| The Weight of the World | The Gift |

Dracula wafts his way into Sunnydale. The gang are slightly star struck that they have come face to face with the great Dracula. Giles confides to Willow that he's leaving Sunnydale to go back to England, Willow's not to tell anyone else. Buffy seems to be having a need to go out very night and slay/hunt. Soon enough Dracula has Buffy under his thrall. And Xander becomes his dark emissary. One night Dracula wafts his way into Buffy's room and drinks her blood. The next day she tried to hide it from the gang but it comes out that she is under his thrall. Xander leads Buffy to Dracula's castle. Riley and Giles go in search of Dracula and end up in the same place. Buffy see flashback images of the first slayer and puts the fighting gear shift into gear. Dracula and Buffy fight it off with Dracula being a dust pile. The episode ends with Buffy and a stranger in her room, who is Buffy's sister...

Buffy's slaying and training is hampered by a certain little sis known as Dawn. Buffy is forced to take Dawn out with her on her watcher - slayer bonding trip to the magic shop. On the way they meet up with Willow and Tara. They all go into the magic shop to find the shop keeper dead. Dawn's escorted outside by Buffy. Tara and Willow and settling in, in their new UC Sunnydale room, and Tara tells Willow that she really isn't a part of the Scoobies. That night while Buffy and Riley go out patrolling Xander and Anya baby-sit Dawn. Harmony with her new gang of minions get invited in, well only Harmony, by Dawn. When Buffy returns and hers of this she lets loose about Dawn, with now knowledge that her sis overheard. Dawn goes out and gets kidnapped by Harmony and Buffy is forced to save her. At the end of this episode the audience gets the impression that Dawn maybe just as important as aslayer...

A demon called Toth attempts to split Buffy into her two counterparts, Buffy the Slayer and Buffy Buffy Summers. In a showdown against the Scooby's and Toth Xander gets accidentally hit by Toth's splitting device and he gets split, unknown to the Scooby's. The Scooby's then take the Xander double back home. While the other Xander is still laying in the dump. The next day Xander double has taken over other Xander's life, including his job and Anya. Xander double seems more confident and suave than original Xander. After a little fight in the corridor of Xander's new apartment Xander double goes to see Giles, Buffy and Riley while the other Xander goes to see Willow. Both parties are convinced they've got the right Xander, until Giles reveals that they're both the right Xander. If one dies both die. Spike on the other hand has made a mannequin of Buffy, and then kicks it to pieces. The two Xanders are at Xanders new apartment. One pulls out a gun. They both fight. Buffy and Riley are driving over to warn of the looming danger. Buffy arrives and sorts it all out. Willow casts a spell and they are both Xander, as whole. The end of the episode reveals that Riley is unsure of Buffy's feelings towards him....

While out on patrol, Buffy meets up with a more than eager Riley who proves that vampires are actually very aerodynamic. And a certain Spike who seemed more than willing to give Buffy a hand at keeping the forces of darkness at bay. Riley seems more hyper active than before. Then when Joyce has a sudden turn for the worse and is taken to the hospital, it is here that Dawn hears a rather peculiar heartbeat in Riley. A pulse of over 180. Against the doctor's orders Riley leaves the hospital. A worried Buffy turns to the only people she can turn to, The Initiative. Meanwhile Harmony and Spike are back together and once Spike hears that The Initiative doctor is going to be around he goes a running....to get the chip out of his head. Graham goes after Riley but ends up with a bruised jaw. Buffy finds Riley at the old Initiative caves. They both go back to the hospital only to find Graham knocked out on the floor. Spike is having his little surgery wrong, but the doctor fooled him, and Spike is still a little fluffy bunny. Riley's all healed up, but still with a feeling of not belonging. The episode ends with Spike admitting his love to Buffy...in a dream...

