“What’s the matter, Faith? All that killing, you afraid to die?”

Sunnydale, California, 1999. Faith is remembering battling Buffy atop the roof of her apartment. She remembers the anger, seeing her knife in Buffy’s hands.

“That’s mine.” In perfect clarity. “You’re about to get it back.”

The moment Buffy makes the move, sliding the knife into her gut. “You did it.” The fall off the building. The coma. What she remembers doing. Remembering the actual feelings, however, is bringing up intense emotions in the formerly rogue Slayer: she remembers, at that exact moment, thinking about friendship and what it means.

Usually, in her experience, people come along, become your pal and then crap on you, leaving you alone once again. It’s the story of her life. And no matter what she does, you can’t ever go back again. Sure, you can get along, but that anger you felt about each other? It doesn’t just vanish.

Luckily, Rupert Giles, speaking through an earpiece, shakes her out of her moping. He reiterates her mission, but Faith is already turning the receiver off, ditching the device. I work alone.

She’s greeted at the entrance to the manor house by anxious security, eager to do a check on attendees. Faith puts on her accent, and takes a deep breath: here we go.

With her attempt at an upper-class British accent passing the test, she proceeds to kick off with the bouncers, in faux-British indignity. It’s enough to get her through the crowds and her bad-attitude comes across as sincere to them – they don’t even question her lack of invite. It’s clear that the guards are not thrilled to be there.

Faith is amazed when she enters the place – it makes Downton Abbey look small in comparison. She starts to think as she moves through the crowd, looking straight ahead as she joins a long line of party guests and dignitaries, queuing to pay the obligatory respects to the host of the soiree and the birthday girl: Lady Genevieve Savidge, whose personality and bad attitude is worse than usual this evening, prompting a rather vicious streak. Faith looks at her. Keep it together. If the G-Man is right, I’ll be doing the world a huge favour stabbing the spoiled skank in the heart. So why the Hell am I shaking so bad now? She reaches up to her pinned-up hair, a small blade hidden in the bun.

Above, his two gargoyles flanking him, stands Roden, clutching his Twilight tome. He’s already spied Faith and feels that there’s something not quite right with her – and not in a good way. If she so much as curtseys wrong, he wants his boys to turn her to dust.

In Scotland, Dawn is picking apples from a large tree – which she’s taller than now. Willow is hovering above her. Dawn doesn’t want to have the ‘sex’ talk with Willow – she’s too old for it – but Willow needs to know the exact details of Dawn’s first time, so she can know the specifics of the spell – it’s not personal.

Dawn is fed up – not only is she stuck in giant size, she can’t change her clothing, she’s starting to ripen up and everybody who talks to her isn’t listening! Why are they all blaming Kenny the boyfriend? Willow tells her that Kenny is a thricewise and not every unkind stereotype is untrue. Dawn is scared that she’ll never find another guy who treats her like a friend, rather than just an object. As she begins to let her guard down and open up, the sweet conversation is interrupted by Slayer Renee, who has been sent by Buffy to fetch Willow – laptop-geek Willow, not broomstick-action Willow – specifically. Willow says that with the army now after them, they need better surveillance of the surrounding area – but she honestly doesn’t know what they’ll do when they are attacked. Dawn tells her that they’ll do what they have to: all’s fair.

On a balcony at the Savidge mansion, Faith has avoided the crowds and has lit a cigarette. She’s building herself up to killing the girl – maybe she should finish the packet first? She tries to steady her nerves. When a voice asks her for a cigarette, Faith’s anti-social response has her turning around to snap at the person who’s interrupted her solitude – and is stunned to see Genevieve in front of her. She takes a cigarette and explains she needed a break from the party and the fake people. Faith genuinely agrees with her and introduces herself as Hope, Hope Lyonne. Gigi believes her story and, due to Faith’s made-up-but-also-true back story about rubbish parents, Gigi is delighted to meet a girl on her level who she suspects is just like her. In another life, they could have been sisters! Before Faith can respond, she’s suddenly plucked off the balcony and taken aloft into the cold night air!

It’s the two gargoyles. Gigi yells at them to let her guest go, but Faith looks down – she’s too high. She slams her head back into one gargoyle’s face, her blade, still tucked in her hair, hitting him square in the eye. As he lets go of his captive, Faith spins around so she’s atop the other gargoyle and guides him down towards the ground. They smash down to the dirt, hard.

Faith gets up, obviously not on top form, and swings a punch at the gargoyle, now simply more angry. She punches it and realises it’s made of actual stone. She may have broken her hand. Figures. As the other gargoyle also swoops towards her, Faith has an idea.

“Rock, meet hard place,” she quips and dives out of the way, the two gargoyles colliding into each other on impact, shattered to granite by the force of the smash. Faith lands, superhero-like, but collapses straight after, leaving Gigi in absolute shock as Roden races to her side.

As Faith comes to, she can hear Roden begging Gigi to get rid of their new guest, but Gigi is convinced that ‘Hope’ is a kindred spirit. She introduces ‘Hope’ to Roden, who still doesn’t agree. Gigi takes Faith’s hand. She tells her that this may be confusing, but they aren’t like other girls. They’re from a line of powerful people. ‘Hope’ looks around – well, yeah, duh.

Gigi tells her that she doesn’t mean the nobility. She means an ancient force that she and Hope can tap into, one that gives them strength. Roden has told her of a prophecy regarding her: Genevieve will rise up and lead the Vampire Slayers and take her place as the rightful head of society. Right after she destroys the one thing holding her back… She will kill her enemy and take her mantle as Queen.

Faith looks confused. “You want to kill Elizabeth II?”

Gigi laughs. No, she says, not Elizabeth II. The Queen of the Slayers. She turns around and reveals a wall filled with recent surveillance photos and press articles about Buffy. A dagger is in one, one that’s been defaced – with the twilight symbol…