A woman runs through a house, gasping with fear. Elijah stalks toward her as she reaches a red door. She turns to look back at him, revealing that she’s Hayley. She tries to open the door but can’t. When Elijah grabs her and pulls her toward him, she turns into someone who looks like Elena. She cries out in fear as he bites her neck.
Elijah is dreaming this in the crypt where Esther chained him up. She’s spelled the chains so he can’t break them. He accuses her of getting into his head to make him see things, which she denies. She asks if he was dreaming about Hayley or someone else. Elijah tries to escape his chains, but Esther tells him he’s not going anywhere until she’s said what she wants to say to him. She wants him to rejoin the family as a witch. They’ll all be happy again and get to start over.
Elijah tells Esther that she’s demented. She replies that he damages every “beautiful butterfly” he encounters, like the woman he was just dreaming about. Elijah vamps out to show that he’s serious about wanting to be released. That just reminds Esther that her son is a savage. His noble, elegant exterior is a mask for his demons. Elijah denies this but Esther says she knows more about his secrets than he does. For example, she knows about the first “butterfly” he destroyed, way back when he was still human. She was the first doppelganger, Tatia.
He says he only loved Tatia, from the day he met her until the day Esther killed her. Esther replies that that’s why she brought Elijah here. She wants to show him the monster he really is. “When I do, you will beg for salvation, and happily, I shall provide it,” she says.
1,000 years ago: The people in the Mikaelsons’ village are celebrating Samhain (kind of a precursor to Halloween). They’ve killed some livestock to appease the gods. Elijah and Tatia catch each other’s attention, but there’s a hitch – Tatia is involved with Klaus. A man in love with his brother’s girlfriend? Unheard of!
Elijah leaves the celebration to mope, and Tatia follows him so they can chat. He acknowledges that she’s with his brother, as if it’s fated. She asks if he’s just going to stay in the shadows, “a noble martyr.” She has no use for fate. She was supposed to kill herself after her husband died in battle, but that didn’t happen. She doesn’t care about what other people think she should do. She chose to live, and now she’s choosing to love someone else. And guess what – it’s not Klaus! Elijah kisses her, even though she doesn’t think they should have their first kiss next to a pigpen.
Present: Esther blows out a candle, pulling Elijah out of the memory she forced him to relive. She says tragedies always start with a little moment of happiness. Elijah believes that Esther killed Tatia for the spell that suppressed Klaus’ werewolf nature. She tells him he’s wrong but doesn’t know it yet. But the time they’re done, he’ll know the truth.
Davina’s still unconscious at the cabin. Kol and Klaus snipe at each other, but Cami tells Klaus to back off since “Kaleb” is “just a kid.” Klaus reminds her that he promised not to hurt Davina, but he didn’t say anything about Kol. He doesn’t mention the fact that he can’t get inside the cabin, since he hasn’t been invited in, so he can’t actually do anything to Kol. Cami pulls Klaus aside and reminds him that he chose not to kill Mikael, so he should choose the same for Kol. He gives in and even lets Cami take the indestructible stake from him.
As Cami goes to pull the car up so they can take Davina to the hospital, Klaus lays into Kol again, annoyed that he’s gotten in the middle of Klaus’ “family business.” But he’s figured out that that family is also “Kaleb”‘s because he’s really Kol. Kol confirms this and says, “Hello, brother.” Nope, wrong show. Klaus warns Kol that he’s making friends with the wrong people. Kol knows Klaus won’t hurt him because Cami told him not to. Klaus is basically her dog. Klaus calls out to Cami that he changed his mind and is going to kill Kol after all. But Cami’s not there – Mikael has taken off with her.
Klaus tries to call Elijah, who of course doesn’t answer. Not only does Mikael have Cami, but he also has the indestructible stake, so Klaus could really use some backup. He tells Kol to wake Davina up and get her to bring Mikael back to the cabin. Kol advises Klaus to go after Mikael himself before he makes a meal out of Cami. Klaus really doesn’t have a choice here, so he takes off. Kol encourages Davina to wake up so he can outrun the “familial hornets’ nests” he’s kicked.