Joyce's illness doesn't seem to be getting any better quickly, Buffy does her worried daughter role very well. While for Giles the most worrying thing is that it's grand opening time for him at the magic box. Dawn is getting on Buffy's nerves even more now. Riley is getting the feeling now that since he is no - power guy he is more use less than ever, but a reassuring talk between him and Buffy soothe those thoughts. Joyce gets worse and Buffy thinks that magic is hurting her mother, after hearing a local mad man proclaim it to her in the hospital. She goes into trance mode to let her see spells. Nothing is surrounding her mother, but Dawn is different. She is the spell, and Buffy assumes that it's Dawn causing the problem. Meanwhile at an abandoned factory a holy man is getting tortured by a girl with super powers about the key. Buffy intervenes, but has not got the strength to overcome the Beast, but high tails is out of there. Outside the monk explains that Dawn is the key, but she doesn't know it, and she has to be protected. When Buffy gets home she apologizes to Dawn. However this new evil is still around wanting the key...

Tara's birthday is coming up and her family comes to town looking for her. Tara's secret is that she's supposed to become a demon on her twentieth birthday and her family wants her locked away at home when that happens. Tara doesn't want to go, though, because it would involve leaving Willow behind. So she casts a spell to stop the Scoobies from seeing her demon side. As those spells usually do, it doesn't work exactly as planned and they're now unable to see demons at all. A few of Glory's minions pick that time to attack. Tara realizes her error and undoes the spell so the demons can be defeated. In a final confrontation, Spike is the one who figures out Tara hasn't turned into a demon at all and he proves it by hitting her, causing himself a nasty headache and Tara a bruised nose. Tara stays and her family leaves when they see the Scoobies are prepared to defend Tara if they try to take her by force.

One night out on patrol Buffy gets staked by a vampire, by her own stake. Riley comes to the rescue. She gets scared into the fact that she is going to dies one day in her final battle and seeks to know more info on the past slayers and their battles with Giles. Xander, Willow, Anya and Riley take the slaying patch while Buffy recovers and researches with Giles. Then Buffy realises that there's one person alive that was there in those final battles...Spike. Then we go back in time to when Spike wasn't so bad. When he was human. He was a poet, a bad one and after he got rejected by Cecily, his love, he goes out and is made a vampire by Drusilla. And so he joins the gang of Darla, Angelus and Drusilla. But Spike's mad ways forces them to retreat from London to Yorkshire. And then they travel to China during the Boxer rebellion, where Spike kills his first slayer. He goes through every detail with Buffy, much to Buffy's unhappiness. Then time is pushed forward to 1977 when Spike killed his second slayer, in New York. During this reenactment he tells Buffy that the slayer seeks death in some way or another. Buffy is disgusted by this and walks away giving Spike his money, along with some hurtful words to Spike which force to grab his gun. However things aren't going well with Joyce either, she's going to hospital to get a CAT scan. Buffy becomes unexpectedly upset by this. And Spike, out on his kill Buffy deal, sees Buffy in the helpless state and can no kill her, but comfort her, in a silent way. 

The episode starts with Joyce entering the CAT scan machine. Buffy and Dawn waiting in the waiting room of the hospital. The CAT scan reveals a shadow on her bran, and a biopsy is needed immediately for more detail on what this could be. The biopsy reveals that is is a low grade glioma, or a brain tumor. Meanwhile Riley finds Spike smelling Buffy's clothes at the summers' home. He tells Riley that Buffy's in hospital with her Joyce. Riley goes a running to the hospital, and there he looks after Dawn while Buffy takes a little break. Glory has also been pretty busy. Unknown to the gang, Glory was in The Magic Box looking for ingredients to conjure up her snake demon monster to find the key for her. Riley takes Dawn to the merry-go-round for an ice cream and a little break. And Dawn tells him how happy Buffy is around him, but he doesn't seem to think so. Meanwhile Buffy finds out from the gang that Glory was in The Magic Box, and so Buffy goes in search for a big snake like demon. But unfortunately snake guy finds Dawn, but on his way back to tell mummy dearest (Glory) he comes across Buffy, and Buffy pummels him to a green and slimy pulp. Meanwhile Riley has been busy with Sandy the vampire, and half way through her feeding off him he stakes her.

