Hayley, Hope, and Jackson are spending the day in the Quarter, stopping first to listen to a woman playing the violin. After Hayley gives her some money, the woman starts playing the tune Dahlia loves to hum. Hayley notices a waiter staring at her and sees that he’s written on a sidewalk chalkboard, “A promise made is a debt to be paid.”
A man offers Hayley some flowers, telling her and Jackson that black dahlias are in bloom. When an increasingly uneasy Hayley starts to walk away, the man grabs her arm and his eyes go white. Klaus rushes him and tells Dahlia, whom he thinks is inside the man, to show herself. She jumps into Jackson, saying, “I am everywhere.” She’s there to take what’s hers.
Back at home, Klaus yells at Hayley for going out instead of staying in their safe, werewolf-fortified home. Okay, but she’s a hybrid and was with another wolf who’s basically a hybrid, so if that’s not enough protection for Hope, the Mikaelsons are doing something wrong. Anyway, Elijah makes Klaus back off.
Freya has been invited to the family meeting, and she explains that Dahlia uses something called kenning to use proxies to keep an eye on her enemies (sounds like what Esther does with starlings. Make that did, since Freya killed her). She’s stepped it up, which means she could have spies anywhere. Freya has mixed up a tonic for the Mikaelsons and their allies to take that will prevent Dahlia from using them.
Rebekah is the most willing to drink, but Klaus doesn’t think he and Elijah need to bother since their minds are strong enough to resist Dahlia’s magic. Is that a chance you really want to take, buddy? He wants them to focus on gearing up for battle. Hayley says that Dahlia should know that they have an army already. Elijah notes that she probably also knows where they are. They don’t know what to expect from her. They need a new “stronghold,” a place where magic can’t be used. Freya suggests using Jackson to trace Dahlia’s magic back to her. Hayley reluctantly agrees. Uh, does Jackson get a vote? Klaus sends everyone off to do whatever they want while he figures out how to kill Dahlia.
Davina visits Kaleb’s tomb, I assume because Kol doesn’t have one and this is the closest she can get. Klaus tracks her down and comments that for a teenager, she spends a lot of time in cemeteries. Yeah, well, stop killing people she cares about. He wants her to help him find Mikael, whom Freya sent off on an errand. Davina declines to do anything for Klaus, but he can make it worth her while: If she helps, he’ll give her Kol’s ashes, which she would need if she found a way to resurrect him.
Josh and Aiden are trying to take a break from their insane lives, but it’s just not realistic for them to stay in bed and watch Netflix all day. Aiden gets a call that he says is from Jackson, but it’s actually from Klaus. He waits until Josh is in the bathroom to answer. Klaus tells him that Jackson has “offered further proof of his general inadequacy,” so Klaus needs Aiden to take over main guard duties at the Compound.
Jackson’s shaken by what happened with Dahlia, who could have easily made him hurt Hayley or Hope. He tells Hayley that he could feel Dahlia, and she’s “nothing but darkness.” He wants the two of them, Hope, and the pack to leave town tonight. Hayley doesn’t want to leave their home, but Jackson says running is what wolves do. They would at least have home-court advantage in the bayou. Hayley doesn’t want to take Hope from Klaus and the rest of her family. Jackson points out that Dahlia is also her family. He wouldn’t normally back down from a fight but this isn’t their 1,000-year-old battle, and it’s definitely not Hope’s.
Davina criticizes Klaus for teaming up with Aiden, especially behind Josh’s back. Yeah, because Klaus cares about that. He notes that Josh and Aiden, being in love, both have something to lose. That means they can easily be manipulated. “It must really suck to have to be you all the time,” Davina comments. Klaus admits that it isn’t always great. But she thinks he’s also in a vulnerable position now that he has someone to love and something to lose. It makes him like everyone else.
Mikael arrives via taxi and gets a surprise: Klaus wants to team up. “Care you join your bastard son on a witch hunt?” he asks. Elijah, Marcel, and Josephine meet up in an abandoned jazz club, St. James Infirmary, which was a popular place when Josephine was younger. It was neutral ground for the supernatural factions, and the guys want Josephine to cast a spell to prevent magic from being used there. Josephine has no interest in creating a place where her people would be helpless. They’re not a part of the fight the Mikaelsons are facing. Elijah warns that anyone who allows his family to be threatened is technically an enemy. Josephine agrees to perform a blessing and do a disruption spell that will prevent anyone from performing magic intended to do harm.
Klaus and Mikael go to a tavern, where a waitress thinks the indestructible stake Klaus is holding is from a souvenir shop. He asks for an update on the errand Freya sent Mikael on. Mikael says he got three items that, when combined, represent Dahlia’s only weakness. Klaus is free to try to take them if he wants. Klaus comments that Mikael always wants to turn to violence, even when he’s obviously outmatched. It’s a Viking thing. Mikael says that Klaus is still weak after all this time, but Klaus notes that if Mikael believed that, he would grab the stake from him. Anyway, enough bickering: It’s time to consider working together. If they win, both men’s daughters will be free. If they lose, at least Mikael will know that Klaus finally got what was coming to him.
