The ability to rewrite the rules of magic is a lot of power for anyone to have, and Buffy is trying to wield that responsibility with care. However, her hesitation to make changes might work against the Scooby Gang in the end. Will the friends survive as life and rules start getting in the way?
Note: This recap may contain spoilers!
Young!Giles is back with a request. He wants Buffy to edit the Vampyr book so that he can go from his apartment to the fae realm, which is currently not allowed. It seems like a simple enough request, but Buffy is against this. True, making exceptions for friends and family might escalate if more and more requests come through, and the rules of magic could get complicated, but Buffy might have other reasons for her hesitance. Maybe she’s jealous, slurring off that Giles only wants to allow for this so he can be with his girlfriend in her realm. Or maybe she’s afraid over the fact she seems to be losing all her loved ones one by one.
Hurt by her implication, and pointing out the double standard she’s holding, Giles storms out and doesn’t let her apologize. And if she was hoping to get sympathy from Spike, she’s not going to. That night, as she recounts the situation to him, he points out that it’s really none of their business what Giles does. Yes, they should be cautious in opening portals, but Buffy has to accept life might separate them at times. She can’t let that fear get in the way of doing what’s right for the rule-making. They need to use the tools at their disposal if they hope to win this ongoing battle.
And Xander needs to use the tools at his disposal if he hopes to deal with reality, and Anya’s not helping matters. He looks horrible, hanging out in his room as Anya eavesdrops on Buffy and Spike’s conversation, but finally he tells her that they need to talk. Serious discussion time! He’s been talking to his therapist about Anya and the doctor thinks Xander is using Anya as a crutch to avoid reality. Xander also says that she’s not the real Anya and he realizes that. Maybe she’s some other ghost in disguise, or maybe she really has changed. Either way, Xander’s determined not to let her be involved in his life anymore, so he starts to ignore her so that she can define herself outside of him.
But there’s no time for domestic drama, as the gang has a battle to wage. D’Hoffryn pops into Buffy’s bedroom unannounced and says that he’s located the Mistress and the Soul Glutton. The Council is otherwise occupied, but he says to gather her team and go to the Black Diamond Mines, which she does. After much fighting, the Soul Glutton tries to take out Dawn in revenge for the loss of his own family at the hands of a Slayer. However, it’s not going to be so easy for him. The fact that she’s the Key poisons him and shrinks him down in size. Still trying to gain the upper hand, he destroys the Restless Door before taking his leave, but the portal remains.
Willow gets a force field up, but it won’t hold as the portal will continue to expand. And because of the way they wrote in the book, they wouldn’t be able to get back if they closed the portal from the Hell dimension. See? Sometimes those strict standards come back to bite them. If only they had a weapon they could use, a source of power, something like a Key. Giles is all for using Dawn, even though no one else is. Will Buffy’s sister pay the ultimate price in order to save the world? We will find out soon!
Rating: 3 / 5 Stars