Joyce is at the hospital getting ready for her operation which is to come in a couple of days. At the hospital one of Glory's victims is being released, and spots Dawn telling her she's nothing. Willow and Tara, while star naming, spot a meteorite. It crashes down to Sunnydale. While the gang are getting themselves together to the meteorite a thing crawls out of the meteorite and chows kills the crazy just released man from the hospital. When the gang get there Riley volunteers to stay with the meteorite and so lets the guys get on with their research. Riley actually calls the Initiative people who help out with the investigation. Meanwhile at the hospital Joyce is literally getting driven crazy by her tumor, and so wants to go home. Buffy volunteers to play nurse while at home. It turns out that the thing is a Quellor demon, sent by a higher demon to clear up the mess. This is where Ben comes into things. It turns out that he too is one of Glory's helpers along with Dregg. Ben was the one who called the demon. The demon has cleared up the psychiatric ward at the hospital and is now after Joyce. At home Joyce is spouting out gibberish while staring at the ceiling, but it turns out to be the demon who she's spouting her nonsense to. It attacks and Dawn sees, pummeling it with a coat post. Dawn locks herself and Joyce in the bedroom and Dawn screams for Buffy. With a little help from Spike the demon is killed. Spike was in the basemen foraging for goodies. The episode ends with the gang looking on as Joyce is carted into the operating room.

The gang wait patiently at the hospital for Joyce to come out of the operating room. The operation was a complete success, but Joyce still has to take some time out in the hospital. Buffy and Riley have their own alone time, while Anya and Xander baby-sit Dawn. In the middle of the night Spike, spying on the Summers' home, sees Riley leave. So he follows him. Riley ends up in a place full of vampires who have humans pay them for them to suck blood off them.  Spike goes back to Buffy and tells her to follow him, which she does. Buffy's is clearly disgusted when she sees the place. When she finds Riley in a room with a vampire sucking him she is totally thunderstruck and vanishes out of there. Riley is left running after her, but gets no where. When Riley gets back to his apartment he finds Graham with the leader of the government branch of the military. They ask him to go to Belize to kill a demon tribe who are attacking a tribe. Riley has no idea what to do. The next day Buffy makes it her priority to take down the vampire - human house. She goes with Willow, Xander and Giles. Buffy goes "all rambo" and torches the place. That night while Buffy's getting her issues sorted out while training Riley comes. He tells her about the government operation he's got invited to - an ultimatum. Buffy walks away from it all, and Riley's leaving to Belize. As Buffy walks out of The Magic Box the vampires who lived in that home attack, but none get anywhere with it. Xander appears and convinces Buffy that she and Riley are meant for each other. She goes running after Riley, before he can get into the helicopter. She's too late and he's gone, no turning back.

Riley's been gone for a while now, but Buffy is still reeling from it all. Giles decides it's time to get more information on Glory and the key, that she's most avidly looking for. So Giles is off to see The Watcher's Council in England, to see if they have any more information. He leaves Willow and Anya in charge of The Magic Box. Anya tries her best to look after the shop, but Willow seems more interested in taking some freebies to cast some spell, to help Buffy. Anya finds this extremely annoying, and when Xander arrives forces him to take sides, but he walks away from it all. Meanwhile at UC Sunnydale Buffy has enrolled in a new class with Tara, to meet her schedule. With Buffy's emotions all wacked out, one word from Tara, and Buffy totally misinterprets it and thinks Xander and Anya are in trouble, relationship wise. Buffy breaks down in tears. Willow and Anya aren't getting on any better at the shop. A distracted Willow tries to make her ball of sunshine, when things go wrong and a troll appears instead of the sunshine. The troll rampages through Sunnydale. Meanwhile Xander bumps into Spike at The Bronze. And the troll pops by too, in search of ale. Willow, Anya, Buffy and Tara are all looking for the troll and themselves. When they find each other at The Bronze. While Anya and Willow try to find a spell to reverse what's just gone on Xander takes on the troll. The troll cuts him a deal, only one of Anya or Willow will die. Xander can't choose. But an emotional Buffy manages to distract the troll while Willow and Anya do a spell which traps the it once again. When Giles return, he Buffy and Joyce talk over what he's been told, and Dawn hears her name mentioned.....