Freya prepares to do a spell to use Jackson to trace Dahlia’s magic. She channels Rebekah, who sees Dahlia appear behind Freya. She realizes that Dahlia gets her power from channeling Freya. Freya says she had no idea. Dahlia must have found her and is trying to turn the others against her. It works, since Hayley doesn’t want Freya anywhere near Jackson anymore. Rebekah says she wants to trust Freya, but while Freya’s bonded to Dahlia, they can’t work together.
Mikael is resistant to teaming with Klaus, refusing to admit that he needs help. He taunts Klaus for still being a little boy who’s desperate for a father. Klaus replies that in the centuries since his childhood, Mikael’s cruelty turned him into “an altogether different beast.” Klaus is hateful and vicious, just like the man who raised him. That’s why they’re the perfect people to kill Dahlia. Mikael asks why he should trust Klaus. Klaus thinks they have the same goal: saving their children, the only people who don’t see them for the monsters they are. Uh, which of Mikael’s children don’t see him as a monster?
Mikael agrees to hear Klaus out. Klaus tells him they have the makings of a weapon and just need to use it. Just then, a woman outside the tavern puts her hand on the window next to them, shattering it. Mikael knows it’s Dahlia’s doing, and he officially joins Team Klaus.
Freya walks through the Quarter, finding herself the center of everyone’s attention. She starts to run but just comes face to face with Dahlia. Dahlia dismisses everyone around them and asks Freya how it went when she tried to team up with her siblings. She doubts they were happy to see her. Dahlia calls Freya ungrateful and selfish – Dahlia gave her everything she needed, plus powerful magic, but Freya always wanted a different life. She gives Freya a magic migraine and says Freya will eventually beg to come home to her. When Dahlia’s through with the Mikaelsons, Freya won’t have any family left. Klaus and Mikael will be the first to learn what Freya didn’t: Never defy Dahlia.
When Elijah returns to the Compound, Hayley and Rebekah tell him that they sent Freya away. He’s not happy that they broke ties with the one person who could give them helpful information on their enemy. Despite their doubts about Freya, she kept her promise when she saved Rebekah’s life. They should show Freya the same kindness. Elijah tells them about St. James Infirmary, where Hope and Hayley will stay until Dahlia has been defeated. Elijah and Rebekah will stay back in case Freya returns. Whether or not they trust her, they can’t win this fight without her.
Klaus brings Mikael to Davina, who doesn’t really know how to react when they discuss their next steps. Klaus says they’re only working together because they have the same purpose right now: “glorious murder.” Mikael gives Davina the three things she needs for a binding spell – soil from Dahlia’s homeland (which links her to life), Viking ash (from her oppressors, the source of her hatred), and some of Freya’s blood. They want Davina to bind them to a weapon. Mikael offers up a knife, causing Klaus to comment, “You just wouldn’t be you if you didn’t have a knife.” Klaus promises that if Davina helps them kill Dahlia, he’ll give her what she wants.
As Elijah hoped, Freya returns to the Compound and tells him and Rebekah that Dahlia’s making a move tonight. Elijah’s surprised that she’s warning them. Freya understands her siblings’ mistrust, but she’s not going to let them die after she spent so much time trying to stay away from Dahlia. Elijah agrees to help, and Freya says Dahlia will be drawn to the site of a massacre – a sacred place where innocent people have died.
Klaus and Mikael have already narrowed that down to St. Anne’s, and Dahlia’s waiting for them there. She has a bunch of minions but Klaus and Mikael don’t see being outnumbered as a challenge. Unfortunately for them, Dahlia has given her minions some of her power, so both men are quickly knocked out.
At the Compound, Jackson thanks Aiden for his loyalty, then asks him to help Jackson, Hayley, and Hope run. Aiden warns that Klaus will be furious, but Jackson doesn’t care. He has a route all mapped out and everything planned down to the minute. He needs Aiden to meet them with a getaway car at exactly 8:45, 15 minutes before Marcel is supposed to come to take them to St. James Infirmary. While Jackson’s gone, he wants Aiden to lead the pack.
As Mikael and Klaus gather themselves and go back to fighting Dahlia’s minions, Josh confronts Aiden for lying about Klaus’ phone call. (Josh eavesdropped.) Aiden says he didn’t want Josh to get involved, and there’s nothing for him to worry about. Josh won’t accept that, so Aiden tells him about his dilemma: Jackson has entrusted him with an escape plan, but Klaus will be furious if Aiden doesn’t tell him about it. He’s torn between loyalty and fear. He doesn’t think Josh gets what it’s like to have such a strong connection to your pack. Josh is like, “I know what it’s like to care about my friends; werewolves don’t have a monopoly on that.”
