Floating, beneath the surface of the Atlantic, lifeless and broken, are the remains of Buffy Summers and what’s left of her allies. “They drowned,” says Amy Madison, looking down into her scrying bowl. Twilight, furious, smashes her bowl from her hands: “Your bowl is lying. I know Buffy too well to believe she’d be silent as she dies!”

As he turns to Riley Finn, his second in command, Riley gives him a report: they’re tracking the magic as best as they can, but there’s lots of potential targets – it may take a while. But it’s only a matter of time before they have them. Warren notices how angry Twilight has gotten and whispers to Amy: “He knows Buffy?” As Twilight walks out of the room, Riley’s lead technician turns to him: he has a lead on a lot of magic – he thinks he knows where Buffy and the Slayers are.

In Tibet, high above the mountains and far across the sea, Buffy and her friends are sitting on the front porch of their former ally and classmate, Oz. This is where he calls home, a monastery, located in the heart of the mighty Tibetan Plateau. A dark-haired woman is serving them tea. Xander thinks his tea is greasy. Buffy is explaining how despite their power coming from magic, they need to learn how to suppress it. In Giles’ words, it’s “become a liability.”

Dawn asks Xander who the woman serving tea is, but Oz introduces her: this is Bayarmaa, or Bay. She’s the rest of him, he says, slightly embarrassed. Bay tells them that she’s heard of the Slayers being spoken about on TV: they’re not well liked, are they? Oz explains that he and Bay have been together for a while. “That’s nothing, ” he claims. “You should see the baby.” Willow, trying not to be noticeable, whispers in Buffy’s ear: “I’m fine with that.” Everyone turns and sees a small puppy in the corner, who barks at them inquisitively. Oz smiles. “Yeah, no. See, that’s the dog.” Another woman brings Bay a baby and Oz introduces his son as Kelden.

As lovely as all this is, however, Giles presses, they are on a bit of a schedule and are running out of time. Buffy asks Oz directly: Can you help me?

Oz begins to tell his tale: it begins following his departure from Sunnydale, his first effort to rid himself of the wolf. He arrived at a monastery, having been directed there by a Warlock in Romania. The monks who greeted him stared at him in silence for a while, so Oz, aware of the full moon, asked them if they could maybe hurry along a bit?

Over the months that followed, despite his frustration, when a full moon came, no matter what he did, he couldn’t control the transformation. Bay would bring him some butter tea and sit with him as he meditated from his cage, the only way he could ensure he was no danger to anyone else.

The monks continued to teach him new things. They had some herbs and some chants to keep the wolf at bay. He slipped once or twice, poor bunnies, but for the most part, he felt in control. He thought he could return to Sunnydale – to his Willow.

But when he returned, he lost control. Put the people he loved the most at risk. So he left again, and Willow moved on with her life. Oz returned to Tibet afterward, but now, after his trip, nothing worked. He tried and tried and sometimes he felt the urge to give in, to give up and let the wolf out and revel in it.

In his base, Riley’s technician has registered a spike on his instruments. Riley looks at him: a spike? Amy and Warren are bickering, again, now about him using their resources and her rushing him. Riley looks at the graph; to him it just looks like a random blip, some noise on the sensor. He’s about to suggest they ignore it, but Twilight asks what it is. “It’s a spike,” he’s told. Spike? He questions. The technician folds out his map and shows them Central Asia on a map. Something unknown just burst into existence somewhere on that spot. Riley remains unconvinced, but Twilight is bored of waiting. They’ll check it out anyway.

In Tibet, Oz is continuing his story. “I wanted to lose myself in it. But I didn’t.” Bay tells them that she told Oz about the original religion of Tibet, known as Bon. When Buddhism arrived, the two became mixed and much of the original teachings were obscured through time. But they were not lost. She says that Bon is all about the spiritual life in all things, the true connection to nature and to the planet. They watch the world, aware that they’re attuned with it. The wolf didn’t want to be bottled, but letting the energy out in other ways can be helpful. “Don’t be a lake, be a river.”

