Graduation - Recap
<-- Previous EpisodeNext Episode -->Chairs have been set up on the high school football field for graduation, Kol addresses all the victims of the massacres who have risen since the veil dropped. Lexie enjoys her return to the living by rocking out to 80’s Bon Jovi with Stefan. Damon returns, wondering if they should do something about the supernatural apocalypse. Stefan plans to drink. Bonnie calls Caroline explaining that she hit a snag putting the veil back up. She has to wait until the full moon tonight to have enough power to do it.
Caroline makes her promise they won't let ghosties and ghoulies get in the way of graduation. When Bonnie gets off the phone, her Grams makes her promise to tell her friends that she has died and to say her good-byes. Grams will guard her body in the cave. Elena hangs out with Alaric and Jeremy, who gorge on fast food while they can. With her humanity back on, Elena is happy with her family once more. She gets a call from Matt's phone; it's Connor at the Grille. Alexander holds Rebekah and Matt captive in a parking lot. Matt is standing on a pressure switch bomb, but Rebekah won't leave him. Galen Vaughn, the hunter from the island, shows up at Damon's doorstep and shoots him. Connor explains to Elena that they want Silas' body and the cure. Connor threatens all the families in the Grille, who are in town for graduation, if she doesn't do what he wants.
At the Salvatore house, Vaughn explains to Damon that Qetsiyah found him at the bottom of the well Damon left him in, and gave him the mission to find and kill Silas. Stefan comes up behind Vaughn and stabs him. Alaric finds Connor at the Grille. Connor is strapped in C4, but Alaric grabs him and rushes him to the back before it explodes. Back in the parking lot, Rebekah contemplates whether she can get Matt off the switch to safety before he explodes. She tells him all the sights of the world she wants to show him. It's a date. At the high school, Katherine comes to Bonnie for the immortality she was promised. She threatens Elena if Bonnie doesn't deliver. Elena comes to Damon at his house, saying there are things they need to talk about. First, he tries to give her the cure.
She wants it, but can't take it because the hunters will kill everyone in town if she does. She turns it down, which settles the sire bond question. Downstairs, Stefan tells Lexie that Elena is the love of his life and he'd go back to her in a heartbeat if she wants him. If not, he'll leave town. On the floor, Galen Vaughn gets up from the dead, again. Elena sees Damon flinch. The bullet Vaughn shot him with was laced with werewolf venom. Elena realizes it will kill Damon and urges him to take the cure. Instead, he goes downstairs and gives the cure to Galen and goes to dig up Silas to save the town. Damon takes Galen to the quarry he dumped Silas' calcified body in. Rebekah holds Matt in place on the pressure bomb.
He reminds her he's wearing the Gilbert ring and can't be killed. She thinks exploding might trump that, but declares that the first rule of truly living is to do something you're afraid of. She kisses him and takes his place. She tells him to run; she can't be killed and he can't miss graduation. He runs, she steps off and explodes. Back at the house, Stefan tells Elena that Damon is really stalling; he hasn't had time to bury Silas yet. Stefan will go to New Orleans to get Klaus' blood himself if he has to. Caroline leaves Klaus a message begging him to come back and cure Damon. Bonnie, Stefan, Matt, Caroline and Elena meet up before graduation. Bonnie soaks up the moment, but doesn't tell anyone her secret.
Graduation begins and Bonnie's dad reads the graduates' names as they cross the stage. Bonnie thanks him and hugs him. One by one, they all cross the stage. Kol shows up at graduation and tells Bonnie he doesn't want the veil back up; he wants it dropped completely so he and his friends can live. Bonnie takes Kol to her dead body and explains the situation and that she wants to stay, too. She traps him with a spell and tells him they can't always get what they want. At the lake, Galen realizes Damon was stalling. He sees that Damon is infected with werewolf venom and realizes Connor's bullets must have been laced. He shoots Damon in the leg and then in the chest to make him give up Silas' real location.
Alaric swoops in and breaks Galen's neck, tossing him over the edge into the lake. He grabs the cure before he tosses Galen over. Alaric calls Stefan: Damon doesn't have long and they have to decide whether to force-feed Damon the cure. The gang is debating at graduation when witches paralyze them with a high pitched spell. Suddenly, one of the witches is decapitated. Klaus has returned and found a new use for a mortar board. Back at the house, Damon is back in one piece, all healed. Elena slaps him. She talks to Stefan alone. Lexie can't wait to see what happens. She hangs out with Alaric. She thinks there must be something better than where they are on the other side. Elena thanks Stefan for not giving up on her.
