Blood Ties (Buffy episode)
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| “Blood Ties” | |
|---|---|
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 13 |
| Guest stars | Amber Benson (Tara) Clare Kramer (Glory) Charlie Weber (Ben) Troy T. Blendell (Jinx) Kristine Sutherland (Joyce) |
| Written by | Steven S. DeKnight |
| Directed by | Michael Gershman |
| Production no. | 5ABB13 |
| Original airdate | February 6, 2001 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Checkpoint" | "Crush" |
"Blood Ties" is episode 13 of season 5 of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. See also List of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
[edit] Summary
Dawn discovers her origin.
[edit] Expanded overview
The gang discusses plans for Buffy's birthday and dealing with Glory. Giles reveals that Glory is the god of a demon dimension and in order to stay in human form, she needs to suck energy from humans, leaving them insane. The gang starts asking questions about the Key and Buffy finally breaks down and tells them the truth about Dawn. Several of the Knights of Byzantium chant around a fire before they are interrupted by one of Glory's minions. Glory arrives and destroys all of the knights but one whom she later tortures for information.
At the magic shop, Dawn feels awkward because of the way everyone is treating her and notices when Giles hides a book in a hidden counter drawer. Buffy opens presents from her friends and everyone gets quiet when she receives a framed picture of her and Dawn from her sister. Dawn finally gets upset and confronts everyone about their strange behavior around her, then storms to her room. After sneaking out of the house, Dawn runs into Spike, who was keeping his nightly watch outside Buffy's house. After a brief conversation, Dawn tells Spike that she is on her way to the Magic Shop to steal a book. Spike notes the myriad dangers of roaming around alone at night, and then he accepts Dawn's offer to let him tag along. With Spike's assistance, Dawn breaks into the shop and finds the Book that she had seen Giles hide earlier. By candlelight, Dawn and Spike read about the truth of Dawn and the Key.
Dawn returns to the house, bleeding from a self-inflicted knife wound, tearfully questioning what she is. Joyce and Buffy try to talk to Dawn, but everything has changed for her and she's scared, so she demands that they leave her alone. Buffy initially blames Spike for letting Dawn find out the truth the way she did. He turns the tables on her and blames her for not telling Dawn the truth in the first place. He also notes that Dawn was going with or without him, and that he only went along to protect her from harm, thinking that she would be safer with "Big Bad" looking over her shoulder. Buffy reflects on what he says. Jinx threatens Ben at the hospital, but Ben reveals that Glory can't hurt him, no matter what he does.
After overhearing Buffy and Joyce talking, Dawn rampages through her room, burns her diaries and runs away. The smoke alarm alerts Buffy and her mom to Dawn's little fire and departure. The whole gang gathers at the shop then split up to search for Dawn. Xander is a little bit excited that a form of energy like Dawn could have a crush on him. Spike does what he can to comfort Buffy and tells her that they will find her sister before it's too late, and Buffy admits that Spike had been right about Dawn; Buffy should have been honest with her in the first place. Dawn passes through the park, reliving past memories then ends up at the hospital.
She searches for answers in the Psych ward then runs into Ben. She confesses to Ben that she's the Key and he freaks out tries to make her leave before Glory can find her, but it's too late. Ben suddenly changes into Glory, but Glory remembers nothing about Ben's conversation with Dawn and the young girl pretends to know nothing. Dawn asks questions about the Key and Glory reveals that the Key is very old then realizes Dawn knows nothing and is wasting her time. Dawn doesn't seem to remember exactly how Glory got into the room.
Buffy shows up to stop Glory from draining the energy from Dawn. With some help from the rest of the gang, Buffy gets in a few good hits and takes a few as well before Willow and Tara perform a spell to teleport Glory somewhere else. The godly one ends up high in the sky and falls straight to earth. Buffy shows Dawn that no matter what, they are sisters that are bound by blood.
[edit] Writing and acting
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Dawn's reaction to her origin is a metaphor for that of adopted children when they find out about their family.
[edit] Production details
[edit] Music
- Star Ghost Dog - "Holiday"
[edit] Quotes and trivia
- When Glory throws the crowbar and it hits Buffy, it is shown hitting her right side. However, moments later while talking to Dawn, she touches her left side (which is now bloody) and blood appears.
- Although a link between Ben and Glory had been referenced previously (in "Listening to Fear" Ben told Dreg that he had summoned the Queller Demon to clean up Glory's mess, like he had done his whole life), this is the first time we see that Ben and Glory share a body. It is also noteworthy that Dawn (after a brief interval) does not remember witnessing Ben change into Glory; this memory glitch, courtesy of Glory, will be a recurring phenomenon throughout this season, affecting everyone who witnesses the shift (except Spike).
[edit] Translations
- Italian title: "Legami di sangue" ("Blood ties")
- German title: "Blutsbande" ("Blood ties")
- French title: "La clé" ("The Key")
[edit] Continuity
[edit] Arc significance
Buffy stresses to Dawn that their blood is the same, that they share "Summers blood." This becomes crucial in the season finale. We also learn that Dawn arrived six months ago, according to Buffy.
[edit] Timing
- Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
| Location, time (if known) |
Buffyverse chronology: January 2001 - Spring 2001 (non-canon = italic) |
|---|---|
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.12 Checkpoint |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.12 Blood Money |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.13 Happy Anniversary |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.13 Blood Ties |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.14 The Thin Dead Line |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.15 Reprise |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.14 Crush |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.16 Epiphany |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Wisdom of War |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.15 I Was Made to Love You |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.17 Disharmony |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Vengeance |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.16 The Body |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.18 Dead End |
| L.A., 2001 | Angel book: Haunted |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.17 Forever |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.19 Belonging |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Ugly Little Monsters |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy comic: 'Chaos Bleeds' prequel |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy video game: Chaos Bleeds |
| L.A., 2001 | Tales of the Slayer: Again, Sunnydale |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.18 Intervention |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Tempted Champions |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Little Things |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Crossings |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy book: Sweet Sixteen |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.19 Tough Love |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.20 Over the Rainbow |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.20 Spiral |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.21 Through the Looking Glass |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.21 The Weight of the World |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | B5.22 The Gift |
| L.A., 2001 | A2.22 There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Death of Buffy: Lost & Found’ |
| Sunnydale, 2001 | Buffy graphic novel: Death of Buffy |
