BUFFY : "YOU HAVEN'T EVEN BEGUN" "You think you know. What's to come. What you are. You haven't even begun." Those words are spoken by Tara, to Buffy in "Restless", and again by Dracula in "Buffy vs. Dracula". These are the words that echo through season 8 for me. The path that Buffy is on will take her someplace that nobody ever imagined. Since the beginning of the series, Buffy has been pulled between two worlds. That of a normal young woman, growing up and trying to form a life for herself, and that of the Chosen One. Called to fight the evils of the world. These two aspects of Buffy's life have always been like oil and water, despite her attempts to balance them. Just when she thinks she has it figured out, something huge is thrown at her. Season 8 is no different. During season 7, Buffy went up against the First Evil. That which spawns all of the badness in the world. Beyond fear. Beyond hate. It's the thing the darkness fea-well, you get the point. It's bad. The First isn't an evil that prides itself on muscles. Since it is incapable of actually manipulating anything physical in our world, it does all of it's manipulating on the psychological. Getting it's way in some subtle, and some not-so-subtle ways (well, that and by sending the Bringers, but that's not the point of this, so I'll just breeze on by those guys). At the end of season 7, as the showdown between Buffy and the First neared, a minion of the first, Caleb, came to Sunnydale. Endowed with super strength by the First, Caleb came to Sunnydale to find the Scythe. The Scythe being a weapon forged centuries ago to aid the Slayer in her attempt to battle the demons on this world. A weapon which has power beyond that of a normal weapon when used by the Slayer. And apparently, only the Slayer could free the Scythe from it's resting place. Despite Caleb's attempts to remove the Scythe from the rock in which it was placed, it was only Buffy who could free the Scythe. After killing a bunch of baddies with this shiny piece of weaponry, Willow somehow managed to use it's power to unlock the source of the Slayer power, and activate all of the potential Slayers at once. Thousands of girls, all over the world, coming into this massive power at once, and joining Buffy in the battle against evil, thus allowing our girl to live happily ever after with the weight of the world off of her shoulders. Or not. While the plan may look good on paper, one must examine the origins of this plan to fully understand what happened here. 'Twas nighttime in the Summers home, and all of the little potentials were tucked snug in their spots of the floor when Buffy was paid a visit by the First. After the usual banter back and forth about how they plan to kill each other (plus an odd comment about the potentials not being called until Buffy dies, which doesn't make much sense since Faith is the official Slayer at this point), the First hits on that one note that's haunted Buffy for years. That thought that she is alone in this world, and will always be alone. Once this point is driven as far as the First can push it, it leaves Buffy to her planning. What does Buffy plan? To not be alone anymore. To call all of the potentials and flood the world with Slayers. So when you think about it, Buffy was just played by the master of manipulation. The First opened that door and pushed her through it. What other purpose is there for all of this? Why else would the First even bother with the Scythe, since it's power is all about the Slayer and pretty much useless to the First. In "Chosen", all of the Slayers are activated. Buffy smiles at the end, symbolizing the end of that battle between her two worlds. The future looks bright. But what comes next? What is the reality of this situation? And why did Tara and Dracula use that famous phrase? All of these questions fuel Buffy's arc in season 8. One of the things that I'm glad Joss set up in "Chosen" was Buffy not wanting a relationship at this point in her life. The constant need to have romantic drama playing through her life has, at times, taken attention away from Buffy the person and the struggles that she's going through outside of the dating world. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Riley or Spike, but I wanted to see more of Buffy without a boyfriend, just being Buffy. Which is what I got the chance to write in season 8. I just wanted to say that before I got into the bigger matters. The season begins with Buffy living a nice, quiet life. She's just been sent to the small town of Bear River by Giles. The town itself isn't much of a blip on the radar, aside from an odd mystical energy. Certainly not a Hellmouth. Buffy doesn't mind being away from the action either. She hasn't killed anything in months, and she likes it that way. Her plan seems to have worked. However, Buffy soon learns that you can't push your problems onto others, and they won't just go away. Sooner or later, you will have to deal with the same demons that you've always had to face. It is also revealed that Buffy's attempt to empower all of the Slayers and free herself of that burden has caused quite a bit of badness. Her first glimpse of this is a local girl named Jenna. When activated as a Slayer, Jenna was roughhousing with her little brother. The sudden surge of strength caused Jenna to severely injure him, leaving him in a wheelchair and leaving Jenna with the guilt of this action on her conscience. Upon learning of this, Buffy begins to realize that activating all of these Slayers without a Watchers Council or anyone else to guide them was not such a good idea. In the coming weeks, she would see more evidence of this fact as she discovers a black market for Slayer blood forming (with some Slayers willingly selling their blood in exchange for ritzy Las Vegas luxuries), and a child Slayer who is not yet ready to take on the burden of fighting the demons that will be coming for her. After the meeting with that young Slayer, Buffy has another discussion with the First, in which the First seems a little happier at the prospect of a world full of Slayers than one would expect it to be. Hit hard by the way things have turned out, Buffy returns home less than happy. The reality of her life has been thrown back in her face, and