After Giles' visit to the homeland, Sunnydale is getting a visit from the Council of Watchers, along with our usual Quentin Travers. Dawn seems to getting even more suspicious about what Buffy and the gang talk about after hearing her name once. The Council make their presence known in Sunnydale. They force Giles to shut down the Magic Box. And they also tell Buffy that they have information on Glory and what she is, but the only way they're going to let her have the information is to see if she passes the Review. This includes interviews with her friends, mental and physical tests. Buffy is extremely reluctant to go ahead with this, considering what happened last time. But Quentin threatens her with the deportation f Giles, so she agrees. First they interview Anya, Xander, Willow and Tara. Anya is extremely nervous considering her background. Glory is busy too. She is having trouble locating the slayer, and so asks one of her minions to ask Ben for the location. But Ben seems to want to not give Glory her location, some what protecting the slayer from her. But Glory finds her anyway, and has a talk with Buffy in the Summers' home. Dawn appears, but luckily Glory doesn't seem to think of Dawn as anything but a little girl. Buffy's tests with the Council aren't goig so well. Then late going to a meeting to the Magic Box she meets up with a few fighters who want to bring her and The Key down. Buffy eludes them, by means of a fight, and realises something. Glory, The Council, they need her. She has the power, because she know about the key. The Council are silenced by Buffy, and Giles is reinstated as her Watcher. Then the council give her information of Glory. She's not a demon, but a God...

Buffy thinks that it's about time the gang find out the truth about Dawn. However they can't seem to hide them finding this all very creepy from Dawn, and she suspects something. At Buffy's 20th birthday party Dawn gets more curious about what Joyce, Giles and Buffy are talking about. And then it seems to her the whole gang are talking about her. She stomps off to the Magic Box, along with Spike, to go and see what Giles has been writing in his book about Glory and what's been going on. As Spike reads they both find out that Dawn is in fact the key, all she is is energy. Dawn doesn't take this very well and when back at the Summers' home she cuts herself. Meanwhile the Knights of Byzantuim have visited Sunnydale once again, after The Key. But things don't go too well when Glory makes a guest appearance. She kills most of the knights except the lead knight, whom she saves until later when she sucks his brain. He then ends up in hospital. After the shock of what came up Dawn feels totally isolated, and when at school gets suspended for obscene language towards a teacher. Over hearing what Buffy and Joyce are talking about her Dawn runs away, to the hospital, to the psychiatric ward. There she finds the knight, and he tells her that she's going to be killed. Ben then runs into her, and they talk. He finds out that Dawn is The Key, and Ben turns into Glory. However Glory has no recollection of Dawn saying that she's The Key. Dawn is told what The Key is by Glory, so she can help find it. But as Dawn is about to be the next thing on the menu Buffy and the gang find her. With the help of Willow and Tara Glory s transported to another place, the sky above Sunnydale. She come crashing back down to earth with a huge thud. Buffy reassures Dawn that they are blood sisters, both the same.

Spike's friendliness towards Buffy is beginning to creep her, out but she doesn't suspect much at the moment. A train rolls into Sunnydale with all the travelers dead by neck wounds. Meanwhile Dawn's coping well with the new news, and pops over to Spike's crypt to hang out, without telling anyone. There she finds out that Spike is pretty much in love with Buffy and when Buffy goes over to Spike's for his help to find Dawn, finds her there and is not very pleased. There Dawn tells Buffy what she thinks about Spike's feelings towards her. And Buffy finds out that Dawn has a crush on Spike. Spike reckons he knows which vampires killed the train travelers. But he takes Buffy on a wild goose chase to nothingness. Where he then admits his feelings towards and pretty much pronounced his love towards her. Buffy is not pleased and with some help from mum and Willow decides that it's time to get him sorted. Back at the crypt Drusilla's back, and after the rejection from Buffy Spike goes back to her, trying to resume his killings ways at The Bronze. Buffy goes to the crypt and finds Spike's mini temple to her and freaks out. Spike then turns up and with Drusilla's help electrocutes her into unconsciousness. And he also zaps Drusilla. With both girls tied up Spike tries to prove his love towards Buffy but she doesn't take any of it. Harmony waltzes, feeling totally rejected and starts a fight with Spike. Buffy and Drusilla break lose and fight...Drusilla gets the upper hand, but after some help from Spike, Drusilla's out of there. All Buffy can do is punch Spike to the other side of the room. On the way home Spike tails Buffy and tries to persuade her, and as Spike tries to enter the Summers' home he can't...she took away his invite and left on the porch all by himself.

