. She runs into Ben, who treats her to hot chocolate. Dawn spills her guts to him, including revealing that she's the key. Ben freaks and tells her to run, but before Dawn can leave, Ben morphs into Glory. Luckily for Dawn, Glory doesn't remember what happens when she's in Ben's form. Dawn feigns ignorance about the Key and gets Glory to tell her about it. Glory says the Key is evil. Glory also decides Dawn can't help and gets ready to suck her brains out.
The Scooby Gangs checks out the hospital to see if by chance Dawn ended up there somehow. They arrive in time to get Dawn away from Glory. During the fight, Buffy gets stabbed with a tire iron. Before Glory can do much more damage, Willow and Tara do a teleportation spell and get rid of Glory, materializing her high above Sunnydale. Buffy and Dawn bond, as Buffy tells Dawn that no matter what else, they share the same blood - they're sisters.
Dawn kind-of remembers Ben being around, but thinks he may have left before Glory showed up.
(Trying to keep it in the neighborhood of January 19th, my pick for Buffy's birthday.)
"Blood Ties"

February
Gunn, Wesley and Cordy find themselves facing down zombie cops, including the late Peter Harkes and Kevin Helenbrook. Angel uses Kate to get the man behind the undead peace officers and undoes the spell, but not before Wesley is shot.
(Kate went to Harkes' funeral "six months ago" which was August, putting this ep in February.)
Angel: "The Thin Dead Line"

February 14 - 16
The gang is celebrating the re-opening of the Bronze (after being trashed by Olaf). Spike sits down beside Buffy and starts complaining about the raised prices and the lack of flowering onion on the new menu. Before Buffy can tell him to get lost, Xander comes up and does it for her. Then Xander offers to buy drinks but realizes that Spike stole his money when he stalked off. Meanwhile, Willow's still feeling a bit woozy from the teleportation spell she and Tara used on Glory. While Xander tries to get his money back, Spike is more interested in watching Buffy talk to Ben, who's just walked in.
At the train station, a train arrives with a load of dead passengers.
When Buffy gets home, Giles is there with Joyce and Dawn, offering what scant protection he can in case Glory comes calling. Buffy accuses Dawn of borrowing a blue sweater, but Dawn didn't take it. Spike did.
In his crypt, Spike is getting annoyed by Harmony's advances until she suggests playing a game. Harmony gets to wear Buffy's sweater and play Slayer for Spike.
After school, Dawn goes to visit Spike. She likes him because he talks to her like a person. She feels safe with him (which causes him to choke on his cig). Spike regales her with stories from his bad old days which are interrupted when Buffy bursts in looking for her sister. Peeved, Buffy is escorting Dawn home when Dawn drops the bombshell - Spike is into Buffy.
While Buffy and Xander check out the train for clues, she tells Xander what Dawn said, which gives Xander a good laugh until Buffy suggests that Dawn has a crush on Spike. Xander is the one she's supposed to have a crush on.
When Buffy arrives home, she comes across Joyce and Dawn hanging with Spike. Spike tells Buffy he's got a line on the vamp that killed the train passengers and takes her to a warehouse. When Buffy and Spike go in the warehouse, the vamps rabbit. Buffy realizes that these vamps aren't the right ones. They've been settled in for awhile. Then it hits Buffy, this is Spike's attempt at a date. He swears he's changing, and not just because the chip in his head keeps him from killing. Buffy's disgusted and leaves before Spike can get to the 'L' word.
Back in his crypt, a dejected Spike has a visitor - Drusilla. She tells Spike about what's going on in LA with Angel and the newly re-vamped Darla and Angel setting them on fire. She wants the family back together. Dru tells Spike she knows about the chip but that he can overcome it. It's a lie and he can be the big bad again if he tries. Harmony comes in and tells Dru to hit the bricks. Spike tosses Harmony aside. He's back. Spike and Dru go to the Bronze.
Joyce and Willow tell Buffy she needs to talk to Spike again and make sure he knows in no uncertain terms that nothing can ever happen between them.
