Buffy the Vampire Slayer Timeline - Season 6
The dates listed below are more or less the dates of the events in Sunnydale, NOT in what most of us think of as "the real world."
Click on the episode title to go to Otts¹ wonderful episode summery.
Color key - Audience first sees a character, Buffy (et al.) first meet a character,
Character death, Character
leaves show, Romance, Breakup, Character
returns, 
= important event
Episode 1 (101st in the series)
(Sunnydale deals with not having its Slayer.)
September, 2001
- Willow and Tara now live with Dawn at the Summers¹ house.
- Buffybot covers for Buffy (her death is not widely known)
- Giles returns to England.
- Anya takes over the Magic Box.
- Willow (with Xander, Anya, and Tara) performs a dark magick spell that brings Buffy back to life.
Episode 2 (102nd in the series)
(Willow and the gang resurrect Buffy.)
September, 2001 (directly after "Bargaining Pt. 1")
- Buffybot is destroyed (this time for good)
- Scoobies discover that Buffy is alive.
- Dawn coaxes Buffy off of the tower where she died. (See Season 5, Episode 22 "The Gift")
Episode 3 (103rdin the series)
(Buffy deals with being alive again.)
September, 2001 (directly after "Bargaining Pt. 2")
- Spike discovers that Buffy is alive.
- Scoobies assume that Buffy (who is withdrawn) had been in a hell dimension.
- Buffy tells Spike that while she was dead she was in something like heaven; the real world is hell for her.
Episode 4 (104th in the series)
(Real life is not fun, especially if you have no money.)
Early October, 2001
- Giles returns from England.
- We (re)meet "the troika," a trio of nerds: Warren Meers (see Season 5, Episode 15 ³I Was Made to Love You²), Jonathan Levinson (see Season 4, Episode 17 "Superstar" and others), and Andrew Wells (younger brother of Tucker Wells, see Season 3, Episode 20 "The Prom"). They have decided to gang up on the Slayer.
- Giles severely berates Willow for her use of powerful and dark magick.
- Buffy goes to see Angel. (Happens between episodes; audience never sees a thing.)
Episode 5 (105th in the series)
(Buffy gets job. Buffy loses job. *repeat as necessary*)
October, 2001
- Giles gives Buffy and Dawn enough money to cover their bills.
- Buffy first meets Clem.
- The troika use magick to mess with Buffy¹s head.
Episode 6 (106th in the series)
(Dawn experiences a "quiet" Sunnydale Halloween.)
Halloween (October 31), 2001
- Xander and Anya (finally) announce their engagement.
- Willow and Tara argue over Willow's (ab)use of magick.
- Dawn has her first kiss. (With a vampire who ends up dusted.)
- Willow casts a forgetting spell on Tara.
Episode 7 (107th in the series)
(Buffy: The Musical)
Early November, 2001 (only a few days after "All the Way")
- Xander and Anya both have unvoiced concerned about getting married.
- Tara discovers Willow's forgetting spell.
- Tara and Giles both muse over leaving Sunnydale.
- Everyone finds out that Buffy was in "heaven" and not a hell dimension.
- Buffy and Spike kiss.
Episode 8 (108th in the series)
(Willow's spell makes everyone forget everything.)
Early November, 2001 (pretty much right after "Once More With Feeling")
- Tara gives Willow one chance to stop with the magick. (She doesn¹t.)
- Giles and Anya kiss (while under Willow's spell).
- Tara breaks up with Willow and moves out.
- Giles goes back to England for good this time.
Episode 9 (109th in the series)
(The Scoobies deal with Tara's and Giles' absence.)
Late November, 2001
- The troika steals a huge diamond.
- Willow turns (rat) Amy Madison back human. (See Season 3, Episode 11 "Gingerbread")
- Willow and Amy go on a magick spree.
- Spike discovers that he can hit Buffy with triggering his chip.
- Buffy and Spike have sex.
Episode 10 (110th in the series)
(Willow dives into the dark magicks.)
Late November, 2001 (directly after "Smashed")
- Buffy freaks out about sleeping with Spike.
- Amy takes Willow to see Rack, a warlock who pushes dark magick.
- Willow loses control and gives up all magick.
Episode 11 (111th in the series)
(Buffy cuts her hair and then becomes invisible.)
December, 2001
- Child Protective Services investigates Dawn's welfare.
- Buffy goes back to Spike for more sex.
- Buffy meets the troika, who has declared themselves her arch-nemeses.
Episode 12 (112th in the series)
(Buffy's fast-food nightmare.)
Early January, 2002
- Buffy starts working for the DoubleMeat Palace.
- We meek Halfrek (Hallie), a vengeance demon friend of Anya's.
- Hallie plants more doubts in Anya¹s mind about the upcoming wedding.
- Amy "lends" a recovering Willow some magick. Willow sends Amy away.
