The Dark Age

Infobox Television episode
Title=The Dark Age


Series=Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season=2
Episode=8
Airdate=November 10 1997
Production=5V08
Writer=Dean Batali and Rob Des Hotel
Director=Bruce Seth Green
Episode list=List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes
Prev=Lie to Me
Next=What's My Line, Part One"The Dark Age" is episode 8 of season 2 of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

Plot

A man tries to get into the library to see Giles, but a demon woman shows up and strangles him to death. He falls to the floor, and she turns into a puddle of green slime.

At school, we see Buffy and Willow playing 'Anywhere But Here' in which they recount their fantasies; Buffy is on a beach before sunset having her feet rubbed by Gavin Rossdale, Willow is in Florence at a restaurant eating ziti when she is joined by John Cusack. Giles tells Buffy to meet him later at the hospital where there will be a blood delivery, which attracts vampires. When Giles gets back to the library, a detective is waiting for him -- the dead man had Giles' address on him. Giles identifies the body as an old friend from London. The body has a tattoo on it, which Giles says he can't identify.

Shaken, Giles doesn't meet Buffy at the hospital, and she battles the doctor-dressed vampires alone until Angel shows up. She asks Angel to see that the blood gets to the hospital and goes to check on Giles. When Buffy goes to Giles' house to see what happened, he looks terribly drunk and sends her away. He calls another friend in London and finds out that she's dead, too. As he rolls up his sleeves, we see he has the same tattoo as his friend. Meanwhile, the dead friend, Phillip, comes back to life in the morgue, his eyes flashing, and escapes.

On Saturday, Willow, Xander, and Cordelia meet with Jenny Calendar -- Giles' girlfriend -- for a computer class. Buffy shows up to express her concern about Giles' behavior. Cordelia mentions the police visit to the library, which slipped her Cordelia-centered mind. In the library, Buffy finds Ethan, the costume shop owner and Giles' old friend who tried to kill her on Halloween. As she calls Giles, Ethan mentions the "Mark of Eyghon." Giles says she's in danger, and the dead Phillip enters.

A panicked Giles shows up and, after a scuffle which leaves Jenny unconscious, Phillip turns into the green goo. Some of it gets on Jenny and when she comes to, she seems normal but we see her eyes flash. Willow discovers the "Mark of Eyghon" in a book: Eyghon possesses the body of a dead or unconscious host. They figure out that he's jumped from Phillip's body to Jenny's. Possessed Jenny, looking and sounding like a demon, tries to seduce Giles at his apartment. When Buffy comes to the rescue, Jenny jumps out the window. Giles explains to Buffy that he ran with a bad crowd when he was young, and they used Eyghon as a temporary high -- directing him in and out of each others' bodies.

But one friend died, then later the girl who killed Phillip, and now it seems the rest of the group will die, too. Buffy goes to the deserted costume shop to try to help Ethan, but he knocks her out, ties her up and puts the mark of Eyghon on her. He then pours acid on his own tattoo so that Eyghon will take Buffy instead of him. Jenny enters, a complete demon, and Buffy breaks free. Angel enters suddenly and chokes Jenny: Eyghon's spirit leaves her body and enters Angel's, since he's really dead (Willow's plan). Eyghon fights Angel's demon, and is beaten. Jenny returns back to normal, but Ethan escapes.

Acting

Starring

* Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers
* Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
* Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
* Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase
* David Boreanaz as Angel
* Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles

Guest starring

* Robia LaMorte as Jenny Calendar
* Robin Sachs as Ethan Rayne
* Stuart McLean as Philip Henry

Co-starring

* Wendy Way as Diedre Page
* Michael Earl Reid as Custodian
* Daniel Henry Murray as Creepy Cult Guy
* Carlease Burke as Detective Winslow
* Tony Sears as Morgue Attendant
* John Bellucci as Man

Translations

* French title: "La face cachée" ("The Hidden Side")
* Italian title: "Oscurità" ("Darkness")
* German title: "Das Mal des Eyghon" ("The mark of Eyghon")
* Japanese title: "過去の秘密" ("Kako no Himitsu" - "Secret of the Past")
* Spanish title: "La Edad Oscura" ("The Dark Age")

Reception

“The Dark Age” had an audience of 3.7 million households on its original airing. ["Nielsen Ratings for Buffy's Second Season." ]

Continuity

Arc significance

*This is the first episode to establish details about Giles' more "wild" youth, parts of which will occasionally return to haunt him throughout the series.
*Buffy and Willow later play this game in the Season 8 comic of the same name "Anywhere but Here". This time in Buffy's fantasy, she is approached by Daniel Craig whilst lying on the beach. Willow's fantasy has changed to herself and Tina Fey being trapped in a cabin during a snowstorm.
*Due to the events of this episode, Giles' and Jenny's relationship will remain strained up until the point of her death.
*This episode marks the first instance of Willow demonstrating leadership in the Scooby Gang in place of Buffy or Giles, something which will come into greater significance later in the series.

Timeline

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

References