At Spike's crypt, Buffy finds a shrine to her that Spike has made. On her way out, she runs into Spike and Dru. Dru zaps Buffy with a cattle prod. Dru hands the prod to Spike. He zaps Dru.
When Buffy awakes, she's chained down in Spike's cave. And Spike has Dru tied up, too. Spike's going to prove his love for Buffy by killing Dru. Unless Buffy doesn't admit that there's even the smallest chance for them, in which case he'll let Dru go to kill Buffy. Buffy doesn't give in. While Spike raves about what the two women have done to him, Harmony shoots him with a crossbow (missing the heart). Spike and Harmony tussle and Dru frees herself, going after Buffy. Spike pulls Dru off Buffy and unlocks Buffy's chains. Spike and Buffy face down Dru and Harmony. Dru and Harmony leave. Buffy decks Spike. Buffy walks home with Spike dogging her heels, trying to talk to her. Buffy once again tells him to get lost and to reinforce the point, when Spike tries to go in Buffy's house with her, he can't get over the threshold. His invitation has been revoked.
"Crush"

February 20 - 22
Buffy is working out and pounding the stuffing out of a heavily padded Xander, still freaked at Spike's interest in her. She complains that she'll never find love. Meanwhile a young, pretty, perky girl (April) arrives in Sunnydale looking for love herself.
At the Summers home, Joyce is preparing for a date with Brian.
At UC Sunnydale, Willow, Tara and Anya are approached April. She asks them if they know where Warren is. When they don't, the girl goes to the next person she sees and asks them.
The gang (and Ben) attend a party in a campus dorm. Buffy asks Ben to dance and waits while he goes to dump his drink. April is there, too, asking everyone is sight about Warren. A guy (Warren) cuts through the crowd to Katrina and tells her they have to leave. Spike walks up behind Buffy. Buffy again tells him to get lost and he walks off as Ben comes back. Spike sees April and approaches her. Whatever he whispers to her doesn't set too well with her as she hoists him over her head and tosses him through the window. When Buffy tries to talk to April, she tosses Buffy aside, too. Everyone agrees April is a robot. The gang decides they have to find Warren, but that it can wait until the next day. Buffy gets home to relieve Giles of Dawn-watching duty.
April is going door-to-door in the middle of the night looking for Warren.
At the Magic Box, Willow tracks down a Warren Mears who went to Sunnydale High for a bit then switched to a tech school. The gang figures he's home for spring break at his parent's house.
Buffy calls Ben and makes a coffee date with him then goes to Warren's house, just as he's trying to hustle Katrina out of town.
As the gang prepares to leave the Magic Box and head to school, Spike comes in covered with a smoking blanket. Giles promptly tosses him back out.
Warren tries to explain to Buffy that April isn't a sexbot, that he made her to actually care about him. But it got boring because April was so predictable. Then Warren met Katrina, but couldn't bring himself to tell April so he left her alone in his dorm room.
Katrina runs into April. When April asks her about Warren, Katrina tells April to go away and that Warren is her boyfriend, not April's. April picks Katrina up by the throat and starts to strangle her. Warren and Buffy arrive just in time. Warren tries to ditch April again but Buffy forces him to break up with her the right way this time. He tells April that he doesn't love her anymore and instead loves - Buffy! April's combat mode engages and she and Buffy fight it out. April almost chokes Buffy but her batteries are winding down and she loses strength. Buffy ends up sitting with April on the swings as April slowly loses power, all the while hoping that Warren will come back to her.
Buffy calls Ben to break their coffee date and gets an answering machine. Glory is the one who hears the message.
Spike shows up at Warren's house with all his Buffy stuff. He tells Warren to build him a Buffybot.
Buffy arrives home, calling for her mom. There's no answer, but Buffy sees flowers from Brian. Buffy calls up the stairs, asking if she needs to pick up Dawn from school. No answer. Buffy looks in the living room.
Joyce is lying sprawled on the couch.
She doesn't move.
Doesn't blink.
Doesn't breathe.
