End of Days

"End of Days" is the twenty-first episode of the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the one hundred forty-third episode altogether. It was written by Jane Espenson and Douglas Petrie and directed by Marita Grabiak. It originally broadcast on May 13, 2003.

The stage is set for the the final battle with The First.

Synopsis
Buffy effortlessly pulls the Scythe from the stone, leaving Caleb amazed. He is willing to fight her, though probably outmatched now that she has the Scythe. But The First (as Buffy) tells him to let Buffy go, and tells her that she will have to hurry to save her friends in the sewer.

Back at the Summers' residence, Andrew has just acquired food, while Dawn, Willow, Xander, and Anya return, having been looking for Buffy; Spike's words from the previous episode having clearly sunken in. Giles informs them that Faith and the others have not returned.



The Potential Slayers who survived the bomb blast&mdash;Kennedy, Amanda, Vi, Rona, and Caridad among others&mdash;start dragging the unconscious Faith and their other wounded towards the surface when they are ambushed by three Turok-Han vamps. Kennedy assumes command. All hope seems lost, though, until Buffy shows up with her new weapon and rescues them, killing all three Turok-Han. Back at her house, the Potentials and Scoobies reaffirm their loyalty to Buffy, while the Potentials express a belief that God had punished them for appointing Faith the leader over Buffy.

Willow and Giles immediately look for references to the Scythe on the Internet. During their research, Willow confesses to Giles that she is not sure if she can do real heavy magic, even if she must. They find symbols that suggest a connection to scythes and Ancient Egypt.

At Buffy's insistence, a reluctant Xander renders Dawn unconscious with chloroform and drives off with her, away from Sunnydale for safety. When Dawn wakes up, she gives him a shock with a taser and then drives them back.



Buffy and Faith make up. Faith admits to Buffy that she was jealous of her friends, and lets it slip that she and Principal Wood have had sex. They both reflect upon how lonely they are as Slayers, and that they are the only ones in the group who truly understand what it feels like to be a Slayer. Buffy then has a personal discussion with Spike, in which they admit how much they feel for each other.

Andrew and Anya head to the hospital to retrieve supplies for the wounded, and have a heart-to-heart about humanity's desire to fight for good. They also have a wheelchair fight.

Following the Egyptian lead, Buffy takes the Scythe to a small pyramid that she discovers right outside one of the gates of the same cemetery that she has patrolled for the past six years. Inside, a woman who claims she is part of a secret female order that has watched the Watchers since ancient times tells her that the Scythe 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 steps in to save her. However, Buffy insists on fighting Caleb alone and slices his abdomen with the scythe. Caleb laughs for a moment, then changes expression and falls.

Buffy gives Angel a welcome kiss. Unbeknownst to them, Spike is hiding in the shadows with The First by his side. "That bitch", it tells him.

Continuity

 * The concept of the Scythe was previously and originally created for Joss Whedon's comic series, Fray. The weapon was given more exposure to the Buffyverse when Whedon then included it in the television series.
 * The Scoobies and Potentials welcome Buffy back as the group's undisputed leader when Faith's decisions lead the Potentials into a trap.
 * Spike does not appear until midway through the episode as when he woke up and found that Buffy had gone the sun had already risen and he had to wait until nightfall before leaving the house he had found her in.
 * Anya recalls the events of Graduation Part One when she fled before the battle, and demonstrates how she has grown as a human by explaining why she has chosen to stay around since.
 * Although when the audience hear Sarah Michelle Gellar's voice-over when Dawn is reading Buffy's letter she reads "this isn't the place for either of you." The letter itself actually reads "this isn't the place for either of you right now" but the last two words of the sentence were eited out due to time restrictions.
 * This episode is a crossover with the Angel episode "Home" in which Angel learns of the Apocalypse Buffy is facing and comes to help, arriving just in time to save her from Caleb. However, Angel's outfit when he arrives in Sunnydale is different than the one he was wearing when he left L.A.


 * When Dawn and Xander are in the car looking for her crossbow, she mentions that she doesn't leave it around ever since an incident with Kitty Fantastico, Willow and Tara's cat, which has not been seen since the end of the fifth season.


 * At the end of the last episode when opening the box the bomb counter was on 8 and ticked down to 5 before Faith yells, "Get down!", at the beginning of this episode when the box is opened the counter is already on 5 and ticking down, the bomb goes off instantly when Faith yells meaning the girls have no time to actually get down.

Body Count

 * Two unidentified Potentials killed by explosion
 * Unidentified Potential, killed by a Turok-Han vampire
 * Three Turok-Han vampires, dusted by Buffy with the Scythe
 * Guardian woman, killed by Caleb

Production

 * This episode was filmed before "Touched", even though it aired after, because Eliza Dushku needed time to film her pilot for Tru Calling.


 * This episode features the actors who play the lead characters in all of Joss Whedon's television shows. Buffy, David Boreanaz as Angel, Nathan Fillion played Malcolm Reynolds in Firefly, and Eliza Dushku played Echo on Dollhouse.


 * 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.

Broadcast

 * The DVD version of this episode is actually missing a scene. Since the Region 1 DVDs do not contain the "Previously on..." segments, the editor made a goof in cutting out the actual scene that included seeing the girls being blasted right before cutting to Buffy grabbing the Scythe. The other region DVDs contain this scene.

Deleted Scenes

 * This line was cut:
 * Willow: "It doesn't have any markings. Would it be so hard to include a little sticker? 'Hello. My name is Blank of the Blankthuselah, consult operating instruction before wielding'."

Pop Culture References

 * Spike congratulates Buffy for finding "the Holy Grail... Or the Holy Hand Grenade". This is a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which features a "Holy Hand Grenade".


 * Upon seeing the Scythe Giles tells Buffy, " It's obviously mystical in origin " to which Buffy replies " I kinda figuerd that when I King Arthured it out of the stone ", refering to Arthur's Sword Excalibur.
 * Buffy mentions that the scythe has a Luxor Casino theme.

Goofs, Bloopers & Continuity Errors

 * When the potentials are backing away from the third Turok-Han, you can see a potential being grabbed by a Turok-Han. In the next scene, you see the same Turok-Han jump down and grab the same Potential.