Nobody Knows 6.21, 6.22, 7.1

In the last two episodes of season 6 we see how far Willow's grief has taken her and how her addiction to magic makes it even harder to break through to her. Willow sees Dawn in Rack's again in "Two To Go" but rather than recognizing how her addictions are hurting her closest friends, she appears to feel the need to inflict pain on even those closest to her. Willow is in a deep hole and she can't see what she is doing to herself or those around her. The coupling of Tara's death and her lack of coping through healthy, mourning activities skews her perception and allows her to confuse those who would show her the most compassion and support with people who would cause her harm. In "Grave" Xander realizes that he has to try to break through and tap into the Willow that lies underneath her evil exterior. By reminding her of who she is, Xander reaches the real Willow and Willow finally allows herself to break down and grieve in a healthy way as she cries on Xander's shoulder. This series is based around the experience of death (inflicting death on the bad and protecting good from death). Willow seems to be the one least capable of dealing with death of those she loves. After Tara's death she clung to magic like a security blanket. Overcoming her fear of death and her abuse of magic are two things that Willow works on while she is in England and we see in "Lessons" the great improvement she has made after working with the coven there.