Prophecy Girl
Encyclopedia
"Prophecy Girl" is the season finale
of the WB Television Network
's first season of the drama
television series
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the 12th episode of the series. The episode first aired on June 2, 1997 with the series acting as a midseason replacement
for Savannah
. Series creator Joss Whedon
wrote and directed the episode.
The narrative features vampire Slayer Buffy Summers
(Sarah Michelle Gellar
) working to prevent vampire the Master (Mark Metcalf
) from rising to power despite a prophecy predicting her death at his hands.
Due to the first season of the show serving as a mid season replacement, all twelve episodes were produced before the first episode
aired (and as such, the conclusion of the episode serves to wrap the series up in case it were not renewed). All following seasons commenced from September to October and received twenty-two episode pick-ups.
is practicing lines on Willow
in the Bronze, wanting to ask Buffy to the Spring Fling. Cordelia
is in a car making out with Kevin, as Buffy slays a vampire nearby. Giles is researching the prophetic book that Angel gave him and discovers that the Master is destined to rise and that it means danger for the Slayer. An earthquake is felt all over town, and the Master revels in it.
The next morning, Buffy is meeting Giles
in the library, the balcony of which has sustained significant damage from the earthquake. Buffy explains the vampires are rising in number and getting braver, but Giles is distracted by his thoughts. After biology class, Willow finds an excuse to leave, leaving Xander to ask Buffy to the dance. Xander takes Buffy's rejection badly, and goes home to "listen to country music, the music of pain."
Miss Calendar
interrupts Giles' study in the library, telling him that she sees apocalyptic portents. She tells him Brother Luca, a monk in Cortona
, is e-mailing her about the Anointed One
. Giles asks her to get more information about this, promising he will explain everything later. In the school hall, Kevin and Willow promise to help Cordelia set everything up in the Bronze for the dance. Willow sees Xander wallowing in his misery, and offers sympathy. When Xander asks her to the dance, she refuses, not wanting to settle for being his second choice.
That evening, Buffy uses the restroom at school and finds that the faucet is running with blood. As Buffy enters the library she hears Giles telling Angel that the prophecies say that she will face the Master and die. Buffy, shocked, yells that she is quitting, throwing the cross Angel gave her on the ground. She goes back home and tries to convince her mother
to go away with her for the weekend. Joyce, instead, gives her a white dress and tells her to go to the dance.
The next day, at school, Cordelia and Willow find the AV club slaughtered by vampires. Buffy, having heard, shows up in her dress at Willow's who expresses fear of their world being taken over by the vampires. Buffy goes back to the library, where Giles has explained to Miss Calendar that Buffy is the Slayer. Buffy reinstates herself as the Slayer, knocks Giles out when he tries to stop her and goes to kill the Master. Outside of school, Collin leads her to the Master's lair.
Willow and Xander show up at the library, where they hear that Buffy has gone off to see the Master. Xander leaves, only to show up at Angel's apartment where he forces Angel to lead him to the Master's lair. The Master tells Buffy that it is her blood which will free him, as he drinks from her and leaves her to drown in a shallow pool. Willow and Ms. Calendar decide that the Hellmouth is underneath the Bronze and try to leave; they are stopped by vampires. Cordelia rescues them in her car and drives it straight into the library. Buffy is found; Xander saves her with CPR after Angel tells him that he [Angel] cannot perform CPR, as "[vampires] have no breath."
As Cordelia, Willow, Giles and Jenny fight off vampires trying to enter the library, a tentacled creature smashes through the floor, revealing that the Hellmouth is directly underneath the library itself. Buffy, now on the roof, tosses the Master down into the library, where he is impaled on broken furniture. He partly dusts, leaving only his skeleton. The world goes back to normal and everyone goes to the Bronze. (Buffy: "We saved the world. I say we party.")
Season finale
A season finale is the final episode of a season of a television program...
of the WB Television Network
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
's first season of the drama
Dramatic programming
Dramatic programming in the UK, or television drama and television drama series in the US, is television program content that is scripted and fictional along the lines of √a traditional drama. This excludes, for example, sports television, television news, reality show and game shows, stand-up...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the 12th episode of the series. The episode first aired on June 2, 1997 with the series acting as a midseason replacement
Midseason replacement
In American and Canadian television, a midseason replacement is a television series that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between January and May...
for Savannah
Savannah (TV series)
Savannah is an American prime time television drama that ran from January 21, 1996 to February 24, 1997 on The WB. It was created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling.-Plot:...
