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John prepares to go home to England, leaving the Slayers East behind. But there is unfinished business at the R'Thilliach estate - the new owner, Lex Madsen, is up to something. The Slayers East find themselves facing a grave evil, and one of them will not survive... (Air Date: 18 July, 2000)

Regulars:

• Candy
• Cynth
• Zak
• John

Other Characters:

• Alison Ridgeway - Candy's watcher, John's mother
• Meryll Stevens-Knight - Candy's mother
• Brian Stevens - Zak's father
• Lex Madsen - Wealthy new owner of Langborn Estate
• Niles Pipe - Officious aide to Lex Madsen
• Shanks - Pipe's hired hand
• Gom - tree-dwelling demon
• Colnick - ancient spidery vampire

Episode Synopsis:

The episode opens with the team heading into the darkness under the ruined Langborn estate. They meet Niles Pipe, aide to Lex Madsen, the new owner. Niles and his helper Shanks are up to something involving the caverns beneath the house. Niles orders the group off Madsen's property but as they leave Cynth and Zak discover an old book.

The book reveals some unpleasant truths about the White Lady, who came to Exeter specifically to wait for Candy, knowing that a Slayer would be needed to stop the one from the stars. The knowledge that Candy would be coming, however, seemed to originate within the Council of Watchers. There was a betrayer in the Council a century ago, and marginal notes imply there is a betrayer in the Council today.

John graduates and makes plans to go to Europe and become a Watcher. He comes into conflict with an overprotective Alison, and is determined to prove himself.

He prepares Zak to be Gom's next contact with the group after he goes, but he and Zak find Gom dead in the park. A Spawn of R'Thilliach leads the Slayers back to Langborn. There they interrupt Lex and Niles summoning an ancient vampire called Colnick from the depths of the earth. The pair are using as bait an amulet that could raise R'Thilliach from its slumber.

The group interrupt the ceremony, overcome Lex and Niles and grab the amulet. Lex kills Colnick but a Spawn of R'Thilliach grabs Candy and the amulet and flies into the depths. The doors slam shut after it, and only John is on the inside.

John rushes to rescue Candy as the others try to break through the doors. He finds Candy suspended on the wall in the Spawn's grasp. Candy throws him the amulet and he smashes it, but the Spawn seizes him and flies into the heights of the cavern. There it drops him.

John plummets to the rock floor. Candy is at his side as he breathes his last. His final words to Candy are "Look after mother."

Trivia and Notes:

• This emotional episode saw the death of beloved character John Ridgway, the moment that define the series. Everything changed for the Slayers East with John's death, and the tone of the series shifted too, moving further away from the creepy fun of episode one and into the realms of the genuinely unsettling.
• Although it had been leaked that Andrew Salmond was leaving the country and giving up the John Ridgway role, John's fate was uncertain. Until the last script pages came in, no-one, not even Andrew himself, knew whether John was going to survive.
• This episode also saw the demise of recurring 'friendly demon' Gom, and the introduction of new foil Lex Madsen, two further signs that Season 2 was going to shake things up.
• The 'traitor in the Watcher's Council' storyline was a recurring thread through the next two seasons. It never became central, as it was simply too far removed from the series focus on the trials and tribulations of a group of characters in their early teens, but it did drive some crucial character decisions.
• "Dear diary, all that stuff about Christian seems very superficial now. Something terrible happened last night, and it's all my fault... I had one chance to save John and I failed. I let myself get all stupid over Christian who never even called me and now the coolest guy I ever knew is dead. I am such an idiot." - from Candy's diary