The Vampire Diaries: Season 2 is the Best of all the Seasons #298

The second season of The Vampire Diaries is one of the most exciting out of all eight seasons. We meet two powerful villains in this season and witness a slow-burning romance between Damon and his love interest. To better summarize the many events in this season, I have created an episode-based summary as opposed to my previous blog on Season 1…

Episode 1: The Return
Elena kissed Damon in front of her house. She then attacked Uncle John, chopping off his fingers and taking a protective ring. After some discussion, Damon realized he had actually kissed Katherine, not Elena. Later, Katherine pretended to be Elena when she met Stefan at the house but failed to fool him. The brothers fought after Stefan learned about Damon’s kiss with “Elena”. Elena stopped the fight by blaming it all on Katherine who always wanted them to fight for her attention.

Katherine went to Lockwood Mansion where people paid respect to the mayor who recently passed away. Salvatore brothers were suspicious of her intentions but couldn’t figure out what she was up to. Surprisingly enough, Damon still wanted a new life with Katherine and confronted her about her true feelings. However, Katherine only loved Stefan and left him behind.

Feeling betrayed and abandoned, Damon arrived at Elena’s house. He was drunk and tried to convince Elena that she had feelings for him. Just as she denied his advances, Jeremy entered the room. In a fit of rage, Damon snapped Jeremy’s neck and fled the scene.

Later it was discovered that Jeremy was wearing Uncle John’s special ring, which fortunately saved him from death. This is just one example of Damon’s many misdeeds – I can’t understand how Elena could ever forgive him for this!

Meanwhile, Katherine turned Caroline into a vampire while she was still in the hospital. Nina deserves credit for her acting skills; playing both Elena and Katherine without confusing everyone was truly amazing!

Episode 2: Brave New World

Caroline was reluctantly dragged into the vampire life. She completed her transition by drinking human blood from a bag but struggled to control her thirst. At a carnival, she unintentionally killed Bonnie’s crush and Damon wanted to kill Caroline because she was new and made it hard for the Salvatore brothers to stay hidden. However, Stefan and Elena saved Caroline from Damon that night. Stefan took responsibility as a friend and promised to help her live without hurting humans. As Caroline’s compulsion faded, she remembered being abused by Damon earlier. Her new strength and confidence brought challenges in her relationship with Matt, who remained human.

We are introduced to Mason, Tyler’s uncle. Damon finds Tyler’s anger issues interesting and stages a situation at the carnival to observe both Tyler and Mason. They exhibit unusual strength but do not appear to be vampires. Stefan wakes Elena up in the early morning and takes her to the empty carnival so they can kiss as she had requested earlier. The couple promises each other to continue creating precious memories while facing unknown dangers.

Episode 3: Bad Moon Rising

The Salvatore brothers became interested in the Lockwoods due to Tyler and Mason’s unnatural aggression and strength. Alaric’s wife, who is also Elena’s biological mother Isobel, researched supernatural creatures extensively. Damon and Alaric visited Isobel’s old office to find her work while Elena joined them hoping for answers about her relationship with Katherine. Caroline, a new vampire without a daylight ring, was stuck at home trying to figure out how to tell Matt. Stefan stayed behind to help Caroline adjust by convincing Bonnie to make her a daylight ring despite Caroline killing Bonnie’s crush just days before. Stefan taught Caroline how to hunt animals instead of humans so she wouldn’t hurt anyone else.

Damon and his team narrowed down the Lockwoods’ potential supernatural identities to werewolves. They discovered that werewolves transform into their natural form during full moons, and their bites are lethal for vampires. Coincidentally, Tyler hosted a party on the night of a full moon. While Stef and Caroline were in the woods, Mason transformed into a werewolf and attacked them. Fortunately, they managed to escape. Later on, Matt broke up with Caroline due to bad blood between them.

