Blood Ties

"Blood Ties" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the ninety-first episode altogether. It was written by Steven S. DeKnight and directed by Michael Gershman. It originally broadcast on February 6, 2001.

Dawn makes a profound discovery about herself and her origin. Ben is revealed to share a body with Glory.

Synopsis


The Scooby Gang discusses plans for Buffy's birthday and dealing with Glory. Giles reveals that Glory is the god of a demon dimension and in order to stay in human form, she needs to suck energy from humans, leaving them insane. The gang starts asking questions about The Key and Buffy finally breaks down and tells them the truth about Dawn. Several of the Knights of Byzantium chant around a fire before they are interrupted by Jinx, one of Glory's minions. Glory arrives and kills all of the Knights except Orlando, whom she later tortures for information.

At the Magic Box, Dawn feels awkward because of the way everyone is treating her and notices when Giles hides a book in a hidden counter drawer. Buffy opens presents from her friends and everyone gets quiet when she receives a framed picture of herself and Dawn (from a vacation which is, like most of Dawn's life, a false memory) from her sister. Dawn finally gets upset and confronts everyone about their strange behavior around her, then storms to her room.



After sneaking out of the house, Dawn runs into Spike, who was keeping his typical watch outside Buffy's house. After a brief conversation, Dawn tells Spike that she is on her way to the Magic Shop to steal a book.

Spike notes the myriad dangers of roaming around alone at night, and then he accepts Dawn's offer to let him tag along. With Spike's assistance, Dawn breaks into the shop and finds the book that she had seen Giles hide earlier. By candlelight, Dawn and Spike read about the truth of Dawn and The Key. Spike treats this revelation with a peculiar equanimity; Dawn is less sanguine.

Dawn returns to the house, bleeding from a self-inflicted knife wound, tearfully questioning what she is. With the party brought to a very quick end, everyone else leaves so Joyce and Buffy can try to talk to Dawn, but everything has changed for her and she's scared, so she demands that they leave her alone. Buffy learns that Spike had a hand in Dawn finding out the truth the way she did and storms to his crypt, ready to beat the living snot out of him. However Spike turns the tables on her and blames her for not telling Dawn the truth in the first place. He also notes that Dawn was going with or without him, and that he only went along to protect her from harm, thinking that she would be safer with "Big Bad" looking over her shoulder. Now she's only going after him to make herself feel better. Sensing the truth in Spike's words, Buffy leaves but not without telling him that he has no idea how she feels.



Jinx threatens Ben at the hospital, but Ben reveals that Glory can't hurt him, no matter what he does. After overhearing Buffy and Joyce talking, Dawn rampages through her room, burns her diaries, and runs away. The smoke alarm alerts Buffy and her mom to Dawn's little fire and departure.

The gang gathers at the Magic Box and then splits up to search for Dawn. Spike does what he can to comfort Buffy and tells her that they will find her sister before it's too late, and Buffy admits that Spike had been right about Dawn -- Buffy should have been honest with her in the first place. Dawn passes through the park, reliving past memories only to be reminded of their falseness, then ends up at the hospital.

She searches for answers in the Psych ward, trying to persuade the mental patients to tell them what they see when they look at her, then runs into Ben. She blurts out to Ben that she's The Key and he freaks out trying to make her leave before Glory can find her, but it's too late. Ben suddenly changes into Glory, but Glory remembers nothing about Ben's conversation with Dawn and the young girl pretends to know nothing. Dawn asks questions about The Key and Glory reveals that The Key is very old then realizes Dawn knows nothing and is wasting her time. Dawn doesn't seem to remember exactly how Glory got into the room.

Buffy shows up in time to stop Glory from draining the energy from Dawn. With some help from the rest of the gang, Buffy gets in a few good hits and takes a few as well before Willow and Tara perform a spell to teleport Glory somewhere else. The godly one ends up high in the sky and falls straight to earth. Buffy shows Dawn that no matter what, they are sisters that are bound by blood.

Continuity

 * Although a link between Ben and Glory had been previously suggested (in "Listening to Fear", Ben told Dreg that he had summoned the Queller to 'clean up Glory's mess, like he had done his whole life'), this is the first time we see that Ben and Glory share a body, although neither retains memories of the other's activities.


 * It is also noteworthy that Dawn (after a brief interval) does not remember Ben changing into Glory; this memory glitch, courtesy of Glory, will be a recurring phenomenon throughout this season, affecting everyone who witnesses the shift (except Spike).


 * When Dawn gets upset with Joyce and Buffy in her bedroom she shouts "Get out. Get out! Get out! Get out!" She shouts the same thing, in the same place, in the episode "Older and Far Away".


 * The 12th or 13th episode of each season is traditionally when Buffy celebrates her birthday; her birthday takes place in episode 13 of Season Two ("Surprise"), episode 12 of Season Three ("Helpless"), episode 12 of Season Four ("A New Man") and episode 14 of Season Six ("Older and Far Away"). Buffy's birthday is not shown celebrated in Season One (it presumably occurred before the beginning of the half-long season) or in Season Seven.


 * The rest of the Scooby Gang, as well as Dawn herself, learn that Dawn is the Key.


 * We also learn that Dawn arrived six months ago, according to Buffy. It is very probable that Dawn arrived in the moment that Buffy entered her room, at the end of "Buffy vs. Dracula".


 * This episode marks the beginning of the bond between Dawn and Spike, which will last throughout the rest of the series.


 * This episode implies, in the scene where Dawn looks at the swing and she sees Buffy and herself being pushed on it, that Buffy, Joyce, and Dawn were in Sunnydale long before it was implied in the first season that they just moved there, although it is equally likely that the swing just reminded Dawn of another swing that she & Buffy played on when they lived in LA.

Body Count

 * Dreg, killed by the Knights of Byzantium
 * Two unidentified minions of Glory, killed by the Knights of Byzantium
 * Three Knights of Byzantium, killed by Glory with a sword
 * One security guard, snaped by Glory

Pop Culture References

 * Glory made a reference to the television series "Gentle Ben"
 * Glory: "What I'm tryin' to noodle, is what in the world was the Slayer's little sis doin' here with Gentle Ben?"

Music

 * Star Ghost Dog - "Holiday"

Other

 * This episode is Dawn-centric.