14. Season One: Buffy Kills The Master
This moment, in the last episode of season 1 entitled "Prophecy Girl" was a huge turning point for Buffy. All through this season Buffy had deeply feared the Master- the super vampire who was arguably the scariest Buffy villain of them all, and perhaps even the most threatening. Buffy genuinely thought there was no way she could kill him, especially after Giles tells her of the prophecy which predicts that Buffy will face The Master and die. Buffy decides to confront her fear anyway and is killed by the Master briefly, drowning in a pool of water. When Xander manages to resurrect her (the first time he will do this) Buffy is essentially reborn as a strongly more fearless person. Having already been killed by the Master, she has very little to fear, and uses this new found confidence and strength to defeat the Master once and for all (until season 8 that is). Buffy learned not to be afraid (at least, that is what we thought until Season 2's opening episode) and was a much more effective slayer from then on.