In this essay, I argue that the First Evil arc of Buffy Season Seven undermines the show's commitment to a feminist social critique by utilizing a narrative that endorses patriarchal power structures in order to illustrate a feminist metanarrative supposedly at odds with ' such structures. While the metanarrative advocates a feminist dissemination of power among metaphorical "Slayers" everywhere, the narrative enacts a largely univocal consolidation of power around Buffy as the single, unchallengeable leader. The narrative's refusal to challenge Buffy's leadership is most dramatically illustrated by the absence of meaningful dialogic criticism of her strategy for defeating the First Evil. This strategy—the activation of the potential Slayers to fight the First Evil's army-is tactically so nonsensical that even according to the internal logic of the Buffyverse, its failure is almost inevitable. In fact, it is the deus ex machina of Spike's amulet, not Buffy's plan, that averts the apocalypse. Nonetheless, the show rhetorically presents the activation of the potentials as inspired and successful. The metanarrative praises Buffy as a brilliant military leader while the events of the narrative show her to be inept. In rejecting a multivocal community in which authority is constructively challenged, this arc implicitly promotes the unquestioning acceptance of | authority, a development reflected in the disturbing refusal of many fans to admit criticism of Buffy's leadership decisions.