Blood Ties
From: Loey's Guide to Buffy The Vampire Slayer

The gang is having a late research night at the shop, while also making plans for Buffy's 20th birthday party (ah, here's the birthday episode!). Buffy would rather concentrate on learning about Glory. The Council's information fills in a few blanks - Glory is one of three gods who ruled over a particularly nasty demon dimension. As Anya and Giles point out, there are thousands of these dimensions, all "pushing on the edges of our reality, trying to find a way in", and Glory has apparently accomplished this part, although they have no idea why she's there or what exactly she plans to do. They do, however, realize that she has a weakness, and must draw power from the minds of human victims.

The subject of the Key comes up, and Buffy finally decides to 'fess up about Dawn. The others are a little upset that she didn't tell them sooner, and she tries to explain her reasoning. But, as we know, even she hasn't been certain of that reasoning, and she ends up admitting that she should have told them sooner.

Meanwhile, the Knights of Byzantium are in a clearing in the woods, chanting: "The Key is the link. The link must be severed. Such is the will of God". Unfortunately for them, it's not the will of a certain blonde god, and she and her minions attack the group. Most of them are killed, but Glory stops short of offing the cute one from "Checkpoint".

[credits]

Willow and Tara set up a sort of magical alarm system outside the shop, a way of letting them know if Glory ever gets near. Dawn walks over and asks if she can help, which they politely decline. So, Little Sister goes inside, where she talks to Xander and Anya. These two are doing exactly what Buffy was afraid they would - acting really strange around Dawn and making her suspicious (they need to take "act normal" lessons from Will and Tara). Buffy and Giles come out of the training room, and Dawn notices Giles hiding a notebook under the counter somewhere. Buffy tries to make small talk with her about school, but she's clearly getting annoyed at the way they're all acting.

Glory takes the knight back to her place, where she tortures him for information about the Key. He doesn't know anything, and wouldn't tell her if he did, so she brain-sucks him.

Buffy's birthday party goes ahead, with cake and gifts and food. Willow and Tara buy her a nice dress, which makes Anya jealous ("I want presents"). Dawn gives Buffy a picture of them on a beach together, back when they made some trip to San Diego with their dad. It's a nice little gift, but everyone else in the room gets very quiet.

Later, Dawn overhears another vague conversation between Buffy, Giles, and Joyce, which abruptly stops when she comes too close. Then she goes into the living room and snaps at the others for "acting all weird" whenever she's around. She knows they talk about her behind her back, and it's pissing her off. She runs up to her room.

And climbs out the window, running into Spike in the backyard (he's lurking around with that infamous box of chocolates for Buffy). Dawn is preparing to break into the magic shop so she can find the notebook Giles had, hoping it will tell her what the heck is going on. Spike offers to look after her, reckoning the Slayer wouldn't be too happy if her sister got hurt running around Sunnydale at night.

So, they get into the shop, and Dawn finds where Giles hid the notebook. (Spike takes something from the counter, too, although I'm not sure what it was.) Dawn reads the book, and finally gets to the part about the Key. It tells her pretty much everything we already know - The Key is pure energy; the monks were trying to protect it; only crazy people and certain animals can see its true nature; it was sent to the Slayer for protection. And, oh yeah....it's the Slayer's sister.

Back at the house, Buffy sits in the living room with Willow and Tara. She hasn't gotten a card or anything from Riley, and doesn't expect to. As Buffy contemplates the virtues of a boyfriend-free birthday, Tara sees something across the room that gets her attention, to say the least. Dawn is standing there, with blood all over her arm. She's just cut herself with a knife, wanting to see if she - and her blood - are real.

Yep, kids, it's an official, full-blown freak-out.

After the others leave and they get Dawn upstairs, Buffy and Joyce try to explain things to her. They wanted to tell her when she was older, which just makes things worse, since they then have to tell her how old she really is. She insists that Buffy only cares about her because it's her job, which Buffy denies, pointing out that their emotions are very real, regardless of anything else. Dawn is not ready to hear any of this, however, and literally screams at them to get out.

The next day, Buffy and the others gather at the shop, trying to find out more about the Key so they can tell Dawn who and what she is, and hopefully provide some comfort. After finding a cigarette butt in one of the relics, they at least figure out who helped her get into the shop, and Buffy goes to Spike's crypt, ready to rumble. She's furious that he let Dawn find out the truth the way she did, but Spike throws it right back in Buffy's face, telling her it wouldn't have happened if she had just been honest with Dawn in the first place. This hits home, and Buffy leaves.

