‘The Vampire Diaries’ recap: ‘What Are You?’ – EW.com

Ive said this a few times over the last several weeks, but there was a lot about this episode that felt like old school TVD, which is what I want out of the shows ending. Whether were talking about the last-minute surprise, the brotherly love, the flashbacks, or just the general theme of redemption, its all familiar even, unfortunately, the grief.

What Are You?: I love that they chose this as the title for this particular episode the first in which Stefan is human because it dates back to the moment Elena Gilbert rushed to the Salvatore mansion and demanded to know WHAT Stefan was. His response? Im a vampire. And even then, he hated that fact. So much of this hour brought me back to Blood Brothers, in which we first saw what Stefan was like post-Ripper binge. As he contemplated killing himself, he told Elena, It hurts me, knowing what Ive done, and that pain, that pain is with me all the time. Now, hes finally escaped being a vampire, and yet, that pain and grief are possibly worse than ever. After all, your humanity can never be more ON than when youre, you know, a human.

We start the hour with Matt dreaming of the moment the Maxwell bell rang and burned 100 witches alive. When he wakes up, hes somehow found his way into the tunnels at the Armory where they found Ethan Maxwells remains. Also, hes VERY sweaty. Thankfully, Ric is back in town to help Dorian with something, so hes able to sit Matt down to try to figure out whats going on. Between Ric and Dorian, they decide it might not have been so much a dream as a memory. Turns out, the Maxwell necklace is more of a talisman. (So Matt is Bonnie in season 1?) Dorian thinks there could be a psychic link between Matt and Ethan Maxwell. And yet, they have to press pause on that theory when Ric gets a phone call updating him on whats happened.

In case you forgot, what happened is that Stefan killed Enzo, and then Bonnie gave Stefan the cure. Now, Bonnies refusing to answer her phone except to briefly update Damon and Stefans just been arrested. Turns out, you cant speed and have blood on your hands when youre a human. Well, you can, but youll end up in jail thanks to a lack of supernatural compulsion.

But before Damon can meet Caroline at the police station, he has to deal with the devil sitting in his living room literally. Cade pays Damon a visit to let him know their deal is officially void. Considering the deal was for two immortal beings, the fact that Stefans a human means Damons free to go. That is if by free, you mean he has to deliver Ethan Maxwells journal to Cade by midnight unless he wants Cade to kill his brother and drag him to hell. I guess we shouldnt have expected a literal deal with the devil to end so easily, huh?

At the police station, Stefan is presented with photos of each of his victims its the new name of the wall as his prints have matched with 32 murders in the last month. But before things go any further, Caroline arrives and compels Stefans crimes away from everyone except Stefan. In fact, while shes compelling people, Stefan who pockets his daylight ring seeing as how he no longer needs it overhears a little girl ask the cops for help finding her mother. And her mother? Its the real estate agent Stefan left for dead in the trunk of a car before he killed Enzo. In order to make something right, he and Caroline decide to try to find her.

Damon, trying to get his hands on the Maxwell journal, shows up at the Armory and explains his situation, but between Matts visions and Cades interest in the journal, Ric takes matters into his own hands. After locking Damon up in a cell, they decide to put Matt in a hypnotic state in order to trigger his visions. If theyre lucky, the answer to their question is in Matts head. (As Damon puts it, Thatd be a first.)

Once in the hypnotic state, Matt takes us back to the house where the witches were burned. Its there Ethan Maxwell and Beatrice Bennett are putting the finishes touches on the magical bell thats going to drive the beasts from their land. Only, when Sybil and Seline show up, they siren Ethan into helping with Cades plan for the bell. It seems Cade has made a few tweaks, and by adding the tuning fork, the bell, when rung 12 times, will release hellfire. And becauseof the mind control of it all, Ethan has no choice but to ring it.

But it seems Ethan Maxwell was pretty smart, so he finds a loophole in the mind control. He might not be able to tell Bea whats happening, but he writes her a coded message, warning her of whats to come. She relays the message to the witches, so they stand united as Ethan rings the bell and do their best to fight back the hellfire. In the end, they save their city, but all 100 of them fall.

NEXT: A surprise return

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'The Vampire Diaries' recap: 'What Are You?' - EW.com