Finn calls Kol, who declines the call. Finn hits him with some long-distance magic and gives him a bloody nose. When he calls again, he explains, “I despise voicemail.” Kol tells him that their plan hit a snag, but Finn should tell Esther that everything’s going fine. He knows that Davina is working on a spell to break Klaus’ connection from his sireline so they can kill him. They won’t need the stake until then. Finn urges Kol to figure out the details of Davina’s spell. They need Klaus alive and connected. If Kol can’t find the stake, he should kill either the spell or Davina.
Mikael takes Cami into some woods, looking for someone to feed on so he can continue restoring his strength. He’s not going to hurt Cami, since she’s leverage. He’ll threaten to kill her in order to throw Klaus off his game. That’s when Mikael will strike. Cami can’t believe that they want to fight to the death just because Klaus isn’t Mikael’s biological son. Mikael calls her an “enabler of the weak,” saying it’s no wonder Klaus likes her. They come across some people having a party, the perfect opportunity for Mikael to grab a snack.
Kol looks at Davina’s spell to get the details Finn was asking about. Davina finally wakes up and he tells her that Klaus just made a mess in the cabin, then left to find Mikael and the stake. Davina tries to summon Mikael back to her, unaware that Kol deactivated her bracelet. She’s distressed because Mikael could kill Klaus, which will also kill Marcel and Josh. Kol doesn’t think Davina would be able to stop something that’s been in the works for centuries. She decides to finish her spell instead of trying to stop Mikael.
Hayley goes back to Marcel’s loft to tell him that the teen wolves made it to a safehouse. Maybe there’s hope for peace between the vampires and werewolves after all. She thanks him for his help, but Marcel credits Elijah for making it all work. Hayley says she can’t get in touch with him, and he’s not at the Compound. She’s worried since he and Oliver have both gone MIA. The two of them head out to search.
1,000 years ago: Klaus had quite an eventful night the first time he turned into a werewolf. Elijah finds him the next morning and tells him he killed six people. Klaus is shaken and doesn’t know what he is now. Elijah warns that Mikael is furious. None of the other siblings have acted like Klaus, which makes him realize that Mikael isn’t his father. Elijah tells him firmly that that doesn’t change anything about his relationship with his siblings. Just then, Tatia comes across the brothers. She runs when she sees the bodies of Klaus’ victims.
Present: Elijah doesn’t get why Esther wants him to remember this. He compelled Tatia to forget what she saw. Esther tells him that since he’d only been a vampire for a few days at that point, he hadn’t mastered compulsion yet. Elijah insists that he remembers the situation clearly. She tells him he still thought there were lines he wouldn’t cross and people he wouldn’t hurt. He was wrong, and that’s what Esther wants him to see.
1,000 years ago: Elijah chases after Tatia, telling her that he’s still the same person and he still loves her.
Present: Esther says that Elijah knew how special Tatia was. Esther always thought he would protect Tatia, and that they would end up together. Elijah says he didn’t hurt her. Esther replies that he’s taught himself to hide from what he really is.
1,000 years ago: Tatia tells Elijah that Esther asked for her blood for a spell. Tatia had no idea that that spell would turn Elijah into a monster. Elijah promises that he’s not one, but Tatia’s bleeding from a fall, and the sight of the blood makes him vamp out.
Present: “No more hiding,” Esther says. It’s time for Elijah to remember everything.
1,000 years ago: Tatia slaps Elijah, who tries to keep his new violent urges under control. He tells her to run.
Present: Esther knows that Elijah loved Tatia and didn’t want to hurt her. But he couldn’t fight what Esther had made him.
1,000 years ago: Elijah bites Tatia and drinks her blood until he’s killed her.
Present: Elijah won’t believe that Esther wasn’t the one who killed Tatia. He refuses to hear any more of her lies. Esther says he doesn’t need to listen anymore – he just needs to remember.
Klaus tracks Mikael and Cami, coming across the partygoers they encountered. Mikael compelled some of them to deliver a message warning Klaus that his death is coming. They’ve also been compelled to fight him, which will slow Klaus down for a little while. Davina is close to being able to perform her spell, though Kol thinks it’s pretty advanced for someone her age. “I can give you a list of people who have underestimated me,” she tells him. “Not one of them has done it a second time.” Kol is familiar with the magic she needs and offers to lend a hand.
