The Originals Season 1, Episode 21: "The Battle of New Orleans" Recap/Review

This episode was seriously BANANAS, you guys. I have to say that it is probably one of my all-time favorite episodes EVER, which is a pretty high bar, considering the vast amount of television I have consumed over the years. Seriously, though, literally everything that could go wrong, did go wrong in this episode, and I was NOT expecting any of it.

First, we're given a bunch of blows to the gut just in reveals alone--Genevieve tricked Klaus by using his blood in the moonlight stones as a power source, which means the moonlight stones that will actively be used by werewolves on a full moon will be drawing on HIS strength to control their transformations. And, to make matters worse, she had secretly made a plan with Francesca to rip off the Crescents and give HER the moonlight stones, because get this, THEY'RE FUCKING GUERRERA WEREWOLVES, who have not only been pretending to be human this whole time, but specifically waited until they had the means to control their transformations before they triggered their werewolf genes (by stabbing and slitting the throats of their security team, natch). Now that they have the power they sought, they're vowing to use their newly-gained powers to take back the city from the vampires who forced them into exile and hiding.

So, by the end of the episode, literally EVERYONE is in peril: Hayley was once again captured by an insane coven of witches before being given a placental abruption for her troubles, so the baby is coming ASAP; Elijah fought his way through at least a couple hundred vampires without even wrinkling his amazing suit, only to be viciously attacked by the recently-revealed pack of Guerrera/Correa werewolves and was left tripping out from werewolf venom. Oh yeah, and literally every vampire we know is currently dying of a werewolf or hybrid bite, too; from the ones we know and love, like Josh and Marcel, to Diego, to all the faceless, nameless, henchvamp soldiers. So yeah, to say that New Orleans was totally in mayhem would be an understatement. But, I've rambled long enough in this intro, let's start talking deets, yeah?

Previously, on The Originals: The supernatural factions' leaders all signed a peace treaty, much to the displeasure of many citizens of NOLA. Marcel ruined La Fête de Bénédictions by vowing that there will be no peace in New Orleans, a statement which ended up being accurate, because shortly afterward, a suicide bomber came strolling into the bayou and blowing up the encampments, killing a shitload of werewolves and injuring many more. Francesca waited approximately 30 seconds after Father Kieran died to start harranguing Cami about Kieran's key, which she believed she deserved as the newest Human Faction rep. As it turned out, whatever the key opened was written in Cami and her brother's secret code inside a jewelry box hidden in Sean's grave. Mikael took advantage of the chaos on the Other Side to make contact with Davina, in hopes of manipulating her into bringing him back to life. Klaus made a plan to create the werewolf-equivalent of a daylight ring, called "moonlight rings," for Hayley and the Crescent wolves. Such a ring requires a specific and yet-unknown stone, but the components of the spell are in Esther's grimoire, which Genevieve just so happened to have wanted to look at for ages. UH OH. Hayley agreed to move back to the Mikaelson compound and raise hers and Klaus' child together, as a family--Elijah, included--and even set up a nursery just to show her how serious he was. Oh, and the ancestors first wanted Genevieve to kill herself to give the coven full access to the Harvest's power, but changed their mind at the last second--instead, they want Genevieve to kill Baby Mikaelson. Whomp whomp. Shouldn't be difficult, should it? Finally, Marcel made his intentions to take back his city quite clear--he and his people will fight until they're dead, a fact that Klaus expected, having taught him to be who he is. WHEW.

We open in this penultimate episode in the backroads of Louisiana, where Jackson is driving Oliver and a bag full of the stones that Klaus needs for the moonlight rings. Oliver whines about how far they have to travel for "a bag of rocks," but Jackson assures him that they'll be back in the Quarter by dawn. Oliver is skeptical that Klaus will actually fulfill his part of their bargain, but Jackson just smiles and reminds him that Hayley will make sure he does what he's supposed to do. "Yeah, I forgot your fiancée's got him wrapped around her finger," Oliver snits bitterly, which just makes me laugh. This kid is so fucking insecure he can't stand the fact that Hayley is the prodigal daughter who has returned to her very excited family and helped them empower themselves. Say what you will about how Hayley is as a person, but you can't say she hasn't done a lot to help her people out. Jackson's not really a fan of the Hayley-hate either, and retorts, "You know, Ollie? I love you like a brother, but if you don't lay off Hayley, we're gonna have a problem."

Oliver isn't really in the mood to argue, and tells Jackson to keep his eye on the road when he sees the flashing lights of a couple police cruisers about a half mile ahead of them. As they continue down the road, they find that the cruisers are completely blocking off the road, which forces them to stop just a few yards away. Both boys look incredibly nervous, but Jackson, ever the alpha, reminds Oliver that they haven't done anything wrong, so they just need to keep their cool. He rolls down his window and leans his head out to shout, "Evenin', officers!" The closest cop to them orders both of them to get out of the car, but Jackson plays dumb very well, and asks them what this all is about. In answer, the half-dozen cops in attendance all pull out their sidearms and shotguns and aim them at their car, scaring the shit out of Jackson and Oliver. Marcel and Diego push through the officers to greet the werewolves with wide smiles. "I think you should do what the man says," Marcel says calmly. "Before things take a nasty turn." Oliver and Jackson just glance at each other before turning back to the vampires and glaring at them. Oh, jfc everything is already a disaster. TITLE CARD!

When we return, we stumble into probably my favorite scene of the episode. It definitely provided me with some much-needed laughs after all the drama and chaos. Anyway, Davina and Josh are chilling out on a bench in a park, where Josh is soaking up some well-deserved sunshine, wearing an amazing pair of sunglasses. "Have I told you that you're awesome?" Josh pipes up amiably. "'Cause you are! I'm with the sun," he begins, as he takes a peek at his hand once again. "Daylight rings..." He notices a cute boy running in a sleeveless shirt and shorts, and blatantly checks him out as he lowers his sunglasses to get a better look. "That guy running in a tank top..." he finishes, as he continues leering. Davina can't help but smile at Josh's goofiness, but she's got some serious stuff on her mind.

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She tries to take a gentle approach as she mentions that now that Josh has a daylight ring and is not restricted to evening hours, he should probably get out of town, at least for a while. "Whoa!" Josh exclaims loudly, as he whips off his sunglasses. "Wait, we're breaking up?" My love for Josh Rosza knows no bounds. Davina insists that she's serious, but Josh can't stop with the joking. "I know! Serious is kind-of your default setting, which is why you need me around to lighten you up! Ergo, not leaving." Davina is startled when she sees Mikael standing behind Josh, across the street, but when she tries to look again, he's gone. Josh can tell she's distracted, and asks her if she's okay. At first, she shrugs it off as witch stuff, but Josh continues to look at her in concern, so she can't help but spill about why she's so nervous.

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DAVINA: "Marcel came to me yesterday. He wanted a cloaking spell. He's going to make a move against Klaus. A big move."

JOSH: [frowns] "Wow, okay. Guess he forgot to call me. Rude! [beat] Did you help him?"

DAVINA: "Yes, because I didn't want him to get killed! But, if Klaus finds out--"

JOSH: [cuts her off] "--Hey! Look, if Marcel's got a plan, maybe Klaus will buy a clue, realize he's a negative on the popularity chart, and go into vampire retirement? I hear Palm Springs is nice!"

GOD, JOSH IS THE BEST. If he ever dies I will seriously riot outside Julie Plec's apartment. Anyway, Davina is still nervous, and looks back across the street again to see if Mikael is still there. (He isn't.) With Mikael still on her mind, she suggests that Klaus isn't the only thing that they need to be afraid of, but since Josh has no idea about Mikael, he has no idea what she's talking about, either. She backtracks, and reminds him that chances are, war is about to break out, and if that's the case, she wants him to promise her that he'll get the fuck out of dodge before he ends up being a casualty. Josh is sad that she wants him to leave, even if she is doing it to keep him safe, and nods to agree to the promise. Of course, it would be WAY too easy if Josh could just leave with nobody the wiser, as we'll see here in a little bit.

