Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1996–2003): Season 5, Episode 20 - Spiral - full transcript

Buffy runs from Glory with Dawn, meets the gang and feels that she is not able to defeat the powerful god. She decides to runaway from Sunnydale with Dawn and her friends and asks Spike to bring his recreation vehicle. However, they are followed and attacked by the Knights of Byzantium that want to kill The Key, Giles is seriously wounded while driving and the RV capsizes. They run to an abandoned construction and Willow uses magic to protect them. Buffy calls Ben to help Giles bringing also Glory.

Previously on
Buffy the vampire slayer...

We had to hide
the key.

- Made it human and sent it to you.
- Dawn.

Tell me what kind
of demon I'm fighting.

Glory isn't a demon.
She's a god.

Did you know your sister
took my key?

She won't give it back. I bet you
know where she put it, don't you?

"They had to be certain the slayer
would protect it with her life,

so they sent the key to her
in the form of a sister."

You're the key. Go. Before she finds you.
She's here.

- I love you.
- The only chance you had with me...



Was when I was unconscious.

Let's see what you are.

Or who you are.

One soldier in a vast army.

The key is the link.
The link must be severed.

Where is the key?

I'd die a thousand deaths
before I'd tell you.

No! No!

Tara!

No!

Tara,
I'm so sorry.

- What are you gonna need?
- They gave me a lot of stuff to keep her calm.

I told you
this wasn't over.

Look at that. Look at that.
It's pure green energy.



Buffy!
We have to keep moving.

I can't.

I really hate it when
people touch my things.

- Last words, slay-runt?
- Just one: Truck.

No! Not now, you idiot!

Let go of my body!

Oh, god.

And then, whoosh! All of a sudden,
glory's standing right there...

In front of us, all skanky and blond
and thinking she's all that...

Just 'cause some bumpy heads
kiss her stinky feet.

She does have nice feet.
And she's coming right at us,

and Buffy's just standing
there not even blinking,

like "bring it on,"
and... wham!

- Hell bitch in orbit.
- Go, buff.

I knew you'd best glory eventually.
All our years of training...

- A truck hit her.
- Oh.

You threw it at her?

Well, no. She more kind of
waited for it to hit glory.

But then Buffy ran really fast,
and we got away.

I don't know
how we got away.

That truck couldn't have slowed
her down for more than a second.

Well, how isn't important. All that
matters is that the two of you are safe.

Safe?

We've barely been able to manage
not getting seriously dead...

Every time we've
crossed paths with glory.

Now that she knows
that dawn is the key...

There must be something in the
book of tarnis that we've missed,

something that we can
use against glory.

- Piano.
- Because that's what we used to kill...

That big demon
that one time.

No. That was a rocket launcher.
An, what are you talking about?

We should drop
a piano on her.

Well, it always works for
that creepy cartoon rabbit...

When he's running from that nice
man with the speech impediment.

Yes, or perhaps we could paint a convincing
tunnel on the side of a mountain.

Let's just keep thinking,
everyone.

Perhaps we should reassemble at the
magic shop... we can't fight her.

Well, not yet, no.

No. Not ever.
She's too strong, Giles.

We're not gonna win this
with stakes or spells...

Or pulling out some
uranium power core.

She's a god,
and she's coming for us,

so let's just not be here
when she starts knocking.

Run away?

Finally, a sensible plan.

That's not
what she meant.

- Is it?
- We can't stay here.

She'll just kill us off one by one
until there's no one left standing...

Between her and dawn.

Buffy, we all understand the severity of
the situation, but there must be another...

No! We stay, we die.
Show of hands for that option.

All right. Nobody goes home. Nobody
tells anybody we're leaving.

Just pack up whatever supplies we
need, and that's it... we're gone.

Cool. Don't have to study
for that geometry test.

What about wheels?

I don't think everybody's gonna
fit in the Xandermobile.

Just get your stuff together.
I'll handle the rest.

This is...
This is terrible.

I'll never be able to mend this.
Not really my color anyway.

Oh, yes.
Inappropriate humor.

Most amusing. Don't suppose you know
what led to this sartorial tragedy.

That's not how it works. You know that.
Yes, of course.

