Buffy Season III Episode Guide: Graduation Day PtII

As Buffy leaves the scene, the Mayor arrives at Faith's apartment along with a few vampire henchmen. Observing the wreckage and absence of either Buffy or Faith, Mayor Wilkins orders the vampires to conduct a search. At the library, Cordelia asks Giles and Xander what happened between Wesley and Buffy. After learning the details, Cordelia joins them in their research. Meanwhile, at the mansion, Angel slips in and out of consciousness, mistaking Willow for Buffy at one point. When Willow joins Oz outside the bedroom, Buffy arrives and asks her friends to leave her alone with Angel. With Willow and Oz gone, Buffy tells Angel about the cure for the poison. Angel listens in disbelief as Buffy offers her own blood for his survival. Fearing her possible death, Angel refuses to drink from her neck. Turning to brute force, Buffy repeatedly punches Angel until his vampire instincts take over. Sinking his fangs into her neck, Angel drinks himself to full health, while Buffy slowly fades away. Fully healed, Angel pulls himself off of a now unconscious Buffy.

While Angel brings Buffy into the emergency room, Mayor Wilkins listens to Faith's prognosis from a doctor at the same hospital. The loss of blood and massive trauma to her skull make any hope of recovery virtually impossible for the comatose Faith. Mayor Wilkins' silent grief turns to rage when he realizes that Buffy is in the adjacent room. He places his hand over the Slayer's mouth and nose and tries to smother her to death. Before it's too late, Angel pulls the Mayor off of Buffy and knocks him across the room. After Mayor Wilkins has a few choice words and leaves the premises, Giles and the rest of the gang arrive outside of Buffy's room. Angel tells them everything that happened, sparking a plethora of mixed emotions in the group, especially Xander. Aware of the upcoming sunrise, Giles tells Angel to return to the mansion. While resting on the bed, Buffy dreams that she's in Faith's apartment. However, all of Faith's belongings are packed in boxes. In the dream, Buffy and Faith have one last friendly encounter. Faith hints to Buffy that Mayor Wilkins still has a human weakness, just like anybody else. After waking up, Buffy walks over to Faith's room and stops at the bed of her former comrade. She places a kiss on Faith's forehead, then goes out to the hallway to speak with the others. Reassuring them that she's recovered, Buffy declares war on the Mayor.

In the library, the gang discusses the plan that Buffy just laid out. With his retained military knowledge, Xander plays a major role in Buffy's attack plan. When Buffy brings up the notion of the Mayor's human weakness, Angel suggests that it may be Faith. Wesley returns and offers any assistance they may need in carrying out the plan. While Buffy gives specific assignments to everybody, Mayor Wilkins does the same with his vampire crew. An eclipse will precede the Ascension, keeping Angel and all other vampires in the equation. While Xander, Willow, and the others spread the word throughout the school, Wesley and Cordy have a moment alone together in the library. Knowing that he'll no longer be needed in America after the Ascension, Wesley makes a major move on Cordelia. However, their extremely awkward kiss instantaneously kills any potential of a relationship between the two. While Willow and Oz hand off the rest of the supplies to Larry and Jonathan, Angel tells Buffy that he doesn't plan on saying a goodbye before leaving Sunnydale.

At the graduation commencement, Principal Snyder introduces Mayor Wilkins to the podium. During the Mayor's speech, the sky suddenly becomes dark as the sun is eclipsed. Unable to finish his speech, Mayor Wilkins painfully transforms into a giant serpent. While the vampire army closes in from behind, the parents flee in panic. However, the students stand their ground. On Buffy's mark, the graduating class of '99 drop their gowns to reveal a full armament of weapons and crosses. Xander commands the student soldiers to attack the transformed Mayor with flamethrowers and arrows. The Mayor manages to devour some of the students as well as Principal Snyder, sending others into a panicked run for their lives. Unfortunately, their escape route is cut off by the vampires who methodically kill each of them. Oz alerts Xander to the threat from behind. Ready for this scenario, Xander orders the rear line to attack the vampires with flame arrows. Unprepared for this retaliation, the vampires try to make a run for it themselves. What they get instead is some of their own medicine, in the form of a secondary team led by Angel. While they engage the vampires, Buffy and Xander realize that they're not causing enough damage to the Mayor. While Xander leads his army into hand-to-hand combat against the vampires, Buffy takes on the Mayor by herself. Using Faith's advice, Buffy grabs the Mayor's attention by pulling out the knife that he gave to Faith, the same one she used to kill his favorite Slayer. Forgetting about the rest of the students for the moment, the Mayor goes after the main course, chasing Buffy through the halls of Sunnydale High. She leads him right to the library, which has been packed with explosives. By the time the Mayor realizes his fatal error, Buffy has already made it back outside, where Giles waits with the detonator. With one thrust of the switch, the Mayor goes up in flames along with the rest of Sunnydale High.

With the threat of the Mayor finally put to rest, Angel decides it's time for him to leave Sunnydale. After talking to Xander and getting her recovered diploma from Giles, Buffy sees Angel in the distance. Sticking to his word, Angel does not come any closer to Buffy, who remains motionless as well. Their goodbye is spoken through their eyes alone. With that, Angel turns and disappears into the night. Buffy then joins Xander, Willow, Oz, and Cordelia in a brief reflection of their experience. They then turn and walk off, leaving the rubble of their former high school behind.

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