Over at the Abbatoir, Klaus and Genevieve are in one of the millions of rooms in the compound, where Klaus has given Genevieve several pages of Esther's grimoire that contain the various spells she'll need to combine to make the moonlight stones. She sits at the table and examines the spells while Klaus supervises her impatiently. "Your mother's spell is as complicated as it is elegant. She was clearly a very gifted witch," Genevieve says in awe. Klaus snatches a page from her hand and points to a specific excerpt and asks if her if that's the part they need. Genevieve snatches the page back, and reminds him that, as she said, it's a complicated spell--apparently, Esther bound protection magic to black kyanite stones, and with this spell, a werewolf in possession of the stone would be free from turning on the full moon. However, Klaus wanted improvements to the spell, which requires that Genevieve borrow from the spell that turned her children into vampires so that the people with the stones could still have access to their fangs, for werewolf bite purposes. Genevieve adds that he also wanted venom, considering that he wants the bites to be lethal to vampires, which will be taken from a third spell. GEEZ, that's a lot of work! And, naturally, Genevieve isn't exactly telling him the whole truth, either.

Klaus smiles as Genevieve carefully lays the pages down on the table in front of her. "Here," she admits with some jealousy. "It should make a nice gift. I'm sure Hayley will be thrilled." Unfortunately for her, though Elijah only really gives a fuck about Hayley, Klaus has made a promise to the entire Crescent clan, and probably his own Northeastern Atlantic clan as well, so instructs her to make a hundred of them, just to be on the safe side. Genevieve's smile vanishes, and she points out that her deal with Elijah only included one stone, but Klaus counters that now, she's dealing with him, and he's willing to offer more than his brother. "You think because I sleep with you, I'm suddenly at your beck and call?" Genevieve asks, annoyed, but Klaus immediately slides into businessman-mode in order to negotiate. "Because you sleep with me, love, I will protect you from those who might do you harm, including my brother," he begins. "Because I NEED you, however, I'm prepared to offer something more valuable than my protection." Genevieve can't possibly imagine what he could have to offer, but Klaus totally has her number, as we well know.

"My mother's grimoire, from which I took these spells" Klaus admits with a smile. "You see, Elijah is offering you a mere peek at its pages, but I will grant it to you as a gift, IF you pledge your loyalty to me, beginning with the creation of these stones." Genevieve is really not impressed with his manipulation, and correctly guesses that this has been his plan all along--seducing her, winning her favor, and then convincing her to help him build his werewolf army. Klaus turns on the charm again, and places his hand over hers as he reminds her that neither he, nor the wolves, are her enemy (not yet, anyway). "Your abusive coven expects you to sacrifice yourself for the last of the Harvest girls! Do this one favor for me, and you need never fear anyone ever again." First of all, how did Klaus learn about the coven wanting to kill Genevieve? Did Genevieve say that in order to trick him into thinking that she would be more likely to agree if she needed his protection? If so, that is some pretty impressive and devious acting on her part. Secondly, I get that Klaus is pretty much in such a bind that he's forced to trust that those who are helping him won't screw him over, but whatever happened to the Klaus that always has a backup plan? He should know better than anyone that these people are all pretty eager to put him in his place, and because of that, he needs AT LEAST six back-up plans, just in case.

At Rousseau's, Cami is at work, working on translating the code carved into the box in Sean's grave, which Kieran's key opened in a little notepad. Out of nowhere, a bunch of men in suits come in and start clearing customers out of the restaurant. Cami notices them, and immediately rushes over to see what they're doing, when Francesca swaggers in and chirps, "I tried to be nice about this..." Cami quickly stuffs her notepad in her back pocket and asks her who the fuck she thinks she is, but unfortunately, Francesca is several moves ahead of her. "I am the new owner of this..." Francesca looks around the restaurant, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "...gumbo shack. Ink's not dry on the contracts, yet, but I can tell you I got it cheap. Business is NOT what it used to be, since Sophie Deveraux kicked the bucket." Oh, shit! I forgot about that--wasn't Sophie's gumbo, like, the main attraction to that restaurant? Bummer. One of Francesca's goons locks the front door to the restaurant like a stereotypical mafioso, and Cami starts to get a little scared. She states that she doesn't want any trouble, but of course, Francesca gives zero fucks about anyone but herself, so she's more concerned about what SHE wants, ie: Kieran's key.

Cami points out that Francesca claimed she planned to use the key to protect the innocents of the city, which she finds pretty ironic, considering that Francesca is literally the matriarch of a drug cartel, but Francesca has her fake-businesswoman-act down pat, and just smiles. "I'm a legitimate businesswoman who's never been convicted of a crime." She circles around Cami threateningly and adds, "And, as leader of the Human Faction, that key is MINE. I gave you time to mourn. Now, time's up." Cami's like, "Roger that, lady, but I don't have the key, like I told you the first time," which starts to crack Francesca's friendly facade.

FRANCESCA: "My family's been in New Orleans a long time, Cami*. Even longer than yours! And we've learned it's a very hard city to get by in, if you don't have any friends. I'd like to be your friend. So, I'm going to give you until tomorrow. And, after that, I won't be so friendly."

She smiles coldly, and leaves Cami alone in the restaurant, with her security team in tow. The * in that statement is me sticking a pin in this for later, because I have a SHITLOAD to say about the Correas/Guerreras and how pissed I am at myself for not seeing the connection sooner. Also, I had to laugh at the fact that Francesca says she wants to be Cami's friend, because it couldn't be more clear that she doesn't have "friends" so much as "allies" and "business associates," which is pretty sad. I mean, even Klaus has a real friend or two, you know?

Meanwhile, Marcel and Diego have brought their werewolf captives to Thierry's old warehouse out at the docks, where they've been bound to chairs and have clearly been beaten quite a bit. Diego is going IN on Oliver, getting out all his pent up anti-werewolf frustration by punching him repeatedly in the face. After a few moment, Jackson goes all alpha wolf and demands that they leave Oliver alone. Yeah, something tells me you're soon gonna regret all this faith you're putting in Oliver, bro. Marcel assures him that as soon as they spill what Klaus is planning, they'll leave them both alone. Jackson continues to play dumb and asks them how the fuck they're supposed to know what he's up to, not knowing that Marcel has been monitoring them for weeks. "See, I know you've been meeting him," Marcel says, as he kneels in front of him to look him in the eyes. "The stones in your duffel bag? That's black kyanite. It's pretty rare. I also know enough about witchcraft to recognize the ingredients of a spell." Jackson continues to glare at Marcel, but Marcel isn't one to back down, as we well know.

He sighs, and asks them one more time if they're going to make him ask them again, and when Jackson just sneers at him, he holds his hands up in defeat and turns to Diego, who grabs a blowtorch and walks toward them. "You wanna know the problem with having two werewolf hostages?" Diego asks menacingly. "You really only need one." He pulls the trigger to the torch, and both wolves' eyes widen in alarm. Marcel continues to poke the bear by adding., "You Crescent boys, you think you're a bunch of badasses, but back in '25, I wiped out a whole bloodline of Guerrera werewolves. They were a LOT tougher than you!" That's what YOU think, dude! And once again, we just have more evidence to prove that literally EVERY problem that the main (and secondary/tertiary) characters have to deal with going into the finale are all the end result of years of just treating each other like shit, especially the vampires versus everyone else. Killing an entire bloodline of werewolves? Pushing the witches into subjugation? What the fuck did they think would happen? That they would just give up? Sigh, people are so short-sighted on this show, I swear.

ANYWAY, I digress. Diego grabs Oliver by the hair and is about to aim the lit blowtorch at Oliver's face when Jackson finally drops the act and tries to make a deal. "Wait! You let him go, I'll tell you about the stones, about Klaus, whatever." AGAIN with the loyalty to Oliver that is so gonna burn him in the end. Diego looks over at Marcel, who nods at him as an order to let Oliver go. "Alright! Alright. A deal's a deal," Marcel admits with a smile. "But, since Nirvana here is gonna turn into a wolf in about eight hours, D, drop his ass off way out into the bayou." Diego, as always, is pissed that they're not just going to kill him, and asks Marcel if he at least gets to kill Jackson once it's all said and done. Marcel looks at the still-sneering Jackson, still bound to the chair, and replies that he has a better idea for their Crescent alpha hostage. Ohhhhh lord.