During a trip, Elena tricked Damon by pretending she would give him another chance after he snapped Jeremy’s neck so that he would help her cause. In return for her deception, Damon gave Elena an old book documenting Petrova lineage–Katherine’s original family–to help her find connections with Katherine.

“You and Katherine have a lot more common, not just the looks…”,
Damon told Elena after realizing Elena’s intention.

Elena was fully aware of the power she had on both Damon and Stefan- which she continued to use in the following events.

Episode 4: Memory Lane

Katherine snuck into Stefan’s bed while he slept and replaced Elena in his subconscious with herself. When Stef woke up, he interrogated Katherine about her motive. She explained an incident from 1864 when she made a deal with one of the Lockwoods to escape the tomb in exchange for a moonstone. Damon intimidated Mason, but it backfired when Mason turned against him after Damon tried to kill him. Meanwhile, Caroline was threatened by Katherine and convinced Elena to break up with Stefan. Knowing her friend well, Elena staged their breakup to avoid Katherine’s wrath.

Episode 5: Kill or Be Killed

Stefan and Elena continued to see each other in secret. Tyler gave Mason the moonstone he found in his dad’s belongings, which allegedly could break the werewolf curse. Mason exposed the Salvatore brothers to Liz, who is a sheriff and part of a secret council (Caroline’s mother). Liz captured them, but Caroline rescued her vampire friends along with Elena. Katherine tricked Mason into collecting the moonstone for her by pretending to be in love with him, ultimately triggering his werewolf curse for her own benefit. Stefan decided to build up tolerance to human blood by taking a few drops every day after the incident with Liz.

Episode 6: Plan B

Caroline bonded with her mother and shared her experience of being dead but alive. With Bonnie’s assistance, Damon apprehended Mason to gather more information about the moonstone. The Salvatore brothers obtained the moonstone and Damon eliminated Mason. Katherine learned of this and enacted her backup plan: she compelled Aunt Jenna to stab herself as a means of threatening everyone. Fortunately, Aunt Jenna survived the incident. Stefan and Elena felt guilty for pretending to break up in order to deceive Katherine about their relationship status.

Episode 7: Masquerade

Katherine invited everyone to a masquerade party at the Lockwoods’. The Salvatore brothers, Alaric, Bonnie, and Jeremy planned to kill Katherine. They almost succeeded until they discovered that Elena was magically linked with Katherine – killing one would mean killing both. With the help of a witch ally who bonded with Bonnie, they broke the link and Damon locked Katherine in a tomb where she remained for 100 years. Stefan and Elena paused their relationship due to the threat on their loved ones. Some guests at the party helped trigger Tyler’s werewolf curse as per Katherine’s instructions. This resulted in Mason’s sudden disappearance and uncovered Tyler’s vulnerable side. Meanwhile, Bonnie and Jeremy started bonding while Alaric grew closer to Jenna.

Episode 8: Rose

Elena was kidnapped by two vampires, Trevor and Rose, on her way home from a masquerade ball. They wanted to trade Elena for their freedom with an original vampire named Elijah who is the strongest of them all and around 1000 years old. This group has been hunting Trevor and Rose since they helped Katherine escape in the 15th century. Luckily, Bonnie used spells to locate Elena’s whereabouts and the Salvatore brothers saved her. Although Elijah killed Trevor, he let Rose go free. Meanwhile, Jeremy learned about Bonnie’s health struggles due to using spells too often while helping find Elena. Tyler tried persuading Caroline into revealing if she was a werewolf but later she revealed her true identity and made him swear not to tell anyone else about it.

After being rescued, Elena came home. Damon finally confessed his love to her-

“I just have to say it once- you just need to hear it…. I love you, Elena. And it’s because I love you that… I can’t be selfish with you… and why you can’t know this. I don’t deserve you. But my brother does.”
kissing her on the forehead he compelled Elena to forget this conversation, “God, I wish you didn’t have to forget this. But you do.”
Damon Salvatore

Both Damon and Stefan were ready to die to save Elena that day and I was definitely a huge fan of Stefan-Elena’s relationship when I watched for the first time. But this scene makes Damon-Elena much more special… (Even though I couldn’t look beyond Damon’s misdeeds!)