I just thought, maybe after her
magnificent incandescence...

Was returned to this manly and...
painfully handsome assemblage,

you might have noticed
something interesting...

A key in human form,
perhaps,

lounging about
unattended.

If I did, do you really think
I would tell you?

Why do you insist on
fighting the inevitable?

No one can stand against her
blindingly scrumptious luminescence.

Glory. Her name is glory.

And she's your god,
you little scab, not mine.

With all due respect
and fear of sharp objects,

you exist, sir, only because
of her divine greatness.

You mean her divine failure,
don't you?

I didn't ask for any of this.
I just want to be normal.

We play the hand
we're dealt.

Nothing's mine, is it? I mean, this
life, this body... it's all infected.

The only thing I've ever cared
about, she's taken away from me.

You know why I wanted
to become a doctor?

Flattering
drawstring pants?

To be close to people, to witness
their lives and their deaths,

to be there
alongside them,

a part of everyday humanity.

Maybe it's the drugs.
Drugs, sir?

Find the right combination, keep
her buried where she belongs.

Impossible!

Her magnificence can never
be fully contained.

She is a perfect,
all-encompassing light,

one you should feel
honored to be bathed in.

Oh, yeah, I'm thrilled,

especially with the part where she gets
her key back, and I cease to exist.

True. This oh-so-appealing form
will of necessity be shrugged off.

Not if I get
the key first.

And if you did, what then?
Could you do it?

Take a human life
with your own hands?

Oblivion is such a small inconvenience
in the service of a deity.

Accept your fate.

I mean,
you said it yourself.

This life was never really
yours anyway, was it?

It doesn't matter
how I came by it.

It's mine,
and I plan on keeping it.

- Anybody else feel that?
- What?

- Cold draft of paralyzing fear.
- We just need to stay calm.

Calm. Right.

Hey, we gotta be like
sergeant rock...

Cool and collected in the
face of overwhelming odds.

Overwhelming?

How much more than "whelming"
would that be exactly?

Everything will be all right. We
just need to stay here calmly.

As soon as Buffy arrives...

We'll feel oddly worse.

What's he doing here?

Just out for a jaunt. Thought
I'd swing by and say howdy.

- Out.
- He's here because we need him.

- The hell we do.
- If glory finds us, he's the only one besides me...

- That has any chance of protecting dawn.
- Buffy, come on.

Look, this isn't a discussion!
He stays. Get over it.

Buckle up, kids. Daddy's
puttin' the hammer down.

Sign here.

Okay.
That should do it.

See? Did I not tell you how
easy it would be for us to...

Hey!

My pen.

The trees are singing water.

You have him.
Yes, general.

Our brother has
returned to the fold.

Welcome home, Orlando.

I swear by my sword your
sacrifice will not go unavenged.

Shiny.
Yes. I suppose it is.

Pretty little girl,
she's shiny too.

Watch him.
Make sure he's comfortable.

So shiny.

Pretty little shiny key.

The key. You've seen it?

Pretty little shiny girl.

The monks,
they've made it human.

We know the slayer's
protecting the key.

If what Orlando says is true...

Prepare to advance.
Yes, sir.

We end this now.

Shouldn't somebody be asking,
"are we there yet?"

Isn't that what small,
irritating children do?

That kinda only works if you
know where you're going.

Do we know where
we're going yet?

We'd already be somewhere if captain
slowpoke would give up the wheel.

Hey, gramps, bloody step on it.

Step on what? I've driven
tricycles with more power.

Ohh.

Is anybody else queasy?

He doesn't travel well.
He's like fine shrimp.

I should've nicked
that Porsche I had my eye on.

There's just enough room
for me, you and big sis.

- What?
- Would you give it a rest or...

Or what, you're gonna
toss your cookies on my shoes?

Or you can be
undead man walking.

See how fast you can hitch a
ride with a flaming thumb.

Fine. Shrimp.

That guy is bloodsuckin' the
last nerve right out of me.

Well, Buffy has a point. In a
confrontation, spike may prove...

Useful.

I don't know if Buffy's thinking
too clear on that one...

Or anything else
right now.

