Season 9
FREE FALL
Buffy has started her life in San Francisco with a coffee shop job and two new roommates: Anaheed and Tumble. They throw a house-warming party in their new apartment and Buffy wakes up the next morning naked and trying to remember what happened. She remembers bits and pieces of her friends coming over and talking with a few (she warns Spike that her roommates don’t know about vampires). Buffy wakes up with an awful hangover and eventually faces her roommates, who really like her friends. Later that night on patrol, Will and Spike warn her that something is after her. A demon appears to collect on her student loans.
The demon explains that he got trapped in their world when the seed was destroyed. Buffy gives him all the money she has, which isn’t much. Willow points out that Buffy needs to think about how the destruction of the seed impacted everyone whose magic wasn’t internal before she leaves. Spike tries to convince her that worse is coming. Buffy saves a guy being attacked by a vampire by slaying it. She is caught by two detective that have been finding dead, unaged missing persons from the mid twentieth century. They bring her in thinking she is killing them because they are vampires. She escapes and goes to Dawn and Xander’s place. They tell her she can’t stay because they are having problems. She talks briefly with Spike before going to patrol. She saves the same guy from earlier from another vampire, and he says he is like her. She follows the vampire into an alley filled with them. The guy snaps the vampire’s neck and it becomes a corpse like the ones the detectives have been finding.
Severin introduces himself and Buffy drags him to his place (fancy apartment) to sleep. The next morning, he tells her his girlfriend wanted to become a vampire and he wanted to be with her. However, when she turned, she was feral and attacked him. When he touched her, it sucked all the mystical energy out leaving just a corpse. Buffy calls a Scooby meeting, but only Dawn and Xander show up. Buffy calls Willow from Dawn’s cell phone to tell her she has to deal with the consequences of destroying the seed. Together, they find out the vampires created after the seed was destroyed can only be controlled by demons from another dimension, making them zombie-vampires (zompires). Dawn and Xander ask Buffy to deal with the police looking for her first. Buffy and Severin go to clean out a nest instead. On the way he explains he gets stronger with each one he kills. Spike goes to Alcatraz and finds a demon, Eldre Koh, that was released from a mystical bind when the seed was destroyed. He wants to help Buffy. He says it is the Siphon that is after her.
Buffy starts fighting off Severin, who blames her for his girlfriend’s death by changing the world. The police show up and surround the building. Severin plans on leaving her powerless in a room full of corpses for the police to find. They crash through the floor and into the basement where there are more vampires for Severin to absorb. Detective Dowling makes his way into the building and meets Spike and Koh. THey tell him to get the cops out of there so they can save Buffy. They drop down to the basement from the hole in the floor, but are about useless against Severin as they are both mystical beings. The detective returns and shoots Severin three times in the chest. Buffy’s name is cleared (though her roommates found her weapons) and Willow comes to pick her up. Severin is in a hospital bed and Simone is with him. He asks for a taste of her power, but she says she will need all of her energy.
Buffy starts having strange dreams and the first slayer makes an appearance to tell her she is not the slayer. She tells Willow about them and she comes to watch over Buffy while she sleeps. The small fairy-like creature that was underground with one of the fake Buffys appears. She wanted to punish her for impersonating her Buffy until she realized that she is now talking to the real Buffy. She lets the first slayer get her message across. The broken scythe might be the key to fixing everything. Willow appears to take it. The fairy tells Buffy that she is no longer a girl. Buffy wakes up and goes to the bathroom. Her roommates knock on the door to tell her they don’t feel safe living with her while she reads a positive sign on a pregnancy test.
ON YOUR OWN
Dawn comes over to comfort Buffy, but Buffy has someone else in mind to help her make some decisions. She goes to talk to Robin Wood about what it was like growing up with a slayer for a mom. He explains that Nikki’s watcher, Crowley, had planned it out so they could leave the slaying behind. It only lasted about a year before she was right back in New York City slaying vampires. He thinks Buffy will be able to do what his mom couldn’t because she is different (raised Dawn, lead an army, etc). Spike does a ride-a-long with Detective Dowling to teach him about vampires. After he explains his connection to the slayer, Dowling knows that Spike is still in love with Buffy and tells him to tell her. Buffy asks Spike to meet her so they can talk. She tells him she wants an abortion and asks him to go with her.
The roommates, Anaheed and Tumble, vote to have Buffy keep living with them, but her things are already packed. She gets onto the bug space ship with Spike. She explains that she decided not to run away with him because she can’t get away from the slaying. She isn’t ready for a baby yet and Spike would be the sort of thing she’d be running from. Spike gets a call from Dowling, who has stumbled on a nest of zompires. Spike tells Buffy to stay behind while he fights them off, but she drops in to save the detective. When the fight is over, Spike admits that he is still in love with Buffy. She is shocked. They are both surprised when her arm is ripped off and it is revealed she is actually a robot.
