Prophecy Girl

"Prophecy Girl" is the twelfth and final episode of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the twelfth episode in the series. Both written and directed by Joss Whedon, it was originally broadcast on June 2, 1997, on The WB network.

Synopsis[]

A HEART-STOPPING SEASON FINALE — Buffy wants to resign from her life of slaying when Giles uncovers an ancient prophesy that spells out her deadly fate, as the Master's ascension from the Hellmouth is at hand. As the earth begins to crack open, Xander, Willow and Cordelia face an army of demons and the prophetic end of the world. Meanwhile, Xander finally asks Buffy to the prom with equally disastrous consequences.^[1]

Summary[]

Xander is practicing lines on Willow at the Bronze, preparing how to best ask Buffy to an upcoming school dance. Cordelia is in her car making out with Kevin as Buffy slays a vampire nearby. In the library, Giles is reading the Pergamum Codex and comes across a passage concerning Buffy that shocks him. Suddenly, an earthquake is felt around Sunnydale. In his underground lair, the Master revels in it.

The next morning, Buffy meets Giles in the library and notices the damage caused by the earthquake. Buffy explains that vampires are rising in number and getting braver, but Giles seems distracted. After biology class, Xander asks Buffy to the prom. Buffy gently tells him she doesn't return his feelings and only sees him as a friend. Xander takes the rejection badly and walks off to wallow in his misery.

Giles phones Angel and asks to meet with him as Jenny arrives in the library. She has seen signs of the apocalypse and demands to know what is happening. Jenny mentions Brother Luca, a monk in Cortona, is e-mailing her about the Anointed One. Giles asks her to get more information, promising he will explain everything later.

Kevin and Willow agree to help Cordelia set up the sound system for the dance. Willow sees Xander sulking in an empty classroom and offers sympathy. When Xander asks her to the dance, she refuses to be his second choice.

That evening, Buffy sees blood running from the faucet in the girl's locker room. She enters the library and overhears Giles telling Angel that she will face the Master and die the following night. Buffy is devastated and rejects Giles and Angel's attempts to comfort her. She tells them she has a way around the prophecy — quitting as the Slayer. In tears, Buffy tells Giles she is only sixteen and doesn't want to die. She rips off her cross necklace and walks out.

At home, Buffy tries to convince her mother to go away with her for the weekend. Joyce tells her that the gallery is open on weekends and then surprises her with a new prom dress. After telling her how she met Buffy's father, Joyce encourages her to go to the dance.

The next day at school, Cordelia and Willow find members of the audiovisual club slaughtered by vampires in front of a television playing cartoons. Dressed in her prom dress, Buffy shows up at Willow's house and comforts her. Stunned, Willow explains she knew the victims and the classroom where they died, but the vampires had fun making it their world.

In the library, Giles has explained to Jenny that Buffy is the Slayer. After Jenny mentions a Bible verse she received from Luca, he realizes the Anointed One is alive and a child. Giles tells her he intends to face the Master so Buffy won't have to. Buffy arrives and stops him, having accepted her destiny. When Giles refuses to let her leave, Buffy knocks him out. Jenny reminds her that she will die if she fights the Master, and Buffy responds that maybe she will take him with her.

Outside of school, Buffy finds the Anointed One asking for help. She tells him she knows who he is and follows the boy to the Master's lair. Willow and Xander arrive at the library and learn Buffy has gone to fight the Master. Xander leaves, only to show up at Angel's apartment demanding him to lead the way to the Master. Xander declares his dislike for Angel, but both recognize the other's love for Buffy. Meanwhile, Giles sends Jenny and Willow to warn the students at the dance. However, as they leave, they see an army of vampires approaching.

Underground, the Master and Buffy taunt each other. The Master grabs Buffy's neck and overpowers her with hypnosis. He reveals it is her blood that will free him. He drinks from Buffy, leaving her to drown in a shallow pool before breaking free of his mystical prison and rising to the surface. Xander and Angel reach Buffy only to find that she is dead. When Angel says he has no breath, Xander performs CPR on Buffy and revives her.