. Series creator Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
wrote and directed the episode.
The narrative features vampire Slayer Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers
Buffy Summers is a fictional character from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer before going on to appear in the television series and subsequent comic book of the same name...
(Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze , known professionally by her birth name of Sarah Michelle Gellar , is an American actress, singer and executive producer...
) working to prevent vampire the Master (Mark Metcalf
Mark Metcalf
Mark Howes Metcalf is an American actor in both television and film.-Early life:Metcalf attended Westfield High School in Westfield, New Jersey.-Film and television work:...
) from rising to power despite a prophecy predicting her death at his hands.
Due to the first season of the show serving as a mid season replacement, all twelve episodes were produced before the first episode
Welcome to the Hellmouth
"Welcome to the Hellmouth" is the series premiere of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This episode and "The Harvest" were originally aired as a two-part series premiere on The WB Television Network...
aired (and as such, the conclusion of the episode serves to wrap the series up in case it were not renewed). All following seasons commenced from September to October and received twenty-two episode pick-ups.
Plot
XanderXander Harris
Alexander LaVelle "Xander" Harris is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as in numerous items in the series Expanded Universe, such as comic books, tie-in novels and video games...
is practicing lines on Willow
Willow Rosenberg
Willow Rosenberg is a fictional character created for the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . She was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the TV series by Alyson Hannigan...
in the Bronze, wanting to ask Buffy to the Spring Fling. Cordelia
Cordelia Chase
Cordelia Chase is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer; she also appeared on Buffy's spin-off series Angel...
is in a car making out with Kevin, as Buffy slays a vampire nearby. Giles is researching the prophetic book that Angel gave him and discovers that the Master is destined to rise and that it means danger for the Slayer. An earthquake is felt all over town, and the Master revels in it.
The next morning, Buffy is meeting Giles
Rupert Giles
Rupert Giles is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head. He serves as Buffy Summers' mentor and surrogate father figure...
in the library, the balcony of which has sustained significant damage from the earthquake. Buffy explains the vampires are rising in number and getting braver, but Giles is distracted by his thoughts. After biology class, Willow finds an excuse to leave, leaving Xander to ask Buffy to the dance. Xander takes Buffy's rejection badly, and goes home to "listen to country music, the music of pain."
Miss Calendar
Jenny Calendar
Jenny Calendar is a fictional character in the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Played by Robia LaMorte, Jenny is the computer teacher at Sunnydale High School...
interrupts Giles' study in the library, telling him that she sees apocalyptic portents. She tells him Brother Luca, a monk in Cortona
Cortona
Cortona is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic center of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo.-History:...
, is e-mailing her about the Anointed One
Anointed One (Buffyverse)
The Anointed One is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The character is played by Andrew J. Ferchland.-Character history:...
. Giles asks her to get more information about this, promising he will explain everything later. In the school hall, Kevin and Willow promise to help Cordelia set everything up in the Bronze for the dance. Willow sees Xander wallowing in his misery, and offers sympathy. When Xander asks her to the dance, she refuses, not wanting to settle for being his second choice.
That evening, Buffy uses the restroom at school and finds that the faucet is running with blood. As Buffy enters the library she hears Giles telling Angel that the prophecies say that she will face the Master and die. Buffy, shocked, yells that she is quitting, throwing the cross Angel gave her on the ground. She goes back home and tries to convince her mother
Joyce Summers
Joyce Summers is a fictional character in the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Played by Kristine Sutherland, Joyce is the mother of the main character, Buffy Summers . Joyce appears regularly from the first episode until the character's death in the fifth season episode "The...
to go away with her for the weekend. Joyce, instead, gives her a white dress and tells her to go to the dance.
The next day, at school, Cordelia and Willow find the AV club slaughtered by vampires. Buffy, having heard, shows up in her dress at Willow's who expresses fear of their world being taken over by the vampires. Buffy goes back to the library, where Giles has explained to Miss Calendar that Buffy is the Slayer. Buffy reinstates herself as the Slayer, knocks Giles out when he tries to stop her and goes to kill the Master. Outside of school, Collin leads her to the Master's lair.
