Overall Rating: 9.6 Matt: 9.5 Eric: 9.7 Written & Directed by: Joss Whedon Cast : Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris, Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg, Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase, Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles. Guest stars : Mark Metcalf as The Master, Andrew J. Ferchland as the Anointed One, Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers, Robia LaMorte as Jenny Calendar, Scott Gurney as Kevin. Original broadcast date : June 2, 1997 At the Bronze, Xander has worked up the courage to ask Buffy to the spring dance, and is rehearsing it on poor, lovesick Willow. Meanwhile, Buffy is in the cemetery wondering, as she has a close call with vampires, why suddenly there are more of them to dust. In the library, Giles succeeds in translating a prophecy from the Pergamum Codex: very disturbed, he realizes it means the Slayer¹s death at the hands of the MasterŠ Buffy tells Giles about her attack, and her misgivings, but his mind is obviously elsewhere. Later, Xander finally works up the nerve to ask her out, but she gently turns him down, saying she doesn't think of him "that way". A distraught Xander then asks Willow to the dance, but she refuses, saying that she doesn¹t want to be the rebound girl. In the library, Giles has summoned Angel and they discuss the prophecy. Meanwhile, Buffy is in the washroom, washing her hands, when the water from the faucet turns to blood. As she goes to the library to report this latest incident to Giles, she overhears him telling Angel about how she is to face the Master the next day and die. Completely freaked, Buffy lashes out at her Watcher, accusing him of being very good with books but not helping her much in the field. Then, she announces that she quits, and rips off her cross pendant. As Buffy storms home, Willow and Cordelia discover a roomful of dead students, including Cordelia's new beau Kevin, drained by vampires. Buffy gets the news as she¹s trying on a gorgeous white gown that her mother just bought her to cheer her up. Rushing to Willow¹s house to comfort her friend, she decides to face her fear and try to save the world by facing the Master. She goes to the library to get weapons, only to find Giles preparing to take on the Master on his own. As he protests her going to face the vampire alone, she knocks him out, takes a crossbow and leaves. On the school¹s front lawn, she¹s met by the Anointed One, whose job it is to lead her to the Master. As Buffy descends into the Master¹s lair, her white gown making her quite the pure fighting virgin, Xander and Willow join Giles and Ms. Calendar at the library to discuss how to rescue Buffy. Xander goes to Angel¹s place and forcibly (with a cross) enrols him in finding the Slayer. Underground, Buffy confronts the Master, but is quickly incapacitated by his hypnotic powers. The Master bites Buffy, and she drops into a puddle. The power of her blood enables him to break through to the "other side." Meanwhile, Cordelia, with her car, rescues Willow and Ms. Calendar from a sea of vampires converging towards the school. She picks them up, then drives her car into the school corridor, stopping in front of the library. As Giles, Cordy, Willow and Ms. Calendar try to ward of the onslaught of monsters, a kind of huge serpent / squid thingie breaks through the floor and attacks them. In the Master¹s lair, Xander and Angel have successfully revived Buffy, who notes how strong she suddenly feels. She confidently leads them back to the school, where she climbs to the roof and confronts the Master. She throws him through the roof window, where he gets impaled ­ through the heart ­ by a broken piece of wood in the library below. He disintegrates into a skeleton, and the serpent monster drops back to Hell. The gang suggests going to the Bronze to celebrate their victory. "We saved the world. I say we party," a shaken Buffy agrees. Summary by OttsFiveByFive.