Villains (Buffy episode) :

"Villains" is the 20th episode of season 6 of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Plot synopsis

Summary :

In the aftermath of the vengeful Warren's assassination attempt, Buffy tries to recover from a severe gunshot wound, while Tara is also hit and dies. Willow, consumed by wrath and rage over Tara's murder, saturates herself with deadly black magic from the Magic Shop, which physically transforms her into a dark being. Dark Willow magically heals Buffy, and then goes out seeking to kill the murderous Warren.

Meanwhile, the arrested Jonathan and Andrew share a jail cell while they debate their next move.
Warren, aware that Willow is after him, seeks allies at a demon bar and approaches junkie warlock Rack for help, while Buffy, Xander and Dawn grieve after they learn of Tara's death as well as finding out that Anya has returned to being a vengeance demon.

Also, Spike travels to a remote African village where he asks a mysterious cave dwelling demon to return him to his former self.


Expanded overview :

An ambulance arrives at the Summers' house and Xander leads them to Buffy's still body. Meanwhile, upstairs, a tearful Willow begs for Tara to return to her and calls upon Osiris to bring Tara back to life. The God denies Willow's request, explaining that the death was natural and human and cannot be undone. The resurrection of Buffy was allowed because her death was the result of magical forces, but Tara's was the result of a mortal killing a mortal. Devastated and angry, Willow banishes the god with a violent, powerful scream. Xander accompanies the paramedics to their truck out front as a determined Willow exits the house. He tells her Warren shot Buffy and she leaves on a mission while Xander joins Buffy in the ambulance.

At the police station, Andrew and Jonathan talk about the fact that they're in jail and debate about whether Warren will be rescuing them. Elsewhere, Warren buys a round of drinks at Willie's bar. He brags to a vampire about how he killed the Slayer. The vampire and demon bartender inform Warren that Buffy's still alive, as the news just reported the story. Willow barges into the magic shop and heads directly for the black arts books. Anya tries to stop her, but Willow literally stops her from moving. Willow pulls the books off the shelves, sticks her hands into the pages and sucks the words into her body. Her eyes and hair turn black as she completely consumes the darkness. Dawn returns home from school to an empty house and walks into Willow's bedroom, finding Tara's dead body lying on the floor.

Warren visits Rack's place, shows a pile of cash, and demands protection from the Slayer. Rack warns the man that his big concern lies with Willow, who really wants him dead and she's got the power to do it. In exchange for a lot of money, Rack agrees to give Warren some powers to help him combat Willow. But Rack tells Warren that there's no guarantee any of it will work, for a scorned witch's powers are greater than anything in the world. At a hospital, doctors and nurses struggle to keep Buffy alive but soon their job is taken over as Willow enters the room and orders everyone else out. Xander watches as Willow approaches Buffy's body and raises the bullet from Buffy's chest and heals the wound. Buffy wakes up and feels fine, but Willow is in a hurry to get to Warren.

Xander follows Willow's directions as he drives down a deserted desert road and Buffy tries to reason with Willow about her choice to go after Warren. Rushed, Willow takes control of the car and leads it to another road where a city bus is approaching. She uses magic take control of the bus and once it is stopped, she orders Warren off the bus. He barely manages to beg for forgiveness before she wraps her hand around his throat and starts to strangle him. Willow is only angered more when she finds that she was tricked and it was actually a Warren robot. Willow finally tells Buffy and Xander about Tara's death, that Warren accidentally shot her when he was shooting at Buffy. Buffy and Xander plead with her not to kill Warren, because it's wrong and it will take her to a dark place from which she might never return. But Willow doesn't want to listen and shoves them away as she departs. Buffy and Xander return to the house that evening and find Dawn huddled in the corner of Willow's bedroom, staring at Tara's body. Buffy tries to comfort her sister, neither of them really able to grasp the situation.

  
 
 

The Coroner takes Tara's dead body away and Xander sees them out. When Xander and Buffy begin to talk about Willow, an angry Dawn jumps in with her view that Warren should be killed. Even Xander agrees that they must find and kill Warren for what he's done. Buffy's disturbed by this and doesn't think it's acceptable for Warren to be killed just because he killed Tara. The way Buffy sees it, Warren is just a normal human and that it's wrong for a Slayer or anyone to kill a human regardless of the bad deeds he's done, even though she knows that the justice system does not always work. Concerned for her friend, Buffy wants it to end without Willow destroying herself. Xander and Dawn agree with Buffy that they must find Willow, but they both still stick to their views that Warren must die for his crimes. Buffy refuses to allow Dawn to tag along, and Dawn asks to stay with Spike. Xander is upset by Buffy's willingness to let that happen and reminds her of Spike's actions the night before, but she's confident Spike can't hurt Dawn and he is their only option. In Tara's dorm room, Willow uses her shirt, splattered with Tara's blood, and magic to guide the way to Warren.

Buffy and Dawn show up at Spike's crypt, but find Clem staying there instead. Since Spike is gone, Buffy asks Clem if Dawn can stay with him for a little bit and he's more than happy to have the company. As she leaves, Buffy asks about Spike and his whereabouts, but Clem has few answers. Across the world, in a remote part of Africa, Spike enters a cave, despite warnings from one of the tribesmen. Inside the cave, Spike greets a demon in the shadows, wanting a change. The demon assumes that Spike wants to return to his former self, and he doesn't think Spike has what it takes to earn that. Spike is confident that he will earn it, and he demands what he came for if he succeeds. Back in Sunnydale, Xander talks to Anya as she recovers from Willow's magic. She feels Willow's cry for vengeance and Xander discovers that she's returned to being a vengeance demon. Buffy soon arrives, and she and Xander question Anya about where her loyalties are. Anya tells them that she's willing to help them find Willow, but only for Willow's sake.

Trees part as Willow walks through the woods, hot on Warren's trail. As she reaches a small clearing, Warren sneaks up on her and plunges an ax deep into her back. She recovers quickly though, her powers much too strong to be hampered by an ax. He runs off again and tries to stop her by sending a flying box at her that explodes. But Willow freezes the explosion into a glass orb which shatters. Next, Warren throws a magical orb at Willow which envelopes her in a ball of goo. But Willow, using magical flames from her eyes, melts the goo off her body. She then uses magic to tie Warren spread-eagle between two trees. Willow realizes Tara wasn't Warren's first kill and brings forth the spectre of Warren's dead, ex-girlfriend, Katrina. Katrina's ghost taunts him with comments about how she should have killed him a long time ago. When Warren gets angry, Willow makes Katrina vanish. All the while, Anya leads the way for Buffy and Xander to reach Willow.

Willow decides Warren needs to feel what Tara felt when he shot her. She produces the bullet that she extracted from Buffy at the hospital and magically penetrates it into Warren's chest in slow-motion. He begs for mercy as she describes the damage of the bullet and what it did to Tara, and when he continues to interrupt her, Willow magically sews his lips shut so she can continue. She questions why someone like him gets to live when someone wonderful like Tara has to die. When he's free to speak again, Warren apologies profusely and tries to convince Willow that she's better than this. As Buffy, Anya and Xander arrive at the clearing, an unimpressed Willow says "Bored now.", conjuring a spell which flays Warren's skin from his body from the waist up. She then magically engulfs his dead body in flames and it disintegrates. Buffy, Xander and even Anya look on in horrified shock at this summary execution as a satisfied Willow proclaims, "One down" before disappearing into thin air.

  
 
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