The Originals Season 1, Episode 22: "From a Cradle to a Grave" Recap/Review
HOLY. SHIT. I am a TV nut, so I have seen quite a few season finales in my day, but I cannot for the life of me remember a time that I felt SO SATISFIED with an ending. Like, seriously, this neatly tied up all of the dangling threads in the most perfect way possible. Remember how when we first learned that Hayley was pregnant, and then we were all angry, like, "WHY WOULD THEY PUT A BABY ON A SHOW ABOUT MURDEROUS MONSTERS?" And then, sometime during this season, I actually got ATTACHED to that little demon child, and the thought of her being killed by Genevieve (or worse, MONIQUE) was absolutely devastating. But, at the same time, nobody actually WANTS a little baby on a supernatural drama, because while Klaus changing diapers would be pretty hilarious the first time, it would get super boring after like one episode. So, this ending was the perfect way to remedy that-- the newborn Baby Mikaelson gets to go live with Auntie Beks and have the white picket fence they both deserve, leaving the opportunity for Klaus and Hayley's grown-up child to return at a later date. And, if that actually ends up happening, I'm hoping Rebekah has taught her self-defense, and maybe even hired a witch to train her, if she turns out to have actual magical abilities as well--since she presumably has the potential power of a vampire, hybrid, and maybe even a witch combined, making sure she has the ability to defend herself from those who want to harm her should be a priority.
Another thing that I was concerned about was Hayley, especially when I read in the episode's plot synopsis that Klaus would have to make a heartbreaking decision. I assumed going into the episode that either the baby or Hayley was going to end up dying, and when that ended up actually being true when Monique slit Hayley's throat at the beginning of the episode, I was seriously shocked. And even though I've been pretty vocal about how I would love to see Hayley as a hybrid since the very beginning, I ultimately didn't even consider that to be a possibility going into the finale, especially since Klaus had made it clear he had no intention of making any more hybrids. So, when Hayley woke back up and managed to find Elijah and Klaus at the cemetery, I literally squealed, fangirl-styles. Now, not only is Hayley alive, but she's pretty much immortal as long as no one rips her heart out or chops her head off, and she'll have even more strength and speed that will only serve to make her more badass than before, which she'll probably need considering the Guerrera werewolves are surely going to be a problem. Now, Elijah, Hayley, and Klaus (and also Hope and Rebekah, hopefully, someday!) get to be an immortal family for eternity! I'm already so excited to see Klaus teaching Hayley how to embrace her vampire side, and maybe Elijah will train her to fight like he does. The potential for plot is infinite and I am so pumped.
Last but not least, Marcel and Klaus are the unholy duo once again! I have to say, I was a little nervous about Marcel's chances of survival going into this episode as well, considering how things left off in "The Battle of New Orleans," not to mention Julie Plec's penchant for killing off pretty much all of the non-white characters in both of her shows. But, once Marcel saved baby Hope (by breaking his sacred rule of not hurting children, though it was to save an even younger child, which was totally understandable), I realized just how much more I love Klaus and Marcel--both together and separately--when they're BFFs, rather than enemies. Clearly, they still have a ton of work to do to gain back their trust in each other, but the fact that they've reconciled is definitely a step in the right direction. Especially considering the inevitable battles they'll both eventually be facing in the near future. For one, they've got the werewolves on the one side, many of whom have or will have the moonlight stones whose use will severely weaken Klaus on the full moon, so that's something they're definitely going to have trouble dealing with right off the bat. Klaus is known for having few weaknesses, and that is a huge and easily exploitable one right there.
Then, on top of that, they don't even realize that not only is their father back in the living world (though, not with as much autonomy as he was expecting, which is AMAZING and I will get into this more later), but also, their MOTHER Esther AND (I'm assuming) their eldest brother Finn are both back as well, in loaner bodies, as is Esther's wont. Needless to say, its gonna be even more of a shock to them when they finally figure it out. I was never really a fan of Mikael and Esther, and Finn is still a bit of a mystery, too, but either way, it's awesome to see that The Originals series actually has more than two Original family members in the mix now. Plus, since Supernatural: Bloodlines didn't get picked up (which I am SUPER sad about, because I actually enjoyed it more than I enjoy Supernatural), and Nate Buzolic no longer has major commitments to that show, that opens the door to either bring Kol back, too. Or, at the very least, they can add him into some flashbacks, since Kol confirmed on TVD that he lived in New Orleans with his siblings back in the day, and was presumably daggered shortly before they took off for Chicago.
Basically, we have a LOT of stuff to look forward to in season 2 (especially since it's been confirmed that Daniel Sharman, aka Isaac Lahey from Teen Wolf, will be playing Kaleb, a new witch in the French Quarter coven and recurring character), so much that I'm realllllly anxious for it to be fall already so we can find out what happens! In the meantime, I'm gonna stop yammering and just start the damn recap already, yeah? Settle in, babes, because this recap is gonna be a doozy.
Previously, on The Originals: Oh, hell, I've already written enough about it just in the introduction alone. You know what's going on, right? Lets get to the good stuff!
We open this final episode of the season in a flashback, sometime between when Hayley moved back in and the huge battle in the French Quarter. Hayley is sitting in a rocking chair in the baby's nursery, writing a letter, when Klaus appears, leaning in the doorway. "Writing a letter to one of your many suitors?" Klaus asks mischievously, though not at all unkindly. "So, who's the lucky recipient, then? Jackson? ...or, Elijah?" He can't help but smirk and chuckle as Hayley rolls her eyes, and keeps ribbing her affectionately. "Don't tell me it's ME? I thought I was out of the running ages ago!" Is it naive of me to hope that this is a sign that Klaus and Hayley can share a mutual respect and friendship, no matter who either of them are dating? Regardless of what anyone else might say, Hayley is, for better or for worse, part of the family now, and I'm hoping this flashback is a sign that they may actually be able to be friends, regardless of who Hayley ends up with (*coughElijahcoughcough* ahem.)
Anyway, Hayley just chides him for his huge ego before she's caught off-guard by the baby kicking. She winces slightly, and Klaus walks toward her, asking about their "littlest wolf," which may just be the cutest thing ever. I've made my Haylijah leanings pretty well-known, but this is definitely stirring up some residual Klayley feels in me as well. Hayley asks him if he'd like to feel the baby kicking, which visibly freaks him the fuck out, so Hayley just laughs and gestures toward her belly as she insists he go for it. He hesitantly reaches a hand toward her bulging baby bump, and is totally, adorably startled when he feels the baby kicking. "You feel that?" Hayley exclaims, and the two dissolve in laughter. After a moment, Klaus is like, "What is this happy feeling in my heart right now? ABORT ABORT ABORT," and, feeling awkward, decides to leave Hayley to her love letter. He rushes away quickly, and Hayley just smiles in how ridiculous her life is.
Hayley starts to narrate the letter she's writing in voiceover, as we cut to scenes of Hayley in labor at the church, as the witches all hover around her. "Dear Zoe...or Kaitlyn...or Angela," she begins. "To my little girl: your dad just asked if this is a love letter. I guess it kind of is. I never got to know my mother. I have no idea what she must have thought when she was carrying me." In the present, Hayley is screaming bloody murder at Genevieve and Monique, trying to get them to let go of her. "So, I thought I'd write to you, so you can know how happy I am at this very moment. How much your father and I can't wait to meet you..." Klaus finally limps into the hospital, and Hayley has never felt so grateful to see him. He lunges at a witch guard and straight up RIPS the manwitch's head off his neck. Abigail and Monique yelp a bit before holding hands and using their combined power to throw Klaus backwards and telekinetically pin him high on the nearby wall, so he can't interfere. I'm guessing the Harvest girls have the added benefit of being stronger in groups, like they can use the full force of the Harvest when they're together? That's actually really interesting, and I have a lot more theorizing about this for later.
"And, I want to make you a promise of three things that you will have that I never did: a safe home; someone to tell you that they love you, every single day; and, someone to fight for you, no matter what." Klaus fights against the spell pinning him to the wall, but he can't break free. Monique and Abigail somehow manage to anchor the spell so they can return to tending to Hayley, who is still screaming at them. "In other words, a family. So, there you go, baby girl. The rest, we're going to have to figure out together. I love you." Klaus and Hayley both watch in terror as Genevieve picks up the ceremonial athame that they also used in the Harvest ritual. She turns to both Hayley and Klaus and states, "You should know that this brings me no joy. I promise I'll make it quick." Yeah, you feel bad, but not bad enough to NOT kill a baby? God, they're the worst. One of the witches covers Hayley's legs with a white sheet in preparation for her to give birth, and Genevieve announces that it's time to begin. Ohhhh, shit. TITLE CARD!
Davina rushes into the compound's courtyard, only to find dozens and dozens of dead and dying vampires still strewn around after the battle. She sees Cami and Marcel tending to Diego and the rest of the still-undead-but-slowly-dying vampires and rushes over to them. Once she gets there, she sees how injured Marcel is, and asks him what happened. Marcel is already wearing down fast and is only able to stammer, "Klaus..." before Cami cuts in to explain for him. "They fought, and he got bit," she adds, as she rushes around laying damp washcloths on the foreheads of the vampires in the room. Girlfriend, you are a human! Why are you still hanging around a bunch of soon-to-bloodthirsty vampires? Lord. Davina is clearly devastated to hear that yet another one of her friends is dying from a hybrid bite, but Marcel insists that he gave as good as he got, as though that is some kind of comfort. When he mentions that he needs Klaus' blood to heal, Davina gets an idea. "You fought Klaus-- did he bleed?" Marcel, confused, admits that yeah, he managed to injure him quite a bit, so Davina gets that determined look on her face that she gets and demands to know where.