Mikael takes Cami to an abandoned building, and she tells him she tried to talk Klaus out of killing him. Mikael admits that he didn’t always hate Klaus. When Klaus was born, Mikael was thrilled because he seemed like a future warrior. He turned out to be such a disappointment that Mikael was relieved to learn that he wasn’t his son. Too bad his real father was a werewolf. Cami angrily says that Esther’s affair wasn’t Klaus’ fault. Mikael replies that everything that happened after that was because of Klaus’ obsession with werewolves. He got Henrik killed and he himself killed Esther because she wanted to suppress his werewolf side.
Mikael sees Klaus as a traitor. He turned his siblings against their father. How can Cami defend him? She says again that she tried to keep Klaus from killing Mikael. She wants him to stop the never-ending cycle of Mikaelson-on-Mikaelson violence. Mikael needs to see that all that violence is pointless. He guesses that Cami is an “alienist,” a therapist. She’s like, “Yeah, and buddy, you really need one.” Mikael would prefer some blood, since his Tunde blade wound isn’t healing. He usually only feeds on other vampires, but he’ll make an exception right now.
Klaus is finishing off the last of the partygoers when Hayley calls to tell him that Elijah’s missing. She and Marcel found a bunch of blood in the parking garage where Elijah and Oliver were ambushed, and she wants Klaus to help them track the trail left behind. Klaus is a little busy saving his own life, as well as Cami’s. If Hayley hears from Elijah, Klaus would like her to send his brother his way to back him up.
Davina and Kol try her spell but something isn’t working. She decides to just channel his power instead of working with him. When she grabs his hands, she gets a flash of three very important memories: 1) Kol doing something to her secret binding ingredient, 2) Kol deactivating Mikael’s bracelet and releasing him, and 3) Klaus calling “Kaleb” by his real name. She realizes Kol is a Mikaelson and uses magic to throw him around the cabin a little.
He tries to hold her off but she’s more powerful than he is. She’s furious that he ruined her spell and is putting Marcel and Josh at risk. Kol tells her that it was between her and the spell, and he didn’t want to hurt her. Esther isn’t someone you can disobey, and Mikael is even worse, so Kol had to do what they said. He offers to let Davina look into his head again and learn more of his secrets. He may be a Mikaelson but he hates his family as much as Davina does. She asks how he deactivated her bracelet. He tells her he knows how to both create and destroy dark objects, and agrees to show her how.
Elijah continues to insist that Esther killed Tatia. She confirms that she used Tatia’s blood in the spell that suppressed Klaus’ werewolf side, but Tatia was already dead when Elijah brought her to Esther.
1,000 years ago: Elijah hands Tatia’s body off to Esther, who takes her into their home through a door covered in blood from a Samhain ritual.
Present: Esther says she told Elijah that he would be freed from the memories of what he did. They would be locked up behind the door. She told him to clean himself up so no one would know what he did or who he’d become. From there, Elijah created a place in his mind to put his victims. He convinced himself that if he always looked classy and put-together, he could hide what he’d done. But after 1,000 years, that door can’t hold back all of Elijah’s sins. Esther thinks it’s only a matter of time before Elijah kills Hayley and has to put her behind the door, too. Loving Tatia and Celeste destroyed them, and it’ll eventually destroy Hayley, too.
Esther urges Elijah to accept her offer to put him in a mortal body. He and Hayley could have children and start their own family. Elijah tells Esther that she won’t break him, but she says it’s too late. He’s not beyond repair, though. She’s here to fix him and his siblings.
Davina tells Kol that she wants to deactivate another dark object: the indestructible stake. She can’t stop Mikael, but she can render his weapon unusable. Kol thinks that’s a ridiculous idea since the stake is too powerful to be drained. The best they can do is temporarily disable it. Davina will accept that, since she doesn’t have any other options. Kol asks how she plans to find Mikael anyway. She tells him she made sure months ago that she could always find Mikael, even without her bracelet.
Klaus makes it to the abandoned building, where Mikael has had enough of Cami’s blood to render her unconscious (which just makes Klaus angrier than he already was). Mikael vows to make Klaus watch while he drinks the rest. As they start fighting, Kol and Davina arrive. Cami wakes up in time to see Mikael trying to stake Klaus.
