WWDD: S2E10 “WHAT’S MY LINE PART 2

Dawn wakes in Giles’s office with stiff limbs and a tweed-print on her cheek. Voices carry through the door, hurried and tense, and one she recognizes instantly. Buffy. She’s halfway to the knob when a single sentence stops her: “The new Slayer is only called after the previous Slayer has died.” A knot tightens her stomach. The rest of the conversation becomes static. Buffy can’t have died. If she died…she’d be dead.

When Buffy finally slips inside, she’s rushed and focused on saving Angel at Willie’s. She asks if Dawn’s okay. Dawn nods, managing only, “Be careful.” Giles brings a cafeteria breakfast tray, and Willow attempts distraction with a beginner chess lesson. Dawn pretends to listen, but that sentence loops in her mind. The previous Slayer has died.

At Buffy and Kendra's return, Dawn is whisked to school. Learning Norman Pfister got into their house, Buffy insists Dawn stay at school and wait for her at the end of the day. Dawn recognizes Buffy's "something serious is happening" tone. School is a relief of normalcy until she opens her locker and nearly screams. Her missing journal. The Dawnmeister Chronicles sits on the top shelf, perfectly intact. Her hands shake as she flips through the pages. No missing sections. She even shakes it upside down, half-expecting another note—nothing. After weeks of dread, the relief is overwhelming.

After the Scoobies stop Spike and Drusilla, Buffy meets Dawn outside school. As they walk home, Dawn can’t hold it in anymore. She quietly asks about what she overheard—the part about dying, forcing Buffy to freeze, mid-step. Gently, Buffy confirms it and Dawn goes silent. They reach their house and freeze again, greeted by a long trail of dead mealworms from the porch to the basement. Slaying is SO gross. After disgusting worm cleanup, Buffy comes to Dawn’s room. She tries to play off her death casually, promising she isn’t going anywhere. Dawn nods, accepting the words—but the knot in her stomach doesn’t ease.