Dowling has to ID his partner’s body in the morgue. Eventually he makes his way to Dawn and Xander’s place. He is drunk and wonders about the state of the world. Spike and Buffy go to Andrew to find her real body. He explains he roofied her and did a mind swap with the Buffy-bot to keep the assassin on her. THey get in the spaceship to go to suburbia to get the real Buffy body, but Simone beats them there and kidnaps her.
Xander and Dawn take Dowling to deal with his partner-turned zompire. She has already killed most of the morgue. Dawn loses her phone in a dumpster and then waits out front with someone they found alive. Xander and Dowling are able to find and stake the zompire. Buffy admires how much work ANdrew put into her suburban disguise. She is slightly jealous. As they track Buffy’s body, Andrew explains that suburban Buffy doesn’t know she is a slayer and acted like Buffy would if she weren’t one. When they land, they split up to find her. Buffy finds the necklace they used to track the body and then is hit over the head by her.
Buffy wakes up to find her body has already been fed a whole lot of lies about the situation. Simone leaves them to duke it out. Spike fights Simone. Buffy is able to beat her body and explains what is really going on. Simone is able to escape the two Buffys and Spike. Spike tells Buffy that he has to leave because he can’t get over her if he keeps staying around her. he asks her to come with him, but she declines. She offers her body the opportunity to go back to the suburbs, but she didn’t feel right there. Back in San Francisco, she quits her job. Dowling also gives his resignation. He strongly believes he needs to be fighting the supernatural forces.
GUARDED
Buffy fails a training scenario Kennedy puts her in before she will be allowed to become a body guard. She can’t seem to get out of slayer mode and follow orders. Buffy feels like she needs to be doing more than being a body guard. She goes on patrol and a zompire is staked out from under her by a police officer. Detective Dowling has organized a new division to deal with the. Buffy returns to Kennedy for her first mission. They are protecting Theo Daniels, who explains Wolfram and Hart is trying to kill him.
Theo built a social networking site for demons called TinCan. The site uses demon technology to allow inter-dimensional travel. Theo thinks Wolfram and Hart can use it to get to their world. He wants to destroy the servers to prevent that. They go to headquarters, but when they see the endless amount of tentacles of a Teuth demon, Buffy asks Koh for help. He agrees to pay his debt to her (even though she declined to help him find his captor). Kennedy ends up killing the Teuth with a grenade. Theo hesitates destroying his life’s work. Koh takes the opportunity to tell Wolfram and Hart’s conduits that he will kill Theo if they tell him who imprisoned him.
It is going to take Wolfram and Hart some time before they can give Koh answers. Theo tells Buffy to leave him and make sure TinCan is destroyed. Buffy finds Kennedy and fills her in. Kennedy accuses Buffy of always forgetting about the little guy (mentioning Giles) and Buffy gives her a black eye. They go underground to keep from being seen by the cameras already tied into the system. Wolfram and Hart find the information for Koh, but he refuses to kill Theo until they send it to him. Buffy and Kennedy show up. Buffy fights Koh while Kennedy takes Theo to destroy the server. The message isn’t able to transmit. Koh leaves and the rest get out before the overheating severs explode. Kennedy offers Buffy a promotion, but Buffy turns it down.
A boy named Billy has been having a hard time being gay. His parents kicked him out and he lives with his grandma, Sky. He sits on a car near the airport with his friend Katie and talks about boy possibilities, but know he doesn’t really have any options. Two bullies, Garon and Post, pick on him on his way home. The next day he starts training like a boxer. A guy named Devon (who Billy and Katie call “Cute Devon”) comes by to talk to him. On his way home from school, he is bullied by Garon. However, Post is now a zompire and kills garon. Devon pulls Billy onto a roof and Billy kicks Post away, knocking him out. They make it to Billy’s room, but a zompire breaks through the wall and attacks. Billy stakes it with a piece of dresser drawer. Devon is convinced that Billy would be a good slayer and volunteers to be his watcher. Billy agrees.
Devon starts training Billy. He takes him out one night to show him a nest, though he doesn’t think Billy is ready for that yet. They make it back to Billy’s house. Devon is about to tell him how he feels when Billy sees the library his grandma volunteers at is under attack by zompires. Devon tries to stop Billy from going, but his slayer sets off alone. As Billy is breaking into the library, Devon joins him, explaining that he cares too much to let him go in alone. They end up in a room across the lobby from where the survivors are trapped. They draw too much attention trying to cross. Billy fights off and stakes the zompires while Devon helps the survivors. Buffy comes to recruit them.