We catch up with her again out in the streets of the Quarter, where Davina is quickly walking to the area where Klaus and Marcel fought in the previous episode. As she looks around at all the bloodstained concrete and pavement, we get flashbacks to the fight, where Marcel punched Klaus in the face, which caused him to sputter blood all over the hood of a car parked on the street. She finds an empty plastic cup on the ground, and sets it on the hood of the car, before holding her arms out, throwing her head back, and starting to chant a spell. "Venez sanguis. Venez sanguis. Venez sanguis. Venez--" Out of nowhere, Josh stumbles outside and finds Davina in the middle of her spell. "Uhh, Davina? What the hell?" Davina immediately stops what she's doing at the sound of his voice, and asks him why the FUCK he's out here, since he's totally tripping balls on werewolf venom at this point and needs to rest and conserve his strength.
"I mean, unless I'm hallucinating you standing in the middle of the street and chanting for no reason..." He laughs exhaustedly, and then stops. "Wait, am I?" Davina, who is resolved to save the day, insists that she's going to save him AND the rest of the vampires. She returns to her spell-casting stance and starts to chant like a badass. "Venez sanguis. Venez sanguis. Venez sanguis la force de la bête à moi." Josh watches in amazement and shock as all of Klaus' blood that was spattered onto the ground is siphoned into the air by her spell, where it's sucked into the plastic cup placed on the hood of the car. "Okay, I AM hallucinating..." Josh mutters under his breath. BAD. ASS. DAVINA! God, she is perfection in this episode.
Back to St. Anne's, where we return to the witches guiding Hayley through labor, while Klaus watches helplessly and screams obscenities at them. I'm gonna be honest with you guys, this part is REALLY HARD for me to recap because it's just so gruesome and terrible and it makes me so sad. ALRIGHT, HERE GOES. So, Klaus is screaming that he'll bring hell to their families and bathe in rivers of their blood, blah blah blah, as is his wont, and Hayley is just screaming in agony as she continues to push her way through labor. Monique shouts that she can see the baby, so Genevieve instructs Hayley to push gently one more time. Just as the baby is born, Hayley, who was sitting up, falls back down against the table in relief and exhaustion. Genevieve wraps the baby in a sheet as another witch cuts the umbilical cord with an athame. "You have a beautiful baby daughter," Genevieve says, in a way that is supposed to denote kindness, but really just comes off more cruel than anything else. Klaus and Hayley are so shocked to see this baby that they created together that they're literally speechless, even despite all the events that led them there.
Genevieve clears her throat, and reminds the other witches that the sacrifice must be started as soon as the moon sets with the morning sky, but Hayley cuts her off. "--Please. Please, can I hold her?" I seriously thought Genevieve was going to say no, but instead, she sighs, and hands the baby to Hayley so she can hold her. Hayley completely forgets about everything-- that she was kidnapped, that her baby is in danger, that one of the two people who have the power to try to save her are unable to do so-- and just stares at her adorable baby daughter. She looks up at Klaus and gives him a weak smile, like, "Look what we made!" and my heart swelled like three whole sizes, which of course means it's about to end in a horrifyingly violent fashion.
Monique grabs Hayley by the hair, holds the ceremonial athame to her neck, and slits her throat, right there in the middle of the church. "NOOOOO!" Klaus bellows at the top of his lungs, as Hayley gasps and gropes at her neck. The witches quickly grab the baby and rush away with her, leaving Hayley to die on her own at the sacristy. Before they leave, Monique releases Klaus from the binding spell with a twist of her wrist, which snaps his neck as he falls to the floor. While he is temporarily paralyzed, he isn't knocked unconscious like most vampires would be, so he's unable to move, or do anything other than stare sadly up at Hayley, whose corpse still lies on the table. NO NO NO NO NO.
Some unknown amount of time later, Elijah manages to stumble weakly into the church. "HAYLEY!" he bellows, as he tries to shake the effects of his multiple werewolf bites off to focus his vision on the sacristy. After a moment, he realizes that Klaus is sitting on the steps in front of the pews, holding Hayley's body in his lap. "No, no, no, no," Elijah mutters, as he falls to his knees in front of them. I think he knows before he touches her that she's dead, but when Klaus manages to numbly rasp, "She's gone," Elijah can't help but start to cry, which just makes Klaus cry, too. He takes a good look at his older brother, and realizes that he's been bitten. Without being asked, he bites into his wrist, and offers it to him to heal. Elijah is stunned at his brother's unusually generous act of kindness, which just drives home how devastated they both are that Hayley's gone.
Over at the Abbatoir, Davina returns to the compound and proudly holds out the half-full cup of dirty, old Klaus-blood that she managed to collect from the fight scene. Behind them, Cami is caring for Josh, who is clearly fading fast, having been bitten easily twelve hours before the rest of them. Marcel sighs, and hesitates before gently admitting that there's only enough blood in the cup to heal one of them. Davina, faced with the death of two of her only friends, becomes incredibly distraught. "No! This HAS to be enough!" Davina shouts, which just makes Marcel feel even worse. "I can't choose," Davina whispers quietly, as she starts to cry. "Please don't make me choose." Once again, I'm completely heart-crushed by yet another character, when Marcel gives Davina a sad look and takes the cup from her. "Save your friend," he says kindly, as he walks toward Josh with the cup. "I can take care of the rest of us."
Cami is NOT so sure about this plan, and neither is Josh, who doesn't want to keep Marcel from being healed either. "Judging by the look of that bite, you don't have time to argue." Davina is crying harder now, and calls after him, but Marcel is adamant that Josh take it. "Josh is one of my guys, and enough of my guys have died today." Oh my god, Marcel! See what I mean about this episode being perfect? I'm loving characters I usually hate, and everyone is just loving each other. It's perfect. Marcel hands the cup to Cami, who helps Josh drink it, just as Davina notices that Mikael's spirit is just chilling in the courtyard. "One point for you, and one point for Niklaus," he sneers, which just makes Davina even more angry. Marcel forces himself to get up to his feet, and weakly starts making his way toward the door. Cami, in full-on Bossy Mom-mode, asks him what the hell he thinks he's doing, but Marcel insists that he needs to track down Klaus, get his blood, and save as many of the NOLA vamps as he can with it. He turns to leave again, but once again, she stops him, though for a different reason, this time. "Wait!" she says, as she blocks his way. "For that, you'll need a weapon. And, it just so happens, I have an arsenal." Davina catches her eye with interest, and they all start to formulate a plan. AW YISS, DAVINA/MARCEL/CAMI TEAM UP. This is what I'm talking about.
Elijah lays Hayley's body back on the table at St. Anne's Church, while Klaus sits nearby and continues to remain silent. After a long moment, Elijah can hold his tongue no longer, and he whispers, "How?" Klaus is still pretty numb, after everything, so all he has to say is, "I was bested." As you can probably imagine, this is NOT what Elijah wanted to hear at all. "You were bested," he repeats. "Huh." His scary calm turns to unbridled fury in about a millisecond, and he then bellows, "YOU were BESTED?" Klaus stares at him in shock at Elijah's uncharacteristic outburst, and though part of Elijah may feel the tiniest bit bad about it, he can't help how he feels. "My invincible brother," he spits defeatedly. Klaus, feeling worse by the minute, pulls himself to his feet and weakly approaches Elijah to look him in the eyes. "They took the baby," Klaus admits. "But, there's still time. We can save her." I'm not one to question the way people grieve, but wouldn't it have been helpful to inform Elijah that the baby was still alive a while ago? Like, as soon as he showed up, after he found out Hayley was alive? Time is at the essence, here, fellas, that means immediate full disclosure.
The brothers head straight for LaFayette Cemetery, where they quickly walk around, trying to find where the witches are keeping the baby. After a while, Elijah frantically points out that not only are the tombs empty, but they haven't run into anyone, which likely means they're NOT here. Klaus, however, knows that this is the only place they COULD do this, and argues that they need to keep searching. Elijah continues to worry that they're wasting time, so Klaus reminds him of the facts. "The Harvest was here! The Reaping was here! They're about to perform a ritual which will feed their ancestors for centuries! Ancestors who are buried HERE." Klaus opens his mouth to continue to speak, but is distracted when he notices an angel statue perched on the corner of one of the tomb's roof. He sighs in frustration, and mentions that he remembers passing by this specific statue three times in their search, and they passed it while going the same direction. Confused, Elijah stops, and the two start investigating the nearby tombs.
"They've fabricated some kind of illusion," Elijah determines, as he runs his fingers along the stone of one of the tombs. Klaus zoops up to the roof of the nearest tomb to get a better vantage point of the cemetery from above. Unfortunately, when he looks out toward the horizon, he realizes that there is some SERIOUS illusory magic going on, because there appears to be an infinite number of tombs arranged in their own blocks, as far as the eye can see. "That's one word for it," Klaus quips in response, as he gapes at the huge cemetery stretched out around him. FUCK! So, I'm guessing the spell is to keep them running in circles a safe distance away from where the sacrifice will be performed? That is not only brilliant but SERIOUSLY intense magic! I'm not sure we've ever seen such a powerful display of magic so far, except maybe from Qetsiyah to make the Other Side.
Meanwhile, Cami has arrived at Kieran's secret apartment with Davina and Marcel, who trail behind her as she leads them into the secret storage room through the closet. They both gape in shock, and Marcel guesses that this is what Kieran was hiding with that key. "More like stockpiling," Cami admits. "From what I can gather, it's mostly weapons." Davina, who is preoccupied with the shelf full of artifacts, corrects her by informing her that they're actually dark objects, which were created by witches, and presumably ganked by the Human Faction over the years. She starts going through the objects on the shelf, which includes the previously-mentioned Needle of Sorrows that Kieran took from Agnes, as well as a small clock, a bangle bracelet, and a pocketwatch that looks suspiciously like the Gilbert vampire compass. Could Kieran have managed to get that from Mystic Falls? I NEED TO KNOW. It HAS been a really long time since anyone on TVD has seen or used it.
