Buffy Season 8 Recap - Anywhere But Here

Questions answered in this issue: Who are Buffy's mysterious benefactors?


Buffy is sunbathing on a beach and she hears a voice “Buffy Summers?” she keeps her eyes closed and tells the man “if you’re anyone other than Daniel Craig” then no she is not Buffy Summers, but it is Daniel Craig. He asks if she would like some sun lotion rubbed on and we see that this is a fantasy of Buffy’s, her and Willow are trading ‘places they’d rather be’. Willow tells her that it is not very imaginative and Buffy tells her that she cant really concentrate right now as it is revealed that Willow is flying and Buffy is riding on her back. They are on their way to somewhere but Willow doesn’t know where it is exactly so she cannot simply transport them there but Willow is sure they will find it soon.



Willow begins to tell her fantasy which includes Tina Fey, being trapped in a log cabin due to a snow storm and some hot cocoa. Buffy interrupts and asks her if Kennedy is still a “significant other”, Willow explains that she is but they haven’t seen a lot of each other recently. Willow tells Buffy that they are at their destination and Willow lands elegantly while Buffy crashes to the ground behind her mimicking Buffy’s fall in Amy’s dreamspace, Buffy clearly cannot land accurately and is clearly not comfortable with flying.

Buffy gets up and looks at the dilapidated house in front of them, Buffy asks if this is really the lair of Sephrilian, Willow tells her that Sephrilian walks between worlds, reality can be manipulated by Sephrilian and the house is likely a lot bigger on the inside. Buffy asks who the woman is who sits outside, Willow tells her that while she hasn’t met her she is the guardian, a watcher of Sephrilian. The woman shouts out Willow’s name, Buffy asks how she knows her name if they have not met yet and Willow tells her it is because they will meet. We are clearly about to experience a very special “wibby wobbly, timey wimey” episode of Buffy.

The guardian tells them that they shouldn’t use magic while in there, but Willow tells her that they are there to talk not to kill. The guardian looks sad and tells them that there is a chance they will regret talking to Sephrilian. She stops herself, realising how ominous she sounds and simply tells Buffy that the important thing is rescuing “the prince”, Willow says that even she doesn’t follow that one, the guardian tells her it is okay, it will follow them. They go to enter the house and Buffy says that being Sephrilian’s watcher must be hard and she wonders why the guardian does it, Willow tells her that it isn’t a volunteer job, you get chosen, just like Buffy was.

Buffy and Willow enter the house to see what seems like an endless staircase as they begin walking down they talk and Buffy tells her that she likes Kennedy and doesn’t understand why Willow doesn’t bring her round more. Since Willow has returned from the mystery destination she has been “cagey” and secretive, suddenly a giant claw breaks the staircase sending Buffy and Willow falling into the darkness as Buffy thanks the welcome interruption as it stops the conversation from becoming more awkward.
Sephrilian looks down at them, it tells them that they reek of lies, Buffy points out that they havn’t said anything yet but it tells her that it has already heard her say it before. Buffy tells Sephrilian that she supports the linear side of things and she is going to do what she needs to and she asks Sephrilian for help. Willow asks if Sephrilian knows what Twilight is, what it really means. “The end of course. Of the struggle, of the Hellmouths, the final triumph of humans over the demons, it your life goal achieved Slayer” Willow looks sad as Sephrilian confirms everything it has just said “it is the death of magic”.








Xander and Dawn are back at the castle, Xander tells her that while Willow cannot make her normal sized just yet they can at least make some of Dawn’s clothes larger. He has had her suitcase and all the items inside made giant sized. Dawn is so excited that she rips open the suitcase and Xander falls inside. She opens it up to see him in her underwear, she takes him out and he sees something else, a photo of Dawn and Kenny (the thricewise, her ex-boyfriend). Xander begins supporting Dawn telling her that Kenny isn’t worth it, she slept with him which was a mistake as he is a thricewise but it is time to get over it. Dawn breaks down at tells him that she lied to Willow, she isn’t a giant because she slept with Kenny, its because she slept with his roommate.

