Chosen

"Chosen," the series finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is Episode 22 of Season 7.

Buffy and her associates organize an attack on The First Evil. Buffy comes up with a plan: The gang makes an attack on the First's army, aided by Willow, who performs a powerful spell to imbue all of the Potentials with Slayer powers. Meanwhile, wearing the amulet that Angel brought, Spike becomes the decisive factor in the victory, and Sunnydale is eradicated. Buffy and the gang look back on what's left of Sunnydale, deciding what to do next.

Quotes and trivia

 * The episode was nominated for a 2003 Emmy in the Category of Special Visual Effects for a Series.


 * The survivors are: Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, Dawn Summers, Rupert Giles, Andrew Wells, Kennedy, Faith Lehane, Principal Robin Wood, Rona, Vi, Shannon, Chao-Ahn (who Xander is seen tending to in one shot) and other Slayers.


 * The fallen: Spike (although he later returns in Angel), Anya Jenkins and Amanda.


 * In the episode, Giles, Andrew, Amanda and Xander played Dungeons & Dragons, a popular role-playing game. They made a reference to the character Trogdor the Burninator from Homestar Runner in the process.


 * Gellar's stirring speech was shown in two parts in this episode, but it was filmed as one scene, half of which was deleted in the editing room (DVD commentary).


 * Willow's spell ended with the line "Oh, my Goddess." This might be in reference either to the popular manga Oh! My Goddess (sometimes translated as Ah! My Goddess as well) or to the title of the season 5 finale* of Charmed. It is most likely a play on the vernacular phrase "Oh my God", since Willow has substituted "Goddess" for "God" several times in the past.


 * The very last line of the episode, and thus of the series, is: "Yeah, Buffy. What are we gonna do now?" (spoken by Dawn). The first line of the series (spoken by Darla in "Welcome to the Hellmouth") is: "Are you sure this is a good idea?"


 * Emma Caulfield said at the beginning of season 7 that she wanted to leave the show, but didn't want Anya to have to die. She changed her mind when it was announced that the series was ending and Anya's death ensured Emma would never be called to appear on Angel or any other spin-off shows.


 * SFX, a British sci-fi magazine, called "Chosen" the 8th best episode of Buffy (number one was "Hush").


 * Joss Whedon said on the final DVD that there was barely time for Angel to film his scenes and that the core four would never die.


 * Principal Robin Wood is the only Sunnydale High Principal on the show to ever survive.


 * The Mutant Enemy monster is actually animated in this one (as opposed to just a paper monster walking across the screen) and growls at the viewers, in a way saying goodbye to them as well.


 * "Chosen" attracted 4.9 million viewers on its original first run. Although those numbers seem low compared to earlier seasons, it was actually one of the highest rated episodes of the season as viewership at this point in the show had diminished.