Buffy takes Dawn to her first day at the newly restored Sunnydale High, only to discover that the school still hides the deep, menacing secrets of years past. Meanwhile, a remorseful Willow recoups in England and turns to Giles and the coven to learn to control her magic.

After her first day as Sunnydale's new guidance counselor, Buffy and her friends get right into investigating a subterranean monster, that is wreaking havoc on Sunnydale. Meanwhile, Willow has mixed emotions as she says her good-byes to Giles and leaves England to return to Sunnydale.

Willow's Sunnydale homecoming is more difficult than she or anyone else expected, causing the gang some concern that she hasn't fully recovered from her evil ways. Meanwhile, Dawn officially joins the hallowed ranks of the Scooby Gang as they hunt down a demon with baffling powers.

Buffy's role as a guidance counselor is severely tested when she tries to help a student who claims she is able to foretell her own, imminent death. Meanwhile, Anya struggles with being a vengeance demon, which takes an unexpected turn as she finds herself dispensing advice instead of curses.

When Anya grants a particularly gruesome vengeance wish, Buffy, Xander and the gang are forced to confront her choice to become a demon again. Meanwhile, in an attempt to return to some semblance of a normal life, Willow moves back in with Buffy and re-enrolls in college.

Dawn's crush on a football jock named RJ begins to concern Buffy when she notices a drastic change in Dawn's behavior. Believing her sister's actions are borderline obsessive, Buffy decides to have a talk with RJ. However, upon meeting him, she ends up finding herself madly attracted to him as well. Believing that supernatural forces are at play, Anya and Willow take their shot at investigating, only to find themselves the next victims of RJ's love. With all four women willing to go to drastic lengths to prove their undying love for RJ, it is now up to Spike and Xander to get to the bottom of the situation and reverse the spell.

Joyce visits Dawn from the beyond, Buffy has a revealing chat with a vampire, and Willow receives a ghostly visitor whom she believes may well be Tara, all of which portend an imminent, unpleasant future. Meanwhile, Jonathan and Andrew return to Sunnydale for some inevitably unpleasant mischief.

Fearful that Spike may be killing again, the gang's investigation into his mysterious behavior climaxes in a formidable confrontation between him and Buffy. Meanwhile, Giles makes what may be a cataclysmic discovery that could affect everyone's future.

After giving Spike a brutal third degree about his recent malevolent deeds, Buffy and the gang then kidnap and grill Andrew in a desperate effort to learn more about the growing evil forces that surround them all. At the same time, Buffy urgently contacts the Watcher’s Council to try to locate Giles in hopes that he may have some answers about the deadly, ever-encroaching evil.

As Buffy and the gang search for a way to annihilate an extremely powerful Ubervamp, Giles arrives in Sunnydale with three would-be slayers in tow.

Buffy struggles to protect potential Slayers from assassination by the Ubervamp while Giles and Anya petition a creature for information about the First.

Buffy enlists Spike’s aid in graphic, intensive training of the potential slayers, in anticipation of the expected cataclysmic return of The First. Meanwhile, Willow performs a spell that reveals that another unexpected potential slayer is living in Sunnydale.

When Willow starts to give in to romantic feelings for Kennedy, her guilty conscience causes her to turn into Warren, Tara's killer. Also, the gang gets clues that lead them to believe Giles may be The First, and Buffy helps Spike with what seems to be his malfunctioning chip, ultimately leaving Buffy with a hard decision to make.

Buffy goes on a date with Principal Wood, while Xander goes on date with an enigmatic woman he happens to work with.

The Summers home, densely packed with Slayer wannabes, suffers a surprising, grievous loss which ratchets up the gang’s attempt to rout the growing forces of evil. Meanwhile, Buffy makes a treacherous journey to try to obtain knowledge that will help in the battle against The First.

In this light-hearted episode, Andrew shoots a documentary, chronicling a day in the life of the scoobies and the potentials. Meanwhile, the Sunnydale High school is also experiencing problems when the Hellmouth is activated.

Giles, believing Spike has become a liability, teams up with Principal Wood, who also has animosity toward Spike. The two conspire to kill Spike behind Buffy's back. Buffy finds out about their plans and manages to save Spike, but loses all respect for Giles and decides to end her relationship with him. Meanwhile, Spike is flooded with memories of his mother and how he turned her into a vampire.

Faith returns to Sunnydale and joins forces with the growing Scooby gang just as The First empowers a dangerous new threat, the malevolent cleric Caleb. When Buffy decides to face Caleb head-on and test the wannabes, his power and viciousness stun her and the gang.

As Sunnydale's residents evacuate en masse, Faith rallies the demoralized potentials while an emotionally fragile Buffy endures another run-in with Caleb.

With Buffy no longer in charge, Faith leads the potentials into the sewers in search of weapons, but they are attacked by an army of vampires and discover a ticking bomb. Meanwhile, after Spike lifts Buffy's spirts, she goes to the Vinyard to face Caleb, and discovers a new weapon- a mystical scythe which will help her in her impending battle.

Buffy rejoins the group, as Giles and Willow do some research on her newfound weapon. Meanwhile, it seems that everyone else is prepared for the end, as they can feel something bad coming. Finally, Buffy faces off against Caleb with the help of an old friend, who pays her one final visit.

Buffy catches up with Angel, who has come to Sunnydale with the intention of helping Buffy in her impending battle. After Buffy refuses his help, he heads back to LA, but not before handing Buffy an ancient amulet which he says will be of help to her in battle. Buffy then heads back home, where she and her friends prepare to lead the potential slayers into the Hellmouth waging one final battle against the First Evil and his army of vampires.