Section 1:

The Prophecies

From the moment in Graduation Day, Part 2 when Faith, in a confused coma-dream shared with Buffy, uttered the phrase: "Little Miss Muffet, countin' down from 7-3-0," fans wondered what these cryptic words signified. A little over a year later, they got their first hints.

In the second Season Five episode, Real Me, Buffy's mysterious new younger sister was confronted by a crazed homeless man who exclaimed: "I know you. Curds and whey! I know what you are. You don't belong!"

Later that episode, as Glory's mental cohesion slipped, she ranted, "... until someone's going to sit down on their tuffet and make this birthing stop!"

It becomes clear now that "Little Miss Muffet" is Glory. When we realize from this that Dawn is her "curds and whey", we must recall Faith's second prophecy, this time in This Year's Girl, to get ready for "little sis". And don't forget Tara (speaking for the first Slayer in Buffy's dream in Restless) urging Buffy to "be back before Dawn".

So what does this mean? Must Glory 'eat' Dawn, as Muffet ate her curds and whey. In a sense, it turns out, yes! Glory must 'consume' Dawn's body by pouring her physical essence out, fitting the Key to its lock.

Then what was that "countin' down from 7-3-0" stuff? Glory herself gives us the clue to this, as she tells one of her minions (Shadow), "I am on a schedule here. Tick, tock, Dreg. Tick, frickin', tock!" We will learn that there is only one specific moment in which Glory can now use the Key to open the portal back home. This moment occurs during the Season Five finale - exactly 730 days (two years) after Faith's comment.

Neat, huh?

Section 2:

The History

For nearly as long as Glorificus reigned over her Hell dimension with her two fellow deities, the Key has existed. For all that time it was pure energy, a thing of great power and worth, with the ability to break down the barriers between dimensions.

As Glory, owner of the Key, grew more evil and powerful, her cohorts became frightened of her, and plotted her downfall. Presumably it was a protracted struggle, one God against two lesser ones, as their titanic mights were engaged. At some time during this, centuries ago now, the Key was lost from the Hell dimension. Whether it slipped away or was smuggled out by Glory's enemies none can now say, but it was discovered by the Order of Dagon, who vowed to keep it safe. Learning of its existence, the Knights of Byzantium also sought it out, wishing to destroy it as it had the potential of giving great power to any evil thing that wielded it.

Eventually, Glorificus, also known as The Beast, or the Abomination, was overthrown. Using the only method they could invent to kill their immortal counterpart, the remaining two Hell gods trapped Glory on Earth, in the mortal body of a young male child, created solely to be her prison. In this way, they reasoned, she would die with the person (Ben) in whom she was confined. After many years, though, Glory began to find a way out. She could take over her fleshy prison for brief times, exerting her will, and even physical presence, onto it. When this became known, the monks of the Order of Dagon knew they must take extra steps to protect the Key. It must not fall into the hands of the Beast.

Pursued relentlessly by Glory, who had learned that they possessed her Key, the monks transformed the energy, gave it form, and sent it to the Slayer... as a sister.

Until late summer 2000 A.D., Dawn Summers was energy. She was the Key, the only item in the universes that could open inter-dimensional portals at will. Now, trapped in physical form, the Key's power became limited: it could only open the door at a certain point in time. The gateway would only accept the Key's new form at a single point in time, and Glory sought to pour out its matter at exactly that moment. At the last second, however, Buffy substituted her own body (as the biological model for Dawn's construction) instead. Thus, Dawn's role as the Key is over.

Or is it? Is there more to being the Key than simply opening the door to Hell? In The Gift, Dawn appears to force Ben into Glory on her own. Is this what really happened? Does Dawn have an inner store of power she can learn to tap into? If so, a seemingly innocuous statement in The Body (written, let's not forget, by none other than Joss Whedon himself) takes on a whole other light. Referring to the 'biatch' Kirsty, Dawn states: "If I could make her head explode using only the power of my mind, that's what I'd be doing right about now."

Does Dawn still have the power of the Key? Only time will tell...