End of Days (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Plot synopsis

Starting moments after the previous episode ended, "End of Days" begins as Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) effortlessly pulls the scythe from the stone. The First tells Caleb (Nathan Fillion) to let Buffy go, so that she could attempt to save the Potentials from the trap Faith (Eliza Dushku) led them into.

Back at Buffy's house, Giles and the other Potentials feast on food, which Andrew has just acquired from an abandoned grocery store. As they do so, Xander, Willow, Dawn and Anya return, having been looking for Buffy, only to come across an empty house. Giles then informs them that Faith and the other girls haven't returned.

Meanwhile, in the sewers, those that survived the bomb blast are dragging the wounded to the surface when they are ambushed by three Turok-Han vampires. Buffy arrives in time to kill the vampires with her new weapon.

Back at Buffy's house, the Scoobies and Potentials immediately pledge their loyalty to Buffy again, while Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) search the Internet for references to the battleaxe - finding a connection to Ancient Egypt. Faith and Buffy bond over their shared loneliness as Slayers, and reflect how they are the only ones in the group who truly understand what it feels like to be a Slayer, foreshadowing the finale of the series. Buffy admits to Spike (James Marsters) how special the night they shared was and that it gave her the strength to find new courage. Spike tells Buffy that it was the best night of his life.

At Buffy's insistence, a reluctant Xander (Nicholas Brendon) renders Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) unconscious with chloroform and drives off with her, away from Sunnydale for safety. When Dawn wakes up, she gives him a shock with a stun gun and then drives them back.

Following the Egyptian lead, Buffy takes the axe to a small pyramid outside the gates of the same cemetery that she has patrolled for the past six years. Inside, a woman (Christine Healy) who claims she is part of a secret female order that has watched the Watchers since ancient times, called Guardians, tells her that the axe is a powerful weapon forged for the final battle. Suddenly, Caleb shows up from behind the woman, kills her, and almost has Buffy bested when Angel (David Boreanaz) steps in to save her. However, Buffy insists on fighting Caleb alone, and slices him across the stomach, apparently killing him.

Buffy gives Angel a welcome kiss. Unknown to them, Spike is watching them from the shadows with the First, in the guise of Buffy, by his side. "That bitch", it tells him.

Production details

This is the first time that Angel and Buffy have seen each other since their off-screen interlude after her return from death, between Buffy episodes "Flooded" and "Life Serial", and Angel episodes "Carpe Noctem" and "Fredless". They were last on screen together in "Forever".

Marti Noxon was originally due to write this episode. However, she was already working on a pilot for the Fox television network, Still Life and was unavailable to do so. As a result, Espenson and Petrie, the next two writers with the most seniority on the show, co-wrote this episode. The concept of the Scythe was previously and originally created for Joss Whedon's comic series, Fray.

Since the Region 1 DVD's have the "Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer" recaps cut out, the scene of Faith and the potential slayers being blasted by the bomb in the sewer tunnel right before Buffy grabs the Scythe is missing. Other region DVD's as well as streaming versions of this episode do contain this scene because no editing was done.

Continuity

Dawn mentions a mishap with a crossbow that happened previously with the kitten once owned by Tara and Willow explaining its disappearance between seasons 5 and 6. Anya says that there was another apocalypse which led her to flee, a reference to the end of Season 3.