I've never seen her so...

She's been through more than
her fair share of late.

She just needs a chance
to catch her breath, regroup.

She'll be all right.
Yeah. She'll...

Yeah.

Any luck?

If you define luck as the
absence of success, plenty.

There's a couple
barrier spells,

but they only work
on a fixed locus.

I haven't found anything that will
work while we're still moving.

So pretty.
Can I have one?

Come on.
Um, anyone hungry?

Ooh! Snacks!

The secret to any
successful migration.

Who's up for some tasty
fried meat products?

- Hey! Ow!
- Tara, no!

What did I tell you?

Shh. I'm sorry.
She didn't mean to.

- She doesn't know what she's doing.
- We know.

No biggie. Look, the skin's
already stopped smoking.

You go ahead and play peekaboo
with Mr. sunshine all you like.

It keeps the ride
from getting boring.

All the light's gone.

No. Shh, baby.
The light's still outside, okay?

All dark. All dark.

Dark.
All dark.

Soon.
Dark.

Soon. Soon.

Soon. Soon.

It's coming. The signs
are in alignment.

Soon victory
will be in our grasp.

All we need do
is seize the moment...

And squeeze
until it bleeds.

Hey. I think Anya's
gonna try to cook.

Wanna come watch the tears
and recriminations?

Maybe later.

Thanks.

For what?

You know.
Pretty much everything.

Yeah. I'm doing a great job.

You are.

I'm the slayer,
the chosen one.

All mythic and defendery.

Evil nasties are supposed
to flee from me,

not the other way around.

You're not fleeing.

You're...
Moving at a brisk pace.

Quaintly referred to in some
cultures as the big scaredy runaway.

It's the most amazing thing
anyone's ever done for me.

It just keeps coming.

Glory, Riley,

Tara, mom.

I know,

but there's a bright side.

There is?

At least things can't
get any crazier, right?

You know this is your fault
for saying that.

Come out now! Bring up the ranks!
Advance!

- Giles!
- I see them.

See who?

- Arrows!
- Bloody hell!

They're throwing arrows.

Dawn, get down under the table.

Horsies!

Tara!

- Weapons?
- Hello! You're driving one.

- Don't hit the horsies.
- We won't.

Aim for the horsies.

Did we shake 'em?

Stay low! Watch out for...

Oh!

Now might be a good time
for something heroic.

Xander, hatch!

Up!

Keep the pressure on.
Always do, sweet bit.

Not a piano, but hey.

Everyone all right?

- We gotta find shelter.
- Right bloody quick.

I'm burnin' up out here.

Careful. Spike?

Careful.
Up.

Okay. Wil?
I'm on it. Careful!

Are you sure you're okay?
Yeah, but spike's hurt.

Ow! Easy with the delicates.
They'll heal.

Florence bloody nightingale
to the rescue.

You have another plan, right?

One that doesn't involve
pointy knives and a Winnebago?

We'll rest here for a minute,
but then we have to keep moving.

- Where?
- I don't know!

Uh, we just... we can't stay here.
It's too close to the wreck.

- We're too easy to find.
- Buffy!

Wil, how is he? Wil?

I think I've slowed
the bleeding, but...

Okay. Okay, just...
Just give me a minute.

Dawn, down!

We got company.

And they brought
a crusade.

- Willow!
- I'm working on it!

Let's go! Come on! Let's move it!
Move it! Move it!

Buffy!

The key.

Enemies high and tall.
Circling arms, raise a wall.

They have the general.
Clerics!

Energy barrier.
A most powerful one.

- Can it be breached?
- A witch's magic pales to the might of our god.

The infidels' wall
shall tumble before us.

Wil, how long
will it hold?

Half a day maybe.

Or until heckle and jeckle
punch a hole through it.

So, what's the story
with these role-playing rejects?

Let's find out.

You sure Scarface here
can habla the English?

He understands me.

Don't you?

You were warned
we would return, slayer.

Took you long enough.

What are you supposed to be,
some kind of chief?

General.
General.

In charge of what,
getting captured?

You do not
frighten me, child.

The instrument of chaos
must be destroyed.

Look at her that way again, and she
will be the last thing you ever see.