"I Was Made To Love You"

February 22
Buffy calls 911. Then she calls Giles. Paramedics come but it's too late. They get another call and leave Buffy alone with her mother's body. Giles arrives and stays with Buffy while the coroner's office takes Joyce away. Buffy goes to Dawn's school and tells her what happened. The gang get ready to go and be with Buffy and Dawn, all of them having a hard time processing what happened, especially Anya. Everyone gathers at the hospital where Dr. Kriegel has finished the autopsy. Joyce had an aneurysm related to the tumor she'd had removed. The doctor tells them that even if someone had been with her, there probably wouldn't have been anything they could do. Dawn tells Buffy she needs to go to the bathroom but actually goes to the morgue to see Joyce, still not accepting what's happened. The rest of the gang except Tara go off to find Buffy something to eat and Tara uses the chance to tell Buffy that her own mother died when she was seventeen and that if Buffy wants to talk about it... In the morgue, Dawn pulls the sheet from Joyce's face. Behind her, another body sits up. A vampire. Buffy notices Dawn is still gone and realizes where she went. Buffy bursts into the morgue and fights with the vamp, eventually cutting it's head off with a bone saw, leaving her and Dawn alone with their mother's body.
"The Body"

February 28 - March 2
Buffy goes to pick out a coffin for Joyce with Giles and Dawn. At Buffy's house, the gang try and figure out the funeral arrangements. Joyce had told Buffy before her operation that if anything went wrong, she didn't want a wake because potluck dinners are depressing enough. Dawn doesn't want to come back to the house after the funeral so she gets permission to go to Willow's. As Xander and Willow leave Buffy's, Spike walks up with flowers. Xander thinks the flowers are a gimmick for Spike to get in good with Buffy, but Spike denies it. He says he wasn't going to see Buffy, just leave the flowers. Joyce was the only one of the group he could stand and the only one that treated him decent. Finally Spike tosses the flowers down in disgust and walks off. Willow points out there's no card on the flowers.
The funeral goes as well as such things can. Tara and Willow take Dawn home when it's over but Buffy stays by the grave until sunset. Then Angel joins her. At Willow's, Dawn tells her she wants Willow and Tara to do a spell to bring Joyce back. They tell her they can't. Witches can't alter the fabric of life for selfish reasons. Wiccans took an oath. Which means to Dawn that it is possible. At the graveside, Angel and Buffy spend the night talking. Buffy doesn't know how to face the next day without her mom in the picture. At the hospital, Ben is approached by Jinx. Glory knows of Ben's attempt at dating Buffy and wants to encourage it so she can find out information about the Key. Ben lets slip that the Key is an innocent, though insists to Jinx that he didn't mean innocent person. He realizes Jinx will tell Glory and stabs Jinx with his own dagger.
Willow and Tara get ready to leave for class. Dawn says she wants to sleep some more and then will get Giles to pick her up. Before she walks out, Willow magically causes a book on the shelf to slide out a few inches. Dawn gets the witchcraft book and flips the pages, finding a resurrection spell. At the Magic Box, Dawn pretends to help out while scanning the merchandise for the stuff she'll need for the spell. She snags some stuff and sneaks it into her backpack. That night at the graveyard, Dawn is getting some dirt from Joyce's grave when Spike shows up. He says he's not going to tell on Dawn - he's going to help her. He offers to take her to someone that can help, but makes Dawn promise that Buffy never hears of Spike's involvement. He knows Buffy would stake him. A wounded Jinx makes it back to Glory's and tells her what Ben said, that the Key is in human form. Spike takes Dawn to a shop run by Doc, who looks like a normal human but Dawn catches sight of a scaly tail. Doc tells them they need to get the egg of a Ghora demon to do the spell. Spike and Dawn head to the sewers and get the egg (after a fight, of course). Back at her house, Dawn starts the spell. Back at Willow and Tara's room, Tara notices the witchcraft book is gone. They call Buffy. Buffy bursts into Dawn's room as she finishes the spell. Buffy and Dawn have a tearful confrontation as something makes it's way to the house. As a knock comes at the door, Dawn realizes what it is that she's done and tears up Joyce's picture, ending the spell just before Buffy opens the door. Nothing is outside. Buffy and Dawn share a good cry.
