The Gift

"The Gift" is the twenty-second episode of the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and is the one hundredth episode altogether. It was written and directed by Joss Whedon. It originally broadcast on May 15, 2001. It was the last episode to air on The WB Network and therefore, the network called it the series finale. The series moved to rival UPN.

Buffy faces Glory as the ritual commences. In order to save Dawn and the world, Buffy must sacrifice her own life.

Plot


Buffy slays a vampire to save a teenage boy in an alley. The Scooby Gang, knowing that Glory has the advantage over them, make plans to try to avert the apocalypse that will result if her plans succeed. None of them have any ideas apart from killing Buffy's sister Dawn, which Buffy refuses to consider. Xander reluctantly suggests killing Ben as, although he is an innocent, his death will destroy Glory. Giles however points out that it's unlikely Ben will resurface this close to the ritual. In the end Anya suggests the use of two items that had been found earlier in the series: the Dagon Sphere, which is supposed to repel Glory, and Olaf's hammer. The Scoobies finally decide on a plan: as the Key can only be used at a specific place and time, all they have to do is keep Glory preoccupied and delay the ritual until her window of opportunity has passed, after which the Key will be useless to Glory and Dawn will be safe from her.

They then try to find out where Glory's plan might be occurring, and Tara, who was made insane by Glory in "Tough Love", tries to lead them there saying that she has a big day and needs to be somewhere. All of Glory's victims who had been turned insane instinctively knew where Glory was performing the ritual and were drawn there to assist. Thus, the Scoobies decide to simply follow Tara when the time comes.

Xander and Anya search for the Dagon Sphere in the Magic Box's basement; Xander proposes to Anya but she tells him to give the ring to her again, "after the world doesn't end." Buffy heads back to her house with Spike in tow. She invites him back into her house, and they both let one another know they respect each other. Buffy asks Spike to protect Dawn, and Spike tells Buffy he knows she'll never love him, but appreciates her for treating him like a man. Meanwhile, Dawn is tied up at the top of a tower that Glory's minions have constructed for the ritual to open the gates between dimensions, allowing Glory to return home but setting all hell loose on Earth in the process.



The group prepares to leave, waiting until sundown. As Tara arrives at the tower, she is accosted by Glory who demands to know what she is doing there. Glory is then ambushed by Willow, who performs a spell that restores Tara's sanity, confuses and dazes Glory having reduced her mental energies, and throws all three of them backwards violently. Glory, still dazed, decides that she needs a brain to psychically feed on and sees Buffy. She orders her minions to guard the path up the tower.

Buffy brandishes the Dagon Sphere and tosses it to Glory, who is obviously in pain holding it. Glory manages to crush it in her hands. In this time Buffy runs up and attacks her, initially gaining the upper hand. Giles, Spike, and Anya attack the minions at the base of the tower, with the hope of breaking through to rescue Dawn. Glory regains her senses during the fight with Buffy and throws a punch that is hard enough to knock Buffy's head off, revealing that she was actually fighting the Buffybot.

The real Buffy sneaks up behind Glory and strikes her with Olaf's hammer. Glory is thrown backwards into a wall by the force of the strike. Buffy then forces her way past Glory's minions and attempts to climb the tower. However, Glory again regains her senses and quickly catches up with Buffy. They fight on the path up the tower and Buffy desperately tries to climb higher, but is hindered by Glory, eventually resulting in both of them falling off the tower to the ground. The hammer lands several feet away from Buffy and Glory confronts her before she can retrieve it. Glory is knocked off her feet, however, by a wrecking ball operated by Xander. Buffy picks up the hammer and sets about beating a dazed Glory repeatedly with it.



Glory reverts back to the form of the mortal Ben, and Buffy demands he leave Sunnydale and never return. She then leaves to try and rescue Dawn. Giles approaches a panting Ben and suffocates him to prevent Glory ever returning, knowing that Buffy couldn't kill an innocent, even though Glory would ultimately possess Ben again and kill Buffy.

At the top of the tower, Dawn is nervously watching the battle raging below. She is surprised to see Doc at the top of the tower and, unaware that he is a worshiper of Glory, cries to him for help. He instead pulls out a knife and advances on her.

