The Seed of Wonder, guarded by the resurrected Master
- “The Seed is soul and life. And it's amazing. It's tied to the heart of the Earth.”
- ―Willow Rosenberg[src]
The Seed of Wonder, or simply "the Seed," was the heart of all magic on Earth.
The true extent of the Seed's power was unknown but Spike explained that it could stop all the demons that Buffy and Angel released when they created the Twilight universe.
The Master was enslaved by the Seed approximately 800 years earlier to keep custody over it. When Buffy became imbued with the power of Twilight, the Seed resurrected the Master to watch over it, presumably to keep it safe from Twilight.
Spike revealed that the Seed was just what the name implied, the world's soul and the source of all its magic. Twilight needed to capture it so that it would become the new universe's soul, destroying the old one.
History
Origin
- “The world came from the Seed. It was all demons and horrors, then. Probably spillover from some other, even less pleasant dimension. The Seed brought it forth... And the Seed kept it here. Kept the warring nasties and the bubbling magical energies from seeping back into the old dimension, wherever that was. Either the Earth was an improvement, a step up, or it was a ghetto. Either way, it was on its own. The Seed, the source of all that magic, was the only thing powerful enough to keep it from bleeding back. It's the key. Forget 'key', think 'cork'. As long as it's in its place—the Hellmouth, more recently known as Sunnydale—things stay more or less where they should. But pull it out...”
- ―Spike
Regarding the Seed of Wonder, Spike stated that the Seed predated humans, demons and even the First Evil, and that the Earth was created from the Seed. The Seed subsequently became the heart of all of Earth's magic and prevented the demons and magical energies on Earth from seeping back into the other dimension.
The Seed of Wonder was located in Sunnydale and was buried underground for some time, possibly first in the earthquake that originally trapped the Master, and then finally was buried even more when Spike destroyed the Hellmouth and caved in Sunnydale in 2003.
The Twilight crisis
During the fight with Sephrilian, Buffy, Willow and the minder Robin saw a vision of the cracked seed on a podium in a circular room, with Buffy beaten and cut on the floor after a massive betrayal, one that was the closest, most unexpected. It was revealed by Robin to be a vision from the future.
Spike explained that the Seed was safe, though buried underground with its protector, the Master, at its side. Until the universe selected the greatest vampire and the greatest Slayer, Angel and Buffy, to conceive a new universe with each other. The demons of the new universe poured in through countless portals to seize the Seed for Twilight, while the demons on Earth first tried to repel them.
As Aluwyn elaborated to Willow, removing the Seed to the Twilight dimension would cause the world to be swallowed up, allowing Twilight to fully come into its own. However, breaking the Seed would sever all magical ties with other worlds and Earth's connection to other dimensions; the analogy being the difference between removing a cork from a bottle and breaking it so that it remains stuck at the top of the bottle.
Destruction and aftermath
See End of magic
While Buffy and Angel (under the control of Twilight) battled in the ruins of the church where the Seed was being held, Giles brought Buffy the Scythe. The Scythe began to glow red as its power grew in the presence of the Seed. After the Twilight-controlled Angel killed Giles, Buffy, in a fit of devastation, used the Scythe to destroy the Seed.
Buffy smashes the Seed
The destruction of the Seed immediately depowered witches throughout the world, while active spells were severely weakened or simply broken. Creatures with inherent powers, such as vampires and Slayers, retained them. However, no more Slayers could be called, and no more vampire demons could enter the Earth dimension, resulting in all new sirings becoming zompires[1]. The effects of taking Mohra demon blood were also altered, so that instead of simply being regenerated to health, many recipients would develop painful cancerous growths all over their body[2]. Apparently, the Seed's destruction also affected the natural world and humanity as well; according to Willow, there hadn't been a decent song, movie, or book released since the Seed was destroyed, suicide rates were spiking all over the world, and people were losing hope, with things expected to get even worse from there[3]. However, the shards of the Seed remained, and were collected by the Courtesan demon Morgan with the intent of using them to reopen the Hellmouth on Easter Island and returning home.[4]
Restoration
The new Seed in the Deeper Well
After months with no magic, Buffy, Willow, and Xander made their way to the Deeper Well when Dawn began to fade out of existence due to the loss of magic. As they went deeper into the Well, a new Seed was spawned directly from Willow's body, rendering her powerless in the process. Willow proceeded to find a spot in the Deeper Well to plant the Seed; while it would save the world and eventually restore Earth's magic, it would not fully mature for a thousand years. However, Severin, who had absorbed many demon's powers, including those in the Deeper Well, with the intent on using that power to go back in time and revert the Twilight apocalypse, was persuaded to instead redirect all of his powers into the Seed[5]. The new Seed was aged to completion and restored Earth's magic, but caused a magical blast that completely vaporized Severin and Illyria in the process[6].
Gallery
Behind the scenes
- In the vision from "Anywhere But Here", Buffy is wearing the same clothes as she is on the Jo Chen cover for the second part of the Last Gleaming arc.
- During the dream sequence in "Always Darkest", Buffy, Angel, Spike, and Caleb are shown to be in the circular room where the seed is placed. Buffy is also wearing the same clothes and with the same injuries from "Anywhere But Here".
Appearances
- Anywhere But Here
- Last Gleaming
- The Core