Season 6, Episode 8 | Aired: 13 November 2001 | Written by: Rebecca Rand Kirshner | Directed by: David Grossman
Willow casts a memory spell to make Buffy and Tara forget — Buffy so she won’t remember heaven; Tara so she won’t remember the erasure from All the Way. The spell goes wrong and erases everyone’s memory completely. The Scoobies spend the episode trying to work out who they are from first principles, which is funny and then sad. Tara, whose memory returns first, finds the Lethe’s Bramble and leaves Willow. The episode ends with one of the best-deployed pop songs in the show’s history — “Goodbye to You” by Michelle Branch, playing over the breakup and Giles’s departure.
What Happens
Willow’s spell misfires and everyone wakes up in the Magic Box without memories. Giles and Spike find wallets that say “Giles” and “Randy” — Spike decides his surname is Giles and Anthony Head plays their fictional father-son dynamic with obvious delight. Buffy and Dawn think they’re sisters named Joan and Little Bit. Xander and Willow think they might be dating. A loan shark (who is literally a shark) comes for Spike’s debts. Eventually the crystal breaks and memory returns. Tara leaves. Giles catches his plane.
Key Moments
The “Goodbye to You” sequence — Tara packing, Giles flying, Willow weeping, Buffy and Spike kissing, all cut together. The song does the work. And “Randy Giles” as a concept, which Head plays as a complete character in six minutes.
Monster / Villain
The loan shark. Willow’s magic, which cannot be used safely to manage other people’s feelings.
Notable Quote
“I must be a noble vampire. A good one, fighting for good.” — Spike-as-Randy, from first principles, before he knows what he actually is.
Where It Fits
Tabula Rasa is the comedic episode that ends in loss — both Tara and Giles gone in the same final montage. After this, Season 6 darkens significantly.