Klaus and Mikael take out all the minions, earning a sarcastic slow clap from Dahlia. Now she’s ready to kill them. When Jackson goes to get Hope and Hayley for their great escape, Hayley’s already prepared to leave. She knows Dahlia’s a huge threat because Klaus and Elijah, the two most powerful vampires in the world, are scared of her. She asks Jackson if he thinks leaving is the best way to protect Hope. He does, so they go.
Despite the magic Dahlia has used on him and Mikael, Klaus fights to reach the knife that can kill her. She’s impressed with his persistence but tells him it’s too little too late. She blasts him back with magic, then approaches Mikael so she can make him suffer. Freya shows up, and while Dahlia’s distracted, Mikael grabs a broken piece of wood and goes after Dahlia. Elijah slips into the church and gives Klaus some of his blood, which gives Dahlia two vampires to face again. But she says she’s too powerful to kill, and she disappears as Klaus is tackling her. In worse news, she has the knife.
Marcel comes to the Compound to get Hope and Hayley, who are already gone. Josh is there but doesn’t say a word about what he knows. It’s 8:52 and Aiden is in the getaway car, but he’s not where Jackson, Hayley, and Hope are waiting. He’s still torn about what he should do. Ultimately, he doesn’t have to make a decision – Marcel finds the would-be escapees, and Hayley pretends they were waiting for him to come get them.
Dahlia returns to St. Anne’s and tells her enemies that they’ve lost the only weapon they could have used against her. She destroys it in a fire and asks for Hope. If they hand her over, they’ll all get to live. If they don’t, they’ll just get more of Dahlia’s rage.
Josh and Aiden meet up at Rousseau’s, where Aiden says he told Jackson he got delayed by traffic. Jackson wasn’t happy but he believed it. Aiden wishes he’d never gotten into anything with Klaus. Josh does, too, since he’ll have to get revenge if Klaus ever hurts Aiden. He assures Aiden that his situation isn’t his fault any more than it was Josh’s fault that Klaus made him a vampire. They’re both Klaus’ pawns. Josh has been on his own his whole life, but getting to know Aiden has changed everything. “You are my pack,” he says. He would die for Aiden, Marcel, and Davina because he couldn’t go back to the life he had before. Aiden promises that they’ll figure things out together.
The Mikaelsons all head to the Compound, where Freya says Dahlia will probably leave them alone for the night so they can wallow in their defeat. Klaus says she didn’t impress him, though Mikael doesn’t think she was aiming for that – she wanted them to reveal their weapon. Rebekah’s surprised that the two of them are talking. Mikael recognizes her by her words, if not her face, and asks what trouble Klaus has gotten her into.
Klaus and Elijah both want to figure out their next step. Freya chastises them for rushing into battle and losing their only weapon. She doesn’t have the proper ingredients to make another one. Klaus disagrees – they can easily get more Norwegian soil, and Freya has plenty of blood. All that’s left is Viking ashes. Mikael’s on Freya’s side about Klaus screwing this up, but Klaus is like, “Hey, you know how you’re a Viking? How about I kill you and we use your ashes?”
Mikael isn’t surprised when Klaus attacks him with the indestructible stake, since betrayal is in his nature. Klaus says he wasn’t born like this. Mikael will fight for Freya, the daughter he hasn’t seen in 1,000 years, but he never bothered to be Klaus’ father. Klaus tearfully asks why Mikael hated him, and Mikael admits that he doesn’t know. He just did. “Are those your final words?” Klaus asks. Nope – Mikael looks over at Freya, apologizes, and says he loves her. Klaus stakes him and kills him (again). Voila, Viking ashes!
Josephine compliments a violin player in the Quarter, unaware that she’s Dahlia. Dahlia magically heals Josephine’s hands, which have kept her from playing for decades. Josephine guesses who she is. Dahlia wants to use her to send a message, and Josephine, knowing she can’t fight her, asks to play her violin first. Dahlia lets her, then takes back the bow and uses it to slit Josephine’s throat. That’ll send a message, all right!
Etc.: They missed a big opportunity by not having Esther around when Dahlia showed up. Why not give us more on the theme of sibling betrayal and revenge? Let us see where Klaus got it from.
I can’t tell if Josephine actually liked Elijah or if she was just scared of him. She always resisted giving him what he wanted but ultimately did it anyway, even when he didn’t turn on the charm.
I assume the writers got the idea for St. James Infirmary from Angel, which had its own neutral supernatural bar, Caritas.
Josh Rosza, we do not use our vamp hearing to eavesdrop on our boyfriend’s private phone calls! That said, Aiden, you gotta wait until he turns the shower on before you say things you don’t want him to hear.
An Eternity of Misery 