Episode 9: Katerina

This episode focuses on Katherine’s history. After losing Trevor and being excused by Elijah, Rose has a change of heart and decides to help Elena and the Salvatore brothers. The originals need Elena for something that isn’t really adding up. Elena goes to the tomb where Katherine is held captive. In exchange for drops of blood that would delay her desiccation, she requests more details from Katherine. Originally Katerina Petrova, Katherine was from Bulgaria in the 1400s. She was disowned by her family and society after having a child outside of marriage.

The originals required Petrova doppelganger’s blood for sacrifice, as set by the witches. The sacrifice necessitated Katherine’s death. Trevor loved Katherine and gave her shelter in Rose’s house. However, unwilling to die a horrible death, Katherine attempted suicide but failed due to Rose’s intervention (Rose opposed Trevor). That night, with Rose’s blood in her body, Katherine hung herself and returned as a vampire. She completed her transition by feeding on her human host. Being a vampire rendered her unsuitable for the sacrifice; nevertheless, the originals killed her entire family out of revenge and have been hunting her ever since.

Katherine mentioned that the sacrifice needed a witch, werewolf, and vampire – not just Elena. Her loved ones were also in danger. Damon and Rose searched for clues to save her. Rose knew Damon was deeply in love with Elena; they bonded over their tragedies. Bonnie befriended Luca, a warlock, and his father who was also a witch. The episode ended with Elijah returning from the dead and talking to Luca’s father.

Episode 10: The Sacrifice

Salvatore brothers were desperate to stop Klaus from sacrificing Elena. They aimed to destroy one of the requirements, the moonstone. Unfortunately, Katherine had it in the tomb where vampires can enter but not leave due to Bonnie’s spell. Jeremy took on the mission secretly and Stefan helped him by getting himself stranded with Katherine in the tomb. Meanwhile, Bonnie befriended Luka who taught her how to channel energy for powerful spells. To save Elena, she decided to hand herself over secretly to Elijah but Damon intervened just in time and they were allowed to go for now. With a new moon approaching, Tyler grew anxious while Caroline tried helping him out which eventually pushed Matt away from her.

Episode 11: By the Light of the moon

Bonnie used a spell to protect Elena by locking her in her own house.- Caroline went with Tyler to the underground cellar for his transformation.
Jules, another werewolf, came to Mystic Falls looking for Mason. Damon picked a fight with her and during the full moon, Jules broke into Salvatore’s house to attack him. In the encounter, Rose got bitten by Jules.
Stefan was able to get out of the tomb and reunite with Elena thanks to help from Bonnie.
Elena had made a secret deal with Elijah: she would surrender in exchange for keeping all of her loved ones protected.

Episode 12: The Descent

Rose’s werewolf bite worsened, causing her to hallucinate and attack Elena, mistaking her for Katherine. To spare Rose from a painful death, Damon showed her a comforting dream before ultimately staking her heart. Though he cared for Rose as a friend, Damon felt guilty about her demise. Jules informed Tyler that Damon was responsible for Mason’s death and revealed the existence of other vampires in his social circle.

Episode 13: Daddy Issues

Tyler confronted Caroline for hiding information about Mason and the vampires in town. After Rose’s death, Damon went on a killing spree while upset. John Gilbert’s return made everyone angry and doubtful. Jules arrived with her werewolf boyfriend, hoping to take Tyler with them. They kidnapped and tortured Caroline to get Tyler. Elijah’s ally witch saved Elena’s friends during their encounter with the werewolf pack as promised. To distract himself from Elena, Damon compelled a news reporter named Andy to be his girlfriend.

