Season 5, Episode 5 | Aired: 24 October 2000 | Written by: Douglas Petrie | Directed by: David Solomon
Buffy discovers the truth about Dawn — she’s the Key, an ancient mystical energy source given human form and placed in Buffy’s life by a group of monks who implanted all the memories. Buffy also encounters Glory (Clare Kramer) for the first time, and gets thoroughly beaten. The episode handles the Dawn revelation with care, leaving Buffy to sit with the knowledge that Dawn isn’t real and isn’t not real simultaneously.
What Happens
Joyce is unwell in ways the doctors can’t diagnose. Buffy uses a trance spell and sees through the monks’ enchantment — sees Dawn as a glowing green energy rather than a person. She finds a dying monk who explains: the Key, an ancient power the Hellgod Glory is seeking, was given human form and placed with the Slayer for protection. Dawn doesn’t know. The memories are real even if the origins aren’t. Buffy comes home and finds Dawn watching TV and makes a decision, looking at her, that she doesn’t articulate.
Key Moments
Buffy’s first fight with Glory — and Glory barely noticing. The disparity in power is deliberately alarming: this is a villain Buffy cannot beat in a straight fight, and the show establishes this immediately.
Buffy holding Dawn’s hand after she gets home. She’s chosen, without stating it, to protect her.
Monster / Villain
Glory (Clare Kramer) — a Hellgod, fundamentally more powerful than anything the show has placed against Buffy. Also extremely chatty about her shoes.
Notable Quote
“She’s not my sister?” — Buffy, to the monk. And then: “She’s my sister.” Two different statements, both true.
Where It Fits
No Place Like Home is where Season 5’s real story begins — the Key, Glory, the impossible problem of protecting someone who shouldn’t exist and is nevertheless entirely real.