"Forever"

March 12 - 14
Giles is helping out at Buffy's. He suggests maybe it's time to get back into their training schedule but Buffy isn't sure. She's afraid that being the Slayer is making her too hard. She's afraid that her mom didn't even know she loved her. Giles tells Buffy that there's a quest she can go on that might help her find some answers. Meanwhile, at Warren's house (from "I Was Made to Love You") Spike is there picking up his brand new Buffy robot. At Glory's place, she's getting peeved. Ben is resisting her too strongly. But now she knows the Key is human, and that the Slayer must have contact with it. She orders her minions (including mostly-healed Jinx) to find out who is new in the Slayer's life.
Giles takes Buffy out into the desert and performs a spell to lead Buffy on her quest for knowledge. In his crypt, Spike takes his BuffyBot on a 'test drive.' In the desert, a mountain lion appears and leads Buffy to a spot she finds familiar. Dawn, Tara and Anya are at Xander's place while Buffy is gone. They don't know it, but they're being watched by Glory's minions. Willow is being followed at the UC Sunnydale campus, too. Anya and Xander decide to do a quick patrol and are surprised to run into Buffy. Actually, it's the BuffyBot, programmed a little too accurately and looking to Slay something. Spike comes along and gets it away from a confused Xander and Anya after staking a few vamps. Worried that Spike is using Buffy's rough emotional state to take advantage of her, they go to check things out and sees Spike and the 'Bot making out in the graveyard. They go back to Xander's and tell Willow and Tara what they saw. Xander goes to confront Spike (who hides the BuffyBot in the tunnels), and while he's there Jinx and some other toadies arrive. They knock out Xander and kidnap Spike, thinking he's the Key. In the desert, Buffy's guide arrives in the form of the First Slayer. She tells Buffy that instead of not being able to love, Buffy loves with all her soul. Loves so much she has to pull back. Then she tells Buffy about her gift - death. The BuffyBot comes out of her hiding place and starts looking for Spike, ignoring an unconscious Xander. It ends up at Xander's place and talks to Willow. Xander makes it back to the apartment and tells them what's up. With Willow, Anya and the BuffyBot, he goes to Buffy's place for weapons. Glory knows that Spike can't be the Key because he's impure, but decides to torture him for fun (and maybe some information). At Buffy's house, the real Buffy shows up as the gang is gathering weapons. They're all a little grossed out when they realize that the other Buffy is one of Warren's robots and what Spike must have wanted it for. The gang go searching for Glory's place. Spike is still being tortured because he's not going to tell Glory anything about the Key. He escapes just as Buffy and the gang arrive. After a fight with the minions, they get Spike away but the Bot is damaged in the process. At the Magic Box, Willow thinks she can probably fix it.
At the crypt, Spike is in seriously bad shape after the torture. The BuffyBot comes in. When she finds out why Glory tortured Spike, she says she'll go tell Glory where the Key is and everything will be okay. Spike orders her to never ever tell about the Key because if something happened to Dawn, it would destroy the real Buffy and Spike couldn't handle that. The Bot kisses Spike. Except it's not the Bot, it's the real Buffy. She tells him that the robot was gross and obscene and not real, but that what Spike did for her and Dawn was real and she wouldn't forget it.
"Intervention"

March 19 - 21
Buffy drops out of school so she can take care of Dawn. Ben finds out that he's been fired from the hospital because he hasn't been there in two weeks. Then he turns into Glory again and takes a bubble-bath. Buffy then has to take Dawn to the principal's office at her school, after finding out how many times Dawn has skipped. At the Magic Box, Buffy begs Giles to help her with Dawn but he tells her that he can't. Buffy is Dawn's family and Buffy is the one that has to put her foot down. So she does and takes Dawn home for her to do her schoolwork. Tara and Willow get into a small fight and Tara is left to go to the Multi-Cultural Fair by herself. Unfortunately, Glory now thinks Tara is the key and they go after her. Dawn is rebelling against Buffy's new house rules, feeling that since she's not really human it doesn't matter if she goes to school or not, but Buffy tells her it does matter - the principal told her that if Dawn doesn't get it in gear at school, she'll be taken away from Buffy. At the Magic Box, one of Glory's minions shows up and is quickly captured by the gang. It tells them that it's job is to watch over the Slayer's people while Glory gets the Key. They realize that Glory is after Tara. Glory finds Tara, then finds that she's not the Key so she sucks her brain out, leaving Tara a mindless zombie. The gang takes her to the hospital (Glory also broke Tara's hand) and then try and convince Willow to go home since Tara is being kept overnight. Willow wants to go after Glory but Buffy tells her not to, they don't have a chance against her. Willow agrees then goes to the Magic Box and heads straight for the stash of extra powerful books and such. She raids Glory's place and gives it her best shot. Buffy goes to pick up Dawn from Spike's place, and they make Buffy realize that Willow is likely to be going after Glory no matter what Buffy told her. Buffy arrives at Glory's during the big magic fight and manages to get Willow out before Glory nails her.