There's a new girl in town, and all she's looking for is her boyfriend Warren. She goes through the whole town looking for her, and bumping into Tara and Anya asks them too. After the previous goings on between Buffy and Spike, Spike goes over to The Magic Box to try and make the Scoobies on his side of things. But none of them take any of it, and with a few swift and harsh words from Giles he's out of there. Joyce has her first date in a while, and is much looking forward to it. Meanwhile at a party Ben and Buffy meet. Ben gives Buffy his telephone number, with Buffy having no idea how close Ben is to Glory. At the party the girl looking for Warren, April, runs into Spike. After Spike saying a few bad words to her he gets promptly chucked out of the window by her. The girl looking for Warren turns out to be a robot. With a little help from Willow tracking down Warren on the Internet Buffy pays him a visit. Warren's current girlfriend, Katrina,  doesn't seem to happy with so many women wanting to see him. Warren made April to be his girlfriend, a totally perfect girlfriend. Buffy persuades Warren to go out and try and make April see what's going on. And shut her down. Unfortunately April finds Katrina first, and as Katrina says she's his girlfriend April promptly crushes her into unconsciousness. Buffy and Warren get there and Warren makes Buffy the next target. They fight it out, then April's batteries start to run low, and Buffy and April sit and talk. After which Buffy realises that she needs to be alone now, no boyfriend, just her. So she turns down the date with Ben. But Glory over heard it. When Buffy gets home, she calls out to Joyce but she makes no recall back. Then Buffy finds her laying motionless on the couch. After calling "Mommy" several times with no reply the episode ends...

Buffy goes up to Joyce's body attempts to wake her but her furtive attempts don't work and she calls 911. They dispatch an ambulance immediately, but Joyce is already cold. Buffy calls Giles, waiting for the ambulance. When the paramedics arrive they can't do anything and send for a coroner. Soon after they leave Giles arrives, shocked at what's just happened. The rest of the Scooby Gang are told of what's just happened. They take it pretty hard. Willow tries to deal with it, but it's impossible. Xander, Anya, Tara and Willow all meet at Willow's before going to the morgue. Meanwhile Buffy goes to Dawn's school to tell her. But Dawn doesn't take it too well and totally melts down, not believing Buffy. At Willow's dorm room Willow is trying to search for the perfect outfit to wear to go to see Joyce but cant find it. Tara goes in search for it, while Anya keeps on asking the strangest questions. Anya doesn't understand the concept of death and she is clearly upset that it was Joyce who died. Xander tries to convince the others and himself that the death wasn't natural but something else, but it doesn't work. Instead he blames the wall and ends up with his fist in it. After it's out of the wall the gang head over to the hospital. There they meet up with Dawn, Giles and Buffy. The doctor tells them that Joyce died of an aneurysm, from the surgery. Dawn is keen to see the body. Giles volunteers to take hold of most of the paper work. While Dawn is at the rest room and Anya, Xander and Willow are getting food Tara reassures Buffy about the death of her mother, having been through a similar process. Dawn has not gone to the rest room, but to the morgue to see the body. But there she meets a rising vampire who's rather peckish. Buffy starts to worry about Dawn being gone so long and goes to find her. She does, and decapitates the vampire who was about to feed off her. They both tunr and look up and see the body.

In the aftermath of Joyce's death Buffy makes herself busy with the funeral arrangements. After the funeral Buffy gets a visitor, Angel. Meanwhile Dawn has found herself in Willow and Tara's dorm. Dawn presumes that they are going to help her get through the death of her mother, and they'll do anything she says. Dawn tells them her idea of bringing back Joyce, with a resurrection spell. Tara unsurprisingly enough is totally against this idea, and Willow backs her up. The people who are brought back with such spells are never themselves, the way they used to be, but always different. Dawn takes their rejection quite harshly. Anya and Xander have themselves a talk, Anya getting more human by the second. Realising what sex actually is, it's the creation of life, which fills her with joy. Meanwhile Buffy and Angel are taking a moment together. They talk, and have one kiss. Angel apologizes, and Buffy wishes he could stay with her forever, but she settles with until sunrise. Meanwhile Dawn has been getting busy with getting a spell together for the resurrection of Joyce. Spike comes to help her along, not for Buffy but genuinely because he cares. He takes her to a place where she can get the right incantations and advice she needs. After she gets everything she heads off to get what they need. After which Dawn begins the spell at home. Ben accidentally spills to James, one of Glory's minions, that The Key is in human form, he tries to kill the minion to clean things up. But the minion returns to Glory with the news. Buffy gets a phone call from Willow, telling her what Dawn is up to. Buffy gets there slightly too late and Joyce is on her way. Buffy tries to persuade her to undo the spell, but it doesn't work. Dawn thinks that Buffy's doesn't care about her, so that's why she needs her back. Just as the door knocks, and Buffy answers it Dawn undoes the spell, and Joyce is back in the ground, to Buffy's dismay.

