15 Best Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episodes

15. Prophecy Girl (Season 1, Episode 12)

"I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die."

Prophecy Girl was the finale of the show's first season. In her first year at Sunnydale High, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) comes face-to-face with The Master (Mark Metcalf), an ancient vampire intent on opening the Hellmouth and bringing about the end of the world. With her friends beside her, the Slayer also learns of a prophecy foretelling her death.

Needless to say she's having a pretty bad day, the episode sees Buffy rise to the challenge and go after the Big Bad regardless of the consequences, knowing she's the only one who can stop The Master from completing his plans.

In the ensuing fight, she is in fact killed, only to be revived by a love-lorn Xander (Nicholas Brendon), giving her another chance to take her new nemesis down.

Prophecy Girl captures every aspect of what makes Buffy such a great show. On the one hand, you have the selfless bravery of the Slayer; the attachment her watcher, Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) has formed with her; and the help she gains from having her friends in her corner. It's funny, dramatic, dark and moving, and perfectly sums up what the show is about at its core.