"Kieran's been keeping this a secret for years," Marcel says quietly, as he walks closer to Cami. "You really sure you wanna show me all this?" As mad as Cami may have been at Marcel for hiding the key thing from him, in the end, she wants to help him. "You said knowing my uncle's secrets could get me killed. But, what if those same secrets could save the lives of my friends?" CAMI, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. And this is why she's way more fit to lead the Human Faction than anyone else (although, it's not like Francesca will be needing to lead the humans anymore, so maybe she'll be able to take Kieran's position after all?) Davina interrupts their moment by showing them a gold throwing star that is about the size of her hand. "Look at this!" she says excitedly. "I learned about it in the lycée, it's called the Devil's Star. They say one throw can make a thousand cuts!" Marcel smiles a tiny smile, and points out that they need to make Klaus bleed, so it sounds like just the weapon they need to get the blood to heal the rest of the vampires. Davina hands him the star, and he gives her a nod before leaving to go find Klaus.
Klaus and Elijah are still determinedly searching for the baby and the rest of the witches. Klaus is using a medium-sized rock as a piece of chalk, so he can mark the various tombs with tally marks in order to keep track of where they've been. "It's ingenius," Klaus breathes in exhausted frustration, as he rubs a hand across the stone wall of a tomb. "I can see them, I can feel them, and yet, they are not real." Elijah is pacing around as he anxiously tugs his fingers through his hair as he insists that there MUST be another way. Unfortunately, Klaus did not take into consideration just how badly this event is affecting his brother.
OH GOD MY HEART. Klaus is in such a hard situation, because 1) he knows that Elijah is right about this all being a result of his own actions, and 2) he actually did care about Hayley, although perhaps not as much in a romantic way as in a familial sense, but either way, he's still grieving as well, and 3) he knows that they both have to hold it together so they can find the baby before it's too late for her, as well. Plus, the fact that Elijah has literally broken down in front of him for the first time we've ever seen in the however many years of flashbacks to which we've been privy is making the fact that Elijah is devastated loud and clear. So, instead of yelling at him, or fighting back as he normally would, he instead walks toward his brother and sits next to him on the stoop of a nearby tomb. "You can tell your niece how much you cared for her mother when we save her." Elijah, not at all used to these kind words coming out of his brothers mouth, just stares at him, chin quivering, until Klaus nods encouragingly. SO MANY MIKAELSON FEELINGS. This episode just made it clear that all of these monsters are capable of kindness and compassion for others, and as much as I love the ruthless badassery that they enjoy so much, I am getting a lot of joy from seeing them show that they have hearts after all. MAKE IT SO, PLEC.
As if Klaus' words were a cue, we return to St. Anne's Church, where Hayley still lays on the table where the boys left her. Why would they just leave her at the church? I know Kieran is dead, but what if someone showed up? Surely there have to be other priests who can/will take over the church? Sigh. Hayley's neck appears to have healed itself, with just a little bit of blood dried around it to indicate that she was even injured at all. Suddenly, she awakens with a loud gasp and sits up. She's immediately overwhelmed by flashbacks of the events of the past day or so--the witches taking her, going into labor, giving birth to her baby girl, and being killed by Monique. She starts to freak out for a moment, until she seems to sense something. She realizes that her daughter is still alive, and instantly pulls herself together so she can go track her down. HAYLEY IS A HYBRID HAYLEY IS A HYBRID HAYLEY IS A HYBRID. I am so thrilled about this development! More on that later.
Elsewhere in the cemetery, Monique, Abigail, and Genevieve, who look very pretty in clean, white dresses, are hanging out in a tomb. Genevieve is just finishing swaddling the baby in equally clean, white sheets and places her in a basket. She looks up through the cobwebbed skylight and notes aloud that the moon has almost faded, before grabbing her athame and leaving to prepare the altar. Abigail and Monique both give her some very blatant side-eye as she walks out the door. "She'll go through with it," Abigail snits with a sigh. Has she ever spoken before? I feel like this is the first time we've actually heard her talk. "The ancestors promised her her life." Monique, not to be outdone in the whining department, hisses, "What about their promise to US? Four Harvest girls sacrificed, four girls returned." Monique doesn't think it's fair that Genevieve gets to stay alive at Cassie's expense, when it was Genevieve's friend who hijacked the Harvest's power in the first place. As much as I hate to admit it, on this count, she's totally right, tbh. Celeste and Genevieve were/are friends, and she shouldn't be rewarded for hijacking their ritual. Monique reminds Abigail that Cassie was their friend, which convinces them to make a pact that if Genevieve chickens out, they'll take advantage of the opportunity to sacrifice the baby AND Genevieve, too, so they can fulfill their duty to their ancestors and get their friend back at the same time. Once they're agreed, Monique grabs the baby and her basket, and the two leave to join Genevieve.
The sacrifice is set to be performed in front of this gorgeous and humongous tomb, at the end of an aisle of much smaller tombs. At the top of the steps of the large tomb, a huge stone tabletop has been set up as an altar, with a circle of salt placed around a pattern of designs. Genevieve leads the girls to the altar, and lays the athame at the top of the table as the girls take their places on either side of her, the baby's basket placed in the middle. Finally, she takes note of the sky before announcing, "It's time." SHITSHITSHIT.
Meanwhile, at the Abbatoir, Davina is with Mikael in Klaus' study, where he seems to have helped Davina find the specific spell needed to bring him back in Esther's grimoire. Oh shit! Klaus probably didn't have the chance to hide it again after the whole fiasco with the vampires and the werewolves and whatnot. That's SO gonna fuck him over, too. He'd probably be better off if Davina takes it for herself than if any of the other witches got their mitts on it. ANYWAY, Davina has set up a salt circle on the floor, whose symbols look just like the one that is set up at the sacrifice site, I'm guessing because of what we learn next. Davina reads the spell, and points out that it says she needs to channel her power through a "nexus vorti," which gives Mikael a good, friendly laugh, as though he's actually a kind gentleman and not the Destroyer of Worlds or whatever it is that he likes to call himself. "Ah, yes," Mikael explains. "My wife, Esther, always did love to dress things up a bit. It's fancy witch-speak. A nexus vorti-- a rare occurrence. Something so infrequent, it's almost a miracle. Like, an astrological event. Or..." Davina's eyes widen in understanding. "...a miracle baby," she breathes quietly, earning herself a proud smile from Mikael. Oh god, this is awful.
Back at the cemetery, Genevieve lifts a white-diapered Baby Mikaelson into the air above her head, while Abigail and Monique hold their hands up toward the baby as they cast their spell. "Nouvel vie, nouvel ame, me lange avec nous." Haven't they done this spell before? I feel like I remember that chant, although my French skills are horrible, so I could just be remembering it incorrectly.
We cut over to the Abbatoir. Davina gathers an armful of dark objects that she pilfered from Kieran's apartment, as Mikael asks her if she's sure she has enough power to bring him back. She just smirks and replies, "I do now," as she walks around the salt circle on the floor, setting the various objects around the perimeter; the bangle bracelet, a key, the suspicious-looking maybe-Gilbert pocketwatch/compass, and the tiny clock. So, I'm assuming this means she's using the magic from the dark objects to add fuel to the spell that will channel power away from the ~miracle baby~? Get it, Davina, you are the best witch. Mikael watches her in fascination as she lifts up her arms and begins to chant the spell. "De la cendre à los, de la chair à la vie. De la cendre à los, de la chair à la vie." As she chants, Mikael doubles over and starts moaning in pain.
Wait, didn't Esther speak her spells in Latin? (I'm pretty sure they're actually written in her grimoire in Runic, judging by the screenshots of her spells, which just makes me more confused, but that's not really the point of this question) I NEED TO KNOW HOW THIS LANGUAGE THING WORKS. Genevieve did her moonlight ring spell in Latin, which I thought was because that was the language she and all the other TVD witches had used for their spells, but Davina's is in French. Can they translate it to different languages or something? Are witches given the ability to understand magic written in any language? Can't Julie Plec just write us a fucking TVD/TO Universe Codex or something to explain all this stuff? I have so many questions. (I just finished the last book in the Mortal Instruments series, a book series that, despite it's many flaws, is amazing in the way that there is SO MUCH BACKSTORY and world-building involved. They explain how all the different forms of magic work, where it came from, etc, and it just makes it so much more enjoyable. Step up, TVD/TO writers!)
Klaus and Elijah are still frantically trying to find their way to their baby daughter/niece by literally busting their way through the various tombs. Elijah sighs when he sees two tally marks on the top of a doorway, and points out that they've already been here twice. "We're running out of time," he says with a sigh, before he angrily punches through another wall in frustration. "Then we move faster," Klaus replies tiredly, as he adds a third tally mark to the wall. That's when an exhausted, familiar female voice calls out behind them, "Or smarter." The two brothers freeze at the sound of Hayley's voice, and can hardly believe their eyes when they turn and see her standing in the doorway. Bloody smudges still linger around her neck, and she's covered in a thin sheen of sweat, still in the maternity dress she was wearing the night before that is now way too big for her now-flat stomach. She's almost in a daze as Elijah gapes at her, before he's finally able to rasp, "Hayley." He rushes toward her and gently cups her face in his hands, so shocked to see her that he's almost afraid that she's an illusion. He quietly asks her how she could possibly be here.