Cordelia rescues Willow and Jenny by crashing her car through the school building. As the vampires rush inside, the girls help Giles barricade the library doors. Suddenly, a giant tentacled demon smashes through the floor, revealing the Hellmouth underneath.

Buffy regains consciousness and knows where to find the Master. She fights him above the library and, after resisting his hypnosis, throws him down into the library, where the Master is impaled on a jutting shard of wood. His body crumbles to dust, leaving only a skeleton, and the Hellmouth closes.

Buffy, Xander, and Angel meet back in the library, and Giles notes he should have known Buffy wouldn't let death stop her. They decide to go to the prom, with Buffy stating, "We saved the world. I say we party." When Jenny asks what they should do with the Master's skeleton, Buffy tells her not to worry since he isn't going anywhere. They depart for the Bronze, leaving the skeleton behind.

Continuity[]

• From the episode "Witch," Cordelia Chase had nine episodes in which to become an accomplished driver.
• Buffy tells Xander she does not return his romantic feelings in this episode. Xander tells her the same years later when Buffy confessed her feelings for him in Turbulence.
• The Master catches Buffy's arrow just before it pierces his heart, as Angel will be able to do in episode "Five by Five."
• This episode marks the first time hypnosis is used in the series, although not the first time hypnosis is used against Buffy. Lothos uses it in The Origin, Part Three, but unlike with the Master, Buffy manages to resist it.
• This is the first of four times that Buffy is bitten by a vampire, the other three being Angel in "Graduation Day, Part Two," Dracula in "Buffy vs. Dracula," and Spike in Desperate Times.
• Buffy dies for the first time, even if only for a minute. She'll suffer from this traumatic event and deal with it after the summer, in "When She Was Bad."
• Buffy's death causes a new Slayer, Kendra, to be activated ("What's My Line? Part Two"). Apparently, this cuts her off from the Slayer line of succession, as no Slayer is known to have been called after her second death in "The Gift."
• When it's suggested that they perform CPR on Buffy, Angel tells Xander that he can't do it, saying, "I have no breath." This is the first instance in the series in which this is established. Darla will later reaffirm this in the Angel episode "Offspring," insisting that she can't be strangled because she doesn't breathe.
• The Hellmouth spawn will reappear in "The Zeppo."
• Unlike lesser vampires, the Master's bones are left behind after his death, not turning to dust like the rest of the body. They are soon buried, until finally destroyed in "When She Was Bad."

Appearances[]

Individuals[]

• Angel
• Aura (Only mentioned)
• Aurelius (Only mentioned)
• Kevin Benedict
• Jennifer Calendar
• Collin
• Cordelia Chase
• Rupert Giles
• Alexander Harris
• Luca (Only mentioned)
• Master
• Willow Rosenberg
• Buffy Summers
• Hank Summers (Only mentioned)
• Joyce Summers
• Hellmouth spawn

Organizations and titles[]

• Anointed One
• Order of Aurelius
• Scooby Gang
• Slayer
• Technopagan
• Watcher

Species[]

• Demon
• Human
• Vampire

Events[]

• Battle over the Hellmouth
• Earthquake

Locations[]

• Italy (Only mentioned)
  • Cortona (Only mentioned)
• United States
  • Sunnydale
    • Angel's apartment
    • Church (Order of Aurelius)
    • Gallery (Only mentioned)
    • Hellmouth (Only mentioned)
    • Mercy Hospital (Only mentioned)
    • Revello Drive
      • 1630 Revello Drive
    • Sunnydale High School
      • Sunnydale High School library
    • Whisper Lake (Only mentioned)

Objects[]

• 2FAN321
• 3SZP896
• Black Chronicles
• Buffy Summers' cross necklace
• Mister Gordo
• Holy Bible
• Legends of Vishnu
• Pergamum Codex
• Stake
• Writings of Aurelius (Only mentioned)

Death count[]

• Unidentified vampire, staked by Buffy.
• Two further unidentified vampires, dusted by Buffy (only mentioned).
• Kevin Benedict, two boys, and two girls, killed by vampires in the audiovisual room.
• Buffy, left to drown by the Master in his lair (later revived by Xander using CPR).
• Unidentified vampire, staked by Angel.
• The Master, staked by Buffy on a large shard of wood from a broken table.