Buffy feels as if she's losing her humanity as she trains even harder to become a good slayer. So Giles suggests that she goes on a quest to discover what her path ahead is going to be like. Dawn is left with the gang while Giles and Buffy go out into the desert to find Buffy's path as the slayer. Meanwhile Spike's BuffyBot is ready to go and it all starts out with a kiss. Buffy and Giles are out in the desert, but the place where Buffy receives her knowledge is highly guarded, and Buffy can not be taken there by Giles, but by a guide. Meanwhile BuffyBot and Spike are having a whale of a time doing some role playing and the like. And the Buffybot is just as life like as the real Buffy, because at night she goes out to slay. The gang think that since Buffy's out of town they should do some patrolling, so Anya and Xander go out to do just that. While they're out the meet up with the BuffyBot not knowing that it's not Buffy. A running Spike follows Buffy, and Xander and Anya seem suspicious about their behavior, but not for long since some vampires turn up to be slain. At the end of the slaying Xander and Anya leave Buffy and Spike to go home. But some sounds alert Xander back to the where Buffy and Spike were. And there Anya and Xander see Buffy boinking Spike. Xander and Anya quickly go back to tell the others. Meanwhile the real Buffy has found her way to the First Slayer. There the first slayer speaks very cryptically. And tells her that she has a gift....of death. Buffy doesn't know what to make of this and goes back home. Meanwhile Xander goes to confront Spike on what he saw, Buffy Glory's minions (who have been watching what's been going on) knock Xander out and take Spike to Glory, thinking that he's The Key. The BuffyBot goes to the gang wanting to get Spike back, but the gang only want Spike back because he knows who the Key is. Spike is getting tortured to death by Glory who is trying to find out who the Key is. The real Buffy returns back home only to find out that the gang can't tell apart the real her from a robot. All go over to where Sobek was killed, and search through the fanciest looking places. Meanwhile Spike tries an escape, and just in time Buffy and Xander happen by and fight off the minions. During the fight BuffyBot is damaged. After the fight Spike is taken back to his crypt and the bot is left lifeless. Buffy goes to pay Spike a visit, but as the robot, wanting to find out whether r not he'd told Glory about who The Key was. And Buffy finds out how much Spike really does care for him and it ends with a kiss...

Life's not getting any easier without Joyce. Buffy, after quitting university to look after Dawn, has to act as a mother towards Dawn and lay down the law, as well as protecting her from Glory. Meanwhile Ben has been missing a few weeks of work because of Glory and so gets fired. Buffy tries to get Giles in with helping out to lay down the law to Dawn but he doesn't accept on account of him not being family. When at home Dawn finds out that the school threatened to take Dawn away from Buffy if she wasn't up for the job of being mum. Glory was enlisted the help of her minions to do some more watching of Buffy and the gang, and Glory reckons she knows who the Key is, it's Tara. Meanwhile Willow tries to explain to Tara that Buffy shouldn't be so strict with Dawn, but Tara gives the impression that only she can understand what Buffy's going through and she's doing what she has to do. A few misplaced words on Tara's part causes Willow to storm out of the room. Willow decides not to go to the fair and Tara does. But along with Tara at the fair so is Glory thinking that Tara's the Key. At the Magic Box Giles finds a minion and without an inch of torture they find out what Glory's up to and Willow heads towards the Fair. But she's too late Glory's already done the brain sucking and all Willow finds is a confused Tara. At the hospital Tara has to spend one night for observations then she can go. Willow feels it's her duty to send Glory to the ground and Buffy tries to calm her down but it doesn't work and Willow's on a kamikaze mission to Glory. Meanwhile Buffy goes to collect Dawn from Spike, who was looking after her. There Spike explains to Buffy that she might now have changed Willow's mind and Buffy goes to Glory's. There Willow has already started her spells and they are having an affect on Glory, but as Willow gets weaker so do her spells, but in the nick of time Buffy arrives and helps Willow out. The next day Willow, Tara, Dawn and Buffy are all together in Tara's room. Suddenly the walls begin to shake and Glory tears open a wall. Then suddenly, Tara looking at Dawn, describes the Key...Glory knows who the key is...

