History Recap / BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E20Villains

An ambulance arrives at the Summers’ house and Xander leads them to Buffy’s still body. Meanwhile, upstairs, a tearful Willow begs for Tara to return to her and calls upon Osiris to bring Tara back to life. The god denies Willow’s request, explaining that the death was natural and human and cannot be undone. The resurrection of Buffy was allowed because her death was the result of mystical forces, but Tara’s was a human death, by human means. Devastated and angry, Willow banishes the god with a violent, powerful scream, causing him pain before dismissing him. Xander accompanies the paramedics to their truck out front as a determined Willow exits the house. He tells her Warren shot Buffy, and she leaves on a mission (without revealing what happened to Tara), while Xander joins Buffy in the ambulance.

Willow decides Warren needs to feel what Tara felt when he shot her, multiplied, actually gleefully torturing him. She produces the bullet that she extracted from Buffy at the hospital, and magically penetrates it into Warren’s chest in slow-motion. He begs for mercy as she describes the damage of the bullet and what it did to Tara, and when he continues to interrupt her, Willow magically sews his lips shut so she can continue. She questions why someone like him gets to live when someone wonderful like Tara has to die. When he’s free to speak again, Warren apologizes profusely and tries to convince Willow that she’s better than this. As Buffy, Anya and Xander arrive at the clearing, an unimpressed Willow says "Bored now," and in a moment both glorious and horrifying, Willow need only wave her hand to rip the flesh clean off Warren's upper torso, the sudden shock of the act plus exposed muscle and tissue killing him instantly. She then magically engulfs his dead body in flames and it disintegrates. Buffy, Xander, and even Anya look on in horrified shock at this summary execution as a satisfied Willow proclaims, "One down," before disappearing into thin air.

* EvilMakeover: Dark!Willow

* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: The Slayer can't kill humans except in self defense. Dark!Willow obligingly kills Warren instead.

* CarpetOfVirility: Warren, when Willow pulls open his shirt to torture him. Ironic given his nerdy characterisation. It's also visible at his unbuttoned collar starting when he's celebrating in the demon bar.

* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope

* WhatTheHellHero: Xander is taken aback that Buffy is willing to let Dawn stay at Spike's place, especially after his [[AttemptedRape attempt to rape her]] last episode.

** Even after everything he had done Buffy wants Warren arrested, not dead. This is an argument not just with Willow but the fan base as a whole. Most agreed with Willow killing Warren. It's everything else thereafter that tends to split the fan base.

* PrisonRape: Jonathan gives ButtMonkey a whole new definition.

Willow decides Warren needs to feel what Tara felt when he shot her, multiplied, actually gleefully torturing him. She produces the bullet that she extracted from Buffy at the hospital, and magically penetrates it into Warren’s chest in slow-motion. He begs for mercy as she describes the damage of the bullet and what it did to Tara, and when he continues to interrupt her, Willow magically sews his lips shut so she can continue. She questions why someone like him gets to live when someone wonderful like Tara has to die. When he’s free to speak again, Warren apologizes profusely and tries to convince Willow that she’s better than this. As Buffy, Anya and Xander arrive at the clearing, an alarmed and unimpressed Willow says "Bored now," and in a moment both glorious and horrifying, Willow need only wave her hand to rip the flesh clean off Warren's upper torso, the sudden shock of the act plus exposed muscle and tissue killing him instantly. She then magically engulfs his dead body in flames and it disintegrates. Buffy, Xander, and even Anya look on in horrified shock at this summary execution as a satisfied Willow proclaims, "One down," before disappearing into thin air.

Directed by Creator/DavidSolomon

Written by Creator/MartiNoxon, Creator/RebeccaKirshner, & Creator/StevenSDeKnight

** For "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22TwoToGo Two to Go]]" -- after Willow kills Warren she says, "One down..." then teleports out of there. [[CliffHanger Roll credits.]]

* LateToTheTragedy: Dawn returns home from school to an empty house and walks into Willow’s bedroom, finding Tara’s dead body lying on the floor.

* ShootingSuperman: As the demons point out to Warren, you ''can'' shoot a Slayer, they're just very difficult to kill that way.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Discussed between the Scoobies. Buffy insists that doesn't have a license to kill, and Warren's a human, so they should let the human justice system deal with him. By contrast, Dawn and Xander openly declare that in Warren's case, HumansAreTheRealMonsters and whatever Willow's going to do to him, he deserves it. The only issue anyone has with his death is [[FlayingAlive how gruesome it is]].

620 Villains3
Demon: You were a legendary dark warrior, and you let yourself be castrated. And you have the audacity to crawl in here and demand restoration?

