Rewind and Repeat: Elijah’s Finally Awake, The Vampire Diaries “The Ties That Bind” 

We’ve been missing Elijah something fierce so when he made his amazing (and amazingly violent) return at the end of “The Ties That Bind” there was some joyful shouting going on. That hybrid had to go anyway – he was part of the plan that put Bonnie and her family as well as Stefan in grave danger – but it was still a surprise to see Elijah kill him. And when he asks Klaus what he’s missed? So much, Elijah. So much.

We knew it was only a matter of time before Klaus out-villained Stefan. We didn’t think he’d get (most of) the coffins back quite this quickly, but we know Klaus does tend to be a step ahead of everyone else. After Klaus got his hybrids out of town he went to Stefan again to ask for the coffins back. But Stefan wanted to see Klaus leave town and call in a few years and then maybe he’d see his family again. Although Klaus has been alive for centuries, it seems being without his family for that long would’ve been an eternity. But the most interesting part of that scene wasn’t the threats or the posturing, it was actually the unexpected empathy for Stefan when Klaus said:

“Yeah, right. Crazy Stefan. Hmmm. How’s that working out for you? Any friends left?

His tone may have been faintly taunting, but the fact that Klaus said it means he knows all to well the cost of his actions.

Klaus knew Stefan wouldn’t budge so he put one of his banished hybrids into motion. He compels Jamie, the guy Bonnie’s mom Abby helped raise instead of her, to kill himself if Bonnie and her friends don’t tell the hybrid where those coffins are. We have to admit we kind of like how this all played out. We’re not sure what Bonnie was expecting when she went to see her mom but we’re sure it wasn’t to have her magic temporarily weakened or this kind of betrayal. Abby did redeem herself – somewhat – when she let Bonnie warn her friends.

And it was that warning that brought about the return of Elijah. When Damon went to the house of a hundred dead witches and saw that the coffins were hidden he knew someone was in the house with him. That was another great scene. We loved seeing the witches hurt Klaus – it’s nice to know someone still has that power. But it’s short lived. The dead witches can’t be that mad at Bonnie because Klaus threatening to end the Bennett line gets them to reveal those coffins. But one’s missing and from Klaus’s reaction, Damon can tell it’s the most important one of the bunch. So even though Klaus gets his family back, Damon – ever his usual devilish self – gets a bit of revenge. It was him who undaggered Elijah.

And thanks to all things Twitter, we knew something big was coming at the very end of “The Ties that Bind.” TVD EP Julie Plec even tweeted about it:

“Oh yeah, I totally forgot to mention that something f-cking awesome happens in the last 20 seconds tonight, #TVD

Let’s just say the hype over the ending didn’t disappoint. Elijah offing the hybrid then greeting his brother Klaus was just unexpected goodness. It was bloody sweet goodness. The moment was short but it was glorious. It totally overshadowed the Stefan punching Damon moment that preceded it. As soon as the action cut to black and the credits came up, we hit rewind and watched it again. And then again. And maybe even one or three more times after that. It was simply great to see Daniel Gillies as Elijah up and about, ripping the hybrid’s heart out and then saying something so flippantly great to his brother like “What’d I miss?” We know what we’ve missed. We’ve missed you, Elijah.

We can’t wait to see how Elijah being awake complicates things for Klaus. Is it time for some epic payback? Only time will tell.

The Vampire Diaries air Thursdays at 8/7c on the CW.