Back in the Quarter, Klaus is scaling the rooftops of various buildings on Rue Dumaine when Elijah (and Hayley) call him from the Abbatoir. When Klaus answers, Elijah wastes no time informing him that their wolves have somehow been sidetracked in their quest for the moonlight rings. Hayley, who is standing next to Elijah, interrupts by shouting, "They should have been back HOURS ago!" Elijah cuts back in to insist that they need to find them immediately, but for once today, Klaus is actually three steps ahead of the game. I apologize for all the straight-up transcribing of conversations in this recap, but the dialogue in this episode is top-notch and my paltry jokes can't do it justice.

KLAUS: "Well, that might be a bit tricky. You see, we've located their car on a back road in the middle of nowhere. I suspect they've been shanghai'd."

ELIJAH: [annoyed] "And you didn't feel the need to share this information?"

KLAUS: [smiles] "It was my intention to present you with a problem only AFTER I had found an appropriate solution."

ELIJAH: [puts phone on speaker for Hayley's benefit] "Do enlighten us."

KLAUS: "I'm closing in on it as we speak. The only person who would be bold enough to snatch my wolf allies is the one who has the most to lose."

ELIJAH: [sighs] "Marcel."

HAYLEY: [terrified] "No! He'll kill them!"

KLAUS: "Genevieve assures me that Marcel has procured a cloaking spell. The only witch who will aid Marcel is Davina. I just need to get one last bit of leverage before I pay her a visit."

NOOO! As you know, I love Josh, and the fact that Klaus is reneging on his promise to Davina makes me soooo angry. I get that Klaus' sees Davina helping Marcel as a betrayal after he did one whole nice thing for her, but it's still shitty. And, while what he's about to do is surely going to backfire on him spectacularly in the future, for now, I'm not at all pleased with him. Also, I had no idea that Genevieve had continue to help him after that whole "cutting the hands off of her manwitch lackey" thing, aside from the moonlight rings, which obviously she's only doing because of her side deal with Francesca. Interesting! Girlfriend is super-amazing at maintaining her cover, I'll give her that.

ANYWAY, Klaus hangs up on his brother before he can protest further, and looks down from the rooftop to see Josh carrying a duffel bag to his beat-up car, which is parked on the street. "And, there it is," Klaus quips, as he jumps down beside Josh and startles the FUCK out of him. "Hello, Joshua," Klaus says amiably, before grabbing him by the shoulders and BITING JOSH ON THE NECK! NOOOOOO! >:[!

Davina is studying in the lycée's greenhouse, per usual, when she senses something afoot nearby. Behind her, a panicked looking Mikael appears out of nowhere and yells, "Davina!" So, he seriously just spends all of hate-watching Klaus' life? He is the worst. He disappears before Davina can even identify his voice, and as she's investigating, Josh stumbles into the room and scares the shit out of her. Davina is shocked to see him, but Josh is only able to sputter, "I'm sorry!" before Klaus waltzes him behind him. He informs Davina that Josh has a hybrid bite, which is totally lethal, and which also totally pisses Davina off. When she demands to know why he's doing this, Klaus totally has the audacity to claim that it was Davina's own fault. "After all my overtures of friendship, you've once again sided with Marcel, forcing me to do horrible things to someone you care about!" Yeah, that's pretty much out of the Abusive Spouse Handbook, isn't it? Also, I'm not sure that nearly killing her boyfriend, only to use it as leverage to get her help in exchange for healing him, and then KILLING HIM AGAIN (after compelling him to kill DAVINA, which would have succeeded had it not been for Marcel making Celeste put a protection spell on her) counts as "overtures of friendship." The daylight ring was a nice gesture but hardly enough to call them even. But, this is Klaus we're talking about, who only cares about slights against him, not the ways he slights others.

So yeah, to say that Davina is furious would be a huge understatement, but Klaus still tries to play the nice guy act. "I'm not without mercy, Davina. I can cure him. But, you have to cooperate, and tell me where to find Marcel." She's not at all keen on selling out one friend just to save another (especially since she knows as well as we do that he'll just end up fucking her over by conveniently "forgetting" to cure him after he finds and kills Marcel), but Klaus maintains that Marcel chose his own fate, and that it would be cruel of Josh to have to suffer because of Marcel's mistakes. Davina continues to stew, and after a moment of silence, Klaus just shrugs and walks away. Josh is already looking pretty sweaty and pale, and pleads, "Davina...please..." Finally, Davina shouts that Marcel is at Thierry's old warehouse at the docks, which makes Klaus smile. "You see? That wasn't so hard, was it?" He turns to leave again, and Davina's rage boils over as she yells at him to cure Josh. Of course, Klaus doesn't want to reward her unless he gets what he wants, so he reminds her that Josh won't be dying for another twenty-four hours or so, and points out that he'd be dumb not to continue to use Josh as leverage, in case he needs more help. "The next time I ask a question, answer quicker," he snits, before he takes off. UGH KLAUS WHY DO YOU MAKE IT SO HARD TO LOVE YOU?

It's been a while since we've checked in with Cami, hasn't it? She is at an apartment complex somewhere in the Quarter, and peeks at her notepad for our benefit, so we can see that the code in the jewelry box in Sean's grave was actually an address: 310 Sycamore Street. The landlord of the place takes Cami upstairs while he explains that his family has owned the building for decades, and that Kieran had started renting out a room "for extra space" after he helped him raise enough money to renovate after Hurricane Katrina. Once they're outside the room, the landlord hesitates for a moment before stammering, "You know, Father-Father K? He was as good as they come. I'm sorry for your loss." Cami smiles and nods kindly in acknowledgement as he unlocks the door, but when he opens the door, she asks if she can go in alone. He nods, and takes off, leaving Cami to nervously enter the apartment, not quite sure what to expect.

Once inside, she's surprised to see that it's just your average apartment at first glance, with just a refrigerator and a dining room table and chairs adorning it. When she opens the fridge, there's nothing inside but some beers, which makes both Cami and myself laugh as she pulls one out and pops the cap off. "Here's to buried treasure," she mutters under her breath, as she gulps down the beer and starts to investigate the apartment. She notices that the window by the closet has curtains, but none of the other windows do, which leads her to check out the contents of the closet. It's empty, and has a duct-taped "X" on the backboard, which she removes to find a room that is easily the same size as the apartment itself, completely stuffed to the brim with boxes and cabinets full of files and documents, newspaper clippings, and what look like historical artifacts.

I also noticed that the Needle of Sorrows (which Agnes used on Sophie while she was still linked to Hayley, because Sabine/Celeste had that ~vision~ that the baby would bring the end to all witches) sitting on a table. Cami is seriously stunned at the goldmine of information she just stumbled upon, and takes a look around the room, where she finds a box full of stuff labelled "For Cami." I LOVE that Kieran trusted Cami's intelligence and innate curiosity enough to assume she would be able to find all this stuff and interpret it correctly. So, naturally, Cami pulls out the box and starts to dig into this newest mystery.

At the Abbatoir, somebody had the bright idea of leaving Hayley alone with Genevieve, who is watching Hayley anxiously pace around the room, worrying about the fact that Elijah should have at least called to update them by now. Genevieve points out that stressing over it isn't going to make things any better, and suggests that she sit down and try to chill out. Hayley frowns and snarks something about her being a "magician slash zen-life-coach," but Genevieve's response actually makes a ton of sense (which is why she's so scary): "The treatment of pregnant women has advanced remarkably since I was a nurse, but even I know that high blood pressure is bad for you, and the baby." When Hayley sighs annoyedly and sits down, she adds, "Especially now, since you're so close to term." Although this should be a huuuuge red flag, Hayley is too worried to notice, and laments the fact that she feels completely useless, which she hates. This prickles Genevieve's innate jealousy of any woman who gets more attention that she does, and snits, "Don't you get it? You're the point of all this. Klaus and Elijah running all over town? It's all for you. I'm a bit envious."

Hayley may be a lot of things, but she's not exactly someone who is eating up all this attention (though she has no problem taking advantage of it when she needs to), so she just sighs and rolls her eyes. Genevieve continues to try to play nice, and asks her if she can get her anything, but all Hayley wants is a moonlight ring, obviously. Genevieve laughs, and explains that they can't do the spell 'til the full moon has reached its apex, plus they don't have the stones yet, so all they can do is keep waiting and have a little faith. Hayley's not convinced, so she walks out of the living room and into one of the million other rooms in the compound.