Willow decides Warren needs to feel what Tara felt when he shot her, multiplied, actually gleefully torturing him. She produces the bullet that she extracted from Buffy at the hospital, and magically penetrates it into Warren’s chest in slow-motion. He begs for mercy as she describes the damage of the bullet and what it did to Tara, and when he continues to interrupt her, Willow magically sews his lips shut so she can continue. She questions why someone like him gets to live when someone wonderful like Tara has to die. When he’s free to speak again, Warren apologizes profusely and tries to convince Willow that she’s better than this. As Buffy, Anya and Xander arrive at the clearing, an alarmed and unimpressed Willow says "Bored now," and, with a wave of her hand, magically flays Warren’s skin from his body from the waist up. She then magically engulfs his dead body in flames and it disintegrates. Buffy, Xander, and even Anya look on in horrified shock at this summary execution as a satisfied Willow proclaims, "One down," before disappearing into thin air.

* FlayingAlive: Willow does this to Warren, [[spoiler:Tara's killer]], when she catches up to him. It was fairly gruesome for standard television, but he didn't survive for very long after his skin had been removed (mainly because she then followed up by ''burning him''). [[spoiler:He got better in the comics continuation, though. He still had no skin, and was being kept alive by magic, but when magic ended, he died instantly.]]

In the aftermath of the vengeful Warren Mears’s assassination attempt, Buffy Summers tries to recover from a severe gunshot wound, while Tara Maclay is also hit and dies. Willow Rosenberg, consumed by wrath and rage over Tara’s murder, empowers herself with deadly black magic from the Magic Box which physically transforms her into a dark being. "Dark Willow" then magically heals Buffy, and then goes out seeking to kill the murderous Warren. Jonathan Levinson and Andrew Wells share a jail cell while they debate their next move. Warren, aware that Willow is after him, seeks allies at a demon bar and approaches junkie warlock Rack for help, while Buffy, Xander Harris, and Dawn Summers grieve after they learn of Tara’s death as well as finding out that Anya has returned to being a vengeance demon. Spike travels to a remote African village where he asks a mysterious cave dwelling demon to make him his former self.

Willow absorbs all the dark magick at the Magic Box and saves Buffy. She then goes after Warren in one of the most horrifyingly glorious scenes in the entire series. Original air date, May 14, 2002

* WhamEpisode:

* ThisIsUnforgiveable: Xander agrees with Dawn that Warren deserves to die, declaring he's no better than the vampires and demons they fight every day. Despite being physically sick at the sight of Willow flaying him alive, Xander still insists that Warren deserved what he got.

* {{Fade to White}}: Dawn finding Tara's body.

** For "Two To Go" -- after Willow kills Warren she says, "One down..." then teleports out of there. [[CliffHanger Roll credits.]]
* FlayingAlive: One of the most glorious examples.

* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Buffy desperately invokes this in an attempt to get Willow to back down; Willow refuses to listen.

* UnflinchingFaithInTheBrakes: Willow stopping the bus.
* VigilanteExecution: Courtesy of Willow the Vampire Flayer (and yes, Warren isn't a vampire -- but the pun was [[JustForPun just too good to pass up]]).
* VillainsWantMercy: Warren's last words are to desperately beg Willow not to kill him. It doesn't work.

Willow absorbs all the dark magick at the Magic Box and saves Buffy. She then goes after Warren in one of the most horrifyingly glorious scenes in the entire series.

* DescriptionCut: Jonathan sarcastically saying that Warren will be busting in to save them any moment, to Warren strutting into the BadGuyBar to [[ARoundOfDrinksForTheHouse buy everyone a drink]]. Oh, and the Trio? "I cut them loose."

* VigilanteExecution: Courtesy of Willow the Vampire Flayer.

->'''Xander:''' ''"You said it yourself, Will, the magic's too strong. There's no coming back from it."''
->'''Willow:''' ''"I'm not coming back."''

* CrazyPrepared: Warren had a robot-double of himself in reserve that he was able to pull into service as a get-away tactic.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Let's see, Warren allowed a SexBot to go crazy with no regard for the destruction it caused [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman or for the robot]], wants to be evil, has made numerous attempts on Buffy's life, [[MindRape mind raped]] and nearly physically raped his girlfriend, killed her, finds that he enjoys killing women, shoots Buffy, kills Tara. Buffy's the only one trying to preach ThouShaltNotKill.

* ThouShaltNotKillMuggles

* SuspiciouslyAproposMusic: "Die Die My Darling" by the Misfits is playing as Warren enters the BadGuyBar.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/btvs_s6_ep20_villains.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Ladies and gentleman, what happens when you take away a witch's soulmate. If you just winced upon seeing [[NightmareFace the picture]], [[SincerityMode that is a perfectly normal response]].]]

%%* {{Powers as Programs}}

* CallBack: "Bored now...", the line used by Vampire!Willow in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E9TheWish The Wish]] and [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E16Doppelgangland Doppelgangland]]." While we knew Willow had darkness in her, it's especially chilling in that Willow [[MeaningfulEcho never heard her]] EvilTwin [[MeaningfulEcho say it]]. Thus, while Vampire Willow delivered it in a pouty, childish way, Willow's delivery is cold and harsh.

%%* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch

* ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge: The fan question about why demons don't just shoot Buffy is answered when they point out that while gunshots ''can'' kill them, Slayers heal very fast, and get really pissed when they get better.