"I woke up in the church," Hayley replies numbly. She can barely focus on either of them. "I felt this hunger... I knew what I needed. I can feel her. She's here. I can feel my baby." Man, I always knew that vampires who have just awakened in transition eventually get an impulse/craving to feed on human blood as a survival instinct, but it is SO SMART (and in this situation, extremely helpful) that she would be drawn to the only living blood source that could complete her transition, since there are no more living human doppelgängers to feed on. "You died with the baby's blood in your system," Klaus says in horror, as he realizes what happened. "She's in transition." Elijah quickly begins to comprehend the implication of their current predicament--Hayley needs the baby's blood to complete the transition, which means if the baby dies, there's no hope of keeping her alive either. To both brothers' credit, the thought of Hayley being a hybrid HORRIFIES them, probably both because they know she never wanted it, and because deep down, while they love being vampires (or, at the very least, the power it affords them), it's definitely not the life they would want for someone they care about, at least not if they could help it. Hayley insists that she doesn't give one fuck about herself at this point, or anything else that doesn't involve her newborn child. "I'm gonna go find our daughter," she declares, as she determinedly stomps away, leaving Klaus and Elijah to quickly follow after her.
Davina is continuing the spell to bring Mikael back from the dead. "De la cendre à los, de la chair à la vie. From ash to bone, from bone to flesh, from flesh to life!" SEE WHAT I MEAN? That's like the first time I've ever heard a spell done in English in this show. WHAT IS HAPPENING. Mikael's bones continue to crack as he's literally made corporeal again, and once the spell is complete, Davina faints and falls to the floor, unconscious. Once she's down, Mikael collapses on the floor next to her, still yelling in agony.
Hayley is leading the boys through the cemetery as they continue on their rescue mission. Genevieve, Abigail, and Monique are continuing to perform their spell. It really is convenient that these spells take SO much time to complete, isn't it? Otherwise none of them would ever make it in time to save anyone. Genevieve lifts the knife into the air in preparation to sacrifice the baby. NOOOO!
Mikael finally is able to pull himself up from the floor in Klaus' study, and gasps when he realizes that he is alive (or rather, undead) yet again. He grins an evil grin, and makes his way downstairs, leaving Davina alone, still passed out on the floor. I'm glad he at least has the common decency not to feed on the baby witch who actually brought him back from the Other Side before it imploded, though I guess that's probably only because 1) she's a human/witch, and he's more of a vampire-blood kind of guy, and 2) he has no idea if he'll need her help in the future, so there's no way he's going to off her if there's any chance he'll need additional help.
Hayley, Klaus, and Elijah finally turn down the aisle of smaller tombs that leads to the larger tomb where the sacrifice is about to be completed. Hayley sees Genevieve holding the athame over the baby, as the three witches continue to chant, "Nouvel vie, nouvel ame, me longe avec nous." Hayley screeches, "NO!" at the top of her voice, which causes Elijah and Klaus so much alarm that Elijah quickly picks up an urn off the ground and lobs it straight at Genevieve, which hits her right in the hand and knocks the blade out of her grasp and onto the ground below. The three Mikaelsons (for lack of a better collective term for them) lunge toward the witches, so Abigail and Monique grab each others hands while aiming their hands at the three vampire/hybrid intruders. Abigail chants, "La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur..." over and over, which throws Hayley, Elijah, and Klaus backwards, while Monique addresses their new visitors.
"You fools!" Monique shrieks dramatically, likely speaking for her beloved ancestors. "To come against us in our place of power, in our strongest hour! You don't face three, you face us all!" Genevieve continues to search for the athame, as Hayley, Klaus, and Elijah fight against the magical force holding them back. Sure enough, you can see the vague holographic forms of all of the witches buried in the cemetery, some of whom are recently deceased (Bastianna) and more who are clearly from the 1700 and 1800s, judging by their clothing. Regardless, all of whom are fighting to make sure that they get the offering they believe that they're due. I reaalllllly want to learn more about the inner-workings of ancestral magic, it seems much more powerful than traditional earth magic or spirit magic.
Diego is still dying from his werewolf bites in the courtyard of the compound when he notices a figure coming toward him. As he focuses his vision, we can see that it's Mikael, though Diego clearly has no idea who he is. Just as he's about to ask who the FUCK he is, Mikael grabs him by the hair and sinks his fangs into his neck. He drinks deep, and when Diego is finally dead, he pulls away, his fangs coated in blood, and grunts animalistically before looking around for another vampire to be his next course. Ew, shouldn't the werewolf venom be affecting him? I understand the CONVENIENCE of feeding on all these dying vampires to rebuild his strength, but shouldn't the venom in their blood negatively affect him? Sigh. So long, Diego. It's been real.
Hayley, Elijah, and Klaus are still fighting against the intense strength of the witches' spell, so they decide to split up-- Klaus runs to the right, while Hayley goes left, and Elijah continues to make his way up to the altar from the middle. Hayley runs into Genevieve, who has just found the athame on the ground, and immediately starts to fist-fight her to keep her from using it on her baby. Damn, for a woman who literally gave birth hours ago right before being killed and waking up in transition, she is seriously fighting HARD. She hasn't even fed yet! Hayley is so fucking badass, especially when she's in mama-bear-mode. So, she knocks the blade out of Genevieve's hand and continues to fight her to make sure she can't get it and use it. Meanwhile, Klaus has run into the ghosts of Papa Tunde's twin sons, who he killed and beheaded back in 1919. No matter where he runs, they still catch up to him, and finally, they corner him and use their magic to telekinetically throw Klaus into a tomb, which shatters into pieces. Hayley hits Genevieve so hard that she falls to the ground, but when Hayley runs toward the baby to grab her and run away, Genevieve hits her from behind with a mystical migraine, which brings her to her knees.
Monique and Abigail are still holding hands, chanting their spell that allows them to channel the full power of their ancestors, as Elijah continues to fight against their power to get to the baby. "La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur..." Klaus, furious, pulls himself out of the pile of broken rock that made up a tomb and rushes toward the action. Realizing that the two Harvest girls are the key to this intense demonstration of magical power, he grabs a pike from a wrought iron fence around a tomb and LOBS it at them like a fucking javelin. The pike flies toward Abigail and lodges in her stomach, and the force of the throw is so strong that it literally pins her body to the wall behind her. Monique watches in horror as the spirits of all the deceased ancestors fade from sight as their connection to the ancestors breaks, and rushes toward where Genevieve dropped the athame so she can grab it and finally finish the sacrifice herself.
Klaus and Elijah vamp-speed toward her to save the baby, but she quickly casts a spell that creates a wall of fire between them and the altar, preventing them from intervening. "NOOOO!" Hayley cries, as she watches Monique lift the athame into the air. Genevieve hits her with another mystical migraine, just to be on the safe side. However, before Monique can plunge the blade into the baby's body, the Devil's Star whizzes past the gang from behind, where it is plunged into Monique's abdomen. Suddenly, her skin breaks open into at least a thousand cuts all over her body, and she coughs up a puddle of blood before she collapses onto the ground. Everyone else turns to find that it was Marcel who showed up just in the nick of time! YAY MARCEL! I have never been more proud of him, especially since he broke his sacred rule about not hurting kids. Although, the baby is much more of a kid than Monique was-- she died the first time at age 16, and when she come back a year later, she was a fully-indoctrinated soldier for the ancestral witches' cause, so I think she's old enough and hardened enough to be considered more an adult than a child. She killed her own fucking aunt with no remorse, ffs! Anyway, before anyone can say anything, Marcel zoops toward the baby, picks her up, and zoops away with her. OH SHIT. Naturally, Klaus wastes no time zooping after him, leaving Elijah and Hayley to deal with Genevieve.
He finds his estranged surrogate son in the Mikaelson compound's courtyard, sitting on the edge of the still-bloody fountain. He's got the baby still wrapped up in his arms, and is clearly trying and failing to swallow down the pain of seeing all his henchvamps dead around him. SHIT, did Mikael seriously eat them all? That's insane. "I was too late," Marcel admits quietly. "There should have been more time." Klaus, of course, has no idea whatsoever that his father is actually back in the world of the living, so he takes a look at the vampires with their throats ripped out and automatically assumes that the Guerrera werewolves must have come back to finish them off before they had the chance to possibly heal themselves. The baby starts to stir and coo a bit, and Marcel can't help but stare at her in shock and awe. Klaus correctly guesses that Marcel took his daughter so that he could leverage her for his blood to heal him and his friends. Marcel gives him a pained look, clearly feeling pretty guilty, but Klaus just laughs exhaustedly at his nerve and shrugs it off before holding out his wrist for Marcel to take.
Surprisingly, Marcel pulls away from him. "This bite, all this..." he begins, as he looks over at Diego's dead and desiccated body. "I know it didn't come from nowhere. This is the last note in a song that I started a century ago, when I brought your dad to town. And, for that, I am sorry." Even more surprisingly, Klaus kneels down in front of Marcel and insists that for saving his child, they are totally even, and encourages him to heal himself with his blood. Once he does, Klaus adds, "We will take down whoever brought this upon us, I swear it." See what I mean? They're so much better when they're a team. And I truly believe that together, they'll get back at Francesca and her cronies for what they did (and, maybe even the witches, too, though that will take some more delicate scheming)-- as long as they can find the patience to wait it out, to play the grieving family in public and plot their long game in private, I think they'll be a forced to be reckoned with, absolutely.
Marcel seems shocked that Klaus is so quick to forgive and forget, but he's a daddy now, y'all, and having to fight so hard for his daughter right off the bat has changed him very quickly, it's kind of incredible to watch. I'd say the Battle of New Orleans and his fight against the witches just now is kind of Klaus' crucible, of sorts. Klaus looks down at his newborn daughter in his adopted son's arms, and asks him if he can hold her. Marcel hands her off to him, and she immediately starts to coo at him. "Oh! Hey! Hey there," Klaus says adorably, and Marcel can't even believe his eyes at the sight of the two of them. Then, the baby turns and looks at Marcel with wide eyes, and he can't help but smile at her. I really hope for some big brother-little sister vibes from Marcel and the baby someday, if she's ever able to come home. For right now, Mikael is lurking in the shadows, with the recently-pilfered indestructible white oak stake gripped tightly in his hand. SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT. Klaus should have NEVER gotten that stake out of hiding, because otherwise everyone would have forgotten it existed. Also, if Mikael were anyone else, you'd think that seeing Klaus act this way toward his newborn daughter would maybe make him reconsider his plans to kill his own step-son, but nope. Mikael is a bigger monster than anyone on this show could ever be.