Giles, Anya, and Spike are not making any progress through the minions and fall back, until Spike notices that there is someone at the top of the tower along with Dawn. Willow communicates telepathically with him and tells him to run to the top of the tower and rescue Dawn, and then she and Tara use magic to knock all the minions down. Spike sprints to the top of the tower and when Dawn sees him she calls to him. Doc turns round and Spike advances on him. The fight is short-lived however, as Doc proves to be far stronger than suspected and throws Spike from the tower, giving himself time to initiate the ritual. He makes two shallow cuts on Dawn's stomach.



Buffy runs to the top of the tower and nonchalantly pushes Doc from the top of it. She unties her sister but some of Dawn's blood has already dripped down and activated the portal. It expands and all manner of demons emerge from it around Sunnydale. Dawn, knowing that the portal won't close until her blood stops flowing, plans to jump into the portal, believing that doing so would close it and save the world, even if she dies in the process. Buffy stops her; she then suddenly has a flashback of several points in the season--telling Dawn they both shared "Summers blood," her earlier proclamation that "the monks made [Dawn] out of me," and most significantly, when she met the spirit guide who told her that "Death was [her] gift." Buffy realizes that she and Dawn share similar blood, and that if she, Buffy, throws herself into the portal, it will close. After exchanging a few brief words with Dawn, Buffy throws herself into the portal, closing it. Her battered body is found at the bottom of the tower, as the sun is rising.

"Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles... tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."

- Buffy

Buffy's friends grieve — Spike weeps — and the last scene of the episode is Buffy's grave bearing the epitaph:

BUFFY ANNE SUMMERS 1981-2001 BELOVED SISTER DEVOTED FRIEND SHE SAVED THE WORLD A LOT

Starring

 * Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers/Buffybot
 * Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
 * Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
 * Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
 * Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
 * James Marsters as Spike
 * Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest Starring

 * Clare Kramer as Glory
 * Charlie Weber as Ben
 * Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
 * Joel Grey as Doc

Co Starring

 * Todd Duffey as Murk
 * Craig Zimmerman as Minion #1
 * Josh Jacobson as Teen
 * Tom Kiesche as Vampire

Production

 * This is the 100th episode of the series.


 * As mentioned by Joss in the commentary for both this episode and "Chosen", this episode was originally written to serve as the series finale, and several ideas that were used in the real finale were originally written for this episode.


 * Originally Sunnydale was supposed to be destroyed by the Hellmouth in this episode, but it was decided to save the idea for the series finale, "Chosen".


 * The outfit that Buffy wears in this episode is the same outfit that she wears for most of the Angel episode called 'I Will Remember You'.


 * It was rumoured that this episode was going to be a two-hour television event called "Centenary" and to feature almost every single character from previous seasons including the entire Angel cast.


 * Earlier in the season, it was rumored that the entire town of Sunnydale would be sucked into the Hellmouth in the finale. Although it has never been completely confirmed, Joss had another plan for the season. The original idea was to have Anya die in the rubble, Xander be Glory's other half (instead of Ben), Willow was going to become evil after Tara's death and join forces with Glory, and Dawn was to be bled by Evil Willow in the end, and Sunnydale was supposed to be completely destroyed by the Hellmouth.


 * This episode also marks the final episode that Anthony Stewart Head is featured in the opening titles as "and Anthony Stewart Head as Giles", and is now replaced with Alyson Hannigan taking over as "and Alyson Hannigan as Willow" for the remainder of the series. Anthony Stewart Head is henceforth classed as a Special Guest Star.


 * In the original script the end would be a lot different:


 * A rift opens and a huge dragon flies out screaming as it sails past the girls.
 * Dawn: "Buffy-"
 * Buffy: "I don't care! Dawn, I won't lose you-"
 * Dawn: "You have to! You have to let me go! Blood starts it, and until the blood stops flowing, it'll never stop. You know you have to let me."
 * Buffy takes in Dawn's words and knows it's true.
 * Dawn takes a few steps away from her sister.
 * Buffy does nothing to stop her.
 * Dawn begins running toward the end of the platform and swandives into the ball of energy. She starts down.
 * Buffy watches and cries.
 * Dawn's body disappears in a white light and the energy goes even wilder.
 * The Scooby Gang looks up in vain to see what happened.
 * Dawn floats into the center of the maelstrom and is being hit with equivalent of a million jolts of electricity.
 * Buffy is unable to leave the platform...
 * Dawn slowly closes her eyes, and the energy ball explodes and is out of existence. Dawn disappears with it, and the last thing we see is Buffy's face...

