Library. Giles examines the ring. Buffy tells him that the assassin was hardcore, and Angel was "power-freaked" by the ring. One ring to rule them all. One ring to find them. Whoa, sorry. ["You know, in order to crack on Xander for dorking out..." -- Sars] Giles says that Angel's reaction was appropriate, as the ring is only worn by members of The Order Of Taraka, an ancient society of assassins. Xander: the usual level of annoying statement. Giles snaps at him that it's not the time for jokes, especially lame ones. I may have added that bit at the end. Buffy wonders why they'd be after her, but Willow points out that she's the "scourge of the underworld," which lends credence to my earlier question about why no vamp or demon had thought of hiring the Order to take out a Slayer before. Giles says that he thinks the best plan is for Buffy to hide in a secure location until they come up with a plan. Buffy's chagrined that Giles thinks she can't fight the assassins, but he tells her that no matter how many of them she kills, they will keep coming until she's dead. Buffy looks like she's going to cry, and I'm again in awe of how much growing up she's had to do in the space of a few short episodes. Giles goes on that each assassin acts individually, and some are human, but some are not. He continues in voice-over as we see Norman Pfister watching the Summers home from the world-weary woman's house. A lot of larvae are on the floor. Giles continues that she won't know who they are until they strike. A bunch of larvae coalesce on Norman's stump of an arm and form into a hand, with the aid of the fakest-looking effects imaginable. Dr. Who had better production values. Norman uses the reformed hand to pick up a cup of tea, or coffee, or whatever it is giant larvae people drink.

At school, Buffy nervously walks down the hall. A bunch of creepy close-ups heighten everyone's anxiety. Eventually, Oz approaches her quickly from behind, and, whirling, she grabs him by the throat and shoves him against the wall, urging him to "try it." Being paranoid? Because I can't picture that. Oz hilariously looks around, and asks, "Try what?" Realizing her error, Buffy releases him and apologizes, but Oz says he's still not clear on the activity in which Buffy is recommending he partake. Buffy apologizes again, and leaves. Oz: "This is a tense person." Compared to you, babe, so is the entire planet.