Klaus and Elijah have finally arrived to Thierry's old warehouse, where Jackson is still bound to his chair, with a black hood over his head. Unfortunately for them, Marcel and Diego are long gone. Jackson flinches when Klaus removes the hood, but relaxes once he realizes he's (hopefully) being rescued. Klaus takes a good look at Jackson's face and gives credit where credit is due to Marcel for how hard he beat the shit out of him. When he asks Jackson where they went, Jackson has no idea, and frantically looks around in hopes that he can somehow find some clues. Unfortunately, there are no clues to be found, aside from the explosive attacked to the foot of the chair to which he's bound. The explosive is wired to a crate, inside which is an even bigger bomb. Elijah states the obvious, which is that Marcel and Diego clearly got the hell out of there a while ago, and opens another crate to find yet another bomb inside. What is with these guys and bombs? Like, they're fucking SUPERNATURAL CREATURES. They're lethal enough without fucking like, C4 or whatever, why are they messing around with that shit? Klaus asks Jackson where the stones are, but again, he has no idea, though he insists that if they untie him, he'll help them find them.

Elijah is still examining the explosives rigged to his chair, and promises that they'll free him as soon as they figure out how to disarm it. Klaus flips the lid off of another bomb-filled crate and sighs. "Our focus should be the stones. Considering Jackson's competition for Hayley's affection, I think you'd agree." LOL, no, that's just you, Klaus. Regardless of Elijah's feelings for Hayley, he still knows that Jackson is important to her, and thus, he's willing to do what he can to protect him. "Disregard my brother," he says impatiently, as he continues to investigate the bombs, "Over the course of the last millennium, his capacity for tact has somewhat diminished." Not to be out-snarked, Klaus scoffs before quipping, "Well, that's typical, isn't it? Marcel fills a room with dynamite, and yet, I'M the tactless one!" I seriously snorted, I was laughing so hard. Elijah cuts off his brother and informs them that he recognizes these explosives, because they're the same as the ones used in the bayou bombing. He asks Klaus why he was so sure that Marcel wasn't behind the bayou attack while Klaus continues to curiously open bomb-filled crate after bomb-filled crate, but he just shrugs. "Remind me to ask him, before I pull out his innards."

When he opens up the next crate, his eyes widen in alarm as he takes note that there are at LEAST a half dozen bombs inside, and hilariously yells, "Okay, exercise EXTREME caution in this general area. Bit of a mess!" as he gestures around at the crates. Klaus is so hilarious in this scene, just petulantly flipping lids off of crates and snarking at everyone, it ALMOST makes me forget how mad I am at him for biting Josh. ALMOST. Elijah's phone rings, and when he sees it's Hayley calling him, he answers it and remarks on her impeccable timing. Naturally, she's keen to know EVERYTHING that is happening, but Elijah is kind of alarmed at the massive number of bombs surrounding them, so he begs off. "Jackson is fine. He's... a little tied up right now. Can we call you back?"

Klaus can't help but snigger at Elijah's joke, and flips open another crate with another handful of bombs. On top of the bombs is a slip of paper, and Klaus frowns, just as the blinking red lights on the bombs flash to green. "Oh, that doesn't bode well," Klaus mutters, as he picks up the folded piece of paper. Jackson is pissed, and yells, "Are you TRYING to kill us?" Hayley demands that Elijah tell her what's going on, as Klaus opens the paper. "This is for Thierry," Klaus reads aloud, and all of them realize at the same time that they've been set up. Elijah quickly grabs Jackson, before he and Klaus zoop away. A second later, we cut to outside the building, which promptly explodes in an enormous fireball. Hayley hears this all go down over the phone, and immediately starts freaking out.

At the Abbatoir, Hayley is pacing around in the study when Elijah, Klaus, and Jackson, all looking extremely disheveled and singed from the explosion, finally return home. She runs toward them and gives Jackson a bone-crushing hug. "Thank god you're alive!", she exclaims with relief, before giving Elijah a loaded look and a whispered thank you over his shoulder. Elijah smiles weakly and nods, and watches her as she sits Jackson down and starts doing first aid on his various wounds. "I'm fine, too, thanks for asking," Klaus the ancient and immortal hybrid whines, but Hayley just ignores him and changes the subject to the stones. Elijah figures Marcel probably dumped them in the Mississippi River, which seems like a pretty accurate assumption. Klaus pours himself a drink and starts to exposition about the day's events. "Marcel's not a fool-- he knows an empowered werewolf would mean the end of vampires in New Orleans. The explosion is his way of saying he means to prevent that. For all the good it'll do him," Klaus says with a sneer. Hayley points out that it actually worked out pretty well for him, and looks at Elijah, who frowns, clearly agreeing with her.

Jackson feels terrible, and insists that since it's his fault, he'll figure out a way to make it right. "No, Jack, you're hurt," Hayley says, as she rubs Jackson's shoulder comfortingly. "No one's blaming you." Klaus, of course, is TOTALLY blaming Jackson, since black kyanite isn't exactly easy to find, but he gleefully reminds them all that he's always got a back-up plan. The only problem is, he doesn't have a back-up-back-up-plan, which he'll be desperately needing here in a bit.

Klaus takes them downstairs, where Francesca, wearing a lovely white pantsuit and carrying a suitcase, is standing with five other men in similarly lovely suits. Klaus rushes down the stairs to greet her, but Hayley isn't exactly impressed with his idea of a Plan B. "You can't SERIOUSLY mean her! She's a gangster!" Klaus points out that her business puts her in a position where she can obtain rare items with very short notice, before he mentions her company, whom she introduces as her brothers. "I always include them in delicate business matters," she explains with a smile. She introduces them to "Mr. Mikaelson," whom he insists should call him Klaus, because "all of [his] friends do." Of course, Francesca isn't exactly eager to call him a "friend," but as the expert politician she is, she'd prefer to be on the winning team in this war that is brewing, and if it's Marcel vs the Originals, then she's joining Team Klaus. Klaus takes that as a sign that she came through with the stones, but she admits that since it was short notice, she couldn't get nearly as many as he wanted, but it will do for now.

Elijah is not at all thrilled to hear that Francesca has been read into their plan, but Francesca maintains that the price of her business is always full disclosure, and since Klaus needed her help, he spilled. When Elijah asks her what she (and the Human Faction) stands to gain from their alliance, Francesca shows she's totally got Klaus' number. "I only want us to solidify our allegiance to the ruling class. It's good for business!" DAMN. I'm not fond of Francesca for obvious reasons, but as I've said before--you've really gotta give her props for her sheer nerve and her uncanny ability to read people and manipulate them into her schemes. It's seriously impressive. Klaus declares himself a fan of her ability to see reason, and states that he wishes everyone shared her ability, but Francesca's smile vanishes, and she admits that they don't. "Marcel is being especially vindictive. I'm worried he might come after my family, just for meeting with you." BAHAHA, a likely story, considering Francesca doesn't seem to have any problem taking care of herself. She takes a deep breath, and suggests that perhaps they might both be better off if they combine their resources so that everyone stays protected. Klaus seems satisfied with this plan, and agrees. "So be it! The more bodies we have to defend the compound, the better. Let's get started, shall we?" And off they go!

Hayley is bandaging Jackson up in the library, and smiles when she's finished. Jackson thanks her for her help, and stands up to put on his shirt, but Hayley insists that Elijah is the one he should be thanking, since he's the one who "vamped [his] ass to safety." Jackson, clearly feeling awkward and not knowing what the deal is with himself and Hayley and Elijah, brings up the fact that Elijah really seems to care about her. She has no idea what to say to that, so she just vaguely states that it's complicated, because DUH. He proclaims that to be the "understatement of the year," and turns to take off before the full moon that evening. Before he leaves, Hayley stops him, to swear to him that things will work out. "Jackson, this will be the last time," she promises. "After tonight, you'll never have to turn again. No more pain, no more hiding in the bayou. I promise." Jackson just smiles ruefully, and reminds her that Klaus isn't helping the wolves because he's suddenly become altruistic and kind. "He's doing it for YOU. Hayley, you're the one who's going to change everything for us."

Jackson heads toward the door when Elijah comes up to join them. He sighs before admitting, "Seems I owe you yet again." Elijah doesn't make a big deal about it, just nods in acknowledgement, so Jackson takes his leave. Once he's gone, Elijah mentions that he heard Jackson risked his life to save Oliver, and concedes that he's a good guy. Hayley agrees, and finally gets the nerve to tell him the truth about her connection to Jackson. "My family...wanted me..." She sighs, and finally spits it out. "I was supposed to be betrothed to Jackson. I wanted to tell you sooner, I-I just didn't know, it's just this insane custody--" Elijah is clearly shocked, but like he would ever make her feel like shit for something like this, you know? He insists that she doesn't have to explain herself, and reminds her that he knows better than anyone the sacrifices one often has to make for family.

