End of Days (Buffy episode)

Infobox Television episode
Title=End of Days


Series=Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season=7
Episode=21
Airdate=May 13, 2003
Production=7ABB20
Writer=Jane Espenson and Douglas Petrie
Director=Marita Grabiak
Guests=Anthony Stewart Head
(Giles)
Tom Lenk
(Andrew)
Nathan Fillion
(Caleb)
Eliza Dushku
(Faith)
Iyari Limon
(Kennedy)
Sarah Hagan
(Amanda)
David Boreanaz
(Angel)
Episode list=List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
Prev=Touched
Next=Chosen

"End of Days" is the 21st episode of the seventh and final season of the television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" that sets everything up for the final battle.

Plot synopsis

ummary

Starting moments after the the previous episode ended, "End of Days" begins as Buffy effortlessly pulls the scythe from the stone. The First tells Caleb to let Buffy go, so that she could attempt to save the Potentials from the trap Faith led them into. Meanwhile, in the sewers, those that survived the bomb blast are dragging the wounded to the surface when they are ambushed by three Turok-Han vampires. Buffy arrives in time to kill the vampires with her new weapon.

Back at Buffy's house, the Potentials and Faith pledge their loyalty to Buffy again, while Willow and Giles search the Internet for references to the scythe - finding a connection to Ancient Egypt. Faith and Buffy bond over their shared loneliness as Slayers, and reflect how they are the only ones in the group who truly understand what it feels like to be a Slayer. Buffy admits to Spike how special the night they shared was and that it gave her the strength to find new courage.

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.

Following the Egyptian lead, Buffy takes the scythe to a small pyramid outside 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 Caleb falls.

Buffy gives Angel a welcome kiss. Unknown to them, Spike is watching them from the shadows with the First, in the guise of Buffy, by his side. "That bitch", it tells him.

Acting

tarring

*Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
*Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
*Emma Caulfield as Anya Jenkins
*Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn Summers
*James Marsters as Spike
*Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg

pecial guest star

*Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles
*Eliza Dushku as Faith Lehane
*Nathan Fillion as Caleb

Guest starring

*David Boreanaz as Angel
*Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
*Iyari Limon as Kennedy
*Sarah Hagan as Amanda
*Christine Healy as The Guardian

Co-starring

*Felicia Day as Vi
*Dania Ramirez as Caridad
*Lisa Ann Cabasa as Injured Girl

Production details

Writing

*Anya and Andrew share their feelings on death and what it means to be human, setting them up for their last stand in the final episode.

*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.

Translations

*German title: "Das Ende der Zeit (1)" ("The End of Time, Part 1")
*Italian title: "La Fine dei Giorni" ("The End of Days")
*French title: "La fin des temps - 1^ère partie" ("The End of Times - Part 1")
* Spanish title: "El Fin De Los Tiempos" ("The End of Time")

Quotes and trivia

*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.

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

* The concept of the Scythe was previously and originally created for Joss Whedon's comic series, "Fray".

* In the "Season Eight" story arc "Wolves at the Gate", it is revealed that the Slayer scythe has at least one demonic counterpart: a sword in the possession of Dracula, which he calls "one of the ancient relics, bound with demon spirit -- like your scythe." The sword is what grants Dracula his special powers and is used during a ritual in a similar fashion to the way the scythe is used in the next episode.

*When searching the car with Xander, Dawn says "I don't leave crossbows around all willy-nilly. Well, not since that time with Miss Kitty Fantastico," referring to the pet introduced in Season Four that had since become rarely mentioned and even less often seen.

*Xander: "Besides, if you die, I’ll just bring you back to life. That’s what I do." is a reference to when Xander brought Buffy back to life in the Season One finale, "Prophecy Girl," and helped with Buffy's resurrection in the Season Six premier, "Bargaining, Part One."

*Referring to the scythe, Spike references "Monty Python and the Holy Grail": " [You] Found the holy grail, or the holy hand grenade, or whatever the hell that is."

Continuity

* This is the first time that Angel and Buffy have seen each other since their off-screen interlude after her return from death, between Buffy episodes "Flooded" and "Life Serial", and Angel episodes "Carpe Noctem" and "Fredless". They were last on screen together in "Forever".

Arc significance

* Buffy is back in command and has a new weapon, though the full extent of its power still remains unclear.

* Caleb finally seems beaten, leaving the First without a champion.

* Buffy has a series of talks, first with Xander, then with Faith, and finally with Spike. They bring her close to her friends again, but at the same time reinforce the feeling of doom. Angel's sudden appearance would seem to complicate her relationship with Spike, though.

Timing

*Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

External links

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* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/indetail/endofdays/ BBC episode guide to "End of Days"]