Buffy and Dawn are with Willow and Tara in their dorm room the next day. As they're having lunch, Glory bursts in through the wall. About that time, Tara reacts to Dawn's presence, recognizing her as the key. Glory smiles.
"Tough Love"

March 21
**NEW!!** Buffy grabs Dawn and runs. Willow manages to use a spell to knock Glory back out of the dorm before they run out, also. Glory catches up to Buffy and Dawn just in time to get knocked flat by a passing truck. It doesn't hurt her, of course, but as she gets up, she morphs back into Ben. The gang convene at Xander's apartment and discuss plans. Running away is the plan. At Glory's place, Ben is talking to one of Glory's minions. He's not happy with his lot in life, because he has to share it with Glory and if Glory gets the Key, it's the end of Ben. He considers the possibility of killing the Key himself, and getting rid of Glory that way. Buffy arrives with the gang's transportation - a motor home drivn by Spike. Some Knights of Byzanthium sign their buddy Orlando out of the hospital's mental ward and realize he's seen the Key and can recognize who it is. Out on the road, Xander is getting carsick in the RV, and Spike's presence isn't helping matters. The Knights of Byzanthium, on horseback, catch up to the fleeing motor home. Buffy climbs up on the roof and fights off the Knights who've jumped from their horses to the vehicle. They finally begin to pull away from their pursuers when one appears in front of the RV and tosses a spear, hitting Giles who's now driving. The RV goes off the road and rolls over onto its side. The gang take shelter in an abandoned gas station. The Knights catch up and surround the station. Willow performs a spell which raises a shield around the place, but not before the general makes his way inside and is knocked out by Buffy. The Knights bring forth their own clerics to try and break the spell. While Buffy is questioning their prisoner, Tara begins to freak out, as do all the patients in the Sunnydale psych ward and Orlando. Buffy convinces the Knights to let her bring in someone to help Giles. She calls Ben. The General, Gregor, gives Buffy a little history of Glory. She ruled in a demon dimension along with two other gods who got worried about Glory's power and madness. They cast her out, trapping her on earth in the body of a mortal male. When the male dies or is killed, so dies Glory. But Glory's power is such that she can break free of the prison from time to time, which is why Buffy sees a powerful woman instead of a mortal man. He also tells Dawn that the Key, while it's origins are unknown, has the ability to open the barriers between dimensions. Glory will use this to return to her own dimension, but by then all the barriers will be down between all the dimensions and the universe will fall into chaos. Gregor realizes Ben isn't part of the group and tries to talk him into killing Dawn. Then Ben morphs into Glory. She sees and kills Gregor first. Then she grabs Dawn and takes off. When Buffy and the gang get Willow's barrier down and get outside, all the Knights are dead and Glory and Dawn are gone. Buffy sits down on the ground and doesn't respond to Willow's cries.