She gives him the cure. At the empty high school field, Caroline talks to Klaus. He was already on his way there having received her graduation announcement. He got her a graduation present: Tyler is free to return to Mystic Falls. Damon refuses to apologize to Elena for not taking the cure, or for not wanting to be without her. Stefan loads Silas' wrapped stone body into the trunk. They plan to dump him in the quarry. Damon tries to talk to him but can't think of what to say. Jeremy visits Bonnie in the cave to say good-bye. He left Elena a letter. Bonnie begins her spell. At the house, Alaric sees the moon is full. Alaric tells Damon he’s got the girl and shouldn’t screw up this time.
Then Alaric disappears. Stefan drives down the road with Lexie and tries to figure out where to move. She assures him there are multiple "ones" for vampires. Lexie disappears. Elena goes looking for Bonnie and Jeremy but finds Kol instead. He attacks her and is about to chomp down when he disappears. And then Katherine shows up. Back in the cave, Bonnie has nearly closed the veil. Jeremy tries to think of what to say to her, but kisses her instead. The spell ends. Jeremy gasps. Bonnie realizes her spell worked. Jeremy is alive. He can't feel her and realizes she's dead. She asks him to tell Elena and Caroline that she's spending the summer with her mom.
Rebekah shows up at Tyler's house to see Matt, giving him an out. He doesn't take it and agrees to go on the road with her. Back at the high school, Katherine throws Elena around, saying Elena stole her happiness. Elena starts fighting back, but Katherine gets the upper hand, throwing Elena into glass and breaking off a mop handle. She stabs Elena in the throat with it. Elena flashes back to her conversation with Stefan, in which he told her everything he did to get her the cure was so she would have the choice whether or not to be a vampire. On the floor of the high school, with Katherine on top of her, Elena takes out the cure, jams it in Katherine's mouth and forces her mouth shut.
At the quarry, Stefan takes Silas' body out of the back of his car. Except he finds it's not Silas, it's a bag of stones. Silas appears to him as Elena. He explains that the spell that turned him to stone was unbroken when the witch who created it died. Worse, since he created the immortality spell, nature needed a balance and created a shadow self. It looks like Stefan. Silas-as-Stefan stabs Stefan, tosses him in a safe and drops the safe into the depths of the quarry. The safe, and Stefan inside it, sinks below the water.
Caroline makes her promise they won't let ghosties and ghoulies get in the way of graduation. When Bonnie gets off the phone, her Grams makes her promise to tell her friends that she has died and to say her good-byes. Grams will guard her body in the cave. Elena hangs out with Alaric and Jeremy, who gorge on fast food while they can. With her humanity back on, Elena is happy with her family once more. She gets a call from Matt's phone; it's Connor at the Grille. Alexander holds Rebekah and Matt captive in a parking lot. Matt is standing on a pressure switch bomb, but Rebekah won't leave him. Galen Vaughn, the hunter from the island, shows up at Damon's doorstep and shoots him. Connor explains to Elena that they want Silas' body and the cure. Connor threatens all the families in the Grille, who are in town for graduation, if she doesn't do what he wants.
At the Salvatore house, Vaughn explains to Damon that Qetsiyah found him at the bottom of the well Damon left him in, and gave him the mission to find and kill Silas. Stefan comes up behind Vaughn and stabs him. Alaric finds Connor at the Grille. Connor is strapped in C4, but Alaric grabs him and rushes him to the back before it explodes. Back in the parking lot, Rebekah contemplates whether she can get Matt off the switch to safety before he explodes. She tells him all the sights of the world she wants to show him. It's a date. At the high school, Katherine comes to Bonnie for the immortality she was promised. She threatens Elena if Bonnie doesn't deliver. Elena comes to Damon at his house, saying there are things they need to talk about. First, he tries to give her the cure.
She wants it, but can't take it because the hunters will kill everyone in town if she does. She turns it down, which settles the sire bond question. Downstairs, Stefan tells Lexie that Elena is the love of his life and he'd go back to her in a heartbeat if she wants him. If not, he'll leave town. On the floor, Galen Vaughn gets up from the dead, again. Elena sees Damon flinch. The bullet Vaughn shot him with was laced with werewolf venom. Elena realizes it will kill Damon and urges him to take the cure. Instead, he goes downstairs and gives the cure to Galen and goes to dig up Silas to save the town. Damon takes Galen to the quarry he dumped Silas' calcified body in. Rebekah holds Matt in place on the pressure bomb.