After a confrontation with Glory, Buffy decides that it's best for everyone with rather than to stay in Sunnydale where Glory could easily find them. Buffy seems somewhat more spaced than usual after her encounter with Glory, as Glory now knows who the Key is. Meanwhile the Glory that was hit by the truck turned into Ben who went to Glory's apartment. There he tells the minion that he may have a way to keep Glory at bay, with the correct amount and type of drug he may be able to pull it off. With Spike's help, much to the disapproval of Giles and Xander, Buffy gets a vehicle in which they all go into to get away from Glory. Unbeknownst to them but the Knights of Byzantium are also teaming up. They released the knight who had his brain sucked by Glory, and he told the general that the Key is a little girl. Meanwhile Giles takes over in the driving department from Spike. Willow searches through her magic book for anything that could remotely help them but she doesn't come up with anything. Dawn goes to the back of the caravan to see of Buffy's okay. She then tells Buffy that things can't get any worse, but they just do. The Knights manage to catch up to them and Buffy has to go do the fighting thing. The knights use arrows and swords to pelt the Scooby Gang. With the help of Spike, Buffy gets a break and manages to climb to the top of the caravan and fight off the knights. They think they've made it when suddenly one appears in front of the vehicle and throws a spear at it, which pierces Giles, Buffy gets thrown off and the caravan comes tumbling down. They walk along the highway trying to find shelter before Giles gets too hurt and Spike burns up. They find a place, but it isn't too much later before the Knights find them too, and this time they have the general too. The general makes the mistake of coming inside with to get the Key. Willow manages to get a spell going which protects everyone inside the service station. The general gets knocked out by Buffy and tied up. Buffy realises that Giles needs desperate help, so they get Ben in. He straps Giles up but it isn't enough. Soon they find out that the Key opens up all the worlds, hell etc. and merges them all. Glory just wants to go home....but cause some chaos before she gets there. Suddenly Ben freaks out with Dawn beside him desperately wanting to be let out. And then he turns into Glory. Glory grab Dawn and breaks out of Willow's barrier before Buffy can do anything. Buffy is left stunned outside...

Willow takes in charge as Buffy's not in herself at all. She tells everyone who's doing what and where they're going and she decides to get to Buffy, through magic. Meanwhile Glory has Dawn, and Glory's beginning to get some more human feelings, like guilt. Meanwhile the gang have no recollection of the fact that Glory is Ben and Ben is Glory, only Spike remembers about the whole thing. Glory cast a spell to shadow the different people in one body. While the gang are doing there thing to help get the situation sorted Glory tries to have a girlie talk with Dawn. But Dawn doesn't want to know anything at all. Willow prepares to enter Buffy's mind at Xander's apartment. Willow's in, and she finds a child Buffy. That Buffy refuses to come out, she prefers to stay in then to go out. there Willow witnesses the homecoming of baby Dawn, and Buffy saying that she can look after her, sometimes. Meanwhile Glory realises that the magic which shadows the change between her and Ben is fading, and Ben is coming out more often than ever. Spike goes to Glory's apartment, and thinks of a plan to try and help to do something. Meanwhile Willow grow ever more confused in Buffy's mind. She watches as the Buffy in Buffy's mind kills Dawn. And tries to make Buffy understand that she hasn't and will not kill Buffy. Meanwhile Willow continues to get drawn back to one moment in time where Buffy replaces a book on the shelf in the Magic Box. Willow also sees the time when Buffy was out in the desert when the first slayer told her that death was her gift. Meanwhile Spike and Xander head off to where Spike has a hunch, to the doc's place. There they find out that the doc actually worships Glory and tries to not help them, but it all goes wrong for the doc and he ends up with a sword in him, but after Spike and Xander leave his eyes open up again. Meanwhile Ben has come out of glory and helps Dawn escape, however once out in Sunnydale Dawn tries to get rid of Ben by hitting him over the head, but Glory emerges. There Ben and Glory have a talk off, and Ben realises it's him or Dawn, and so grabs Dawn and takes her to the minions. Meanwhile Willow has finally got Buffy to tell her what's going on in her head. That moments in the Magic Box Buffy though she realised that she can't beat Glory. And then she wanted it to happen, she wanted Dawn to die and so everything would be over. Willow gets her to snap out of it, which she does. Awake Buffy and Willow head over to the Magic Box, where Giles tells her that the only way to defeat Glory is to kill Dawn.

