In addition to being Buffy Summers’s devoted Watcher, and pseudo-father figure, Rupert Giles is a lapsed British punk, stodgy librarian, and later in life, an entrepreneur. In the latter seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Giles’s venture into business finds him as the owner and proprietor of Sunnydale’s only magic shop, The Magic Box.
The Magic Box isn’t just a store, though. It becomes a second home for Buffy and the Scoobies. But there are some things about The Magic Box even the most ardent fans of Buffy wouldn’t know. Here are 10 Hidden Details About The Magic Box You Never Noticed.
They Sell Magical And Nonmagical Items
Catering to the witchy and aspiring mystics alike, the Magic Box sells all sundry of items, ranging from candles, crystals, and decorative statues to an actual monkey’s paw.
The many items in the shop varied in their magical power, some of which got the gang into trouble. Perhaps the most standout is the talisman Dawn swipes at the height of her kleptomania which Xander ends up using to summon Sweet, the demon who turns Sunnydale into a singing and dancing nightmare in the episode, “Once More With Feeling.”
Most Of The Scoobies Work There
Anya becomes the primary manager of The Magic Box and eventually takes over completely when Giles temporarily leaves for England, putting her bossy attitude to work in a retail environment. However, almost all of the other Scoobies take a turn in the store at least once, Xander lending his carpentry skills and Dawn helping out after school.
Buffy most notably tries her hand at the store to disastrous consequences in the episode “Life Serial” when a spell from the Trio causes her to live through a Groundhog Day nightmare scenario.
Giles’s Books Are There
At the end of the third season, Sunnydale’s mayor ascends into a giant snake demon at graduation, but not before Buffy, the Scoobies, and her classmates prepare a full-fledged defense of their school. This includes Giles removing his precious books from the library before they can be destroyed in the mayor’s apocalyptic torrent. While they filled his house for a short time when he was unemployed, the books are then relocated to The Magic Box where they can be used by the Scooby Gang again.
It Serves An Important Purpose
In the first three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Sunnydale High library serves as Scooby Central, a single spot for the Scoobies to plot against the latest monster of the week. But when the high school is blown up, Scooby Central is gone.
For a while, Giles’s house serves in its stead, but Giles as a character doesn’t have much to do. The Magic Box gives the gang a new Scooby Central while also giving Giles a way to spend his time outside of his Watcher duties.
It’s In The Yellow Pages
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was always a product of its time while still being cutting edge. But one hilarious detail about The Magic Box is that it has its own Yellow Pages ad that Giles placed to promote his new project.
The ad is complete with a cheesy Whedon-esque slogan: “Your One Stop Spot to Shop for all your Occult Needs!” and catchy starburst graphics advertising the goods sold. Unfortunately, the ad is a little too good, drawing the evil goddess Glory right to Buffy’s doorstep in her hunt to find the key.
Giles Isn’t The First Owner
The Magic Box goes through a number of different owners before Giles buys it in his post-Sunnydale High retirement phase of life at the beginning of season five.
While the previous owners all met an untimely end, (one of whom is killed by Spike during his brief return in season three) they all helped to establish the mystical ethos of Sunnydale. Buffy acknowledges this when Giles tells her his plan to buy the shop saying, “…most magic shop owners in Sunnydale have the life expectancy of a Spinal Tap drummer…”
But He Is The Only Owner Not To Die
Giles may not be the first owner, but he is the only one who manages to survive his tenure. Though Dark Willow does her best to kill him in an attempt to drain the store (and all its books) of their magic, Giles puts up a better fight than any of the store’s previous owners and manages to make it out of the fight with Willow.
This is all thanks to the fact that Giles is likely the most skilled and knowledgeable owner of The Magic Box that Sunnydale had ever seen.
It’s Revealed In An Important Episode
A lot of shocking things happen in the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but perhaps none is as shocking as the reveal of Buffy’s surprise little sister, Dawn, at the end of its first episode.
The following episode, “Real Me,” delves further into Dawn’s backstory and how she came to be in Sunnydale, as well as revealing Giles’s plans to buy The Magic Box after living as a (very bored) retired Watcher for the last year. Both plot details end up being crucial for the run of the season.
Willow Begins And Ends Her Witchcraft There
When Willow first begins to take her magical training into her own hands, going beyond the reach of what Giles is willing to teach her, she goes to Sunnydale’s resident magic shop to get supplies.
Years later, when she goes full Dark Willow after losing Tara, she returns to The Magic Box to soak up as much magic as she can, again spurning Giles’s warnings. Dark Willow eventually destroys the store beyond repair, and when she ultimately returns to herself, it’s Giles who helps her find a true balance with witchcraft.
It Almost Saved Angel’s Soul
Despite the many strange magical happenings in Sunnydale, there’s only ever been one magic shop. So when Giles’s star-crossed love, fellow teacher (and technopagan) Jenny Calendar needed to buy a very rare Orb of Thesulah in order to perform a ritual to restore Angel’s soul, there was only one place for her to go.
It’s a beautiful, twisted kind of irony that Giles ends up owning the store which in some ways ended up getting the love of his life killed, an irony only found on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