As I've been told, you protect
the key of the beast.

It's not that simple.
Yes.

The key has been transformed,
given breath, life.

Yet, this makes
no difference.

The key is the link.
The link must be severed.

Such is the will of god.

She doesn't remember anything about
being this key you're all looking for.

The only thing
that she remembers...

Is growing up with a mother
and a sister that love her.

What kind of god
would demand her life...

For something that she
has no control over?

We are not your enemy.
Tell your men to stand down.

No. It is not her fault!
She's human now!

The key is too dangerous
to be allowed to exist,

no matter what form it
has been pressed into.

I will not let anyone tell me...

Shh! Shh!

Shh. Shh.
What happened?

I don't know.
She just went nuts.

Shh. Shh.

Time! T-t-time!

Tara. Tara.

Tara!

We have to do something.

She can't just stay this way.
Buffy.

Time, time, time.
Shh.

Time, time, time.

Time, time, time.

No, it's not time for your meds.
Just lie back and...

Time! Time! Time!

Doctor!
Dr. McCarthy!

Time. Time. Time.

Time. Time. Time.

Time. Time. Time. Time.

It's time. It's time.
No, no. Shh.

There's nothing to fear,
my brother.

The beast may have
taken your mind,

but I swear to you,

she will never know
the taste of your heart.

Clerics!

I want the witch's
barrier down. Now!

I'm sorry.

What for?
We should've stayed.

If we had, none of this
would've happened. Don't.

What you did...

W-was necessary,

what I've always admired.

Running away?

Being able to place your heart
above all else.

I'm so proud of you.
You've come so far.

You're everything a watcher...

Everything
I could have hoped for.

Willow.

Open a door.

Speak. One of my friends was
hurt when you attacked us.

And 10 of my men are dead.
Honorable men.

Shall we balance
the scale?

Will you let someone come
and help him or not?

Give quarter to an
agent of the beast?

What madness would move
me to such action?

I'm done asking.
Whoa! Whoa, hey.

This is war, isn't it?

And if there's one thing I've
learned from sergeant rock is...

In war, there are rules.

Or at least
there should be,

if you're as honorable
as you think you are.

Plus we do have your
general forehead guy.

Discharge and bring life.

Handier than a Swiss knife.

Look, the door to my crypt's got
this nasty squeak. Maybe you could...

Hey, uh, it's Buffy.

I need to ask you
a really big favor.

You, uh, forgot to mention
the costume party outside.

Sorry. I didn't know
who else to call.

No, it's okay.

I mean, yeah, not how I
pictured seeing you again,

but, uh, I'll take
what I can get.

Thank you... for coming.

My pleasure.

All right. I think I got him stabilized,
but there's a lot of damage.

We need to get him
out of here.

Well, I think the guys with the
pointy swords kinda have other ideas.

Don't they always?

Look, I know this must seem
extra outer limits to you.

This? No, I've seen things
you wouldn't believe.

You know, emergency room,
full moon on a Saturday night.

If this gets too weird, just tell me.
I'll understand.

Don't worry about me. I won't leave
until I've worn out my welcome.

Ow.

Thanks.

You know those things
will kill you.

Oh. Right.

I mention today how much
I don't like you?

You might have let it
slip in... once or twice.

How are your feelers?

It's nothing compared to the little
bits we're gonna get chopped into...

When the renaissance faire
kicks the door in.

And here we bloody sit.

It's not like we got much of a choice.
We could make a break for it.

Use general armor all
as a shield,

get to the doc's car, and...
Great plan.

And while all the hacking and slashing's
going on, what are you gonna be doin'?

Throwin' migraines at 'em? Look,
we stay here, we all die.

At least this way, some
of us might get... no.

We're all gonna make it.

I'm not losing anyone.

Check the supplies.
See if anyone's hungry.

Dissension in the ranks.

Seldom a harbinger
of glad tidings.

Shut up.

Poor, frightened girl.

You've no idea what you've
gotten yourself into.

Why don't you tell me? Would
it make a difference?

What do you know
of the beast?

Strong, fast, hell-god.

From a dimension
of unspeakable torment.

