- Giles: “Do you think they appreciate the gravity of what we're undertaking? It's frightening, and it's difficult. And then, apparently, someone told them that the vision quest consists of me driving them to the desert, doing the hokey pokey until a spooky Rasta-mama slayer arrives and speaks to them in riddles.”
- Buffy: “That's not exactly how I put it”
- — Giles and Buffy
The Vision Quest entails finding out more about the meaning and power of the Slayer. Often the Watcher will take his Slayer on this journey out of necessity, training, or at the request of the Slayer herself. It is said to be helpful in regaining focus, and learning more about their role. It takes place in a sacred place in the desert. The actual location is a guarded secret for the Slayer only. The Watcher takes the Slayer into the desert and a ritual is performed in order to transfer guardianship of the Slayer to a guide, often an animal. The ritual entails sitting in a circle of twigs (magic twigs), jumping into the circle, jumping back out, and then shaking the magic gourd. Then a Swahili text is read aloud, transferring the guardianship. According to the original teleplay of Intervention, the chant translates into "That which I am pledged to guard and guide, I hand over to you. Lead her to a place of safety and learning. Give her that which she needs. Show her the path." The guide leads the Slayer to the sacred place where she encounters the First Slayer, or at least, a representation of her. The First Slayer can give them more perspective, or even riddles depending on the interpretation. Buffy Summers took this quest in the BTVS episode Intervention in the fifth season, and the potential slayers in the episode The Killer in Me in the seventh. Rona, Vi, Molly, Chloe, and Amanda are some of the potentials to take part in this trip, with Kennedy sitting out.