Behind the scenes[]

Production[]

• While Joss Whedon had written other scripts for the show before, this episode was his first turn as both writer and director.
• A calendar in Giles's office indicates the episode takes place in June 1997, the month it first aired.
• The exchange between Buffy and Angel, where he starts to tell her that he likes her dress but she cuts him off, saying, "Yeah, yeah. It was a big hit with everyone." was added in production and not in the original script.^[2]
• The huge demon that comes up out of the Hellmouth at the end of the episode was created at Optic Nerve. The budget didn't allow for a computer-generated effect, so tentacle "costumes" were created. Each tentacle has a human being inside manipulating it from within.^[2]
• Sarah Michelle Gellar kept Buffy's prom dress for herself, as she revealed after sharing a picture wearing it over twenty years later.^[3]

Broadcast[]

• "Prophecy Girl" pulled in an audience of 2.8 million households.^[4]

Deleted scenes[]

• The following scene — right after Buffy has turned Xander down — was cut because of length:^[2]

  Xander bails, wandering off under the archway. Buffy sits by herself on the bench, bummed. Which is when the hail of pebbles starts. The first few get Buffy's attention, tiny hard pellets hitting the ground around her. She stands as more start coming down. People — including Buffy — all run for cover as the real shower starts. Buffy stands under the archway, watching the hail come down. Angle: Xander. Walking away, not near Buffy. He hears:

  Student: "Check it out! It's raining stones!"

  Xander looks back over his shoulder.

  Xander: "Figures."

Pop culture references[]

• When Cordelia and Willow find Kevin and other students dead, the television is showing an episode of Looney Tunes cartoons.
• Xander compares the Giles's calm to Locutus of Borg from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• The Master refers to the song "What a Wonderful World."

Music[]

• Patsy Cline — "I Fall to Pieces"
• Jonatha Brooke & The Story — "Inconsolable"
• Nerf Herder — "Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme"
• Walter Murphy — original score

International titles[]

• Armenian: "Առաքելության աղջիկը" (Mission Girl)
• Czech: "Dívka z proroctví" (Prophecy Girl)
• Finnish: "Ennustus" (Prediction)
• French: "Le Manuscrit" (The Manuscript)
• German: "Das Ende der Welt" (The End of the World)
• Hungarian: "Végső összecsapás" (Final Clash)
• Italian: "La Profezia" (The Prophecy)
• Japanese: "予言の少女" (Prophecy Girl)
• Polish: "Dziewczyna z przepowiedni" (Girl from Prophecy)
• Portuguese (Brazil): "A Garota da Profecia" (The Girl of the Prophecy)
• Romanian: "Fata profeției" (Prophecy Girl)
• Russian: "Девушка из пророчества" (The Girl from the Prophecy)
• Spanish (Latin America): "La Chica de la Profecía" (The Girl of the Prophecy)
• Spanish (Spain): "La Chica de la Profecía" (The Girl of the Prophecy)
• Swedish: "Profettjejen" (The Prophecy Girl)

Adaptations[]

• A Buffy the Vampire Slayer action figure, two variant 12 Inch Figures, and a Funko Pop! were produced based on Buffy's appearance in this episode.

Gallery[]

Promotional stills[]

Behind the scenes[]

Advertisement[]

"Prophecy Girl" promo

"Tonight: The earth opens. Fire rains down. And her fate awaits."

Quotes[]

References[]