Sometime later, Klaus has moved up to the nursery, where he lays his swaddled child in her bassinet. He can't take his eyes off of her, and stares at her intently, not knowing that Mikael is currently skulking his way up the stairs with the stake. He walks down the hall and is about to turn to go into the nursery when he's blocked by an invisible barrier. Confused, he looks behind him, where Davina is standing and smirking. Klaus senses someone in the compound, but when he looks out the door to investigate, there is no one there. Yikes!
Hilariously, Davina has dragged Mikael over to St. Anne's Church's attic, where he has apparently moaned and groaned in pain and annoyance the entire trip. Once he gets to the threshold, he can't pass through it, and yells at Davina to stop. "No," she barks back, as she magically allows him entry. He limps into the room, only to succumb to another bout of pain, which causes him to double over. "Agh! Why is this happening?" Mikaal rasps. "You brought me back to kill my son!" Davina's face goes steely-cold, and she becomes so incredibly badass that I just want to give her the biggest hug EVER. "I brought you back to PUNISH him," she replies, correcting him. "And you will! When I'm ready, and not a MINUTE before." Mikael starts to realize that he's totally been played, but unfortunately for him, she knows what it's like to be in his position, and has made sure that she has thought of EVERYTHING. So, when he lunges at her, she's easily able to neutralize him with her magic.
(via crack3dtheory)
She holds up her wrist, on which she's wearing the cursed bangle bracelet from Kieran's secret stash of dark objects, and explains that she added a little extra bit to the spell that brought him back to life. She doesn't explicitly say it, but it seems as though the bracelet has bound him to her will, so he can't do ANYTHING unless she allows it, which is why he couldn;r. AMAZING! Davina, you are brilliant, and I really hope this doesn't result in your death, because you're too awesome for that. "I spent eight months of my life up here, as a secret weapon," she explains, before smiling a cold and calculating smile. "Now, you can see how it feels!" She thrusts her arm toward her to magically pull him closer to her, before gesturing downward, forcing him to fall onto his knees. "Kneel!" she commands, like she's Loki fucking Laufeyson, before smirking and telekinetically slamming the attic door shut behind her. SO BADASS. Mikael stalked and harassed her as a ghost, because he was desperate to come back to life before the Other Side imploded, and he figured she was a stupid yet powerful girl who he could easily manipulate into bringing him back, and this is the perfect comeuppance--instead, HE got manipulated, just like Klaus did, because he couldn't even consider the possibility that Davina could turn on him. Sigh, BEST DEVELOPMENT EVER.
(via crack3dtheory)
Back at the cemetery, Elijah and Hayley have shackled Genevieve by her wrists inside one of the many tombs in hopes of getting some answers from her. When Hayley furiously demands to know why she would kill her and her child, Genevieve straight-up gives her answers in hopes of begging for mercy. She claimed the ancestors left her no choice, which does NOT satisfy or impress Hayley one bit. "You were willing to sacrifice an innocent baby for more power?" she asks incredulously, but Genevieve insists that it wasn't just for power. "It was the ancestors' decree. It was HER decree!" Elijah grabs Genevieve by the face and forces her to look into his eyes as he asks her who this mysterious "she" is, but Genevieve just laughs in such a defeayed way that you can tell she knows she's a goner. She tells Elijah that he shouldn't be at all surprised by this outcome, considering that it was Elijah who so passionately convinced his siblings to bury his mother on New Orleans soil to complete the Harvest. OH SHIT! I so had an inkling this was coming, but it still shocked the hell out of me to realize that the Original Witch herself was pulling the strings all along.
Klaus and Elijah are sitting in Klaus' bedroom, discussing this newest revelation about Esther, while Hayley and the baby rock together in the rocking chair in the nursery in the other room. Klaus is kicking himself for not realizing Esther's hand in all of this sooner, because in his words, "We should have known she would not be bound by anything as obvious as death." Even worse, she seems to not only be leading the ancestors, but also the witches who are still alive, which is a pretty terrifying thought. The brothers agree on the assumption that the NOLA witches will never back down, nor the Guerreras, considering that since Hayley and the baby are the last living descendants of the royal Labonair bloodline, they're a threat to Francesca's power-play. "What was it you said to me earlier?" Klaus asks Elijah. "That I have made enemies every second of my miserable life?" Elijah blanches at the reminder of his uncharacteristic meltdown, but Klaus is actually agreeing with him. "Well, the worst of them are within these borders, brother. I have brought into the world a weapon they can use against me."
Elijah, not keen to give up, reminds him that they have (eventually) vanquished every enemy they've faced since moving back to New Orleans, and believes that they should arm themselves and stay and fight. He starts to suggest making the compound a fortress, but Klaus doesn't want his daughter to have to live as a prisoner in her own home. Elijah's back-up plan is that the four of them leave together and settle down somewhere else, but Klaus doesn't really like that plan, either, because even if they DO leave, it's not like their only enemies are in Louisiana. They're EVERYWHERE the Originals have ever been. "Wherever we go, however far we run, those who seek power and revenge will hunt us! They will hunt HER. She has inherited all of our enemies with none of our defenses." Not yet, anyway, but I'd hazard a guess that she'll be a powerful hybrid/maybe-witch once she's old enough to learn self-defense and maybe even magic. Seriously, the witches wouldn't be so obsessed with killing her and consecrating her among her ancestors if she didn't possess a shitload of magical power.
"So, whether we stay, or we leave--we condemn her," Elijah admits with a sigh, as Hayley and the baby walk into Klaus' room to join them. However, Hayley has a third option: "I grew up in a warzone. My parents thought they could protect me, but, in the end, they were slaughtered, and I spent my childhood alone and unloved." She starts to tear up, but she can't help but smile when she looks down and sees her newborn baby daughter, who she's waited so long to finally meet. "I made a promise, to my baby, and to myself, that she would not grow up like I did," Hayley argues. "That she would grow up safe, and loved. And here she is, on her first day in this world, with a grandmother who is hell-bent on sacrificing her."
She breaks down in a sob, and can barely finish her speech, because she's hiccuping so hard. "And a-a mother, who has to drink the blood of her own baby to survive transitioning into a hybrid, and I'm the one who loves her the most." Klaus and Elijah are clearly heartbroken just watching and listening to her, as she pulls herself together to tell them her plan. "I think the only thing to do, is...send her away, while we stay behind and clean up the mess that we've made." Elijah is predictably against this idea, and reminds her that Genevieve said that the witches will continue to come after her, as long as she lives, which means they NEED to be around to protect her. Thankfully, Klaus' deviousness actually comes in handy sometimes, and he starts to get an idea. He walks toward Hayley and puts a comforting arm around her shoulder before replying, "Not if no one knows she lives." Elijah, confused, asks him just what exactly he's planning, and Klaus smiles faintly as he declares that he's about to do whatever it takes to save their family. YES! YES! YES!
It's daytime in the Quarter, and everyone is gathered on Dauphine Street, where Francesca is holding a press conference in her effort to cover up what had gone on in the neighborhood the previous night. The streets are packed with community members, police officers, and reporters, as well as Oliver, who is standing off to the side. Francesca notices Marcel joining the crowd, and gestures to Oliver to take care of it before she starts to speak. "Today begins a new day in the Quarter," she begins in her kindest politician's voice. "My family, long-time residents of this great community, pledges to help every citizen recover from the terrible outbreak of gang violence that erupted on the streets of OUR city last night." Oliver follows Marcel into the Jardin Gris voodoo shop, though we get to hear the rest of Francesca's speech before we join them: "We WILL rebuild. We will remember those who perished," she proclaims, as she gestures toward a memorial wall to honor those who were killed in the Battle of New Orleans, "as we disinfect our town of its worst elements. We WILL work together to ensure that the heart of the Crescent City THRIVES again!" Pretty words from a professional politician, wouldn't you say? I'm already so excited to see how the town changes under her leadership, and werewolf leadership in general.
Oliver walks into the Jardin Gris, where Marcel is standing by the front desk, waiting for him. He closes the door behind him before smirking, "Last man standing, huh?" Marcel just shrugs, and admits that he's there because he's prepared to make a deal with them. Oliver notes that Marcel (and the vampires in general) don't have that much to offer these days, but Marcel's not deterred. "I'm hearing word the Guerreras want the Quarter to be a No-Vampire-Zone. I can make that happen, in exchange for you leaving us alone across the river." Oliver looks at him skeptically, which Marcel seems to have anticipated, so he adds, "OR, I can unleash hell on your new wolf pack." Oliver gets a real kick out of that statement, and asks him how on earth he'll be able to do that. Marcel informs him that he and Klaus have forgiven each other for their slights toward one another, and he cured him. So now that they're a team again, it's Oliver and Francesca and the wolves against Marcel, Klaus, and presumably the rest of the Mikaelsons.
