Here's a newly revised outline, with a short summary of changes at the bottom. I've tried to include most people's ideas, but there were a lot of posts and I may have missed some.
1: Substitute Slayers
Scoobies deal with Buffy's death: feelings of anger and denial, especially from Willow. W/T worry about Dawn growing to accept Buffybot as her sister. Giles returns to England, where he explains the situation to the Watcher's Council. As rough background, we learn that another Slayer has been called (although I don't plan on featuring yet another Slayer in the story arc.) Lots of talking between Willow and Tara as to what they are going to do about the hellmouth and Buffy. Tara is obviously unhappy with the prospect of resurrection given the dangers but Willow is adamant that they have to do it given that Buffy may be in hell. Willow locates the Urn spell noting that it is one of only a few 'guaranteed' resurrection spells (i.e. they bring back the person correctly with no chance of going wrong as long as the spell is performed properly). Dawn begins her first day of the new school year.
2 - Willow and Tara work on collecting the spell ingredients. Their search is slowed when, upon patrol, they discover that several coffins have been dug up and the contents taken. One grave in particular is that of a young woman who died recently. The gang worry that it may be a repeat of the Frankenstein-like boys in 'Some Assembly Required', but the true culprit is in fact a demon with a penchant for the flesh of the dead. W/T fear that the demon may find Buffy's solitary grave and the race is on to stop it ' but not before Willow is forced to check Buffy's grave to discover if anything has happened to her. The demon is ultimately killed by Willow using her magic, but not before a fight that leaves both she and Tara badly beaten.
3 - Willow searches for the Urn unsuccessfully until she is given an address from Willy the Snitch, which takes her to Rack, who gives it to her in return for something slightly bad from the MB, a small taint of corruption to draw her closer to him. The Scoobs take on a group of vamps but Willow is both still beaten and drained from constantly calling upon her magical power and consequently some innocents are killed. This sparks a major blame in Willow that she wasn't good enough and must become more powerful in order to protect the people she loves from harm, and sets up the main story arc.
4: Beyond Death
On Samhain, the gang digs up Buffy's coffin and performs the resurrection spell successfully. All of them are tested mentally/spiritually, seeing dark visions from beyond death which hint at possibilities for what happens at the end of this season, including a vision of Dark Willow for Tara. Anya sees visions from her past as a VD, which upset her now to her surprise. Buffy is weak and disoriented when she returns; all the Scoobies are shaken by what they've seen. Tara patches Buffy up and takes care of her at the Summers' house while the others finish the cleanup from the spell.
The spell works perfectly, but as a necessary, unavoidable consequence of its success, Willow has weakened the barrier between life and death. Not only will resurrections be easier in the future, but undead are more strongly connnected to life. No longer can a normal person stake a vampire, though Slayers still have the strength to force a stake through now hard bone to destroy the no-longer rotten but rather tough heart muscle. They're more human inside and more like Kakistos as far as the effort required to kill one with a stake. It's also easier for a vamp to be created, with any vamp bite causing sickness, eventual death, and raising as a vamp. The Scoobies don't know this yet.
5: Alive
Spike/Dawn learn that Buffy is back, Giles returns from the UK, and A/X announce their engagement. Everyone's happy, though a little worried about Buffy's weakness which W assures them is normal. Giles confronts W about the spell, ranting about the dangers, talking about the possibility of bringing something else back, perhaps even Glory. W doesn't listen to him because of his tone and she knows none of that happened, but she's still upset. At bedtime, after Willow asserts that everything's fine, she responds to T telling her that this is the place where she doesn't have to be brave. She tells T about her fight with Giles and T tells W that she felt something happen during the spell, like something metaphysical breaking. T's worried.
6: Drained
Willow heads up patrol again, while Buffy rests at home with Dawn and Tara. They're going to keep using Buffybot while Buffy's weak. She narrowly escapes a vamp with a stake sticking out of its sternum from where Xander staked it but couldn't reach the heart. All the vamps are hard to slay, but they're still found in normal quantities. Finding an alive but very much petrified near-vamp victim, Willow uses Lethe's Bramble to wipe his/her memory of the event, which Anya witnesses. After patrol, the Scoobies get together at the MB to research the new vamp problem. Spike confesses that he feels different somehow.
W makes up an excuse to leave the research party and seeks out Rack, as she was impressed with his knowledge. He gives her a talisman which lets her drain the lifeforce/magick (they're really the same thing as we can see from the end of s6) from another person to use for her own magic. We also learn that Rack had a wife who was killed by a group of vamps a few months before. The talisman is more powerful now that Willow has weakened the laws of life, making lifeforce easier to transfer. W goes to the graveyard/hellmouth to collect ambient/remnant lifeforce/magic that lingers in places of death/magic with the talisman and finds her telekinesis greatly improved, easily allowing her to stake a vamp now. Her other magicks are also easier to use and stronger.
