mastery. Jonathan jumps on Buffy's back and appears to be fighting her, but he quietly coaches her to smash the orbs on Warren's belt in order to defeat him. No longer strong, Warren uses a hidden jet pack to escape freely into the sky. Andrew attempts to follow suit with his own jet pack, only to knock himself out on the overhanging roof above him. As the cops haul Jonathan and Andrew off to jail, the jetpack-less Jonathan realizes that the two were about to betray him. Willow and Tara get dressed and while hugging, Tara notices Xander and Buffy in the backyard together. Buffy and Xander begin to discuss Buffy's relationship with Spike, and the two make up and reaffirm their friendship. As the two hug, Xander spots Warren entering the backyard with a gun. Warren rants about his recent defeat, pulls out the gun, fires directly at Buffy as revenge, then shoots randomly over his shoulder as he runs away. Buffy and Xander topple to the ground as a bullet fires at the window to Willow's bedroom and strikes Tara in the back as she is facing Willow. The blood from her wound splatters on Willow's shirt. As Tara collapses to her death, Willow cries out holding her as her eyes turn magically dark red with pain and fury, while outside, Xander tries to staunch the bleeding of Buffy's chest wound. Writing The episode continues the emphasis on the consequences of actions. Spike takes the time to explain to Dawn that what he and Anya did was wrong. This is the first and only episode where Amber Benson (Tara) appears in the main title credits, and is also her death episode. Joss Whedon had long wanted to kill off a major character the first time they joined the main credits. Originally he indicated that he wanted Eric Balfour who played Jesse in "Welcome to the Hellmouth", and "The Harvest" to be added to the beginning credits to add the shock that a main cast character could die unexpectedly, but due to budget constraints he could not be added at the time. Whedon also saw Tara's death as necessary to further Willow's character; she had to deal with her dark powers, but nothing short of Tara's death would allow them to come out so forcefully. Tara had become popular among fans, and Whedon and series writer David Fury decided