Broadcast

 * This is the last original episode to air on the Warner Bros. Network. Because of this, the WB promoted this episode as the "series finale" and not the "season finale" since the show will air on UPN for season six.


 * The "Previously on..." portion of this episode, which included clips from every previous season of the show, is not on the Season Five DVD set for all region 1 DVDs however, it appears on all region 2 DVDs. It is, however, available as an Easter Egg on the Season Seven DVD set for region 1.

Other

 * This episode was criticized by the Parents Television Council for showing a character commit suicide. This ignored the context in which Buffy's self-sacrifice occurred.


 * Joss Whedon joked at the Noctural convention in 2001 that Anya was originally supposed to die in this episode, however, he had to keep her alive because Emma Caulfield kept moving as Xander was carrying Anya.

Quotes
Buffy - "You're my big gun!" Willow - "Gun? I can't be a gun!  Maybe a cudgel!  Or a pointy stick!"

Tara - "You are a killer"

Glory - "The Slayer's a robot? Did everybody else know the Slayer was a robot?" Buffy - "Glory. You're not the brightest god in the heavens, are you?"

Buffy - "Everyone knows their jobs. Remember, the ritual starts; we all die.  And I'll kill anyone who comes near Dawn."

Buffy - "Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will *always* love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles...tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."

Continuity

 * Buffy's speech to Dawn atop the tower are the last words spoken by Buffy on WB, and also the last thing that she says to her sister, Dawn, before giving her life to close the portal.


 * This episode marks the first time that Rupert Giles kills an innocent.


 * Giles would have later confessed to killing Ben in Season Seven, "Lies My Parents Told Me", but the scene was cut right before it aired.


 * Olaf is never mentioned as being a Troll God until this episode. In "Triangle" he is simply referred to as a man who was magically changed into a troll. Anya mentioned that his power was contained in his hammer, however, which makes the hammer a more valid weapon. Additionally, while Xander didn't even have visible bruises despite being struck by the hammer repeatedly, Buffy uses it in this episode to literally beat Glory to a bloody pulp.
 * The hammer also seems to prove that the Slayer is seemingly stronger than most vampires: Buffy easily lifts and wields it with one hand, whereas Spike was barely able to lift it with both hands in "Blood Ties".


 * The outfit that Buffy wears in this episode when she jumps off the tower is the same one that she wears in the Angel episode "I Will Remember You" when Angel walks out to her in daylight and kisses her.


 * Buffy's statement to Dawn, "The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it", is repeated by Dawn in "Once More, with Feeling".


 * Willow demonstrates the ability to communicate by telepathy with Spike, which she will later use to give orders to the group while hunting vampires in the Season Six premiere. This ability will also be utilized later on in the Season Seven episode "Showtime".
 * Strangely, Willow successfully communicates with Spike via telepathy, even though Angel stated in "Earshot" that vampires are immune to telepathy as their minds are like their reflections in a mirror.


 * Spike is invited back into Buffy's home after being barred in "Crush". His invite is not taken away even after his attack on Buffy in season six.


 * Dawn being the Key becomes a nonissue after this episode; from here on characters will mention that she "was" the Key, (past tense) though Dawn herself says later that she's "still the Key, I just don't open anything anymore".


 * Crossover with Angel: Willow goes to Los Angeles to let Angel, Cordelia and Wesley know Buffy is dead in "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb".

Slayer Stats

 * Buffy slays one vampire.


 * Spike kills one minion of Glory.


 * Giles kills one minion of Glory and Ben


 * Buffy kills Doc


 * Giles kills Ben and thus Glory as well.

Music

 * Christophe Beck - "The Tower"
 * Christophe Beck - "Losing Battle"
 * Christophe Beck - "Apocalypse"
 * Christophe Beck - "Sacrifice"
 * Christophe Beck - "Sacrifice" (Alternate version)