Episode 14: Crying Wolf

Bonnie hypnotized Luka to learn their true intentions and how to kill Klaus. Stefan and Elena went to the Gilbert family’s old lake house for some quality time together. While there, Elena discovered her ancestor’s vampire hunting weapons along with late John Gilbert’s diary. Tyler learned from his werewolf friends that whichever species performs the sacrifice will be free from the sun and moon curse – vampires would be able to walk in the sun, while werewolves wouldn’t have to turn every full moon. Unaware of the entire plan, Tyler helped them kidnap Elena but backed off when he found out she needed to die in the sacrifice. Jules’ vengeful boyfriend died during their encounter, leading regretful Tyler to leave town with Jules after she promised him help with his werewolf life.

Episode 15: The Dinner Party

Elena found a mention of Stefan in her ancestor’s diary from when he was addicted to human blood. Stefan told Elena more about his past and how meeting Lexi made him better. Elijah presented himself as a researcher to Aunt Jenna to find an ancient burial ground for witches. Damon planned to kill Elijah because he doubted his true intentions. Uncle John gave Damon the dagger to kill an original vampire, hoping to kill both Damon and Elijah (as any vampire killing Elijah would die too). Alaric stabbed Elijah and moved his body to a cellar, intending to keep the dagger in his heart so that he could not come back. However, this plan fell apart due to lack of knowledge about how it worked. Irritated by these events, Elijah reached the lake house with plans on taking Elena with him but got tricked and staked by her instead.

Luka’s father took Bonnie’s magical power after learning about hypnosis while Katherine paid a visit to Damon after being free from compulsion by Elijah. She confessed that she misled Damon into thinking that if they killed Elijah, she’d be stuck in the tomb forever.

Uncle John exposed the truth about Alaric’s ex-wife Isobel which forced him into giving up his special ring that protected him from getting killed by supernatural

Episode 16: The House Guest

Katherine stayed at Salvatore house for a few days. Damon ignored her. Stefan attempted to reconcile with Luca and his father, who previously worked with Elijah to free Luka’s sister from Klaus. During their attempt to revive Elijah by removing the dagger from his corpse using witch magic, Luca died while his father survived. Elena spent the night venting with her friends Bonnie and Caroline. Later, Caroline publicly expressed her love for Matt. After Luca’s death, revengeful actions were taken by his father terrorizing everyone in search of Elena which resulted in Matt getting injured during an encounter. Caroline healed him using vampire blood but left Matt confused about her true identity as a vampire. Katherine helped kill Luca’s father by pretending to be Elena and he gave back Bonnie’s powers before dying. Alaric and Jenna started working on their relationship problems despite Alaric being unable to discuss the supernatural creatures lurking around town. Meanwhile, Bonnie and Jeremy grew closer together over time.

Episode 17: Know Thy Enemy

Learning that Isobel, Alaric’s ex-wife, was still alive made Jenna feel betrayed by the family. Katherine pretended to be on Salvatore brothers’ team for killing Klaus but secretly met with her old friend Isobel to make alternate plans for her freedom from Klaus. She stole the moonstone from the Salvatore brothers. Matt and Caroline fought over Caroline being a vampire, and he pretended to be compelled by her to forget about it. Caroline’s mother, Liz, asked Matt to gather more information about vampires in town from Caroline. Compelled by Klaus, Isobel killed herself in front of Elena while Katherine got kidnapped by Klaus. To know about his murder plans, Klaus took on Alaric’s body. The Salvatore brothers made Elena the owner of their house so she could be protected in the best way possible (no new vampire would be able to enter unless invited in by the human owner).

Episode 18: The Last Dance

Klaus forced Katherine to reveal all the progress in his murder plan.- Klaus used Alaric’s body to infiltrate the Salvatore brothers and Elena.
Klaus invited Elena to a school dance and revealed himself using Alaric’s body.
Bonnie gained more power from the hundred witches burial ground to take down Klaus. During their encounter, she pretended to exhaust her powers and die in front of everyone.
Heartbroken by Damon’s selfish schemes, Elena hit him but later apologized after learning the full story. To revive him, Elena removed the dagger from Elijah’s corpse.

