Privately, Buffy tells Giles about the difficulties she has endured the past year: Xander left Anya at the altar leading to her becoming a vengeance demon again, she has been working at the Doublemeat Palace to support Dawn amid financial problems, and she has been sleeping with Spike.
As Willow begins to overpower Giles, she also directs a magical attack at Xander, Dawn, and the others; forcing Buffy to leave to protect them.
Buffy manages to partially block Willow's attack, but she and Dawn are thrown underground; while Xander is knocked unconscious.
Willow speaks to Buffy telepathically, telling her she deserves the right to die as a warrior; and raises earth-creatures to battle her and Dawn.
Giles revives and tells Anya that the magic Willow stole from him overpowered her emotional barriers and gave Xander the chance to reach her.
In Africa, a severely bruised and bloodied Spike successfully completes his trials and demands his promised reward; his greatest desire.
The website Women at Warp compares the "sidekick-turned-supervillain" situation with the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Nth Degree."
"While Barclay's run as a supergenius in "The Nth Degree" is short-lived and Willow's progression into a black-magic-wielding ultra-witch spans multiple episodes, their arcs are strikingly similar.
Ultimately both must cope with returning to their former, less-powerful states, as well as living with the knowledge of the terror that they inflicted on the people they care about.