A demon dimension.
I know.

She ruled with
two other hell-gods, right?

Along with the beast, they were a
triumvirate of suffering and despair,

ruling
with equal vengeance.

But the beast's power grew beyond
even what they could conceive,

as did her lust
for pain and misery.

They looked upon her, what she
had become, and trembled.

A god afraid?
Such was her power.

They feared she would attempt to
seize their dimension for herself...

And decided
to strike first.

A great battle erupted.

In the end, they stood
victorious over the beast.

Barely.
She was cast out,

banished to this lower
plane of existence,

forced to live
and eventually die...

Trapped within
the body of a mortal,

a newborn male
created as her prison.

That is the beast's
only weakness.

Kill the man,
and the god dies.

Unfortunately, the identity of the human
vessel has never been discovered.

I don't understand.
Now, I've seen glory.

Not a whole lot going on
in the hairy chest department.

You have seen a glimpse
of the true beast.

Her power was too great
to be completely contained.

She's found a way to escape her
mortal prison for brief periods...

Before her energies
are exhausted...

And she's forced back into her
living cell of meat and bone.

What about me?
What about the key?

- Dawn.
- I want to know.

The key is almost as old
as the beast itself.

Where it came from,
how it was created,

the deepest
of mysteries.

All that is certain is that
its power is absolute.

Countless generations
of my people...

Have sacrificed their
lives in search of it...

To destroy it before its
wrath could be unleashed.

But the monks
found it first.

Yes, and hid it
with their magics.

Why didn't they just destroy it?
If the key is as dangerous as...

Because they were fools.

They thought they could harness its
power for the forces of light.

They failed and paid
with their blood.

What do I do?
What was I created for?

You were created to open the
gates that separate dimensions.

The beast will use your
power to return home...

And seize control of the
hell she was banished from.

That's it?

That's glory's master plan?
To go home?

You misunderstand.
Once the key is activated,

it won't just open the gates
to the beast's dimension.

It's going to open
all the gates.

The walls separating
realities will crumble.

Dimensions will
bleed into each other.

Order will be overthrown, and the
universe will tumble into chaos.

All dark... forever.

That is what you
were created for.

Dawn.

You think it's true...
What he said?

I don't know.

Destroyer of the universe.

I guess cutting school
doesn't seem so bad now, huh?

It's not you.
You know that.

But it's in me, isn't it?

It's inside me.

What are we gonna do?

I won't let anything
happen to you.

I promise.

Wriggling.

- Come on, Tara.
- You have to eat something.

Want me to try?

Don't know. I'm gettin' used to
pickin' fruit outta my hair.

You.

You are not a part
of this, are you?

- Just a friend of the family.
- Would you die for them?

Because that is
what your future holds...

If you align yourself with the
slayer and her misguided people.

It's my life, and I'll do
what I please with it.

It's not just your life.

Unimaginable legions will perish,
including everyone here.

You can stop this.

You can save all their
lives by ending one.

The little girl. The key.

Destroy it, and the will
of the beast will be broken.

She will fade,
a distant memory,

and all of this madness
will end.

Sorry.

Is... is he gonna be okay?

He was hurt pretty bad, dawn.

It's because of me.

It's all my fault.

No, it isn't.

You don't know
what's happening.

I don't have to.

I just know that sometimes terrible
things happen to good people.

It shouldn't, but it does.

It's nobody's fault.

That's just
the way life is.

Is that gonna help?

Ben?

You have to let me out.
Ben?

You don't understand. I gotta get out!
Open a door now!

What happened? I-i don't know.
He just freaked out.

- Let me out!
- Okay. Wil, open a door.

No! Ha!

Well, what do you know? Little
Ben finally did something right.

- The beast.
- Hey, it's Gregor.

Now it's not.

Buffy!

The beast!
Prepare to attack!

Dawn!

Willow! Get it down now!

Hear, hear my plea,
circling arms protecting me.

We have to...

The beast.

The car. Get the keys.

Buffy. Buffy, we have to find dawn.
We can't let glory...

Buffy, Buffy.

Buffy, you have to get up.
We need you.

Buffy, please! Buffy!

Grr! Arrgh!