WELCOME TO THE TEAM
Buffy, Billy, and Dowling have teamed up to take out zompires in San Francisco. They find a female siring and try to kill her, but she seems much stronger than the others. She gets away just before sunrise. Billy goes to do research while Buffy visits Dawn, who is sick with the flu. Dawn and Xander ask if she and Dowling are dating. That night, she meets up with Dowling and Billy to take out a nest near their previous night encounter. Buffy is teleported out mid-fight by Illyria who tells her she must join their council or die.
Billy blames himself for Buffy’s disappearance and Dowling’s near death experience. He calls Xander and Dawn to the hospital. Xander offers to stay and watch over the detective and Dawn decides to stay with him because his temper hasn’t been in check lately. While the doctor tells Xander that Dowling will be fine, Dawn tries to get his attention. When Xander does turn around, Dawn collapses and isn’t breathing. D’Hoffryn and several other demons make up the council. They are worried about how much power the Siphon has collected since she last faced him. Buffy realizes this may have something to do with the super-zompire and agrees to help. Illyria brings in Koh as their backup. When they arrive, Severin is waiting for them.
Xander calls Andrew for help, but he doesn’t know what is wrong with Dawn either. He does know that her body is failing and they need to get her mind into the Buffy-bot just incase they can’t save her. They sneak her out of the hospital. Meanwhile, Severin goes directly for Illyria to steal her power. She gets herself and then Buffy and Koh out of there. Buffy explains that Severin thinks he will be able to go back in time and save his girlfriend if he takes Illyria’s power. They decide to use her as bait and have her bring in Buffy and Koh when he touches her. However, once the plain is underway, Illyria sends them to the wrong place.
The Siphon takes all of Illyria’s powers. Buffy takes her and Koh back to her place after the council says they are going into hiding. Tumble tells them Xander has been calling about Dawn. They go to see her and Andrew explains that the transfer into the Buffy-bot isn’t working. Illyria points out that mystical energy is leaving Dawn’s body. Buffy realizes it is because Dawn was made magically. Billy tires to find Buffy and Anaheed saves him from zompires. She reveals that she is a slayer, one of the ones that didn’t turn on Buffy when the seed was destroyed. Xander blames Buffy for the events that lead up to her having to destroy the seed.
Xander can’t deal with his anger at Buffy, so he goes home. Severin brings Xander to him. He and Simone make him an offer. They need to get the Vampyr book Giles left Buffy. With it Severin can go back in time to prevent Twilight from happening. No one will know what happened and Buffy won’t have to destroy the seed. Willow returns with the Scythe and some limited magic. She tries to help Dawn, but isn’t sure she can.
THE CORE
Willow tries to help Dawn while Buffy takes the sidelines waiting out of the way. Xander appears out of nowhere badly beaten and says Simone dropped him off. He tells her about their offer to keep Buffy from destroying the seed and his refusal to betray her. He remembers that Buffy died to save Dawn in the past and knows she will continue to fight that hard. There is an explosion and Buffy and Xander run inside to check on Willow and Dawn. Willow says she has the right spell, but not enough power to fully bring Dawn back. Xander says Simone and Severin wanted the Vampyr book Giles left Buffy, so Buffy sends for it. Willow reads about the power stored in the Deeper Well (filled with old ones' sarcophagi). Dawn begs Xander not to go with them as the magic and her memories continue to drain out of her. He tells her Buffy and Willow need him. D'Hoffryn and the rest of the council is at one entrance to the Deeper Well in England. The rest of the council in New Zealand goes to help them fight them off. Simone and Severin are left with one demon guarding the entrance.
Buffy has her scythe for the first time since she destroyed the seed. While Buffy and Willow fight off the council demons protecting the Deeper Well, Simone and Severin defeat the one demon left at the New Zealand entrance. They text Xander that they need more time. Spike tries to convince Dawn to let him into her room. He admits he can't bring back her memories, but he can comfort her like she has always done for him. Devon and Katie are in a house surrounded by zompires that don't need an invitation to get in. They call Billy, Anaheed, and Andrew for backup and tell them what is going on. When Billy hears this, he has to go home and Anaheed agrees. Done with revenge, Illyria and Koh show up to help Buffy get into the well. Spike starts telling Dawn about her life. He runs to Andrew for a tape recorder because he is starting to forget her as she fades. Billy and Anaheed ask Spike to get a message to Buffy. He tells them to be quick so that he can record his memories of Dawn. As the council calls in more reinforcements, Buffy comes up with a plan to get Willow into the well. Xander tells her to stop before she gets herself killed. He admits that he told Severin and Simone the other location. Illyria tells them even when she was a god, she would not be able to do what Severin, the Siphon, is attempting. Xander tries to tell them he did it to save Dawn. Buffy is furious he didn't have faith in her and that now they have to save the world again.