"Spiral"

March 21 - 22
**NEW!!** While Willow and the gang try and figure out how to wake Buffy from her catatonic state, Glory and her minions are preparing for the ceremony. The crazies from the psych ward are busy building a tower for the proceedings. Spike tries to tells the gang that Ben and Glory are the same person, but the spell that keeps people from remembering the change makes it tough for him to get the point across. Back at Xander's, Willow is going to try a spell to get inside Buffy's mind and bring her back to the world. In Buffy's mind, Willow meets a young Buffy on the day she remembers her parents bringing the infant Dawn home from the hospital. The it shifts and Willow sees Buffy and the first Slayer (from "Intervention" when the first Slayer tells Buffy that death is her gift. While Willow tries to reach Buffy, Glory talks with Dawn. The barrier between Glory and Ben is fading. She can feel Ben's guilt about what Glory's done, and when she switches to Ben, he feels the pain and suffering Glory has caused. And others are beginning to remember that Ben and Glory are one and the same. Ben decides to try and get Dawn away while he still has control, while Xander and Spike visit Doc (from "Forever") to discover when and where Glory is going to use the Key. Turns out Doc also worships Glory and has a box that might help Xander and Spike. After a fight, they stab Doc with a sword and make off with the box. Out on the streets with Ben, Dawn conks him over the head in an attempt to get away, but he changes back to Glory and grabs her. The he starts shifting back and forth between Ben and Glory, arguing with himself until finally he ends up as Ben and decides to go along with Glory because she promised that she'll let Ben continue to exist after the ritual is done. Willow finally snaps Buffy back to reality in time to hear what they found out from the scrolls taken from Doc. The only way to close the portal and defeat Glory once it's opened is to stop Dawn's blood from flowing by killing her.
"Weight of the World"

March 22
**NEW!!** Buffy flatly refuses to kill Dawn, even if it means the death of the world. Dawn is a part of Buffy and she's not going to do it. Period. End of discussion. So the gang try to come up with another plan. Willow realizes that all they really have to do is keep Glory occupied until the time to perform the ritual has passed. Anya suggests using the Dagon Sphere and Olaf the Troll god's hammer to keep Glory from completing the ritual. This is a plan. Anya and Xander head to the basement of the shop to find the Dagon Sphere and stumble across the BuffyBot. Anya is scared and worried and Xander picks this moment to propose to her, which makes Anya more worried and scared because she thinks he'd only doing it because he thinks they'll all die. He assures her that's not the case and she says yes, but won't accept the ring until after the world doesn't end. Meanwhile, Glory's minions are getting the tower prepared and tying Dawn to the top of it. The Scooby Gang finalizes their plans and collects weapons. They let Tara go and follow her, knowing she will lead them to Glory. The gang head out, with Buffy reminding them that she'll kill anyone that tries to hurt Dawn. When they get there, Willow does a spell to try and take back Tara's essence from Glory, hopefully weakening Glory a bit in the process. Then Buffy shows and fight begins in earnest. The rest of the gang fight the minions while Buffy and Glory go at it. Glory is still off balance after Willow's spell and Buffy gets some good shots in. But it doesn't last and Glory grabs Buffy. Then she kicks her head off. Glory is shocked, realizing the Slayer is only a robot. Then the real Buffy appears and knocks Glory for a loop with Olaf's hammer. Buffy climbs the tower but Glory is back after her and they fight on it before falling off. Glory is knocked for another loop, this time by a wrecking ball being controlled by Xander. While Buffy pounds on Glory with the hammer, the minions and crazies have the gang at bay. And Doc appears on the tower, going after Dawn. Willow telepathically tells Spike to make for the tower, and she and a restored Tara use their spells to part the crowd of Glory's thugs so he can get through. He promised Buffy he'd protect Dawn that's what he does. Until Doc gets the upper hand and throws Spike off the top of the tower. Buffy beats Glory down until she morphs back into Ben. Buffy warns him to make sure Glory never gets near her again. He promises. Buffy drops the hammer and goes after Dawn. Giles approaches Ben and realizes that sooner or later Glory will come back. Giles kills Ben. At the top of the tower, Doc has already cut Dawn several times and the portal is opening. Demons are pouring out. Lightning is destroying buildings. Hell on earth. Dawn starts to jump off the tower, knowing that her death will close the portal but Buffy doesn't let her. Death is Buffy's gift, and she understands now. Buffy dives off the platform into the portal. It closes after Buffy passes through, and the gang, heartbroken, approach Buffy's lifeless body at the bottom of the tower.