Sephrilian tells Buffy and Willow that humans are full of lies, delusions, and simplifications. They run from them as if they were predators, they hide them from themselves as much as from each other but here Sephrilian is going to share their lies and reveal to each of them the others secrets. It spreads a white light as we see Slayers robbing a bank, Buffy tells Willow that it cannot be Slayers as she would have heard about it but then we see that Buffy is the one leading them. Willow realises who Buffy’s “mystery benefactor” is, it’s Buffy stealing. Buffy quickly tries to tell her that it’s a victimless crime but Willow points out that this is the thing that caught The General’s attention, this was the first “domino” that lead to The General declaring war on the Slayer organisation. Buffy quickly changes the subject as she sees one of Willow’s secrets. Willow is naked and writhing with a naked half woman half snake creature. The creature asks Willow if she has got what she needs or if she wants more. “wow” Buffy says “your ‘bad’ is way better than mine”.







Willow tells Xander that the guy she cheated on Kenny with was dark and mysterious, Xander asks if he seemed like he had a secret pain that it seemed like only she could cure “yeah” she says, and finally he asks if he was in a band which Dawn also says yes to. Xander tells her that she has simply fallen for a typical cliché and tells her that Buffy fell for the same thing in college, Dawn asks if he means Riley, “she wishes” Xander tells her referring to Parker, the guy Buffy slept with who never called back in Season Four. They finally have the information they need to work on a reversal spell, and more importantly Xander gloats that he is the one she revealed her secret to, it makes him special. Dawn is finally smiling again.

Buffy and Willow are now in a grey stone room, neither of them recognise the area, neither have been here before so it must be something from the future. The guardian appears and asks how they are doing, she suddenly realises where they are and ominously tells them that she didn’t expect Sephrilian to show them this. We see another Buffy, a future Buffy on the floor crying, covered in scratches and bruises, preset Buffy asks the guardian what happens to her. She tells Buffy that it is a betrayal, “the closest, the most unexpected” before Buffy has a chance to ask who betrays her the guardian says that she has to leave, Buffy and Willow are about to cause a disruption.









Buffy asks Willow if she is the one who will betray Buffy in the future, Willow says that she will never betray Buffy, not any more than she already has. Willow then explains what she means as we weave in and out of Willow’s current conversation with Buffy and a past conversation she had with Kennedy. Kennedy says that it is obvious that Willow is keeping her away from Buffy and the Slayer organisation and Willow begins to cry, she explains that it is because she still feels guilt over Tara’s death. After Buffy’s death (in the Season Five finale) Willow could have settled down with Dawn and Tara and they could have had a wonderful life together but instead she dragged Buffy from peace and returned her to the world of death and chaos which then lead to Warren and Tara’s death. She feels that if she hadn’t brought Buffy back Tara would still be alive, she effectively chose Buffy’s life over Tara’s and she can’t do that again so she keeps Kennedy away from danger which includes Buffy.

Buffy and Willow are once again in front of Sephrilian, it tells them that humans have too many faces, it will be glad to see the coming war and welcomes the Slayer’s death. Buffy runs towards Sephrilian, jumps up and wields and invisible sword, as her arms lower Willow’s magic forms a sword in Buffy’s hands and she kills Sephrilian. Willow warns Buffy that they have used magic and the reality is about to collapse and suddenly we see the house exploding as Buffy and Willow are thrown from the explosion. The guardian shields them both and the explosion disappears, Buffy gets up and asks the guardian if she remembers being inside perhaps hoping she could elaborate on the betrayal but the guardian says that she does not remember, she asks Buffy what happened in there. Buffy unconvincingly claims that it was nothing, it was obviously just a demon playing games, Buffy and Willow then walk away in different directions as they both contemplate the secrets that have been revealed and are left wondering what the future holds.

Questions left open by this issue:
Who is "The Prince" and why does Buffy need to save him?
Who unexpectedly betrays Buffy?
Who is that woman/demon that Willow was seen with?