Tara/Buffy talk while Willow's away, and Buffy and Spike begin to grow closer. Buffy tells him that she was in heaven.
7: Seduction
More closeness between Spike and Buffy - they kiss. More Xanya development and a few scenes in which we see Willow and Tara discussing events, but Willow does not disclose about her little visit to Rack's. Tara discovers the talisman and feels its dark power; Willow tries to explain but eventually gives in and says she'll get rid of it.
8: Family Again
Cousin Beth comes to town to ask for Tara's help as Donnie's gotten into Tara's mothers old magic supplies and books and all she'll say is that he's doing magic and that he's changed. Willow's out returning the talisman to Rack when this happens.
Much is revealed about the Maclay family, her mother, and most significantly, the way in which she was taught to respect magic, including us learning that Tara unsuccessfully tried to resurrect her mother when she died.
When Donnie arrives, it's discovered that he's using magic by draining the power from others like Willow and he knows how to raise the dead as zombies or ghosts due to the restrictions of the barrier being lifted. Willow not only uses more magic on patrol, but also confronts Donnie and to her own surprise drains his lifeforce without the talisman until he's almost dead and has permanently lost his ability to do magic. She doesn't let Tara know how she dealt with him, being a bit afraid of what she did herself and wanting to figure it out before talking with Tara.
Dawn deals with her feelings about the depressed Buffy who has returned, having been happier this summer with Tara and Willow as her mothers and Buffybot as her big sister. They've deactivated the Buffybot (except on patrol') because of Buffy's return and Dawn's upset about that too. Buffy discovers her feelings, either directly or by overhearing, and is devastated.
If there's time and it fits, work in a small scene with Willow and her parents.
9: Altered.
Dawn/Tara go out for movies and milkshakes by themselves and talk about Dawn and Tara's family issues from last chapter.
Willow talks with Rack about the fact she can drain magic without the talisman, and he explains that it's to be expected. Using the talisman has changed her ability to access magic, giving her this new ability but causing her to lose her old way.
Spike and Buffy grow closer, Spike discovering that his chip doesn't activate against Buffy. They think that means there's something wrong with Buffy, but the chip is just a simple computer which has concluded that anyone walking around now who was dead before must be a vampire or demon of some sort. Humans don't do that.
The Scoobs (sans Spuffy) try to deal with the vampire menace, which is growing serious as their numbers increase due to vampiric saliva which now converting people (unbeknownst to the Scoobies.) Willow expends the power she took from Donnie rapidly. Tara begins to behave strangely and the gang fear that she may not have fully recovered from Glory's attack. Spike and Buffy have sex.
10: Sickened
Buffy wakes up in the morning feeling different and disgusted with herself for sleeping with Spike. She beats him up, then flees home to learn of last night's events. When she returns home, she finds Willow/Dawn tending a sick, semiconscious Tara who's raving about blood and death in the moments she can talk. Buffy's upset with herself for not being on patrol, but acquiesces to Willow's Scooby leadership.
Willow decides to fix Tara the way she did the first time using her greater power as well as Dawn's (there being some evidence that Dawn and Glory's magic related to the human mind) to make it permanent, but as Glory's not around she thrusts her fingers into Amyrat's skull and takes a piece of her mind that she thinks will restore Tara, figuring no one will notice, not even Amy rat who doesn't need a human mind.
11: Broken
Buffy continues to go to Spike for sex, then beats him up afterwards. Spike is understandably getting very messed up ideas about their relationship especially due to the fact that Buffy repeatedly says that he cannot love without a soul.
W/T try to cast a spell together and it fails badly, with Willow accidentally draining a bit of Tara's power. Willow can no longer use magic cooperatively with another caster. Tara's upset and hurt, asking Willow what she's done to herself. Willow says she did it all to save Tara.
After last chapter, Willow realizes that Dawn is a huge power source with her new abilities. Dawn is willing to help Willow as a battery of sorts to save people from vamps, but also comes up with the idea of Willow about resurrecting her mother, maybe even Tara's mother, Dawn having learned about her in chapter 7, now that the barrier is weakened.
With the weakening of the laws of life, vamps are too numerous and hard to kill so Willow needs more power on patrol. Vamps kill the reactivated Buffybot on patrol and Dawn is hurt by its loss, upsetting Buffy even more. The world begins to take on hints of the Wishverse at night. The current mayor makes an agreement with the vamps, ceding control of much of Sunnydale to them at night.
12: Blood
Spike attacks Buffy at the house and bites her. Buffy fights him off and he leaves, disgusted. Willow is using Dawn's blood to access her power for patrolling. Child services visits the house, having discovered that Dawn's skipping school, and is upset during the visit by evidence of the S/B conflict and W using D's blood or just general evidence of the occult.
