15 Most Shocking Buffy The Vampire Slayer Moments

15. The Yellow Crayon

When Willow goes evil and it looks as though she may have defeated her friends, in comes the most unlikely hero to talk her down from her power-mad binge.

With Giles dying, Buffy and Dawn trapped, and everything falling down around the gang, it is Xander who steps forward to save the day.

Giving his best friend a speech straight from the heart, putting aside all his witty remarks and hyperactive personality, Xander tells Willow how much he loves her despite the bad things she’s done, and even allows her to hurt him in the process. But still he presses on, telling on a touching story about the pair and their first day at kindergarten.

Any Buffy fan will tell you this is a moment which elicits some tears, but what makes it shocking is not the fact that Xander taps into Willow’s goodness and turn her back on evil ways, but the fact that it’s Xander who saves the world, not Buffy.

An iconic and powerful moment of drama, the yellow crayon speech is a high point of the series and a true reminder of the importance of Xander to the rest of the gang.