Hayley was hoping for some actual input here, and though she's not surprised at his reaction, she's still a little disappointed. "Come on, Elijah. For once in your immortal life, can you just NOT be so noble?" Elijah doesn't understand what she wants from him, and honestly, I don't think Hayley knows either, but she tries to explain it anyway. "I just told you I'm BETROTHED, according to some backwater arrangement by people that I never even knew. Tell me you think betrothals are stupid! Tell me that I have a choice--" Elijah has no idea how to say that in words, so instead he just grabs her face and kisses her for a long, long moment. When he finally pulls away, he states, "You will always have a choice."

In some other study in the Mikaelson compound, Genevieve has arranged the stones on the table with all the other necessary ingredients for the spell when Klaus swans in and asks if she's ready to begin. Genevieve sighs, before admitting that there's one more "personal" ingredient that she needs before she can start. "As the spell is designed to control transformation, I need the blood of a werewolf who doesn't turn on a full moon," she explains. "My first thought was Hayley, because of the pregnancy--" Klaus cuts her off right there and states that under no uncertain terms will the mother of his unborn child be made vulnerable to Genevieve's "witchery," and reminds her that since he is a hybrid, he controls his own form, so she can use his blood instead. I still can't decide if this was always the plan, and she only asked for Hayley's blood because she knew that he would refuse and be more likely to offer up his own blood instead in order to protect her and the baby, or if she actually did have some kind of sinister designs against Hayley and just took Klaus' blood as a consolation prize. Either way, he's totally going to regret it, but for now, he thinks this is all part of the deal.

When he hands her his hand so she can take his blood, she grabs a knife, but before she can use it, he grabs her roughly by the wrist and reminds her of the "apocalyptic" consequences, should she renege on her end of the bargain. Genevieve is nervous, but as always, she covers it well. "You say the most romantic things," she stammers, as she takes his hand and slices his palm. When she drips his blood over the several dozen stones laying on the table, the blood hisses and starts to bubble on contact. With the last ingredient in place, the gang is ready to start the spell.

Meanwhile, Marcel has gathered in whatever is now functioning as the "Pit" with the rest of his vampires as a final meeting before they go ahead with their plan. He approaches the front of the room, where he stands to make another one of those grand speeches he's so fond of giving, which, admittedly, gave me HUGE goosebumps, because he gave the speech over MS MR's "Bones," which just so happens to be one of my most favorite songs EVER. It serves to add even more drama to the shitfest that is about to go down. Get ready for me to get into some lyric analysis in the notes, because this song basically is The Originals series in a nutshell and I love it SO FUCKING MUCH.

MARCEL: "I appreciate y'all coming. It's been a while. By now, you've heard what's going on. Klaus found a way to make werewolves lethal to us 24/7. The fireworks at the docks? That was me, trying to spoil his plan. He's moving forward anyway. He's got a witch, he's got a spell, and if he pulls this off? In one night, we go from hunter to prey. Now, I know what some of y'all are thinking--we stood against Klaus before, and we failed. Uh-uh. That's on me. I failed. I called off the attacked because I thought it was the only way to save lives. But, make no mistake-- if we don't stand against him now, our lives aren't worth a damn anyway! A wise man said, if you know yourself, and you know your enemy, then you don't need to fear the outcome of battle! I know myself! I know my friends. And, I KNOW my enemy! I know his strengths, I know his pride, and I know his house-- every nook and cranny. We're gonna go there tonight, hard and fast, all at once, from every angle. We kill their witch, destroy her spellbook, and get the hell out! And as for Klaus? He'll be coming for me, and that's exactly what I want. I'LL lead him away. I just need the rest of you to get past Elijah and do what needs to be done. So, that's the plan. I need to know, right now-- who's with me?"

Pretty speech, right? And honestly, in theory, it's an excellent plan. He knows that Klaus (and really, Elijah) are unbeatable like, 90% of  the time. And, even if you can figure out a way to temporarily neutralize them, or catch them off-guard, you still have to deal with the aftermath, because everyone knows damn well that once they gain their strength back, they'll be getting even. So, their plan to just worry about the witch and the spell is a pretty solid plan, because that's an enemy that they actually have the strength and resources to take down. Unfortunately for Marcel, in this case, he doesn't ACTUALLY know his enemy at all, because he had no idea who is enemy REALLY was-- he never once considered the possibility that Klaus himself could be double-crossed by the witches and/or the humans/werewolves, and once it becomes clear that it's Francesca and her werewolf allies who have all the power now, instead of the vampires, how can he even care about getting even with Klaus? At least the Mikaelsons are the devils he knows, ones who have history with him, and, in Klaus' case, a sense of kinship, which at this point is the only thing that has kept alive all this time. With Francesca, there's absolutely no chance of that kind of emotion clouding her intentions-- the only connection to Marcel she has is her anger towards him for decimating her family and putting her people in exile, so best-case scenario is exile once again, and worst-case is, he gets killed. Not exactly what he had in mind.

Back at the Abbatoir, Genevieve is in the midst of performing the spell as she holds her hands over the stones and chants, "Tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse. Materi lunare tua virtuse." Klaus, Hayley, and Elijah are all watching her intently when Francesca rushes in and informs them that her "people" have been alerted to the fact that Marcel is heading toward the compound, with his whole legion of vampires behind him. Klaus immediately insists that Elijah take Hayley to safety, an order in which Elijah wholeheartedly agrees, but Hayley reminds him that someone has to stay and make sure Genevieve doesn't pull anything (or, conversely, to protect her in case the vampires get to her).

Francesca suggests that Elijah would be better off helping Klaus, since her brothers and her security team aren't exactly equipped to deal with a vampire army by themselves. Elijah is clearly conflicted, but Hayley urges him to go, before walking over to him and gripping his shoulders firmly. "And don't hold back," she adds, before he leaves Hayley alone with Francesca and Genevieve. I know I'm always crowing about Hayley being able to take care of herself, but I seriously can't believe how stupid it was to leave her alone with them. I get that, again, all of the decisions being made in this episode have been in a rushed, "We don't have time for other options," kind of way, but still, it's just one series of unfortunate events after another.

Downstairs, Klaus is standing in the center of the courtyard, watching as Marcel's vampires flood the compound from every direction, filling the balconies and bottom level with vampires. Elijah joins his brother in the middle of the room, while Francesca's brothers and security guards are lined up and aiming guns at the vamp army. Klaus is a huuuge sadomasochist who loves a good fight, so naturally, he smirks and quips that he had assumed the vampires had learned their lesson after last time. "Well, they're not exactly renowned for their genius," Elijah retorts, amused. Klaus turns toward the crowd, and loudly asks them where their "ringleader" is. "Too afraid to show his face?" Klaus taunts. Marcel isn't one to miss an opportunity for a dramatic entrance, though, and appears up on the balcony, overlooking the Mikaelson brothers. "I'm here! And, I'm gonna offer you one last chance to pack your stuff and get the hell out of my town." I'm sorry, I'm still laughing at the fact that Marcel and his lackeys actually considered the possibility that this would work. KLAUS NEVER DOES WHAT PEOPLE WANT HIM TO DO. Trying to force him to leave town just literally ensured that he and his family will stay out of spite, even if he didn't actually want to do so.

Klaus feigns surprise at the fact that Marcel would allow his men to rush into their deaths for a second time, but Marcel draws his attention to the sheer number of vampires who have shown up and insists that they're intent to take back their town, and they won't be surrendering; if Klaus wants to win, he's going to have to kill them all. (It's suggested that it's actually ALL of the vampires in New Orleans, but I'm not sure if that's true or not. I'm hoping for the vampire community's sake that this is only part of them, because otherwise New Orleans vamps are gonna be near extinction here pretty soon). Klaus is unfazed by these threats, and replies that he'll just have to start with Marcel, then, which is exactly what Marcel was hoping for. Marcel taunts him, elementary-school-styles, all "Fine, then come and get me!", before he zoops off.

