The Gift (Buffy episode)
Encyclopedia
"The Gift" is the fifth season
finale, and the 100th episode, of the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). It was the last episode to air on The WB Television Network
and was labeled as the "series finale", though the show was immediately picked up by rival network UPN
for an additional two seasons.
The premise of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that an adolescent girl, Buffy Summers
, is chosen by mystical forces and given superhuman powers to kill vampires, demons, and other evil creatures in the fictional town of Sunnydale
. She is supported by a close circle of family and friends, nicknamed the Scooby Gang. In "The Gift", Buffy refuses to accept that her sister Dawn's death is the only way to defeat Glory and prepares to do battle. In the end, she discovers the meaning of her "gift".
's sister Dawn
before Glory uses her in the ritual, which Buffy refuses to consider. Anya
suggests using the Dagon Sphere, which repels and confuses Glory, and the hammer of Olaf the troll. They hope to delay Glory until her deadline for completing the ritual has passed, preventing an apocalypse and making Dawn useless to her.
As Buffy trains with Giles, she reveals to him that the First Slayer told her, on her vision quest, that death was her gift, an idea she rejects. Buffy also notes that while she survived killing Angel despite loving him, losing Dawn will destroy her. Xander proposes to Anya.
Buffy and Spike gather weapons. She asks him to protect Dawn. Spike tells Buffy he knows she'll never love him, but is grateful that she treats him like a man rather than a monster. Glory's minions build a tower for the ritual to open the gates between dimensions.
Buffy and her allies confront Glory just as the ritual is to begin. Willow
launches a magic attack, confusing and dazing Glory, while restoring Tara's sanity. Glory attacks Buffy, managing to destroy the Dagon sphere, thereby revealing she is actually fighting Buffy's robot double. Buffy attacks Glory with Olaf's Hammer, and Xander uses a crane to hit her with a wrecking ball. Buffy beats Glory until she reverts to Ben, but spares her, telling her to leave Sunnydale or die. However, the ritual set in motion continues, threatening apocalyptic destruction.
With the others' attention diverted, Giles kills Ben to prevent Glory's reemergence. While Glory's minions prevent Spike from reaching the top of the tower and rescuing Dawn. Buffy reaches the top and frees the captive Dawn just as the portal between dimensions open. Dawn is willing to sacrifice herself to seal the portal, but Buffy, realizing the true meaning of the First Slayer's revelation, stops her. Buffy throws herself into the portal, which closes because of her sacrifice after it kills her. She is buried with an epitaph closing "She saved the world - a lot."
Giles recognizes that Buffy, as a hero, lives by a more demanding moral code than most people. Her unique role and abilities confer special responsibilities, including moral rules by which Giles is not bound. When Ben marvels, "She could have killed me", Giles disagrees: "No she couldn’t. Never... She’s a hero, you see. She’s not like us." However, in an essay on the ethics in this episode, C. W. Marshall claims that Giles actually exhibits heroism, as his murder of Ben serves a greater good and protects those he loves.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 5)
- Crew :Series creator Joss Whedon served as executive producer and showrunner, and wrote and directed three episodes including the season finale. Marti Noxon was promoted to co-executive producer and wrote three episodes, including directing two of them. Jane Espenson was promoted to producer and...
finale, and the 100th episode, of the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). It was the last episode to air on 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...
and was labeled as the "series finale", though the show was immediately picked up by rival network UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
for an additional two seasons.
The premise of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that an adolescent girl, 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...
, is chosen by mystical forces and given superhuman powers to kill vampires, demons, and other evil creatures in the fictional town of Sunnydale
Sunnydale
Sunnydale, California is the fictional setting for the U.S. television drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Series creator Joss Whedon conceived the town as a representation of a generic California city, as well as a narrative parody of the all-too-serene towns typical in traditional horror...
. She is supported by a close circle of family and friends, nicknamed the Scooby Gang. In "The Gift", Buffy refuses to accept that her sister Dawn's death is the only way to defeat Glory and prepares to do battle. In the end, she discovers the meaning of her "gift".
Plot
The Scooby Gang considers plans to foil Glory, but can only suggest killing BuffyBuffy 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...
's sister Dawn
Dawn Summers
Dawn Summers is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and introduced by Marti Noxon and David Fury on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, portrayed by Michelle Trachtenberg. She made her debut in the premiere episode of the show's fifth season, and subsequently appeared in every...
before Glory uses her in the ritual, which Buffy refuses to consider. Anya
Anya Jenkins
Anya is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She also appears in the comic book series based on the television show. Portrayed by Emma Caulfield, the character appears as a guest star in the third and fourth seasons of the show before...
suggests using the Dagon Sphere, which repels and confuses Glory, and the hammer of Olaf the troll. They hope to delay Glory until her deadline for completing the ritual has passed, preventing an apocalypse and making Dawn useless to her.
As Buffy trains with Giles, she reveals to him that the First Slayer told her, on her vision quest, that death was her gift, an idea she rejects. Buffy also notes that while she survived killing Angel despite loving him, losing Dawn will destroy her. Xander proposes to Anya.