Episode 19: Klaus

Klaus held Katerina hostage for information. Damon gave Katherine vervain to prevent Klaus from compelling her. When everyone realized Alaric was actually Klaus, they forbade Jenna from meeting him. Klaus (as himself) went to Elena’s house and revealed everything about vampires and werewolves that had been kept hidden from her. Meanwhile, Elena decided to work with Elijah who told her about Klaus – how he was affectionate and loyal to him, how they met Katherine, and the true sun and moon curse. It turned out that the curse on Klaus was planted in ancient scriptures by him and Elijah as a way of making him invincible by breaking it through sacrifice. The false story was created so that vampires and werewolves could find all the necessary items (a vampire, a werewolf, a witch, a human doppelganger from Petrova bloodline, the moonstone) needed to break the curse while conveniently allowing Klaus to take them away once obtained. Stefan supported Elena in working with Elijah to kill Klaus despite it being life-threatening; however Damon disagreed with their plan. Eventually, Klaus appeared in his true body instead of Alaric’s body.

Episode 20: The Last Day

Real Alaric was reunited with Jenna, and Klaus met with the Salvatores to declare that it would be Elena’s last day as he would perform the sacrifice at night. The plan was for Bonnie to resurrect Elena after her death with a spell. During Klaus’s transition, he would be weak, allowing Bonnie to take him down while Elijah killed him; otherwise, Bonnie would die exhausting her powers. Desperate and doubtful about the original plan to save Elena, Damon forcefully fed her his vampire blood – meaning she would become a vampire after her death in the sacrifice. Stefan took Elena to a beautiful site to lighten up her mood on what she thought was going to be her last day as human. Damon tried unsuccessfully to convince Klaus to postpone the sacrifice before Caroline and Tyler were kidnapped by Klaus (who had returned due an emergency call from his mother). As they were rescued by Damon, Klaus went ahead with his backups: Jenna (turning her into a vampire), Jules (Tyler’s werewolf friend who had come with him), and Elena. Unfortunately, during their rescue attempt of Caroline and Tyler, Damon got bitten by Tyler accidentally.

Episode 21: The Sun Also Rises

The sacrifice began despite attempts to delay it. Stefan offered himself in exchange for Jenna, but Klaus rejected both Salvatore brothers. The sacrifice resulted in the deaths of Jenna and Elena. Bonnie attacked Klaus during his transition, and Elijah arrived just in time to kill him for murdering his family. Klaus promised to reunite Elijah with his loved ones, causing Elijah to change his mind and escape with Klaus from the site of the sacrifice. Uncle John sacrificed himself for a spell that revived Elena, which Bonnie performed the next day. At Jenna’s funeral, Stefan learned about Damon’s werewolf bite.

Episode 22: As I Lay Dying

Damon’s condition became critical and he felt hopeless about recovering, so he tried to kill himself. Stefan saved him and locked him up to prevent any similar attempts. During the sacrifice, Klaus spared Stefan’s life but said he had other plans for him. Desperate for help, Stefan went to Klaus because his blood is the only cure for a werewolf bite. Damon hallucinated and fled from the cellar into town. While trying to aim at Damon, Sheriff Liz accidentally shot Jeremy who later died but was brought back to life by Bonnie’s powerful spell. Elena took care of Damon in his death bed at home. Klaus agreed to share his blood with Damon if Stefan started feeding on human blood again and left town with him as promised.

Klaus freed Katherine and sent her with the cure for Damon while Stefan gave in to his uncontrollable thirst for human blood- earning him the nickname “Ripper” due to draining victims’ bodies of blood and ripping off their heads).

After receiving the cure from Katherine, Damon recovered while Stefan kept his promise by leaving town with Klaus… This is how season 2 ends.

Thumbnail Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash

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