it's worse than ever before. The actions that Buffy took, and the decisions that she made have gone horribly wrong, and there is no way to fix it. I wanted to show how our decisions can affect others, and those affects may last far longer than we'd like (see "The Road To Hell"). Buffy is now faced with trying to work this out, wondering where whoever runs this show is. The demons of the world have the First Evil, and yet she's thrown into the fray without anyone on her side… or so she thinks. A short, cryptic message is given to her when she is at her lowest, telling her that she is not alone. So, how will this play out and what is that supposed to mean? I won't get into the reasoning behind that message in this section, but it does suggest that there is a purpose for what is happening. January rolls around, and with it comes another birthday for Buffy. After an awkward day with her father, Buffy returns home to celebrate with her friends. Just as they are about to have cake, Kennedy comes crashing through the window. The gang soon discovers that Kennedy isn't exactly on their side, and the arc that would play out to the end of the season begins. Why Kennedy? Because I thought she was a pretty bland character in season 7 and wanted to do more with her, and also because as a newly called Slayer she could represent that mistake that Buffy made in "Chosen". Kennedy attempts to steal the Scythe from Buffy, but fails. She is also searching for an amulet that is supposed to be somewhere in town, but due to the mystical energy, locator spells don't work and nobody really knows where it is. It turns out that Kennedy, along with some demons, are preparing for the Night Of Morel Divineh. The night in which the source of the Slayer can be opened, and the power of the living Slayers can be channeled into one being, killing the Slayers, and rendering the world Slayerless until that being dies. The night is set a certain number of days after a Slayer is brought back from the dead for the second time, which just so happens to be in time for the season finale… go figure. Normally, there would only be two Slayers in the world and it would be their power that could be stolen and put into one vessel until that vessel meets it's own demise (at which point a new Slayer would be called as usual). The problem here is that the world is now full of Slayers, and no potentials. All of the power in those Slayers would combine and supercharge whoever gets that power. Also, because of the spell which disrupted the system that was in place to activate Slayers, there would be no new Slayer once that supercharged person dies. The Slayer line will end (at least until the original spell can bust through Willow's spell, but that could take centuries) here and now. As though Buffy didn't have enough guilt, right? As the Night Of Morel Divineh nears, the Scythe and the amulet fall into the hands of the wrong people, of course. Buffy now has to head to the Hellmouth in order to stop the various parties from succeeding with this ritual. As she and the gang prepare to leave Bear River for Cleveland, they're shocked to discover that Sunnydale has somehow been rebuilt. It looks like they're going home. Now, why bring Sunnydale back into the picture? Because it represents the life that Buffy was trying to run away from. She tried to escape it, but she can't. She can't just head off to the woods and lead a quiet life because that is not her calling. She can't ignore what she was meant to be. Plus, it brings the series full circle, which is always fun. In Sunnydale, Buffy has to battle not only a ton of demons, but also hundreds of Slayers that Kennedy has talked into helping her (none of them know what the outcome would be, of course). Buffy is now faced with the life that she was trying to escape in Sunnydale, the demons that she was trying to pawn off on others, and hundreds of examples of just how wrong her decision was in "Chosen". Obviously, the odds are against her. The way this all plays out is not exactly a happy ending. Kennedy manages to perform the ritual of Morel Divineh as Buffy is fighting her way through the crowd to stop her. Buffy is only able to reach Kennedy just as Kennedy is finishing the ritual. Buffy tries to stop it by grabbing the Scythe away from Kennedy and pushing Kennedy out of the way, but the result is not what Buffy expects. Rather than stop the event, Buffy finds herself on the receiving end of this massive power, while all of the other Slayers die. In the end of this series, Buffy finds herself where she started. She finds herself as the one girl in all the world with the strength and ability to fight the forces of darkness. No Kendra. No Faith. No thousands of other Slayers… Just Buffy, and that's it. After realizing this, the balancing act that Buffy has always tried to perform is ended once and for all. There can no longer be a struggle between a normal life and Slayer life because Buffy must prepare the world to be without a Slayer. She has to wipe every demon off the face of the earth before she dies, or else the First will win and have it's run of the place once she's gone. The end of the season is the exact opposite of how the season started. No peaceful lounging in the woods. Now, there is only Slayer. In "The Road To Hell, Part 1", we see the end of this journey. While the episode also shows that Buffy's decisions have continued to ripple through time, the opening of the episode takes place in New England, in the year 2016. That is when Buffy will finally kill her last vampire. That is when she will be able to rest… which she does. She sits on the ground and closes her eyes. The next time we see her, she will be a pile of bones. There are hints as to how she gets all of this done in 12 years, and I may explain that more at some point, but for now, this is where it rests. There will be no new Slayer for hundreds of years. Her name will be Melaka Fray. For more on her, check out Joss Whedon's "Fray" comic book. You can find the whole series in graphic novel form on Amazon.com. It may seem like a rehashing of something I've already put in here, but I'll leave you with the words that started this whole thing: "You think you know. What's to come. What you are. You haven't even begun."