Buffy begins to show symptoms of early vampirism. The Scoobies research the problem, with another visit to Rack for Willow. They find a solution together and finally understand what's happened with vampires. To cure Buffy, her tainted blood needs to be replaced with new human blood, but no hospital will recognize her illness as something that requires such a treatment. Only Willow's blood is the right type, but she can't give all her blood and live, so Willow finds another source (robs the blood bank or something darker?) and uses it to save Buffy.
13: Consumed
The police are after Willow after what she did in the last episode, and she discovers the Mayor's deal with the vampires, perhaps by seeing vampires visit City Hall at night. Tara, already worried about what's happening with Willow, is almost panicstricken after police come to the house looking for her and she discovers what Willow did to save Buffy. Tara senses that Willow's aura is blackening and fears that the magic may be getting the better of her. She discovers Willow's stash of Lethe's Bramble and dark arts books hidden in places around the house. Tara begins preparations for her own spells, worrying that Willow may get out of hand. She also steps up research into solving the vampire problem.
Willow confronts the mayor now that she knows about his deal: she uses mind control magic here with the mayor, against someone she feels is evil, selling out humanity to the bloodsuckers. Controlling the Mayor, Willow has effectively taken over the human part of Sunnydale for the forces of Good as she still considers herself. She uses her power to squash child services' attempt to take Dawn away. Tara is happy even as she's worried about Willow's actions.
14: The Wedding
X/A's wedding. Life seems fine again: no child services, no police, Buffy's not becoming a vampire, and Sunnydale is running smoothly under Willow's direction though no one else knows it yet.
15: Violation
Rack knew what was going to happen with the resurrection spell and the subsequent weakening of the life/death barrier, having his own plans requiring that which he had not the power to accomplish on his own. He wanted to bring his wife back with a resurrection spell but needed the barrier to be weakened first, although he didn't expect the vamp thing to happen. As his wife's body was taken by the demon in episode two, he also needed another witch's body to channel her soul into, which leads him to Tara or Willow.
After he attempts to use one of them for this purpose, Willow defends herself/Tara by draining him of all his lifeforce, killing him.
16: Tabula Obscura
X/A return from their honeymoon ready to continue the good fight. Tara talks to Willow about what's been going on and they row, Willow's guilty conscience putting her on the defensive. Dawn secretly overhears, listening in on the conversation. Afterwards, Willow uses LB to erase Tara's memory of the event, feeling that she cannot risk losing Tara at this point, especially given the quantity of vampires around.
However, the spell is more complex than Willow anticipated, and Tara loses her current set of memories, returning to herself as she was before the monks altered everyone's recollection of the past to fit Dawn into their lives. Tara fails to meet Dawn for an event and when Dawn goes to find her she discovers that Tara doesn't remember Dawn at all, causing Dawn to get the Scoobies for help and tell them about W/T's argument. Anya remembers Willow using magic to mind-wipe the near-victim previously and the gang twigs what has happened. They reverse what's happened, but they're furious with Willow and distrust her, especially after learning about Rack's death.
17: Loss
Tara breaks up with Willow following the forget spell, and the Scoobies reject Willow's leadership for the moment. During patrol (without Willow who's on her own elsewhere) Xander is killed by a group of vampires and his body taken. The gang are devastated when they're forced to or accidentally dust VampXander. Whatever happens, there's no body left to bring Xander back as human or as a souled vampire.
Anya leaves, unable to cope with the grief and constant reminders of human mortality. Willow declares that she must restore the barrier to prevent anyone else from being hurt, causing Tara to decide to do her own research with the Wicca group as she doesn't trust Willow any longer with magic, both because of how violently she's using it and how she's obtaining her power by draining people, especially Dawn and Rack.
18-19: Divided
Buffy and Willow argue over who should lead the Scoobies, the few who remain, with Willow pointing to Xander's death as to why she should regain control. Buffy's seen Willow at City Hall and confronts her with that knowledge, asking her what she's doing with the Mayor and why everything is okay now with the police, child services, etc. Dawn, Tara, and Giles side with Buffy.
The Scoobies have dealt with a single superstrong villain many times, but numbers are a different issue, especially as the vamps start affecting people they know: parents, old friends from high school/college (Jonathan, and one of Tara's new friends from the Wicca group.) They *need* Willow's help.
However, Willow has her own plans and she won't brook the Scoobies interfering with them. She's smart and that's why she's the most dangerous foe the Scoobies have faced. She uses the law (zoning) to shut down the Magic Box and expel Giles from the country. She may use the Buffybot to deceive people about Buffy, perhaps getting Buffy into trouble with the law to get her out of the way.
