The Magic Box (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

In the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", The Magic Box is a magic shop in Sunnydale last owned and operated by Rupert Giles.

Ownership history

The shop went through a series of owners, many of whom met grisly deaths at the hands of Sunnydale's demonic residents.

A magic shop in the same location as the Magic Box, at 5124 Maple Court, first appeared in season 3, at which time it was known as "Uncle Bob's Magic Cabinet." By the beginning of Season 5, its name had been changed to "The Magic Box." Another magic shop, in a different location, was shown in the Season 2 episode Passion, from which Jenny Calendar purchased an Orb of Thesulah as a means of storing Angel's soul during a spell she was seeking to cast to restore the vampire's soul. In the episode Real Me in season 5, Giles bought the shop, after spending a year unemployed following the destruction of Sunnydale High, and the death of the Magic Box's previous owner. Giles moved his book collection to the shop, and it became the Scooby Gang's meeting place and source of knowledge, much as the library had been in the first three seasons. It remained their main meeting place until its destruction at the end of Season 6.

Other personnel

Soon, Anya revealed herself to be a genius at retail and became Giles's assistant manager. When Giles returned to England, Anya became the shop's manager while Giles stayed on only as a silent partner. For a brief period, Buffy Summers also worked part time for The Magic Shop (Life Serial) but found that she was not cut out for such employment. Unofficially, Buffy's sister, Dawn, and her friends Xander, Willow, Tara, and others also helped out in the shop from time to time, and The Magic Box was the headquarters at which they met to research vampires, demons, witches, and other supernatural and paranormal phenomena after the old high school and its library were destroyed.

Description

The Magic Shop had a full basement, which was used to store excess stock, and a loft in which many of the esoteric volumes from the Sunnydale High School library were kept after they'd been removed from the library in preparation for its detonation as a means of killing the demonic mayor Richard Wilkins (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) in the episode entitled "Graduation Day, Part II". The shop itself displayed merchandise on tables, on shelves and racks, and inside glass counters. A room behind the shop was reserved as a training area for Buffy, where she could practice hand-to-hand combat and martial arts techniques and tactics. It was equipped with a punching bag, a pommel horse, tumbling mats, protective pads, and other paraphernalia and included an armory of various weapons.

Merchandise

In addition to the Orb of Thesulah, the following merchandise was available for sale at The Magic Box:
* Skink root ("Lovers Walk")
* Essence of rose thorn ("Lovers Walk")
* Canary's feathers ("Lovers Walk")
* Essence of violet ("Lovers Walk")
* Cloves ("Lovers Walk")
* Set of runic tablets ("Lovers Walk")
* Rats' eyes ("Lovers Walk")
* Holy water ("Lovers Walk")
* Unicorn statue ("Real Me")
* Salamander Eyes ("No Place Like Home")
* Essence of Slug candles ("Life Serial")
* Eyeballs in honey ("Life Serial")
* Dagger of Lex ("Life Serial")
* Petrified hamster ("Life Serial")
* Mummy's hand ("Life Serial")
* Mandrake Root ("All the Way")
* "Green Egg" Magazine ("Triangle") A wide variety of other magical paraphernalia was also available, including candles, crystal balls, love potions (possibly not real potions), etc., along with presumably non-magical items such as history books, jewelry, etc.

Destruction

The Magic Box was eventually destroyed after Dark Willow sucked its magical contents dry in Villains and then fought a vicious battle with Giles within it. In the course of the battle the entire structure was reduced to rubble in Grave.

At the beginning of Season Seven, the destroyed Magic Box is seen as Anya clears out the wreckage during Same Time, Same Place.

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