This comes from the website angelicslayer.com . In the future I will post more rumors and stuff in the forums. Just to keep our official site news separated from rumors. Personally I don’t think the big bad this year is much of a “surprise” at all, since everyone essentially knew who it was going to be from the very first episode of this season.
But here ya go.
Again Spoiler Warning!
Entropy
Ep: 18.
Having accepted the offer to become a vengeance demon again, Anya attempts to curse Xander for the pain he caused her…but she can’t do it herself. Instead, she secretly enlists the help of someone else and it doesn’t go how she expected.
When Buffy and Spike run into each other while on patrol, they chat and Spike again raises the issue of Buffy confessing to her friends about her “relationship” with him. Although she doesn’t want to, Buffy’s confident her friends will get over it since they dealt with her trying to kill them.
The Trio have been following the Scoobies everywhere they go with hidden cameras. When one camera is discovered and the rest are traced, what some characters see on video proves to be devastating.
After discovering the camera planted at Buffy’s house, Xander suspects Spike is behind the spying and Buffy confronts him on the issue. He isn’t responsible, but his anger towards Xander only increases when Buffy seems to actually believe her friend over Spike.
Buffy tries to spend quality time with Dawn to make up for her violent actions in “Normal Again” (if you consider trying to kill all her friends violent), but Dawn’s idea of time well spent is the dangerous world of patrolling.
Buffy confesses to Dawn about her relationship with Spike and after an odd turn of events, Xander and Anya find out as well.
Dawn’s stealing is readdressed.
After some sweet time spent together after class and a during coffee date, Willow and Tara do get back together and make with the major smoochies.
The Trio steal a disk needed for one of their upcoming big evil plans.
Unable to curse Xander with the help of other Scoobies, Anya goes to someone who actually hates Xander: Spike. Unfortunately though, her efforts to get him drunk and trick him into wishing Xander bodily harm take a turn for the twisted and the two very drunk demons end up trying to sooth their broken hearts by moving on…with each other. What the two don’t realize though is that a hidden camera in the Magic Box catches the whole event on camera, allowing the entire rest of the gang and the Trio to witness it.
Seeing Red
Ep: 19.
I don’t have a ton of information on this episode, but I have a tiny bit…
The Trio do something that leads to Jonathan and Andrew getting arrested. Warren on the other hand avoids being caught and instead begins his solo career. If you doubted he was evil before…you won’t by the end of this episode.
Spike locates Buffy and tries to make her “feel” again, but ignores the fact that she isn’t interested. Buffy overpowers him and makes it very clear that he went *too* far, which awakens Spike to the reality of the situation. He acts of his own free will, but he is led by emotions and his intentions are not to hurt her. (Thanks to Wendy for help in clarifying some details.)
Villains
Ep: 20. Writer: Marti Noxon
One sweeps episode… lots of drama. The lives of two Scoobies are gravely endangered and a big bad is unveiled. (A great deal of information for this episode including the Big Scooby Death and the Big Bad identities can be found at Extra Spoilage. Please be warned, this info is big and they are spoilers, not rumors.)
The return of three familiar faces: Rack, Clem, and Katrina, but no Giles.
UPDATED! Spike shows up in Africa where he puts his life on the line to be returned to the demon he was before the chip. He meets with a demon and confidently agrees to take on whatever challenges the demon offers as long as he gets what he asked for in the case that he wins. (I reworded this as a safety measure after re-reading some of my material. Since the material I have doesn’t make it *perfectly* clear that Spike specifically wants the chip out or that he’ll get it out if he wins, I just want to make sure I’m not misleading anyone on the basis of some non-specific lines and unclear “all powerful” demon speak. It’s possible that Spike will be returned to his former demon without the chip being removed… I can’t say for sure. I doubt it, but better safe than sorry.)
With so much danger surrounding the gang, Buffy takes Dawn to stay with Spike, but instead encounters Clem crypt-sitting for the vampire and learns that Spike left Sunnydale for a while.
Villains
Ep: 20.
General Note:Unfortunately, enough information has been provided that the following information is now confirmed. I really wish it wasn’t and I’m really sorry to have to post this. Thank you to BBOvenGuy for providing the necessary information to confirm these spoilers.
NEW! (Repost) Sadly, the Scooby Gang member who is fatally wounded is Tara. She is accidentally killed by Warren. Willow tries to bring her back, but is unsuccessful. As a result, Willow is guided by her rage into dark magic. She consumes every possible element of it that she can and seeks the necessary revenge on Tara’s killer. At her hands, Warren suffers terribly and is killed. (The actual event of Tara getting shot should occur in episode 19, but I don’t specifically what happens. The ending of the episode should be a big cliffhanger and picks up immediately with episode 20. I have no information that says these events are permanent changes, but I also have no information that says they aren’t. As always, you’ll be kept informed.)
NEW! (Repost) The big bad of the season? Willow. Sure, Warren can easily be considered the big bad up until episode 20, but Willow quickly takes his place. And since Warren doesn’t survive ep 20… there’s no telling what she can do in later eps. After losing Tara, she loses all reason to stay away from magic. Although initially, she does a very good deed, she is later blinded by the desire for vengeance. No one (and as you’ll see, nothing) is able to stop her.