Episode 13 (113th in the series)
(The troika tries to pin their murder on Buffy.)
January, 2002
- Warren runs into his ex-girlfriend Katrina and brainwashes her.
- Katrina dies. (Warren smashed in her head.)
- Buffy confides in Tara about Spike. Tara checks the spell and tells Buffy there's really nothing wrong with her. (Spike's chip is just confused by her resurrection.)
Episode 14 (114th in the series)
(When will Buffy learn that Birthday celebrations can be confining?)
Late January, 2002
- Hallie grants Dawn's wish that people would stop leaving.
- We discover that Hallie knows Spike as "William." (Halfrek = Cecily, William's crush???)
- Dawn's kleptomania is discovered.
Episode 15 (115th in the series)
(Riley returns to Sunnydale.)
February, 2002
- Riley Finn returns to Sunnydale, bringing with him his wife Samantha. (Both work for the current "version" of The Initiative.)
- Riley discovers Buffy and Spike together.
- Riley and Samantha leave town.
- Buffy tells Spike that it is over between them and this time she means it.
Episode 16 (116th in the series)
(Anya and Xander's wedding.)
Late February, 2002
- We finally see Xander's mom Mrs. Jessica Harris and his Uncle Rory.
- Stewart Burns (who Anyanka cursed back in 1914) shows Xander his "future" married to Anya.
- In the fake future, Buffy is dead, Xander and Anya have two children, and are so unhappy that Xander ultimately beats Anya to death.
- Xander leaves Anya at the altar.
- D'Hoffryn offers Anya her vengeance powers back.
Episode 17 (117th in the series)
(Buffy in Sunnydale, Buffy in mental hospital. Which is real?)
Mid to Late March, 2002
- Xander returns home; Anya is still missing.
- Willow sees Tara kissing a girl on the cheek.
- Buffy gets "infected" by a demon which causes her to hallucinate.
- We discover that Buffy did spend a couple weeks in a mental institution back when she saw her first vampires.
- In Buffy's "mental hospital universe," her parents are still married, she is an only child, and she's not the slayer but simply a girl who has been trapped by her own delusions for six years.
- Buffy tries to kill all her friends, then saves them. (with Tara's help)
Episode 18 (118th in the series)
(Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Sunnydale style.)
May 5, 2002
- Dawn wants to patrol.
- We discover that Anya does indeed have her vengeance powers back.
- Anya and Spike have comfort sex.
- Xander finds out that Buffy had been sleeping with Spike.
- Tara and Willow make up!
Episode 19 (119th in the series)
(The troika steps up their plans and things begin to unravel.)
May 6 & 7, 2002 (directly after "Entropy")
- Dawn discovers that Willow and Tara are back together.
- Willow figures out that Buffy and Spike were sleeping together.
- We pretty much discover that Andrew is gay.
- Warren abandons Andrew and Jonathan, who end up in jail.
- Spike tries to rape Buffy.
- Spike leaves Sunnydale. (Disgusted with himself and looking for a change.)
- Xander and Buffy reconcile.
- Warren shoots Buffy in the shoulder.
- Tara dies. (Shot through the chest by a stray bullet from Warren's gun.)
Episode 20 (120th in the series)
(Willow goes off the deep end.)
May 7 & 8, 2002 (directly after "Seeing Red")
- Willow flips out over Tara's death and absorbs dark magick books.
- Willow saves Buffy's life by removing the bullet.
- The Scoobies discover that Spike is gone.
- Xander and Buffy discover that Anya is a vengeance demon again.
- Spike is in Africa to undergo a trial to "return him to his former self."
- Warren dies. (Willow tortures him, then flays him alive and incinerates him.)
Episode 21 (121st in the series)
("Dark Willow" goes after Andrew, Jonathan, and anyone else in her way.)
May 8 & 9, 2002 (directly after "Villians")
- Spike continues to undergo the trials.
- The Scoobies (including Anya) bust Jonathan and Andrew out of jail to protect them from Willow.
- Rack dies. (Willow drains him of his magick and then kills him.)
- Giles returns! (Packing some pretty strong magick!)
Episode 22 (122nd in the series)
("Dark Willow" tries to destroy the world.)
May 9, 2002 (directly after "Two to Go")
- We discover that a coven in Devon "lent" Giles their power and sent him after Willow.
- Willow traps Buffy & Dawn and steals Giles' magick.
- Andrew and Jonathan escape for Mexico.
- Willow starts to summon the demon Proserpexa to destroy the world.
- Dawn proves to be a pretty good fighter.
- Xander talks Willow out of her killing rage with his love for her.
- Spike passes the trials and gets his soul back.
I've left out characters that made minor, one time only appearances. If you think I've missed something that is important to the canon of the show, drop me a private message on the posting boards or email me at fiatlux@hellmouthcentral.com and let me know.
- fiatlux