Joyce tries to get Dawn up for school, but Dawn has decided that "blobs of energy don't need an education". Joyce starts to baby her, which prompts Dawn to grab her book bag and leave after all. "I'm not sick," she says bitterly, "I'm not anything."

At the hospital, Ben finds the knight Glory crazified babbling in the psych ward. Just then, Jinx the Crusty Minion walks in, and reminds him that more knights will follow. He says that Ben's fate is linked to Glory's, and he should help her. Ben isn't afraid of her, though, and refuses. Apparently, she can't lay a finger on him.

Buffy and Joyce argue over what to do about Dawn, who has managed to get herself suspended from school. While they hash things out, Dawn is upstairs trashing her room and burning her diaries, which sets off the smoke alarm. When Joyce and Buffy get up there, they discover that she's gone out the window again. Maybe for good this time.

Buffy rallies the troops at the magic shop. Joyce has stayed at the house in case Dawn comes back. Anya will stay at the shop, in case she shows up there. The others split up in twos - Xander and Giles, Willow and Tara, and Buffy and Spike (yes, Spike).

Dawn wanders around a playground, remembering when she played on the swings there with Buffy. It doesn't exactly giver her a warm, cozy feeling.

Xander and Giles look around an alley, talking about how bizarre it is that Dawn is really this mystical, powerful thing, when they all have such vivid memories of her being just a regular kid. As usual, Xander can't leave well enough alone, and just has to mention Dawn's crush on him. This gets one of those classic looks from Giles, who is obviously less than impressed.

Buffy and Spike get to the playground a little too late, and Buffy admits that this might not have happened if she'd told Dawn the truth sooner. Spike tries to make her feel better, and assures her that she will find Dawn and keep her safe.

Dawn goes to the hospital, making her way to the psych ward, where she tries to get the crazy guys to shed some light on the situation. The knight recognizes her, but he's too incoherent (and potentially hostile) to be of much help. She runs into the hallway.....and right into Ben.

Who takes her to a break room and makes her hot chocolate. He's worried that her mom might be sick again or she had a fight with Buffy. (He has a pain-in-the-ass sister, too. Guess who?) It's not that, she tells him, and then she starts ranting about being the Key and hiding from Glory, which would utterly confuse and confound most people. Not Ben, though - he just panics. This kid is the Key, and Glory will hurt her if she finds her there. He senses that Glory is coming, and tells Dawn to run away real damn fast.

Too late, though. Glory is there, all right. Ben turns into her, right before Dawn's eyes.

Seems that Glory has somehow replaced Ben (or something). Anyway, she doesn't know what Dawn and Ben were talking about, but she does recognize Dawn as Buffy's sister. A guard comes in and tells Glory to leave. She responds by breaking his neck. She takes Dawn to another room and starts grilling her about the Key, asking if she knows where it is. That Dawnie's a quick thinker, though, and she begins asking questions herself - What does it look like? What does it do? Is it evil? You know, just a little information, so she can figure out if she's seen it before. Slick, that girl.

Buffy and Co. have regrouped and decided to check out the hospital, fearing that Dawn may be hurt. While there, they overhear someone talking about the murdered security guard, and figure out that Glory could be responsible. They find her and Dawn, and just in time, too. Glory has decided that Dawn doesn't know where the Key is, and is preparing to do the sanity-suck on her, just so she'll be good for something.

Buffy, Spike, and Xander all fight Glory, to little avail. Giles tries to shoot her with a crossbow, and it bounces right off. She laughs at these puny mortals, then hurls a crowbar at Dawn. Buffy blocks it, taking the crowbar in the shoulder. Finally, Willow and Tara do what mere physical strength cannot - they cast a teleportation spell, which makes Glory disappear. Only they don't know where they sent her, and Willow nearly passes out from the spell's power (it's a bit out of her league).

Glory materializes in the sky above Sunnydale. She utters the first two letters of a popular swear word (rhymes with "spit") before plummeting to the ground.

Dawn is, obviously, still upset, and Buffy makes one last attempt to get through to her. "It doesn't matter where you came from or how you got here," she says, "You're my sister." Dawn finally accepts this, and they hug. They get up to leave, and Dawn says that Ben tried to help her, but she doesn't remember what all happened (she thinks he left before Glory arrived). Buffy says they'll thank him later.

The sisters walk out, hand-in-hand.