He reminds her he's wearing the Gilbert ring and can't be killed. She thinks exploding might trump that, but declares that the first rule of truly living is to do something you're afraid of. She kisses him and takes his place. She tells him to run; she can't be killed and he can't miss graduation. He runs, she steps off and explodes. Back at the house, Stefan tells Elena that Damon is really stalling; he hasn't had time to bury Silas yet. Stefan will go to New Orleans to get Klaus' blood himself if he has to. Caroline leaves Klaus a message begging him to come back and cure Damon. Bonnie, Stefan, Matt, Caroline and Elena meet up before graduation. Bonnie soaks up the moment, but doesn't tell anyone her secret.
Graduation begins and Bonnie's dad reads the graduates' names as they cross the stage. Bonnie thanks him and hugs him. One by one, they all cross the stage. Kol shows up at graduation and tells Bonnie he doesn't want the veil back up; he wants it dropped completely so he and his friends can live. Bonnie takes Kol to her dead body and explains the situation and that she wants to stay, too. She traps him with a spell and tells him they can't always get what they want. At the lake, Galen realizes Damon was stalling. He sees that Damon is infected with werewolf venom and realizes Connor's bullets must have been laced. He shoots Damon in the leg and then in the chest to make him give up Silas' real location.
Alaric swoops in and breaks Galen's neck, tossing him over the edge into the lake. He grabs the cure before he tosses Galen over. Alaric calls Stefan: Damon doesn't have long and they have to decide whether to force-feed Damon the cure. The gang is debating at graduation when witches paralyze them with a high pitched spell. Suddenly, one of the witches is decapitated. Klaus has returned and found a new use for a mortar board. Back at the house, Damon is back in one piece, all healed. Elena slaps him. She talks to Stefan alone. Lexie can't wait to see what happens. She hangs out with Alaric. She thinks there must be something better than where they are on the other side. Elena thanks Stefan for not giving up on her.
She gives him the cure. At the empty high school field, Caroline talks to Klaus. He was already on his way there having received her graduation announcement. He got her a graduation present: Tyler is free to return to Mystic Falls. Damon refuses to apologize to Elena for not taking the cure, or for not wanting to be without her. Stefan loads Silas' wrapped stone body into the trunk. They plan to dump him in the quarry. Damon tries to talk to him but can't think of what to say. Jeremy visits Bonnie in the cave to say good-bye. He left Elena a letter. Bonnie begins her spell. At the house, Alaric sees the moon is full. Alaric tells Damon he’s got the girl and shouldn’t screw up this time.
Then Alaric disappears. Stefan drives down the road with Lexie and tries to figure out where to move. She assures him there are multiple "ones" for vampires. Lexie disappears. Elena goes looking for Bonnie and Jeremy but finds Kol instead. He attacks her and is about to chomp down when he disappears. And then Katherine shows up. Back in the cave, Bonnie has nearly closed the veil. Jeremy tries to think of what to say to her, but kisses her instead. The spell ends. Jeremy gasps. Bonnie realizes her spell worked. Jeremy is alive. He can't feel her and realizes she's dead. She asks him to tell Elena and Caroline that she's spending the summer with her mom.
Rebekah shows up at Tyler's house to see Matt, giving him an out. He doesn't take it and agrees to go on the road with her. Back at the high school, Katherine throws Elena around, saying Elena stole her happiness. Elena starts fighting back, but Katherine gets the upper hand, throwing Elena into glass and breaking off a mop handle. She stabs Elena in the throat with it. Elena flashes back to her conversation with Stefan, in which he told her everything he did to get her the cure was so she would have the choice whether or not to be a vampire. On the floor of the high school, with Katherine on top of her, Elena takes out the cure, jams it in Katherine's mouth and forces her mouth shut.
At the quarry, Stefan takes Silas' body out of the back of his car. Except he finds it's not Silas, it's a bag of stones. Silas appears to him as Elena. He explains that the spell that turned him to stone was unbroken when the witch who created it died. Worse, since he created the immortality spell, nature needed a balance and created a shadow self. It looks like Stefan. Silas-as-Stefan stabs Stefan, tosses him in a safe and drops the safe into the depths of the quarry. The safe, and Stefan inside it, sinks below the water.
