Buffy Season 8 Recap - A Beautiful Sunset

We see a number of girls as they get hit with the Slayer power, the “chain”, much like in the final minutes of Season Seven, as Buffy’s inner monologue contemplates her decisions. She states that every now and then the world needs an apocalypse, to change and evolve, usually it means chaos but sometimes something great can come from it, like the Slayer organisation. She has changed the world, “yay me” she thinks as she sees that Simone has gone rogue with some other Slayers, beating up and stealing from humans with guns as weapons.









Xander explains that she was being taught by Andrew and they are trying to bring her down as quickly as possible, but Buffy thinks that the damage has already been done. The General thinks that the Slayers are not human, they are villains and here is Simone proving him right. Xander tries to make her feel better but she understands that she started this with the ‘victimless’ robbery. Buffy asks if there is anything else he needs to tell her and he tells her there is a vampire nest near by, Buffy is excited at the prospect of killing something as simple as vampires again. She asks if it is big enough to require a group but Xander tells her she probably needs just a partner. She says that she will probably take Satsu, she is Buffy’s best fighter and she’s been meaning to talk to her since the kiss. Xander reveals that Dawn and the other Slayers are having a party, but Buffy just wants to go to bed, “you spend too much alone” he tells her.

It is now the next day and Buffy is running and climbing over walls, finally she lands and stands up. A couple of seconds behind her is Satsu who lands in a puddle next to Buffy, much like Buffy has been seen crashing after being forced to fly, Buffy is clearly back in her element and is once again the teacher. Buffy helps her up and wipes mud from Satsu’s face, Satsu tells Buffy that she isn’t as fast or as good as Buffy but she tells her that one day she will be, there are a couple of rules she needs to learn first. One of those rules is to not land on your face, and another is that Satsu is in terrible danger because Satsu is in love with Buffy, Buffy then kicks her straight into the vampires lair.

Satsu and Buffy begin killing the vampires and Satsu asks if Buffy is kicking her out of the Slayer organisation but that is not what Buffy is getting at. They finish killing the vampires and Buffy tells her that she loves the idea of someone caring for her like that because she feels so lonely right now, it is fine for Buffy, but Satsu is still in danger. Anyone who has ever loved Buffy has died, been sent to a hell dimension, left town… she trails off and begins to cry. Buffy surprises herself, she didn’t mean to make it about herself. Suddenly Twilight falls from the sky and crashes into Buffy sending them both through a stone wall. “Always complaining, like a girl” he tells her, Satsu runs forward with her samurai sword in hand but Twilight quickly breaks it, hits Satsu in the face and sends her to the floor.





Buffy goes to use the same move she killed Caleb with (the scythe between the legs and then cutting upwards) but Twilight grabs it as she lowers it “I know that move Slayer. “Let me show you some of mine” he grabs her and takes them both upwards as a sunrise showers the area. He tells Buffy that he has been watching her and he has noticed that she hates flying, she tells him that she adapts quickly and he takes that as a challenge and flies through a number of buildings and finally throws her off and she lands on a rooftop. Twilight tells her that he originally came to talk to her, but he couldn’t bear to see her cry, she looks up at him and he is holding a large piece of broken roof. She challenges him to throw it at her, she has fought through worse.



He does so and she avoids the worse of the impact, he tells her that she has created a problem, an imbalance, by creating so many Slayers. They will suffer and their power will create a disaster, a disaster that Twilight will have to stop. He asks her if the now large number of Slayers has actually improved the world, has it even helped Buffy, she feels lonelier now than she has ever felt. Twilight flies off leaving Buffy to think about what he has told her. Twilight now stands in front of the woman officer seen at the end of "No Future For You" and a number of other humans and demons, she asks him why he avoided killing her again. Buffy is sat cradling a crying Satsu, Satsu feels like she failed Buffy. Buffy looks up at the beautiful sunrise. Twilight explains that Buffy has been killed before, but she always come back, to truly defeat Buffy you need to strip her of her moral certainty, she has always felt like she is on the ‘right’ side, they need to convince her otherwise.

Buffy sits at Satsu’s bedside as Satsu blames herself, Buffy eases her worries and tells her to heal. Buffy then corrects her statement and tells her that they will heal… together. Buffy is now high in the castle talking to Xander, she asks Xander if they are really doing the right thing, she is questioning the Slayer organisation and its use in the world. Xander explains that it is more than just fighting demons, he points down to lots of Slayers training below, they have given all these girls purpose and meaning, they have given them a connection. Buffy wonders why she doesn’t feel that connection, Xander suggests that maybe its because she is the leader, she is not allowed to feel the connection, it is something she must sacrifice to remain leader. Buffy once again feels sorry for herself, “yay me”.