Hell's Bells

"Hell's Bells" is the 16th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Xander and Anya are finally about to get married. But an old man materializes and begins looking for Xander. When he finds him, he introduces himself as Xander Harris' future self and warns young Xander with a vision that his marriage to Anya will be nothing but the beginning of a life of disgrace and pain. Xander returns from his vision and flees the wedding, leaving Anya standing alone at the beginning of the long walk. After a while, they discover that Future Xander is nothing but a former victim of Anyanka's revenges. He had planned to destroy Anya's life, but Buffy defeats him. Xander returns during that fight and helps in killing the thing. Then they tell him what happened, but he's still afraid that he might be wrong in marrying her anyway. Having seen his father's problems with drinking (and what the vision hinted about them) makes him afraid that he might take to drinking too, turn violent and hurt Anya. In the end, Xander leaves and Anya is left alone crying.

Quotes and trivia

 * This episode was nominated for three (3) Emmy Awards. The most for a year in the show's history:


 * Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series


 * Outstanding Makeup Series (Prosthetic)


 * Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Non-prosthetic)


 * The Watcher's Guide 3 reveals cut dialogue which explains Giles' absence:


 * Dawn: "I thought Xander and Anya couldn't afford flowers."


 * Willow: "Giles sent 'em. Aren't they gorgeous?"


 * Dawn: "Yeah. I wish Giles was here."


 * Willow: "Me too. And I'm sure he'd much rather be here than fighting that nasty demon-"


 * The title, Hells Bells is also an AC/DC song from their album 'Back in Black'.


 * In the wedding, the demon Clem is sitting among Xanders family and friends.