Buffy and Spike gather weapons. She asks him to protect Dawn. Spike tells Buffy he knows she'll never love him, but is grateful that she treats him like a man rather than a monster. Glory's minions build a tower for the ritual to open the gates between dimensions.
Buffy and her allies confront Glory just as the ritual is to begin. 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...
launches a magic attack, confusing and dazing Glory, while restoring Tara's sanity. Glory attacks Buffy, managing to destroy the Dagon sphere, thereby revealing she is actually fighting Buffy's robot double. Buffy attacks Glory with Olaf's Hammer, and Xander uses a crane to hit her with a wrecking ball. Buffy beats Glory until she reverts to Ben, but spares her, telling her to leave Sunnydale or die. However, the ritual set in motion continues, threatening apocalyptic destruction.
With the others' attention diverted, Giles kills Ben to prevent Glory's reemergence. While Glory's minions prevent Spike from reaching the top of the tower and rescuing Dawn. Buffy reaches the top and frees the captive Dawn just as the portal between dimensions open. Dawn is willing to sacrifice herself to seal the portal, but Buffy, realizing the true meaning of the First Slayer's revelation, stops her. Buffy throws herself into the portal, which closes because of her sacrifice after it kills her. She is buried with an epitaph closing "She saved the world - a lot."
Themes
In an essay on the ownership of evil, Erma Petrova argues that Giles murdering Ben is comparable to Willow murdering Warren - both victims are human, and their deaths are necessary to prevent further suffering. Although the moral ambiguity of killing Ben is discussed earlier in the episode, as well as Ben's innocence ("I know he's an innocent, but...not like 'Dawn' innocent"), Giles is never shown to have feelings of guilt afterwards; he did what needed to be done. Contrast this with Willow's guilt over murdering Warren, a theme that persists until the end of the series. Petrova feels the difference for Giles is that killing Ben is his only option - the police wouldn't understand the danger, Buffy is morally unable to take a human life, and leaving him alive presents too great a risk. Willow, however, had other options available and yet chose to murder Warren anyway.Giles recognizes that Buffy, as a hero, lives by a more demanding moral code than most people. Her unique role and abilities confer special responsibilities, including moral rules by which Giles is not bound. When Ben marvels, "She could have killed me", Giles disagrees: "No she couldn’t. Never... She’s a hero, you see. She’s not like us." However, in an essay on the ethics in this episode, C. W. Marshall claims that Giles actually exhibits heroism, as his murder of Ben serves a greater good and protects those he loves.
Continuity
- When Xander states, "Smart chicks are so hot," Willow asks, "You couldn't have figured that out in 10th grade?", a reminder of her long-time infatuation with Xander in high school.
- Xander proposes to his love, Anya.
- In the episode "Once More With Feeling" Dawn repeats what Buffy had said to her before she died: "The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it."
- Giles notes that the Scoobies are dealing with their sixth apocalypse. The past ones would presumably include:
- The Harvest
- Prophecy GirlProphecy Girl"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...
- Becoming, Part Two
- The Zeppo
- Doomed
- After stating the number of Apocalypses they've averted, Giles adds "...it feels like a hundred." This episode marks the One-hundredth episode milestone.
Arc significance
- Spike is invited back into Buffy's home after being banned in "CrushCrush (Buffy episode)"Crush" is the 14th episode of season 5 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer.Dawn has a crush on Spike, who reveals his crush on Buffy when he takes her on a stakeout date. When his advances are turned down, Spike kidnaps Buffy and Drusilla, who has returned to Sunnydale. He tries to...
". His invite is not taken away even after his attack on Buffy in season six. - Spike's statement to Buffy on the staircase that she will never love him mirrors his last words to her in "ChosenChosen (Buffy episode)"Chosen" is the series finale of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It serves as the 22nd episode of the seventh season, and the 144th episode overall. The episode was written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon and originally aired on UPN on May 20, 2003...
". - Crossover with Angel: In the final scene of "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb", Willow goes to Los Angeles to tell Angel and his crewAngel InvestigationsAngel Investigations is a fictional detective agency run by the title character Angel previously on the WB television series Angel . It is sometimes abbreviated as AI...
that Buffy is dead. - Crossover with Angel: in "I Will Remember You", the Oracles told Angel that Buffy would die.
- Buffy dies for the second time.
- The Key ceases to be significant; as Dawn says in the next episode, "I'm not the Key. Or if I am, I don't open anything anymore." In "Storyteller", Andrew WellsAndrew WellsAndrew Wells is a fictional character in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, played by Tom Lenk. The character also appears in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, the canonical continuation of the series....
says, "Dawn used to be a key. I don't really know what that means." - Glory is defeated, ending her reign as the "Big BadBig BadBig Bad is a term originally used by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series to describe a major recurring adversary, usually the chief villain or antagonist in a particular broadcast season...
" of season five. - In Fool for LoveFool for Love (Buffy episode)"Fool for Love" is episode 7 of season 5 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is a companion to the Angel episode "Darla", which first aired later the same night on The WB network; both episodes include multiple flashbacks to the history of Spike and Darla, shown from their...
, Spike tells Buffy that every slayer has a death wish and that she has it too, that she craves it. This foreshadows next season, as the Scoobies bring her back and it hurts her that she has to go through life again, as she was in Heaven and at peace.