Out in the alley behind the Magic Box Buffy helps a lowly teen from a vampire, who didn't know about her. And then gets back to the discussion on hand, Glory. Giles is convinced that everyone's going to dies, and that the only way to save the world is to kill Dawn. But Buffy's not happy with that scenario, and so wants to think of another way. Anya comes up with some surprisingly excellent ideas, one of using Olaf's hammer. To fight a god use the weapon of a god. And also to use the dagonsphere, it repels Glory, so it could do some damage to her. Meanwhile Dawn isn't having a brilliant time, sick off seeing Ben's face she prefers to see Glory. Dawn is then commanded to put on a garment, for the ceremony, which at first she refuses to put on, but after a bit of rough and tumble with Glory she gives in. Dawn is left mumbling Buffy's name. Back at the Magic Box, while looking for the dagonsphere Xander finds the Buffy Bot in the basement and also, he proposes to Anya, and after a while Anya says yes. Buffy tells Giles that if he lays a finger on Dawn, she'll have to protect her, no matter what. But Giles still believes the only way to defeat Glory is to kill Dawn. Buffy tells Giles she doesn't have the clarity of thought as when she did when she had to kill Angel, she knew what she had to do. But she doesn't think she can live anymore if everything keeps getting stripped away from her. Willow has a plan to maybe do something to Glory, which will also hopefully bring back Tara to her full self again.

The gang all have a plan, to hold Glory back so she can't do the ritual bleeding, until the time for it to happen has passed. Back with Glory the time is almost there, and Dawn is tied up on a scaffolding high in the sky. Buffy and Spike go to the Summers' home, and there Spike makes a promise to Buffy to protect Dawn until the end of the world. The gang head back to the Magic Box, where Willow lets Tara be where she has to be...with Glory. The gang then follow close behind her. There Tara gets in and begins helping, like the other lost souls, but Glory sees her. Willow comes up behind Glory and takes back Tara's brain from Glory, leaving Glory stunned. Then sees Buffy, and they both fight it out. Meanwhile Willow tends to Tara, and Tara's back, to Willow delight. While fighting Buffy, Glory gets the upper hand and knocks Buffy's head off. Glory actually thinks that the slayer's a robot, then from behind the real Buffy knocks Glory side ways with a blow with the huge hammer. The rest of the gang begin to pitch in with the fighting. Dawn looks down and sees what's going on and screams Buffy's name, Buffy tries to make her way up there, but Glory's hot on her heels. Buffy doesn't get very far when Glory attempts at pushing her off, Buffy falls, taking Glory with her. Back at the top, Doc is there takes out a knife to Dawn's despair. Down below Glory gets knocked side ways by the glorified brick layer AKA Xander, with a demolition ball. Buffy then continues to pound Glory in with the hammer. Spike gets a break, and with Willow and Tara's help gets up to help Dawn. But he gets stabbed by Doc and gets shoved off the scaffold back down.

Buffy manages to get back to the top and shoves the Doc off. The blood dripping off Dawn opens up the portal. As Buffy tries to get Dawn away, Dawn tries to make her way forward again, thinking that she has to die in order for the portal to close, it's because of her blood. Then Buffy realises that Dawn was made of her blood, and that she has the same blood as Dawn, death is her gift. After some wise words from Buffy to Dawn Buffy plunges into the portal, being killed in the process, but closing the portal. Buffy's body lay down on the floor, where the gang turn emotionally inside out, even Spike who cries. (We then see Buffy's grave.)