but i didn't think it was going to be then! i just presumed it was a warning to be careful, sort of a this is your hardest chalege yet deal

I was at an advantage, seeing that I started Buffy on DVDs, not during the first run.

i started on the buffy dvds too so i knew she was gunna die but i had no idea how i just sorta assumed that she meant that it was her gift to bring death upon the evil beings

Yes, but to be fair, I knew Buffy was going to die at the end of season 5 because I bought the season a few years after the series ended and hadn't yet seen this particular episode.

Yes, but I translated it in my mind a bit differently. I thought that the point of the message was to be known to Buffy that she could love so, so much that she could sacrifice herself. I believed it was a knowledge to raise her self-esteem, especially after her mom's death...

Yes but I didnt know that Buffy was going to die so soon I thought it meant that Buffy was going to go through a lot of pain and suffering in her life but then when she or someone else dies they will be "rewarded?" for their work almost as though their death will be a less stressful and more giving than life and earth and that she would meet Angel there and happily ever after would occur, okay I made up thelast bit but that would be brilliant if that happened :)

I thought it referred to her killing vampires.