Davina wants to do the spell alone, but Kol says she’s not strong enough. He asks her to trust him and channel him for the spell. Cami stumbles to her feet as Klaus gets Mikael on the ground and prepares to stake him. Mikael still has the Tunde blade, though, so he tosses it over his shoulder at Cami. Klaus zooms over and grabs it just before it can impale her. This frees Mikael to grab Klaus and stake him with the indestructible stake.
Cami watches in horror as Klaus desiccates. But Davina has started the spell, and it keeps Klaus from bursting into flames like victims of the stake usually do. Mikael finds her and Kol in the next room and orders Davina to stop the spell. As she holds him off, Cami starts to pull out the stake. Mikael bites Davina, then returns to Klaus and Cami. She threatens to kill Mikael, but he’s not intimidated. Marcel zooms in and fights Mikael, who’s really eager to kill anyone right now and has no problem starting with Marcel. But Hayley’s there, too, and she throws a chain around Mikael’s neck and pulls him back. Meanwhile, Klaus revives.
He tells Mikael he’s outnumbered, though Mikael doesn’t think that matters. Having people to fight with him means Klaus is actually weak. Klaus can come find him when he doesn’t have “fools, women, and children” fighting his battles for him.
Marcel’s mad at Davina for putting herself in danger, and he’s curious about her new buddy “Kaleb.” Davina just says he’s a friend without revealing Kol’s real identity. She thinks Marcel should back off since she just saved Klaus’ life trying to protect Marcel. Marcel points out that she brought Mikael back and caused the need for protection in the first place. Kol tries to make peace, reminding him that they’re on the same side.
Marcel says he’ll handle Klaus, and he tells Davina not to go anywhere. Kol urges her to run anyway, since Klaus is going to be mad that she brought Mikael back. Davina isn’t worried, though – she wound up with the indestructible stake. She still wants to kill Klaus, and she still wants Kol’s help to do it.
Klaus checks on Cami, telling her that she pulled the stake out right in time. She regrets convincing him not to kill Mikael. Klaus is surprised that Mikael ran away; that’s the first time he’s done that in 1,000 years. Cami thinks it’s because he was still weak, and Hayley adds that he knew he couldn’t take them all on. Klaus thanks Marcel for his help, and Marcel and Hayley remind him that they’re part of his sireline and have a vested interest in him not dying.
Esther plans to keep Elijah in the crypt until he remembers every horrible thing he’s ever done. The memories will weaken him and take away his hope. Eventually he’ll accept Esther’s offer of a new life. Hayley arrives just then and bites Esther. She tells Elijah she would have killed Esther, but Esther would have just jumped into another body.
Elijah tells her how to free him from his chains (Esther used a doll in a binding spell, so Hayley has to destroy the doll), and once Hayley’s done it, she offers him her blood. Elijah won’t take it: “I crave you.” Yeah, buddy, we all know that. He’s afraid he’ll drink too much and kill her like he killed Tatia. Hayley says she’s not afraid of him, then kisses him. She pulls her hair back and exposes her neck, letting him drink.
None of this is real. Elijah is basically catatonic and still chained up. Esther tells Finn that she can’t bring him out of darkness just by showing him his old memories. He has to think about “a better world to come” first. When he wakes up, he’ll know he can only find peace the way Esther wants him to.
Etc.: Nina Dobrev’s hair is flawless in every episode of The Vampire Diaries, but here…I don’t know what the stylists were thinking. There is no flattering angle for her with the hairstyle they give her.
Part of the spell Davina does involves the unknotting spell Elijah gave her from Esther’s grimoire. I bet he never expected her to use it to try to kill his brother!
Davina doesn’t get enough credit for just being awesome. I think she gets overshadowed by Bonnie, but Davina always seems to know what to do when it needs to be done.
After the big fight with Mikael, Marcel greets Davina with, “You are lucky to be alive, young lady,” then asks who Kol is like he’s a dad who wants to know who his daughter’s hanging out with. Marcel, sometimes you’re adorable.
An Eternity of Misery 