Before Klaus can chase after him, Elijah snits, "If you don't kill him, I will," clearly aggravated by his nerve. Klaus calls dibs on him, and promises that this won't take long. Famous last words, amigo. When Klaus vamp-speeds away, Elijah smiles and confidently unbuttons his suit jacket before holding his arms out wide. "Gentleman," he says in greeting. "Shall we?" Vampires start jumping down from the balconies and lunge for him, but he takes them easily. Elijah tries so hard to be the "noble" brother (much like Stefan Salvatore, who does the same to contrast against his own brother), but deep down, Elijah likes being a badass. The difference between them is the fact that Elijah, for the most part, tries to avoid unnecessary violence and killing, while Klaus will just slaughter whomever he feels deserves it at the time without even sparing a moment thinking about the implications.

(via sherlockerss)
Out in the French Quarter, Klaus sulks as he stomps down Rue Dumaine on his quest to find Marcel. After a moment, he senses Marcel's presence, and manages to turn around just in time to see Marcel jumping down from a rooftop behind him. The two begin to fight, and Marcel starts out pretty strong, thanks to catching Klaus off-guard. Klaus eventually lands on the ground after a pretty serious whooping, super bloodied from having the shit kicked out of him, and wipes the blood from his mouth. "Not bad," Klaus concedes, as he pulls himself up. "But, not nearly good enough." They resume fighting, only this time, Marcel has lost the advantage of having caught him unaware, and he ends up getting thrown across the street, where he slams into a parked car. He proclaims Marcel to be pathetic for resorting to explosives in the warehouse, before remarking that it was stupid of him to not realize Marcel was behind the bayou bombing.

However, Marcel swears up and down that he had nothing to do with the bayou, just the docks. "I got the detonators from FRANCESCA. Why don't you ask HER about the bombing?" OH SHIT, I actually totally forgot about his part, in the bustle of everything happening. So earlier, when Francesca was talking about how vindictive Marcel was being, that was just a lie she told to win Klaus over by bonding over a mutual enemy, yeah? Because clearly she was getting along with Marcel enough for her to give him the bombs. I'm trying to figure out WHY though, I'm guessing it was just to keep Marcel, Klaus, and Elijah busy so they didn't notice that their own plans, which involved Marcel's vampires and Hayley. Damn, she's clever, I will give her that. Klaus declares that Marcel is clearly just trying to lie and distract him yet again, but Marcel is offended by the implication that he was involved. "I never went after Hayley!" Marcel shouts in frustration. "I'm not a monster, Klaus! I'm not YOU." OUCH.

The two continue to glare and snarl at each other until we cut over to Cami, at Kieran's secret apartment. She's sifting through the huge box of files that Kieran left for her, which is full of newspaper clippings, family trees, and notes. One note, written on a piece of legal paper, reads, "GABRIEL CORREA. BIRTH CERTIFICATE FALSIFIED?? NOTE DATE: APRIL 1925." Uh oh, so we've got a baby who was born right around the time Marcel claims to have killed the Guerrera bloodline. Wonderful! She finds the name "Gabriel Correa" on the family tree under the note, and follows the branch down until she finds a familiar name: Francesca Correa, of course. She then finds another handwritten note of Kierans; "GUERRERA WEREWOLVES-- STILL IN THE QUARTER?" OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT. Cami flashes back to her earlier conversation with Francesca, and realizes that even then, she was playing the game, starting with her bringing up the fact that her family had been in New Orleans much longer that Cami's had. Realizing that Francesca isn't a human, but a Guerrera werewolf, she pulls out her phone and immediately calls Hayley, since she had promised to let Hayley know if she learned anything strange about Francesca. YIKES!

At the compound, Elijah is seriously cutting his way through dozens of vampires who are coming after him from all directions. The fact that he's outnumbered at least one hundred to one makes no difference-- he's barely even tousled a hair on his head. Some of the vampires try to neutralize him temporarily by staking him with regular wooden stakes, but he just steals them and uses the stakes on them instead. Others, he just breaks their necks/spines to put them out so he doesn't have to worry about them.

Upstairs, Genevieve is still working on the spell, while Hayley and Francesca watch her impatiently. One of Francesca's security guards manage to make their way upstairs to insist that they get her out immediately, but she's too enchanted by watching Genevieve work. Hayley's phone starts to buzz, but when she sees it's Cami, she just silences it and continues to watch. Genevieve continues to chant a little longer before stopping and picking up one of the stones. "The stones are finished," she states. "I've done my part. Now, it's up to you."

Hayley rushes toward her and goes to scoop the stones up, assuring Genevieve that she'll get them to the bayou, when Francesca approaches Genevieve's other side and holds out her hand. "Actually, she was talking to me," Francesca chirps. Genevieve reluctantly places the stone in Francesca's hand, which naturally confuses Hayley. When she asks what's going on, Francesca confesses that they made a side-deal, and emphasizes that all that matters is that the stones belong to her. Hayley follows after her, and sneers, "Are you out of your mind? You think the humans can go up against Klaus?" Francesca admits that no, she doesn't think the humans can go against Klaus, before revealing that she's not human. She takes a knife out of her pocket and flicks it open before slitting her bodyguard's throat right in front of them. Hayley stares in horror as Francesca doubles over in pain, and when Francesca lifts her head to look Hayley in the eyes, she has the golden-eyes of a newly-triggered werewolf (which looks more gold and glowy than normal werewolves, due to the moonlight stone, I'm guessing), along with some sick fangs. Otherwise, she's still in human form, which I'm guessing means the spell totally worked.

"I'm like you, Hayley. And now, I'm gonna take back my town!" Francesca says with a very lupine smile. Hayley, naturally, is not at all keen to allow this to happen, not wanting to let down her family. But, when she lunges for Francesca, Genevieve uses a spell to knock Hayley out, which causes her to fall on the floor. To Genevieve's credit, she looks like she feels super guilty, not to mention nervous as hell, as she watches Francesca scoop up the stones. "Don't look so dour, Genevieve," Francesca coos. "We both got what we wanted!" How nuts is it that she waited all this time for a way to control her transformation before triggering her werewolf curse? Has this been a long-time goal of hers, using magic to control the shift? Or did she just hear an opportunity and decide to go for it? I am so fucking excited to learn more about her and her family, and I don't know how I'm gonna wait however many more months to find out. It's too long!

Alright, here comes another one of those scenes that keeps cutting back and forth between a bunch of different locations that is a pain in the ass to recap. We've got Marcel and Klaus fighting in the streets of the Quarter, and then the compound with Francesca, her siblings, Elijah, and the vampires, and also Cami in Kieran's secret apartment:

Klaus has punched Marcel to the point of falling on the ground, and he straddles him as he punches him in the face over and over and over. After a while, he starts to become noticeably weaker, but shrugs it off as he stands up and looms over Marcel's beaten body. "Marcellus. How well your name fits you, little warrior. Though, ultimately, one of no consequence!" Marcel musters up all the energy he can to force himself up onto his feet, and looks Klaus in the eyes. "My name is MARCEL," he states clearly, before lunging at Klaus, but Klaus has no problem blocking him before grabbing him and slamming his head against another parked car. He twists his arm around his back, and adds literal insult to even more literal injury. "Is there no end to your defiance? You summon Mikael, turn Rebekah against me, try to bury me in your Garden? And yet, you ALWAYS fail." Marcel tries to fight against him, but he's way too injured, so Klaus just grabs his face in his hands, and determines that there's nothing left to do but put him out of his misery. Then, he hybrids-out, chomps down on Marcel's carotid artery and drinks deep. NOOOO! I swing violently between loving and hating Marcel, and I had no idea how much I liked him until I was faced with the thought of him dying for good. SIGH, this show and the things it does to me.

At Kieran's secret apartment, Cami is leaving yet another voicemail for Hayley, who isn't answering her phone for obvious reasons. "Hey, I've called six times. Call me back. You said you wanted to know if I learned anything about Francesca Correa? Her family is descended from a werewolf bloodline!" Yeah, I think she (and everyone else) are currently figuring that out.