After discovering the potential dangers of Willow's overzealous plan of completing closing the barrier to end vampirism (and undead) forever, Tara tries to bind Willow's powers, having learned a spell to do that from her mother's notes as it was something her mother contemplating doing to Tara to save her from her demon inside. The Scoobies help with the plan, but Willow foils them somehow. She feels terribly betrayed by Tara and her former friends.
20: Love and Deception
Willow casts a glamour so she appears to be Giles with a story that she's sneaked back into the country with urgent news for the Scoobies about Willow's plans. "He" sends them on a chase to stop Willow's "evil plan," but Tara intuits that "Giles" is really Willow and heads back home while the rest of the Scoobies continue on the chase. The Scoobies discover a magickal simulacrum of Willow, who they fight and defeat only to discover that it melts away after they win. Realizing that it wasn't the real Willow, they return to the Summers' house too late.
Tara finds "Giles" in their room holding the doll's eye crystal. Willow needed something from the house for her ritual which is why she diverted the Scoobies, but she got diverted herself by memories of Tara. Tara confronts Willow who drops the glamour. They argue and Willow casts a spell to put Tara to sleep. She gently places Tara on the bed that used to be theirs. Willow kisses Tara on the forehead as she sleeps and promises her that she'll make everything right with her new power.
Willow seeks out the ultimate source to draw power from, having lost Dawn and refusing to force the power from her little "sister": the Hellmouth. The Scoobies arrive too late to find the HM already open and a swirling maelstrom of magickal power from it draining into Willow who's so lost in the ecstasy of it all that she doesn't even notice them. Demons escaping from the HM wither and die within moments as Willow consumes their magickal essence. The Scoobies can't approach without being drained themselves, so they can do nothing til Willow ends the ritual. Tara recognizes the Willow of this moment as the Willow from her vision test of Buffy's resurrection. Afterwards, Willow claims she's stronger than Glory and may give them a few clues about her plan which she claims will save them all. Then she teleports away using only thought.
21: Finale
Scoobies return home to figure out what Willow's up to. Willow returns to her "home" (mayoral mansion? city hall?). Dawn makes a last attempt to appeal to Willow and Willow almost absorbs all Dawn's lifeforce without thinking of it. It takes a huge effort to hold herself back. She knows that she's changed again as she hurriedly sends Dawn away.
Willow tries to solve the weakening of the barrier btw life and death with powerful dark magick, justifying her means by her end. As she walks towards Buffy's grave where the spell must be performed (on the site of the resurrection), the grass withers in her footsteps as she unconsciously absorbs its lifeforce. When Buffy confronts her, Willow has the earth of her grave swallow her up. All the Scoobies are dealt with similarly, restrained but not hurt, until only Tara is left.
Willow asks Tara why they have to fight like this and confesses her own fears about what she's becoming. Willow also tries to bring Tara over to her side by explaining what she's about to do--she's not just going to fix the life/death barrier the way it was; she's going to make it stronger. Vampires and other undead will no longer be able to exist at all in our world. She's going to save everyone just like she promised. Tara says that's going too far (what about Spike/Angel and other consequences), but she'll help restore the balance the way it was if they can use light magicks. Willow tells Tara she doesn't have the power for that.
Tara says she does have the power for her alternate light magick solution involving giving/healing/restoring the balance involving skill/love that doesn't require the sheer raw power that Willow has taken. However, it still requires enough power to drain Tara's entire lifeforce, but she's willing to make that sacrifice for the world and to restore Willow.
Tara casts her spells, regardless of what Willow does, and with the beginnings of the restoration of the barrier btw life/death, Willow's power is no longer vampiric. She's able to give Tara the support she needs to complete the spell without dying.
22: Epilogue
W/T reconciliation
Scooby gang reconciliation
Spike chipectomy
Changelog:
- Broke double episode 21-22 into 21: "Finale" and 22: "Epilogue."
- Moved "Family Again" episode further into the season and added new ideas on why Tara's family is brought up.
- Eliminated the "heart" requirement of the healing spell as too many people thought the heart was going too far. Now Buffy is cured of vampirism with a complete blood transfusion as blood fits in nicely with the vampire mythos, and Tara's mind is restored by taking from Amyrat.
- Moved various scenes around between middle chapters so Willow's descent flows more smoothly.
- Changed consequences of Willow's forget spell.
- Xander comes back as a vampire and gets dusted, preventing his resurrection.
- Tara tries to bind Willow's powers after discovering her plan in "Divided."
--
"Omnia mutantur, nihil interit." -- "Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost."
Edited by: darkmagicwillow at: 6/9/03 4:37 pm
Yay. Everything will get back up to speed as soon as I finish my final exam (June 19th). Thanks for all being so patient. 