Willow and Xander show up at the library, where they hear that Buffy has gone off to see the Master. Xander leaves, only to show up at Angel's apartment where he forces Angel to lead him to the Master's lair. The Master tells Buffy that it is her blood which will free him, as he drinks from her and leaves her to drown in a shallow pool. Willow and Ms. Calendar decide that the Hellmouth is underneath the Bronze and try to leave; they are stopped by vampires. Cordelia rescues them in her car and drives it straight into the library. Buffy is found; Xander saves her with CPR after Angel tells him that he [Angel] cannot perform CPR, as "[vampires] have no breath."
As Cordelia, Willow, Giles and Jenny fight off vampires trying to enter the library, a tentacled creature smashes through the floor, revealing that the Hellmouth is directly underneath the library itself. Buffy, now on the roof, tosses the Master down into the library, where he is impaled on broken furniture. He partly dusts, leaving only his skeleton. The world goes back to normal and everyone goes to the Bronze. (Buffy: "We saved the world. I say we party.")
Production
- Alyson Hannigan claimed that two versions were filmed of the scene where she and Cordelia discover the room full of bodies: a tamer version for American audiences and a bloodier one to be shown in Europe.
- This episode features a song by Jonatha BrookeJonatha BrookeJonatha Brooke is an American folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist from Illinois.Her music merges elements of folk, rock and pop, often with poignant lyrics and complex harmonies...
& The Story. Joss Whedon would use "What You Don't Know" by Jonatha Brooke as the theme tune for his later show DollhouseDollhouse (TV series)Dollhouse is an American science fiction television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon under Mutant Enemy Productions. It premiered on February 13, 2009, on the Fox network and was officially cancelled on November 11, 2009. The final episode aired on January 29, 2010...
. - This episode is the first meeting between Buffy and the season's main antagonist. Joss Whedon has stated that this event was deliberately saved for the season finale so that the show would not fall into a repetitive pattern of Buffy defeating The Master in every episode.
Cultural references
- The Master is well over 600 years old, even older than DraculaDraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
(Vlad the ImpalerVlad II DraculVlad II , known as Vlad Dracul , was a voivode of Wallachia. He reigned from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447...
ruled 1456–1462), and seems to have gained the kind of hypnotic powers for which Dracula is famous. - Xander calling Giles Locutus of the BorgJean-Luc PicardCaptain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
is a reference to Captain Jean-Luc PicardJean-Luc PicardCaptain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
in Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
. In the finale of the third season, Picard is assimilated by the emotionless Borg to provide a bridge between them and the humans.
Continuity
- As seen in this episode, the earlier episode "AngelAngel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode)"Angel" is the seventh episode of season 1 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was written by co-executive producer David Greenwalt and directed by Scott Brazil. The narrative follows Buffy Summers , vampire slayer, coming to terms with her feelings for Angel , who is revealed to...
" and later episodes including "Helpless", Buffy tends to favor the crossbow when heading to face a particularly dangerous vampire. - The monster that comes out of the Hellmouth reappears in "The Zeppo".
- At the end of this episode, Buffy remarks that she is hungry after killing The Master. Faith, another Slayer, says in her first appearance that slaying always makes her "hungry and horny", and this is referenced again in numerous later episodes.
Arc significance
- It is revealed that the Hellmouth is directly beneath Sunnydale High School library.
- Buffy dies (for the first time), not from the Master's bite, but from drowning in the pool of water after he feeds on her. This will have major repercussions for the future of the BuffyverseBuffyverseThe Buffyverse, also known as the Whedonverse or Slayerverse , is the shared fictional universe in which the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are set. This term, originally coined by fans of the TV series, has since been used in the titles of published works, and adopted by Joss...
: her death calls a new Slayer, Kendra. - Buffy is now essentially cut off from the Slayer line (no new Slayer is called after her second death), with Kendra, and later Faith, being the ‘active’ Slayer, although most of the characters assume in later episodes that Buffy's death will still activate a new slayer. During Faith's coma and subsequent incarceration, Buffy is referred to as the Slayer and not just a Slayer.
- The Master, the season's Big Bad, dies. Unlike lesser vampires, The Master's bones are left behind after his death.