Meanwhile, at the compound, Elijah is still savagely fighting against the vampires who still have the energy to fight. Unfortunately for him, he's too focused on the fight that he isn't listening to the conversation going on nearby in the hallway. Francesca hands out a moonlight stone to each of her brothers while she gives a pep talk. "We spent two generations living a lie, and now, our time? Our time has come." She squeezes one of her brothers' shoulders, and assures them that they know what to do. After she walks away, the brother slits the throat of his bodyguard, triggering his werewolf curse. His eyes turn yellow, and his fangs come out, just like Francesca, but he isn't forced to be a full wolf.

Back in the streets, Klaus stops feeding on Marcel and yells out in pain. When he looks at the palm of his hand, it's been sliced open in the exact same place Genevieve cut it to do the spell. He falls to his knees, clearly weakening even more, which, we'll learn in a moment, is because of the moonlight stones. Marcel, who is tripping on werewolf venom AND who has just been bled nearly-dry, tries his best to pick himself up off the ground and get away.

At the compound, another Correa brother triggers his werewolf curse by killing a bodyguard, and Klaus yells out in pain once again, weakened even more. Then, a third Correa brother does the same. Klaus sees Marcel up on his feet, and roars like a feral animal, but Marcel just zoops away to regroup. You really gotta give it to Joseph Morgan, he is AMAZING at really channeling Klaus' inner animal, and all this animalistic instinct he's been showing has been so great. He is such an underrated actor, imo.

Elijah is pacing around the courtyard, having so thoroughly beaten the hell out of the vampires that the fountain is full of bloody water. Vampires are laying/sitting/splayed out across every square inch of the floor, some of them dead, and others groaning in pain as their bodies try to heal themselves. "Are we done?" Elijah asks boredly, which gives me a much-needed laugh, just as he notices Diego lurking in the corner, visibly injured but bracing for another fight if necessary. Before Elijah can go after him, he's distracted by Francesca strutting into the room as if she owns the place. "Well, nice job!" she exclaims gleefully. "Saved me the trouble of killing all these vampires myself!" Elijah is completely confused, and before he can process what she's just said, two of the Correa brothers grab Elijah by each arm and sink their new fangs into Elijah's neck. NOOO! BACK OFF YOU DAMN GUERRERAS.

Diego stares in horror from his hiding spot, and once he realizes that if they can take down an ancient Original who can't even be killed by a werewolf bite, the vampires who actually survived their fight with him don't stand a chance, he screams "RUN!" before vamp-speeding away. All of the vampires who aren't too wounded do the same, so Francesca orders her brothers to kill as many vampires as possible before they all start using their newly-gained werewolf speed and strength from the stones to rush around chomping on vampires. One of the brothers catches up with Diego easily and latches onto his neck, and ditto with that fabulous mowhawked lady-vamp that I have enjoyed so much. YIKES THIS IS SO TERRIBLE.

Klaus stumbles weakly into Rousseau's and finds a custodian mopping up the floor. Surprisingly, he apologizes to the custodian for being famished before also chomping down onto his neck and drinking deep. This is the other thing I don't understand about Genevieve's plan-- don't the witches care about all the people Klaus is gonna eat on full moons now to get his strength back? Have they forgotten that he gets his strength from drinking human blood? Man, they're either stupid or their whole hating-vampires-for-being-monsters thing is super hypocritical because they do NOT actually care about humans one bit. Anyway, once Klaus is finished eating his midnight snack, he looks down at his hand to find his palm is still bleeding. That's when Genevieve wanders in and just has to poke the fucking bear.

GENEVIEVE: "You look awful."

KLAUS: "Why aren't I healing? What have you done to me?"

GENEVIEVE: "Well, you're the one who wanted me to cast the spell. So, I made your stones...by linking their power to your blood. And now, each full moon, whenever a werewolf uses their power to keep from turning, they'll be drawing on your strength! And, causing you pain."

KLAUS: [groans in pain] "After all I offered you, you will betray me?"

GENEVIEVE: "Look me in the eyes, Nik. Were you ever planning to give me your mother's grimoire? Did you care about me, even for a moment?"

KLAUS: [glares] "I suppose you'll never know."

GENEVIEVE: "Francesca kept her end of the deal. There is, after all, honor among thieves, even if they are werewolves. And, as for you? The great irony is, in wanting to take the city, you lost everything. Your sister, Rebekah; your adopted son, Marcel; and now, even your child and her mother will suffer, all because of your greed!"

Klaus manages to pull himself up to his feet and lunges at her. "I WILL kill you!", he growls, though most of the intimidation is lost when he loses his balance and falls at her feet. Genevieve takes so much pleasure in taunting him one last time before she leaves. "As weak as you are? Doubtful," she spits, before hitting him with a mystical migraine and sashaying away. I've never quite been fond of her, no matter how impressed I may be, so I'm hoping she remembers this when she totally gets herself killed by messing around with the wrong family. And while I have a hard time feeling bad for Klaus, because whatever stupid things Genevieve may have done, she was totally accurate when she said that Klaus basically orchestrated this entire horrible situation, so he really doesn't have much to blame on others. Still, is it too much to ask that he learns something from all this? I hope it isn't.

It's been quite a while since we've checked up on Josh and Davina, yeah? They're still at the lycée's greenhouse, where Davina has laid him out on the table and is waiting anxiously at his bedside. He groans in pain, so Davina holds a glass of water to his lips and urges him to drink it, although, like when Hayley did the same thing to Elijah in "The River in Reverse," he just chokes and gags on it. Josh, hilarious even when he's tripping balls, murmurs, "Oh, man," and Davina is practically in tears watching him deteriorate like this. She begs her BFF to hang on while he lays back down on the table, super out of it, and she gets so enraged at Klaus that she can't help but angrily toss the glass of water at the wall, shattering it. Mikael appears behind her and uses he fragile emotional state in order to manipulate her, like he does best. "Surely you're not surprised?" Mikael asks calmly. "Deep down, you knew Niklaus would leave Joshua to die." Davina isn't really in the mood for his shit, and yells at him to go away, but Mikael reminds her that he doesn't have much time yet, nor does Josh. Davina insists that she can find a way to heal him, but Mikael's not so sure.

"Even if you could, how long 'til it happens again? As long as Niklaus remains in your liens, your loved ones will continue to suffer his torment. I am the only man in history who's been able to drive him off; to bring him fear, and pain. If your friend needs Klaus' blood to survive, I've been known to spill a fair share of it." Davina seems a little skeptical, but since she's at a loss, she bites, and asks him if he'll really help her save Josh. Mikael does admit that he has personal reasons for wanting Klaus dead and gone, but he'd be happy to help her if she helped him in return. I yell, "LIES, FAIRYTALES, AND FALLACIES!" at my television, but Davina won't listen to me. "And all I have to do is raise you from the dead?" Davina asks, which Mikael confirms.

He claims it's only a small price to pay to save her friend and rid the world of the monster that is Niklaus Mikaelson. "Think, Davina," he urges. "There still exists a weapon that can kill Klaus. Bring back the one being who has the strength to use it." SHIT, THE WHITE OAK STAKE. I totally forgot about that! Ohhh, what a fucking mess. Josh has another coughing fit, which distracts her enough to allow Mikael to zoop away, probably to spy on Klaus some more like a creep. Josh becomes lucid long enough to ask her who she was talking to, but she keeps mum. "It doesn't matter," she says with a small smile. "I'm gonna fix you!" NOOOOOOOOOOO! The last thing I want is for Davina to be manipulated yet again, UGH.

The full moon must have finally ended, because Oliver is in human form, making his way through the wreckage of the bayou explosion. He enters a barn, where Francesca is waiting for him, her clean white suit contrasting strongly with the broken-down barn around her. She smiles as she informs him that the stones are done, and holds out her hand, which holds a moonlight stone of his very own. To Oliver's tiny bit of credit, he's still SUPER pissed about the bombing-- he was under the impression that there would be no casualties, because he's a dumbass, and he claims that his intention was just to unite the Crescents against the vampires, not kill his own packmates.

Francesca chuckles cruelly before retorting, "YOUR pack? That's funny, because it looks to me like they were ready to follow HAYLEY. But, thanks to me, we have control over the very thing that will inspire loyalty from both the Crescents AND the Guerreras." She holds up his stone, and adds, "The means to make our people even more powerful. The only thing that I had to trade away was the one person who could have challenged us. [beat] Poor Hayley. It is a shame. The witches drive a hard bargain. But, every revolution requires sacrifice. This city WILL belong to the wolves again. All we have to do is take it." Once again, she holds out the stone to Oliver, and he hesitates before walking over and taking it from her.

