"What Are We Gonna Do Now?" The Real Meaning Behind Buffy The Vampire Slayer's Final Line Explained

Buffy The Vampire Slayer is one of the most discussed, analyzed, and re-watched shows of all time, which makes its final line one that's rife for interpretation, even over twenty years after its initial airing. While Buffy The Vampire Slayer finished airing in 2003, after a seven-season series that changed the way that supernatural shows would be seen forever, the show's last episode has stuck in audiences' minds since its debut. The show's finale, titled "Chosen", sees Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her ragtag band of allies changing the nature of what it meant to be a true Slayer.

While the final moments of the episode are only just a piece of the show's overall puzzle, the Buffy The Vampire Slayer finale ending on a question that kept things open-ended was an interesting move for the series. As the characters come to understand what Sunnydale collapsing into the crater of the Hellmouth means, their ringleader poses a simple question: "What are we gonna do now?" Buffy, who spent the duration of BTVS working to learn about her own place and, at the same time, hoping to find a life beyond her role, asked the question with a cheeky grin.

For some, the final line seemed unusual. Throughout its run, BTVS almost always provided definitive answers to its biggest questions, with storylines coming and going without things being too left up to interpretation. Buffy The Vampire Slayer's final line, however, was built to challenge the notion of a definitive ending.

Buffy Finally Gains Freedom From Her Ultimate Destiny

The final moments of Buffy The Vampire Slayer make it clear that Buffy's life is about to change, as she's no longer going to be defined by the destiny that's controlled her life for the better part of her adolescence. While it encapsulates the themes of the series and the journey of the title character, BTVS' ending moment is also the end of Buffy's arc as viewers have known it. After spending many years as the chosen one, Buffy's greatest struggle was about the responsibility that being the Slayer put on her shoulders rather than the vampires themselves.

As Buffy The Vampire Slayer got further into its run and established its lore more thoroughly, Buffy's sacrifices became more consistent and glaringly apparent. One of the main issues Buffy always had with her role was the fact that she wasn't allowed to be a normal teenager, and as she grew older, she had to sacrifice far more than just dances and parties. Buffy's mother's death, the opportunities she missed out on, and the life she couldn't lead simply because she'd been chosen out of her control were sticking points as she grew up and faced reality.

Throughout the show's final season, Buffy faces this burden head on in a very different way than she had in the past. In the final moments of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Buffy finally gets the chance to put the burden of being the world's only Slayer behind her, and seeing her get to finally experience true freedom is tremendous. After destroying the system that created her circumstances, Buffy cheekily asking what comes next is a question as well as an assertion that she'll be able to definitively make that choice for the first time.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer's Mythology Transforms During The Finale

Although Buffy The Vampire Slayer ends on a definitive note, the fact that the show's mythology transforms during the finale episode leaves things a bit more open than they seem. During the series finale, Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) uses her magic to activate every potential Slayer across the world, rather than allowing the burden to fall on Buffy's shoulders. With this spell, Willow helps to change the show's entire mythology and structure, something that Buffy's been questioning since the beginning of the series. While the fallout of the decision isn't clear, the impact of the spell causes an immediate shift.

Empowering every potential Slayer and bringing them to power changes the entire game of BTVS, and sees a lot of the groundwork that Buffy has laid down throughout the series as she's questioned her circumstances making more sense. Throughout Buffy The Vampire Slayer's run, Buffy's questioned the authority that surrounds her role as a Slayer, resisting the Watchers' Council and poking holes in the traditional rules that lead to her fate. With the potential Slayers coming to power and taking some of the burden off Buffy's shoulders while Sunnydale crumbles, Buffy's end signifies a much larger shift in her life.

Buffy's Leadership Is Still Intact, Even As The Battle Ends

One of the most compelling parts of Buffy's story is the fact that despite her wanting to move beyond the role of being a Slayer, her leadership consistently shines through her actions. Buffy may not have been a natural-born leader, but she's able to find her way as a leader in general once she becomes a Slayer, and as the stakes heighten, she takes her leadership of the Scooby gang seriously. The final season of the series sees Buffy's ability to lead brought into question, and proving her leadership becomes an important step in the right direction for her future.

Thankfully, as Buffy The Vampire Slayer season 7 brings the series to a close, Buffy's final moment sees that though she no longer has to shoulder the burden of being a leader on her own, she'll still have to take on a sense of leadership with the potential Slayers. While the end of the series itself lends to the fact that Buffy knows how to lead rather than follow, the final line isn't indicative of her doing either one. Asking what comes next is the perfect middle ground for the former sole Slayer as she moves into a new chapter.

The Final Moments Of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Leave A World Of Possibilities Ahead

As Buffy The Vampire Slayer comes to a close, with seven years of lore built into one iconic show, closing the book on Buffy's story couldn't be as simple as giving her a neat, tidy ending. While the end of Buffy's story with Sunnydale is a relief, it isn't exactly a happy moment after the death and destruction she had to leave in her wake. Without resolving everything that Buffy was up against, the path forward presented in Buffy The Vampire Slayer's series finale allowed for a new road forward that gave Buffy freedom, but didn't ensure a happy ending.

Embracing the possibilities of what comes next, the final line of Buffy The Vampire Slayer seeing Buffy asking what comes next and smiling shows that while she's struggling, she's ready for any challenge that could await her. It also proves that she trusts in those she has around her, with her Scooby gang still by her side as she moves forward into the unknown with the people she trusts the most.