"Klaus is a warmonger," Oliver argues, not wanting to believe its a possibility. "You think he's gonna choose to side with a pack of scrawny vamps, or the new wolf breed that HE created?" Well, they're hardly a new breed, are they? Without those stones, they're just regular werewolves. Anyway, Marcel has a plan for that, too. "I'm thinking he's gonna side with us," he begins, and though Oliver scoffs in disagreement, he continues on. "Especially when he finds out that your pack killed his kid." WHAT? Oliver is stunned into seriousness, and asks him what he's talking about. Marcel turns slightly and gestures toward the front counter, where a cardboard box is perched. "Open the box, and let me know what you think Klaus will believe about who's responsible for what you find inside of it," Marcel says with one of his bright, wide smiles. Oliver just gapes at the box as he processes this information, as Marcel walks toward the door to head out. Before he leaves, he stops, and suggests that cremation may be the best way to go, lest Klaus smell the evidence on him and decide to take his bloody, murderous vengeance on the pack. Once he's gone, Oliver gulps and turns toward the box as he slowly walks toward it. He nervously opens the lid, and he looks inside. Though we can't see what is in it (thank god, I don't really have the stomach for desecrated dead babies) it's clearly gruesome, because Oliver flinches and goes pale at the sight of it. This might be the most insane thing the Mikaelsons have ever done, tbh.
In the streets of the French Quarter, a crowd of people have gathered outside to pay their respects at the memorial set up for all of the witches, vampires, and humans who perished at some point in the last day or so. Cami approaches the wall, passing various people crying and talking and laying down bouquets of flowers, and scans the wall for any familiar faces. Her eyes find a framed sign that reads, "In Memorium: Baby Mikaelson" attached to the wall, and Cami instantly gasps and starts to cry as she runs away.
She rushes over to the Mikaelson compound, where she finds Klaus on the balcony over the courtyard, staring sadly down below at the warzone. Man, I really want to see a layout for this compound, because it seems to have about a hundred rooms and like, five different entrances at various levels. ANYWAY, Cami is clearly heartbroken at the news, and quietly calls out, "Klaus? The baby?" He looks absolutely devastated when he admits that the baby died a few hours after the Guerrera attack. Cami immediately starts blaming herself, though Klaus assures her that it wasn't. "No! If I hadn't hesitated, I could have uncovered Francesca's plot in time to stop it!" Klaus reminds her that she still wouldn't have been able to predict that the witches were in league with her, and can't help but tear up at the thought of everything that has happened. "No," he murmurs. "If anyone is to blame, I am."
Cami apologizes to him for everything, especially the baby, but Klaus is clearly having difficulty dealing with the situation. He tells her he appreciates her concern, before confessing that they cannot be friends anymore, which hits Cami right in the feels. She asks him what is going on, so Klaus says probably the nicest thing he's ever said to someone who wasn't Caroline Forbes. "You had me pegged from the start," Klaus replies. "A man, damaged by his demons. And those demons are not dormant-- they're hell-bent on killing me, and everything I find beautiful." He walks closer to her, and looks her in the eyes. "And you, you ARE beautiful." He waits a beat, but Cami is stunned into silence. "Please. Please, just go," he pleads. Cami starts to argue, but he cuts her off and asks her again to go. Cami bursts into tears as she leaves, and Klaus looks wrecked as he watches her go. What a fucking past 36 hours for everybody, right?
Klaus leaves to find Elijah on the other side of the courtyard, who is watching Cami walk out the door. When he joins him, Elijah asks if Marcel played his part in this performance they've planned. Klaus assures him that he was able to find a stillborn baby in a hospital upstate, which ICK. I know this was the best possible plan for them, in terms of faking the baby's death, but the thought of them using a stillborn baby (that was no doubt probably been torn apart postmortem to make it look like it was killed by a werewolf) gives me the CREEPS. So, I'm not thinking about it anymore. ANYWAY, apparently Klaus and Marcel made a deal, where Marcel would allow Klaus to compel him to believe that the baby died at the hands of the werewolves, in order to make it harder for others to learn the truth. In exchange, Marcel asked for a couple vials of Klaus' blood, since they're obviously going to be having werewolf problems in the near future. "The witches will HAVE to believe this," Elijah insists. "Soon, that fourth Harvest girl will resurrect. The coven will rebuild. If they sense that your child lives, they will hunt her." Klaus determinedly replies that the witches will be convinced, as long as they are properly convincing in their performance. They stand together in silence, leaning against the railing of the balcony, until Elijah finally speaks. "Well, then, all that remains is to say goodbye." OH GOD, HERE COME THE TEARS.
Sidebar: I thought the NOLA witches were only powerful in New Orleans? I get that they have enemies everywhere, which is why they're staying, but at least if they left, the NOLA witches would be powerless against them, because the source of their power only exists within New Orleans' borders. That's the downside to ancestral magic--they're afforded a ton of power, not to mention generations and generations of knowledge and experience gathered from those who came before them, but in exchange, they're limited to a specific place in which they're forced to stay in order to have access to said power. I don't know, I'm thinking about this way too much.
In the closing montage, Klaus and Elijah complete their conversation in voiceover while we get clips of what they've been up to in the hours after everything has been settled. (Their conversation will be bolded to separate it from the other dialogue, just fyi!) Hayley packs up the baby's bag in the nursery, where she tucks the letter she wrote to her into the front pocket. Elijah helps her lift the baby from her cradle, but when Elijah holds out a pin, Hayley turns her head, not wanting to watch. He gently pricks the baby's thumb with the needle, releasing a large drop of blood, and Hayley hesitates before leaning down and gently sucking the blood from her fingertip, finally completing her transition. That baby is a champ, btw, she barely even cried or anything! She's a cutie.
A crowd of people are still gathered outside of the memorial, where they're holding a candlelight vigil for the deceased community members. Elijah and Hayley arrive, the latter holding a bouquet of flowers, and approach Baby Mikaelson's memorial plaque as Klaus and Elijah continue their conversation in voiceover. "They will be watching us," Klaus states sadly. "All of them. The three of us leaving together will draw too much attention. I will go alone. Take your mourning public when I am gone." Francesca watches as Hayley walks up to the memorial and kneels by her daughter's plaque, placing the flowers on the ground in front of it. She breaks down in tears, and places a kiss on her fingertips before touching them to the placard. "I don't imagine that will be too difficult," Elijah replies in voiceover. "Grief, after all, is grief." It's true-- Hayley and Klaus' daughter might not be dead, but they won't get to see her grow up, or shower her with love and affection, or know her in the way that they dreamed of knowing her. The fact that this was her best chance at survival doesn't diminish the pain of having to be separated from your child. Elijah holds a hand out to Hayley, who takes it and allows him to help her back toward their car.
Meanwhile, Klaus is sitting on the roof of his SUV on a dark country road, holding his swaddled daughter in his arms, as he waits for her new guardian. "In what world will she be safe without her father?" Elijah asks. "Who can protect her better than we?" Klaus pauses for a moment, before replying, "There is one person." OMG OMG OMG. As soon as he said that, I knew exactly who it was going to be, but I was still SO HAPPY and shocked to see who it actually was. A car approaches them from the opposite direction and stops a few yards away from him. The car door opens, and a platform-heeled boot steps out, revealing that REBEKAH FUCKING MIKAELSON IS COMING TO TAKE THE BABY. When she sees her brother and her newborn niece, she smiles at them, and Klaus beams right back at her.
(via ercnorthman)
He greets his sister as she approaches them, and she immediately turns toward the baby, gently touching her fluffy hair. "Oh, she looks like her mother," Rebekah whispers excitedly, before grinning a little wicked grin. "Maybe there is a God after all?" I HAVE MISSED HER SO MUCH OMG. "Well, she has a hint of the devil in her eyes," Klaus retorts. "That's all me." His face grows serious as he reminds his sister that they need a witch she can trust who can put a cloaking spell on her, but she insists that she has it covered. I wonder who she's gonna get? A witch we know? I immediately thought of Bonnie Bennett, but she's not a witch anymore. :( Klaus emphasizes that no one can EVER find her, but Rebekah wants to keep her little niece just as safe and happy and loved as her parents do. "Perhaps we'll get a white fence," Rebekah suggests, as she continues to stare in awe at the baby. "I think that would be lovely." *insert Emma Stone "THIS IS THE BEST" gif here*
Klaus turns the baby around in his arms so he can look at her in the face, and prepares to give his last goodbye to her. "This city would have seen you dead," he says in a gentle whisper. "But I will have it your home. And every soul who wishes you harm will be struck down, just as sure as my blood runs in your veins." Rebekah, who has been watching her brother be the perfect daddy from afar, goes completely bug-eyed in horror as he says that last line, which seriously cracked me up so much. Never change, Rebekah. "You will return to me," Klaus promises, before kissing his daughter on the forehead and cheek before handing her off to Auntie Beks. Before she leaves, Klaus hands her the small, wooden knight that Klaus had carved for Rebekah 1,000+ years ago, and Rebekah is so touched that she starts to cry. "In spite of our differences, Rebekah, there is no one I would trust more with my daughter's life," Klaus says, and my slight tears turn into ugly sobs. He tells her to be happy, before she leaves, and Rebekah assures him that they both will. They smile, and Rebekah realizes she doesn't even know her name yet. Klaus pauses for a moment, before replying. "Hope. Her name is Hope." He starts to tear up more as he watches Rebekah carefully put baby Hope in her carseat. THIS FAMILY, I S2FG.
Finally, over at the cemetery, Cassie, the fourth and final Harvest girl, finally awakens from her peaceful limbo in one of the broken tombs. I think it might actually be the one that Klaus was thrown into by Papa Tunde's sons during the fight, actually. She carefully makes her way out of the tomb, still barefoot and dressed in the white dress she in which she was consecrated, and looks around as she makes her way through the cemetery. She finally stops at a flat gravestone, upon which she places a dried rose. She is quickly joined by an older black gentleman who is apparently named Vincent, and who also seems to have risen from his grave as well. "May you rest in peace," the manwitch says to Cassie, who replies, "What's the fun in that?" She pauses for a moment, before adding, "Come along. We have much to do!" Vincent bows his head respectfully and turns to follow her. "Yes, mother," he replies, as the two make their way out of the cemetery. The camera pans over to the gravestone, which reads, "ESTHER: OUR BELOVED MOTHER." OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHITTTTTT! ESTHER CAME BACK IN CASSIE'S BODY AND SOMEHOW SHE MANAGED TO BRING FINN (I THINK???) BACK TOO? THIS IS INSANITY. More on this in the notes!