Yeah, Francesca can fake cry with the rest of them, but I'm not buying that she actually feels bad about what she had to do to Hayley. They've been snippy with each other ever since Hayley paid her home a visit to accuse her of the bayou bombings, and, like she said, Hayley would definitely challenge them if she could. However, she's not the ONLY one who would challenge them, because I would be very willing to bet that Jackson would side with Hayley over Oliver any day, or he would, if he knew the truth about what Oliver did to get those stones, and how not only was he willing to blow up his own people, but was ultimately willing to profit off of the deal that Francesca made which involved trading Hayley and the baby's lives for the stones. Jackson and Hayley might not be officially engaged or whatever, or even officially in a relationship, period, but it's clear that he cares a shitload for her and would not be at all cool with any of the moves Oliver has made, even if his intentions were to empower the wolves. Those stones were supposed to be for the Crescents, and even though some of them may still end up with stones in the end, they'll pretty much STILL be subjugated, only instead of living at Marcel's mercy, it'll be at Francesca's, who is clearly one of those people who has to ALWAYS be in control, at all times. Now that she thinks she doesn't have Hayley to contend with, she can crowd herself Werewolf Queen and rule the masses, just as she's always wanted.

ANYWAY, I digress. So, Marcel managed to make his way back to the compound to see how things ended, only to find all of his fellow vampires either dead or dying of werewolf bites in the courtyard. Distraught, Marcel mutters, "No, no, no, no," as he kneels next to one of the vampires, who is very clearly dead. He finds another body nearby that has been torn apart, and realizes that this wasn't actually Elijah's doing, but the werewolves. Diego limps into the courtyard and apologizes to Marcel, as though he actually has a legit reason to be sorry, but Marcel's too sad and exhausted to be mad. He goes to hug Diego, but Diego stumbles and falls, and Marcel barely has the chance to catch him before he lands on the ground. Out of nowhere, Cami runs in, too busy freaking out about what she's learned to notice the carnage around her. "Oh my god, Marcel! I've been trying to find someone, anyone!" She stops suddenly when she sees that Marcel's beaten up and not healing, thanks to Klaus' hybrid bite, and asks him what the fuck just happened. Marcel's more worried about Cami being around a ton of hallucinating vampires.

"You gotta get out of here," he says gently, as he puts his hands on her shoulders and tries to steer her towards the door. "My guys have been bitten by wolves. They'll get sick, and then blood-crazy." Cami sees the bite on his neck and assumes that Marcel was hurt in the same way, and instructs him to go find Klaus so his blood can heal him. Before Marcel can inform her that Klaus was actually the one who bit him, Elijah storms into the courtyard, and it's like a fucking cloud of furiosity surrounds him, because he's just awoken from his own werewolf attack to find that Hayley is missing. He demands to know where Marcel took her, and throws a chair at the wall to demonstrate just how fucking enraged he is. Cami bravely (though kind of stupidly) throws herself in between Marcel and Elijah and pleads his case. "He doesn't have her!" she shouts. "Please! I know you don't trust him, but you know I wouldn't lie. He doesn't have her." Elijah points out that SOMEONE has her, and then asks him where Klaus is. Marcel doesn't mince any words, because as far as Marcel's concerned, this is all Klaus' fault anyway. "I left him in the street. He was gonna kill me. And then, he got jacked up by some witch's spell." He starts to pant, thanks to the fact that hybrid bites are even more lethal than regular werewolf ones, and Elijah realizes just how badly Genevieve has fucked them all over.

Speaking of Genevieve, she's at St. Anne's hospital with a group of fellow New Orleans witches, who are dragging a struggling and yelling Hayley up to the sacristy. Monique, Abigail, and a bunch of other witches are waiting for them there. When Genevieve orders the witches to get Hayley on the floor, Monique reminds her that they need to get to LaFayette Cemetery, but Genevieve claims they don't have enough time because the baby is coming RIGHT NOW. Hayley is horrified and scared, because it's too early for the baby to come, but Genevieve is surprisingly unsympathetic for someone who was trying so hard to not have to kill her and the baby. Monique pulls Genevieve to the side and hisses, "The plan was to induce her when the sacrifice was ready!" Genevieve, once again, is so not here for Monique bossing her around, and snits, "I had to subdue her, and the trauma caused a placental abruption. So, the baby is coming, and we'll just have to adapt."

Hayley continues to struggle against the witches restraining her, but Genevieve just insists that she needs to remain calm. Hayley has no idea what the fuck is happening, or why, and asks them why they're doing this to her. Monique, ever the little militant witch soldier, parrots, "To be reborn, you must sacrifice." It's really funny (in a super sad and depressing way) how many people in this episode have been talking about the "sacrifice" that is required to start a revolution, or war, or whatever, but it's really easy to say that when YOU'RE not the one who has to sacrifice, you know? Genevieve is ready to kill two people just so she can continue to live, Francesca is willing to give up one of her own kind just so she can gain control of the city, and Klaus and Marcel are cool with killing whomever will get them what they want, whether it's to make a statement, to gain more power, or simply for convenience. Hayley screams, "What does that mean, you psychotic little BITCH?" as she continues to struggle and fight back, like the little wolf backed into the corner that she is.

Genevieve reluctantly admits that the ancestors "demand" an offering in exchange for power. "You and your child will make a fine offering," Monique sneers cruelly, and Hayley continues to try to save herself by flailing around and making as much noise as possible in hopes of getting some back-up. She threatens to kill all of them, but Monique is not having any of her freak-outs. "No, you won't! And neither will Klaus, or Elijah! When your baby is born, you will offer her up to those who came before us." GROSS GROSS GROSS. I'm not one to wish for death on people, even fictional characters, but Monique needs to be reunited with those ancestors she just seems to love so much, don't you think? Besides, has she even MET the Mikaelsons before? If Klaus doesn't chop that whole coven's heads off with a broadsword, Elijah will end up ripping out all of their hearts. Hayley continues to cry and shake her head no as she struggles against the multiple witches holding her down. "I'm sorry, Hayley," Genevieve says, almost sadly. "But this is the way it had to be." Again, I don't think she'd be so eager to hear something like that if SHE were the one being sacrificed along with her baby who hasn't even been born yet, but whatever, hypocrisy is a running theme on this show.

Outside, Klaus is weakly stumbling down the middle of the street, clearly still in pain and sapped of energy, when he hears Hayley's terrified screams. Feeling as helpless and hopeless and useless as he's ever felt in his immortal life, his anger reaches nuclear-levels as he opens his mouth and roars at the sky at the top of his lungs. I can feel the bloodbath already.

Next episode: FINALE! Baby Mikaelson is born; Elijah, Klaus, and Hayley have a big decision to make; Davina is, as always, a badass; and everything gets tied up in a neat little bow. I fucking LOVE THIS SHOW.

[screencaps via Screencapped]

NOTES/SPECULATION/QUESTIONS:
-Firstly, I just want to talk about how angry I am that I missed the connection between Francesca and the Guerreras! The Guerreras were first introduced as gangsters in the flashbacks to 1919 in "Long Way Back From Hell," and Francesca has never NOT seemed like the mafiosa-type--first, with her threats to Elijah about being made Human Faction representative, followed by her threats towards Hayley and involvement in the bayou bombings. IT IS ALL SO OBVIOUS IN HINDSIGHT, UGH, WHY DIDN'T I PICK UP ON IT SOONER.

-Alright, so MS MR is an amazing band whose song, "Bones," has been used in a multitude of TV shows that I watch and it is ALWAYS perfect. When you look at the lyrics, I just think of the Originals, because all of the lines related to at least one character. "Broken dreams and silent screams/empty churches and soulless curses" is Father Kieran all the way, while "Midnight hours, cobbled street passages/ forgotten savages, forgotten savages" is more Francesca/the Guerreras. "Boy with a broken soul," is totally Marcel, while "Heart with a gaping hole," could be either Elijah or Rebekah (or Hayley, lbr). "Dig up her bones but leave the soul alone," is more Celeste, and "Kissing death and losing my breath," is totally Davina, as well as "Marinate in misery/like a girl of only seventeen." Klaus is more "Lost in the pages of self-made cages," and "man-made madness and the romance of sadness." I guess what I'm trying to say, is, listen to MS MR! You will not be disappointed.