So my guess is Buffy is under a spell of some kind, thus her actions. She ruins all her relationships and finally, when the seed is destroyed, comes back to herself and has to deal with it all and is left alone. Symbolically waking up both from and to a nightmare just like the Sleeping Beauty arc.


I think this part may likely be true. Joss does lay out his big themes in the first arc almost every year.

I just don't know that it will necessarily work or undo most of the damage already done or whether it was worth the price it's exacted on the characters.