Buffy's Birthday Traumas

Buffy has notoriously -- one might even say infamously -- traumatic birthdays, so I have listed here the episodes and events of each of her birthdays on the show. You will notice that no birthday is listed for Season One. That is because BTVS was a mid-season replacement, and time in the Buffyverse was somewhat compressed during the first two seasons.

Episode Title: Surprise Episode Number: 2.13 Original Air Date: 19 January 1998 Buffy's Age: 17 Crucial Events: Buffy lost her virginity with Angel, causing him to lose his soul. Also, Spike and Drusilla succeeded in assembling The Judge, who planned to destroy the world.
Episode Title: Helpless Episode Number: 3.12 Original Air Date: 19 January 1999 Buffy's Age: 18 Crucial Events: The Watchers' Council drugged Buffy to deprive her of her Slayer powers, then trapped her with a powerful vampire. Buffy passed their test by surviving, but the Council fired Giles because he'd gone soft.
Episode Title: A New Man Episode Number: 4.12 Original Air Date: 25 January 2000 Buffy's Age: 19 Crucial Events: Giles was transformed into a Fyarl demon, and Buffy nearly killed him.
Episode Title: Blood Ties Episode Number: 5.13 Original Air Date: 6 February 2001 Buffy's Age: 20 Crucial Events: Dawn found out that she's the Key and not a normal 14-year-old girl. She flipped out, ran away, and very very nearly got nabbed by Glory.
Episode Title: Older and Far Away Episode Number: 6.13 Original Air Date: 12 February 2002 Buffy's Age: 21 Crucial Events: Everyone got trapped in Buffy's house with a powerful and dangerous demon who tried to kill them all.