Beginning of Season 5

Following the visitation of Sineya in “Restless” and Dracula’s visit, Buffy goes to Giles to ask for help in understanding her Slayerness. Canon kind of just drops that storyline for no great reason…. So let’s not!

Info is discovered (you decide how) that leads to a ritual that will open up connection to Sineya and the rest of the line (the quest in the desert happening earlier? actually listening to something Anya knows from her demon days?) and Buffy has regular Slayer dreams that reveal the truth about where her power comes from and how she can tap into it. This opens up all kinds of questions about Council rhetoric, the nature of demons/souls/good-evil dichotomy, and how Buffy can tap into an “upgrade” without the assaulty aspects of the Shadowmen offering in S7. How does this change her perception of Angel and his claims about being a completely separate entity from Angelus? How does her relationship to Giles & the Scoobies change? And of course, how does this change her relationship with Spike? 

Must have:

Buffy choosing to evolve and accept her ultimate Slayerness

Confronting Angel’s lies/lack of self-control

A better friendship with Anya/Tara and even a more compassionate connection to Dawn and her “otherness”

Spuffy HEA

Can have:

Her upgrades allowing her to see through the Ben/Glory glamour and giving her better tools in the fight overall

An evolving relationship to the demon community of Sunnydale

Claim

Buffy discovering Slayers are immortal 

Discovery of the Guardians

Can’t have:

Super heavy angst

non-con