Thank all of you for reading these recaps, even when I'm a big bucket of fail who can't get them done in a timely fashion. I'll be back in the fall with The Originals recaps when Season 2 starts in September/October. If, for some reason, you're really missing my work, you should stick around for my recaps of Season 4 of Teen Wolf, starting June 23rd, as well as my newest project "Emily Re-Watches TVD," where I will be briefly reviewing the Season 5 episodes from "500 Years of Solitude" to "Home," in anticipation for Season 6 in the fall! <33
[screencaps via Screencapped]
NOTES/SPECULATION/QUESTIONS: (**There will be discussion of things Julie Plec has said in interviews which could be considered "spoilers, so if that's not your thing, click away, dear reader!**)
-ALRIGHT, let's start with Esther, shall we? Ever since I first saw this episode, and it was revealed that Esther had quite a hand in the events of the last third of the season, I've been trying to think back to the episode she was consecrated and made a New Orleans witch ("Après Moi, Le Déluge") and what has happened since then. Do you guys think that she had any help in the spell that Celeste used to bring back Papa Tunde, Genevieve, and Bastianna? The first two specifically have history with her children (and specifically Klaus and Rebekah) as well as a huuuuge desire for revenge, and Bastianna just hates vampires in general, so I could definitely see Esther lending a hand, if it meant her children would be killed. On the other hand, Papa Tunde failed at killing the Originals/stealing their power for his own gain, and Celeste didn't seem to have any interest in killing ALL of them, just one of them to make Elijah miserable. I do think it's safe to say that the majority of Genevieve's actions since being resurrected, if not all of them, were all as a result of fulfilling Esther's orders. The way she said "Esther decreed it" seemed to suggest that Esther has pretty much rallied the ancestors/witches into following her lead, which is SUPER scary-- Esther is terrifying enough with just her own power, but with the full might of the ancestors behind her? Even scarier.
As for who is possessing Vincent, I'm going with Finn; he was always the most self-hating of all of the Mikaelsons, and was more than willing to die if it meant taking out his siblings. He really seems to be the only one Esther actually gives a fuck about-- she didn't seem at all fond of Kol, Klaus, or Rebekah--although, she did feel the slightest bit guilty about trying to kill Elijah that one time. Either way, I'm pretty damn nervous about what she's planning. What do you think the chances are that she knows that Hope is still alive? I can see the Mikaelsons being able to full the living witches, but I'm not so sure about the ancestors, mostly because we don't really know how they work. Are their spirits only in the earth of New Orleans, or do they have eyes everywhere? Also, the real Cassie really got a raw deal, didn't she? Not only did she stay dead way longer than any of the other Harvest girls, but when it was finally her turn to come back, some ancient Viking witch co-opts her body? Super unfair.
-HAYLEY IS A HYBRID HAYLEY IS A HYBRID HAYLEY IS A HYBRID. On the one hand, it's kind of a bummer because we all know that Hayley had no interest in being a hybrid (she even called Tyler a "half-breed," which kind of indicated she wasn't exactly fond of them) so this seems to pretty much guarantee that she will be experiencing at least a little self-loathing at first. It's kind of a big change, being undead, having to live on blood, having to face the fact that as long as no one rips your head off or your heart out, you're going to exist for eternity. BUT, think of all the possibilities! First, we now know that Hayley isn't in THAT much danger from the werewolf or vampire fronts-- I think the NOLA vamps have been decimated to the extent that they probably won't be an issue anyway, but you never know, Marcel will probably be recruiting to build up their ranks again. As for the werewolves, the Guerreras (and the Crescents who joined them) may have their little moonlight stones, but they still don't have the same speed, strength, and agility that Hayley will have as a hybrid. She was already a good fighter to start out with, and we already learned with Elena Gilbert that experience can give you an edge over age if you're a good fighter and can catch your enemy off guard.
That said, I get the feeling Hayley will probably pull away from Elijah, at least at first. He's been a vampire for longer than just about anyone, and his level of control is so impeccable that it's gonna be hard for him to relate to her new-found hunger. Klaus, on the other hand, has always had a voracious appetite, so I can definitely see him trying to show Hayley the ropes, helping her relish in it like he does. Maybe she'll be receptive to it, maybe she won't, but regardless, she'll have plenty of people around to help her. Maybe even Josh could give her some lessons? He seems to have gotten the hang of vampirism pretty quickly.
-Now, let's talk about the Mikaelsons in general--Julie Plec said in an interview that any plans for revenge for what the Guerreras/witches did to them are going to have to be put on the backburner when the new season starts back up, because they're going to be too focused on playing the roles of grieving family to really sell the idea that Hope is really dead. I can't imagine that it'll be easy for them to just let them all get away with it, at least at first, but at least it will give them some time to really plan something big and surprising? Clearly Klaus is eventually gonna have to deal with the wolves because of those damn moonlight stones-- as long as the wolves still have them, Klaus is still vulnerable during the full moons. (Which I still find to be really stupid, because that just means that he's going to binge on humans to keep the pain and weakness at bay, which really doesn't do much to care for the community at large. Oh well, the hypocrisy of all the different players is well established by now, so I don't even know why I'm focusing on it.)
-As for Mikael, I'm torn. I'm THRILLED that Davina put him in his place, because he totally deserves it. I mean, really-- being at the mercy of a sassy, empowered 17-year-old witch is like, even more of a hell than being forced to hate-watch your his monster of a step-son's life for him, isn't it? I'm REALLY nervous about Davina, because Mikael isn't so much of an idiot that he can't figure out a way around it. If the power comes from the bracelet, then I hope she keeps her guard up so that he can't snatch/destroy it, though. I guess I'm just saying I hope she did her homework on this and has some back up plans in place. It would be really hilarious if he destroyed the bracelet in an attempt to get his autonomy back and then ended up killing himself in the process, if say, the bracelet is what tied him to life, or something. I don't know. An even better question is, what's going to happen with both Esther AND Mikael back at the same time? We've only ever seen them interact in flashbacks, so I have no idea what their relationship could be like, now. I get the impression that Esther wasn't a big fan of him anymore, because he was an abusive dick, plus she did cheat on him with Klaus' dad, so there had to have been problems there. Mikael, on the other hand, has only really had neutral-to-good things to say about his former wife, though whether that was just to make him seem nicer to Marcel and Davina is anyone's guess. So, will Esther and Mikael team up to work together to kill their children, or will they just be getting in each other's way/antagonizing each other? SO MANY POSSIBILITIES. I AM SO FUCKING EXCITED.
-What happens to the power of the Harvest, now that Abigail and Monique are dead? The way Monique talked about killing Genevieve to give the witches full access to the power of the Harvest, it made it seem like the power came from the girls all being resurrected and alive together. We saw Abigail and Monique link hands to connect with the ancestors in the cemetery, too, which is why I'm thinking that maybe losing half the Harvest girls will have a negative effect on the witches' magic supply. I guess we'll just have to wait and see?
Another thing that I was concerned about was Hayley, especially when I read in the episode's plot synopsis that Klaus would have to make a heartbreaking decision. I assumed going into the episode that either the baby or Hayley was going to end up dying, and when that ended up actually being true when Monique slit Hayley's throat at the beginning of the episode, I was seriously shocked. And even though I've been pretty vocal about how I would love to see Hayley as a hybrid since the very beginning, I ultimately didn't even consider that to be a possibility going into the finale, especially since Klaus had made it clear he had no intention of making any more hybrids. So, when Hayley woke back up and managed to find Elijah and Klaus at the cemetery, I literally squealed, fangirl-styles. Now, not only is Hayley alive, but she's pretty much immortal as long as no one rips her heart out or chops her head off, and she'll have even more strength and speed that will only serve to make her more badass than before, which she'll probably need considering the Guerrera werewolves are surely going to be a problem. Now, Elijah, Hayley, and Klaus (and also Hope and Rebekah, hopefully, someday!) get to be an immortal family for eternity! I'm already so excited to see Klaus teaching Hayley how to embrace her vampire side, and maybe Elijah will train her to fight like he does. The potential for plot is infinite and I am so pumped.
Last but not least, Marcel and Klaus are the unholy duo once again! I have to say, I was a little nervous about Marcel's chances of survival going into this episode as well, considering how things left off in "The Battle of New Orleans," not to mention Julie Plec's penchant for killing off pretty much all of the non-white characters in both of her shows. But, once Marcel saved baby Hope (by breaking his sacred rule of not hurting children, though it was to save an even younger child, which was totally understandable), I realized just how much more I love Klaus and Marcel--both together and separately--when they're BFFs, rather than enemies. Clearly, they still have a ton of work to do to gain back their trust in each other, but the fact that they've reconciled is definitely a step in the right direction. Especially considering the inevitable battles they'll both eventually be facing in the near future. For one, they've got the werewolves on the one side, many of whom have or will have the moonlight stones whose use will severely weaken Klaus on the full moon, so that's something they're definitely going to have trouble dealing with right off the bat. Klaus is known for having few weaknesses, and that is a huge and easily exploitable one right there.