Oz finishes by saying many people have come to Tibet to be cured. Anyone who hasn’t found peace, usually ends up their way. There was a man who came here before: an Englishman named Monroe. He had never found a way for the wolf to stay within but, when he arrived in Tibet, he embraced nature, and nature embraced him.

Giles looks sceptical. “Surely that’s not all there is to it? Pet a yak and be a river.” Oz shakes his head. “It works when the moon is full,” he explains. “You feel the wolf approach, you let the wolf pass through you, without taking you and the wolf is pulled into the Earth.” They still transform, but they’re in control. Bay offers them more butter tea. That explains the grease, thinks Xander. It’s made from yak’s milk. Dawn gags. Bay smiles. Who would like a tour?

As the others head out, Oz approaches Willow, who has remained quiet throughout. “We’re not okay, are we?” he asks, but Willow says that they will be. “It’s not what you think,” she says.

The group take a scenic tour around the camp. Kelden likes Giles’ glasses a bit too much, prompting the occasional ‘Oh dear,’ but mostly its just old friends catching up. Oz is telling Buffy how it’s taken years of full moons for him to get it right. Monroe was so impressed with his results, he took the message around the world, even brought followers back with him. Dozens of them. Monroe heads a different group now that are dangerous, thinking more like Veruca, embracing the wolf, surrendering to violence. They think the wolf is the best part of them.

Monroe’s pack attacked them during a full moon, when they were in control and at their weakest. They were massacred. When Monroe closed in on Oz, he was told that he didn’t have to do this. He snarled in Oz’s face and…

Oz abruptly leaves the story for a moment, annoying Dawn and keeping her in suspense. A grin appears on his face.

In Twilight’s base, Amy is conjuring a spell to pinpoint the Slayer’s position. While the scientist objects to using magic, Amy smiles. She has been successful. She turns to Twilight, pleased with herself. “I know where they are,” she tells him.

In Tibet, Oz finishes his story by telling Dawn that it ended right there. Monroe went to attack him, but Bay transformed into her wolf form and defended her mate. Monroe was savaged and Oz’s group have carried knives since then.

Bay says she made a mistake. Made him a martyr. Giles is wrestling his glasses back from Kelden. Xander is trying to eavesdrop, but Dawn is complaining about still tasting yak’s butter. Oz explains to Willow that he should have called and told her about Bay. Willow tells him that it’s not about Bay. She’s bothered by the baby.

Buffy reiterates that Twilight is tracking them through their magic, so they all need to learn how to be not-magical. Bay makes a point that mystically transporting a nuclear submarine to Tibet probably didn’t help them much.

Willow whispers to Oz. She’s jealous that he has a future. She’s not sure she has, or can ever have, what he has: a family. It’s bothering her. Buffy asks if they think they can help with their problem. Oz thinks he might be able to. But they have to want it. If he starts the ritual and they don’t finish it, then that can be more dangerous. A wolf springs out from the trees, but a slash from Oz’s knife sends it hurrying away. He tells Buffy that this had better work because, if it doesn’t, she’s just made his home a very big target.

Gathering the Slayers, including Faith and Kennedy, Oz explains that he’s going to teach them what he knows and, hopefully, that will keep their magic suppressed. He doesn’t know if it will work with them, but he is willing to try. Bay tells the Slayers that they have to begin with physical exertion, to lower their resistance to the mental process. Oz asks the assembled: who wants to help bury the submarine?

In Mongolia, Twilight and his forces, Amy, Warren and Riley included, materialise. Twilight looks around. Where are they? There’s nothing in front of him. Are they hidden from us? Are they even in Mongolia? Warren laughs at Amy: “I’m not the only screw up!” Riley says that there’s been a lot of interference, so they’re not sure that this ‘spike’ even was the Slayers, but Twilight has now lost all patience.

“This will not stand,” he declares. Warren asks him what they’re going to do and how they’re going to find them, but Twilight says they can be patient. “They can’t help what they are. They’ll make a mistake. We’ll watch and we’ll wait and we’ll be ready.”

He turns to the rest of his allies. “Kill the man that found this spike. This battle doesn’t end with Buffy laying down her sword. It ends with her turning that sword against herself.”