The council lets Buffy and her gang into the Deeper Well to help them defeat the Siphon before he absorbs the magic and destroys the world. Buffy tells them her priority is her sister and she will help them after she saves Dawn. Spike searches the entire tape he recorded, but can't find anything on it. Dawn shows him she is starting to disappear. A zen demon keeps Xander from joining the fight and tells him he needs to stay out of the way. Spike calls him to give him his last chance to talk to Dawn, who everyone is quickly forgetting. Xander tells her even if everyone else forgets her, she will always be a part of him. Spike tells him Simone has been turning slayers into vampire-slayers. Simone abandons Severin for her own reunion. She finds a sarcophagus and gives it her blood. Soon after, Buffy and Willow find the same one open while following Willow's light. Willow recognizes it as Maloker's tomb, the greater demon that created the first vampires. Willow promises Buffy she will rescue Dawn and sends the slayer back to help the council. Illyria and Koh continue down to stop the Siphon while the council fights to off the massive demon, Maloker. Xander comes to warn Buffy about Simone turning Slayers into zompires. They start to wonder why since she plans on Severin turning back time. They find Simone's body and then Simone attacks in her new body.
Simon is pleased with her decision to release Maloker and become a demon as she fights off Buffy and Xander. She expalins that she was waiting to find a vampire to use that wasn't as week as the ones above. She thanks Buffy for destroying the seed and making her one of the most powerful beings on Earth. Xander hits Simone with a rock, but she easily grabs him and throws him down into the well. Buffy tries to follow, but Simone holds her back. Willow continues on following her magic detector to get to what she needs to save Dawn. Something rips out of her and she soon sees that she has given birth to a new seed. The seed tells her that magic will return to the world in a few millennia. Xander falls into Koh and frees him from Maloker's grasp. Illyria reaches Severin and tells him what he is doing and how he will destroy the world. Willow meets them with the seed and has an idea to help them both. Illyria takes the seed and tells Willow to go out so she can save Dawn. Willow starts to climb and finds Xander along the way. She tells them they have to get out before Severin makes the entire place explode. Koh tells them to start climbing while he continues to fight Maloker. Simone appears with the steak end of the scythe holding Buffy up through her shoulder.
Willow sees the staff that one of the council members used to get them down into the well. If she can get to it, she can get them out. Buffy, Xander, and Koh work together to distract Maloker. Simone makes her retreat out of the well knowing Severin is about to explode. Willow eventually gets to the staff and uses it to raise everyone upward. Simone sees them and jumps on Buffy to knock them both back into the well. Willow knows she has to keep taking them up so they can save Dawn. Severin explodes and channels the energy into the seed to successfully bring magic back to the world. Buffy crawls out of the well to join her friends. Back in San Francisco, Willow uses Buffy's blood to complete the spell to bring Dawn back. Xander feels guilty for betraying Buffy, but Buffy explains without his betrayal, the seed would have taken millennia to bring magic back and Dawn would have died. Buffy looks at the Vampyr book Giles left her and it is now blank. A redhead (Simone?) wakes up in San Rosita, CA. She is a vampire (zompire?) and immune to the sunlight flowing in through the ceiling at the mall. She turns herself into a bat and flies off.
Sky, Devon (Billy's boyfriend/watcher), and Katie pick up Billy and Anaheed from the airport. Billy and Devon go to Devon's house to clear it out before the zompires take it over. Upstairs, Devon gives Billy a shirt with several loops to put stakes through. Billy remembers Buffy saying it could be dangerous to fight alongside someone you love because you would always be trying to protect each other. Billy tries to break it off with Devon gently, but Devon is upset. Zompires start to come in through the ceiling and Billy fights them off. They go downstairs where Devon's dad is trying to fight them off with a shotgun. Suddenly, the zompires are coming up from the basement as well and take out the floor. Sky and Katie add stakes to the front of Sky's van to kill zompires as they drive. They drive into the house and fall into the basement with the others. Devon is separated and surrounded by zompires. Anaheed holds Billy back, telling him he will not be able to get to Devon. Billy has a vision of the first slayer using fire to defend her cave. He lights a torch out of his stake and uses it to kill the zompires and rescue Devon. The group uses fire to protect the house. Billy realizes his love for Devon ended up helping them all rather than distracting him.