Then, on top of that, they don't even realize that not only is their father back in the living world (though, not with as much autonomy as he was expecting, which is AMAZING and I will get into this more later), but also, their MOTHER Esther AND (I'm assuming) their eldest brother Finn are both back as well, in loaner bodies, as is Esther's wont. Needless to say, its gonna be even more of a shock to them when they finally figure it out. I was never really a fan of Mikael and Esther, and Finn is still a bit of a mystery, too, but either way, it's awesome to see that The Originals series actually has more than two Original family members in the mix now. Plus, since Supernatural: Bloodlines didn't get picked up (which I am SUPER sad about, because I actually enjoyed it more than I enjoy Supernatural), and Nate Buzolic no longer has major commitments to that show, that opens the door to either bring Kol back, too. Or, at the very least, they can add him into some flashbacks, since Kol confirmed on TVD that he lived in New Orleans with his siblings back in the day, and was presumably daggered shortly before they took off for Chicago.
Basically, we have a LOT of stuff to look forward to in season 2 (especially since it's been confirmed that Daniel Sharman, aka Isaac Lahey from Teen Wolf, will be playing Kaleb, a new witch in the French Quarter coven and recurring character), so much that I'm realllllly anxious for it to be fall already so we can find out what happens! In the meantime, I'm gonna stop yammering and just start the damn recap already, yeah? Settle in, babes, because this recap is gonna be a doozy.
Previously, on The Originals: Oh, hell, I've already written enough about it just in the introduction alone. You know what's going on, right? Lets get to the good stuff!
We open this final episode of the season in a flashback, sometime between when Hayley moved back in and the huge battle in the French Quarter. Hayley is sitting in a rocking chair in the baby's nursery, writing a letter, when Klaus appears, leaning in the doorway. "Writing a letter to one of your many suitors?" Klaus asks mischievously, though not at all unkindly. "So, who's the lucky recipient, then? Jackson? ...or, Elijah?" He can't help but smirk and chuckle as Hayley rolls her eyes, and keeps ribbing her affectionately. "Don't tell me it's ME? I thought I was out of the running ages ago!" Is it naive of me to hope that this is a sign that Klaus and Hayley can share a mutual respect and friendship, no matter who either of them are dating? Regardless of what anyone else might say, Hayley is, for better or for worse, part of the family now, and I'm hoping this flashback is a sign that they may actually be able to be friends, regardless of who Hayley ends up with (*coughElijahcoughcough* ahem.)
Anyway, Hayley just chides him for his huge ego before she's caught off-guard by the baby kicking. She winces slightly, and Klaus walks toward her, asking about their "littlest wolf," which may just be the cutest thing ever. I've made my Haylijah leanings pretty well-known, but this is definitely stirring up some residual Klayley feels in me as well. Hayley asks him if he'd like to feel the baby kicking, which visibly freaks him the fuck out, so Hayley just laughs and gestures toward her belly as she insists he go for it. He hesitantly reaches a hand toward her bulging baby bump, and is totally, adorably startled when he feels the baby kicking. "You feel that?" Hayley exclaims, and the two dissolve in laughter. After a moment, Klaus is like, "What is this happy feeling in my heart right now? ABORT ABORT ABORT," and, feeling awkward, decides to leave Hayley to her love letter. He rushes away quickly, and Hayley just smiles in how ridiculous her life is.
Hayley starts to narrate the letter she's writing in voiceover, as we cut to scenes of Hayley in labor at the church, as the witches all hover around her. "Dear Zoe...or Kaitlyn...or Angela," she begins. "To my little girl: your dad just asked if this is a love letter. I guess it kind of is. I never got to know my mother. I have no idea what she must have thought when she was carrying me." In the present, Hayley is screaming bloody murder at Genevieve and Monique, trying to get them to let go of her. "So, I thought I'd write to you, so you can know how happy I am at this very moment. How much your father and I can't wait to meet you..." Klaus finally limps into the hospital, and Hayley has never felt so grateful to see him. He lunges at a witch guard and straight up RIPS the manwitch's head off his neck. Abigail and Monique yelp a bit before holding hands and using their combined power to throw Klaus backwards and telekinetically pin him high on the nearby wall, so he can't interfere. I'm guessing the Harvest girls have the added benefit of being stronger in groups, like they can use the full force of the Harvest when they're together? That's actually really interesting, and I have a lot more theorizing about this for later.
"And, I want to make you a promise of three things that you will have that I never did: a safe home; someone to tell you that they love you, every single day; and, someone to fight for you, no matter what." Klaus fights against the spell pinning him to the wall, but he can't break free. Monique and Abigail somehow manage to anchor the spell so they can return to tending to Hayley, who is still screaming at them. "In other words, a family. So, there you go, baby girl. The rest, we're going to have to figure out together. I love you." Klaus and Hayley both watch in terror as Genevieve picks up the ceremonial athame that they also used in the Harvest ritual. She turns to both Hayley and Klaus and states, "You should know that this brings me no joy. I promise I'll make it quick." Yeah, you feel bad, but not bad enough to NOT kill a baby? God, they're the worst. One of the witches covers Hayley's legs with a white sheet in preparation for her to give birth, and Genevieve announces that it's time to begin. Ohhhh, shit. TITLE CARD!
Davina rushes into the compound's courtyard, only to find dozens and dozens of dead and dying vampires still strewn around after the battle. She sees Cami and Marcel tending to Diego and the rest of the still-undead-but-slowly-dying vampires and rushes over to them. Once she gets there, she sees how injured Marcel is, and asks him what happened. Marcel is already wearing down fast and is only able to stammer, "Klaus..." before Cami cuts in to explain for him. "They fought, and he got bit," she adds, as she rushes around laying damp washcloths on the foreheads of the vampires in the room. Girlfriend, you are a human! Why are you still hanging around a bunch of soon-to-bloodthirsty vampires? Lord. Davina is clearly devastated to hear that yet another one of her friends is dying from a hybrid bite, but Marcel insists that he gave as good as he got, as though that is some kind of comfort. When he mentions that he needs Klaus' blood to heal, Davina gets an idea. "You fought Klaus-- did he bleed?" Marcel, confused, admits that yeah, he managed to injure him quite a bit, so Davina gets that determined look on her face that she gets and demands to know where.
We catch up with her again out in the streets of the Quarter, where Davina is quickly walking to the area where Klaus and Marcel fought in the previous episode. As she looks around at all the bloodstained concrete and pavement, we get flashbacks to the fight, where Marcel punched Klaus in the face, which caused him to sputter blood all over the hood of a car parked on the street. She finds an empty plastic cup on the ground, and sets it on the hood of the car, before holding her arms out, throwing her head back, and starting to chant a spell. "Venez sanguis. Venez sanguis. Venez sanguis. Venez--" Out of nowhere, Josh stumbles outside and finds Davina in the middle of her spell. "Uhh, Davina? What the hell?" Davina immediately stops what she's doing at the sound of his voice, and asks him why the FUCK he's out here, since he's totally tripping balls on werewolf venom at this point and needs to rest and conserve his strength.
"I mean, unless I'm hallucinating you standing in the middle of the street and chanting for no reason..." He laughs exhaustedly, and then stops. "Wait, am I?" Davina, who is resolved to save the day, insists that she's going to save him AND the rest of the vampires. She returns to her spell-casting stance and starts to chant like a badass. "Venez sanguis. Venez sanguis. Venez sanguis la force de la bête à moi." Josh watches in amazement and shock as all of Klaus' blood that was spattered onto the ground is siphoned into the air by her spell, where it's sucked into the plastic cup placed on the hood of the car. "Okay, I AM hallucinating..." Josh mutters under his breath. BAD. ASS. DAVINA! God, she is perfection in this episode.
Back to St. Anne's, where we return to the witches guiding Hayley through labor, while Klaus watches helplessly and screams obscenities at them. I'm gonna be honest with you guys, this part is REALLY HARD for me to recap because it's just so gruesome and terrible and it makes me so sad. ALRIGHT, HERE GOES. So, Klaus is screaming that he'll bring hell to their families and bathe in rivers of their blood, blah blah blah, as is his wont, and Hayley is just screaming in agony as she continues to push her way through labor. Monique shouts that she can see the baby, so Genevieve instructs Hayley to push gently one more time. Just as the baby is born, Hayley, who was sitting up, falls back down against the table in relief and exhaustion. Genevieve wraps the baby in a sheet as another witch cuts the umbilical cord with an athame. "You have a beautiful baby daughter," Genevieve says, in a way that is supposed to denote kindness, but really just comes off more cruel than anything else. Klaus and Hayley are so shocked to see this baby that they created together that they're literally speechless, even despite all the events that led them there.
Genevieve clears her throat, and reminds the other witches that the sacrifice must be started as soon as the moon sets with the morning sky, but Hayley cuts her off. "--Please. Please, can I hold her?" I seriously thought Genevieve was going to say no, but instead, she sighs, and hands the baby to Hayley so she can hold her. Hayley completely forgets about everything-- that she was kidnapped, that her baby is in danger, that one of the two people who have the power to try to save her are unable to do so-- and just stares at her adorable baby daughter. She looks up at Klaus and gives him a weak smile, like, "Look what we made!" and my heart swelled like three whole sizes, which of course means it's about to end in a horrifyingly violent fashion.
Monique grabs Hayley by the hair, holds the ceremonial athame to her neck, and slits her throat, right there in the middle of the church. "NOOOOO!" Klaus bellows at the top of his lungs, as Hayley gasps and gropes at her neck. The witches quickly grab the baby and rush away with her, leaving Hayley to die on her own at the sacristy. Before they leave, Monique releases Klaus from the binding spell with a twist of her wrist, which snaps his neck as he falls to the floor. While he is temporarily paralyzed, he isn't knocked unconscious like most vampires would be, so he's unable to move, or do anything other than stare sadly up at Hayley, whose corpse still lies on the table. NO NO NO NO NO.
Some unknown amount of time later, Elijah manages to stumble weakly into the church. "HAYLEY!" he bellows, as he tries to shake the effects of his multiple werewolf bites off to focus his vision on the sacristy. After a moment, he realizes that Klaus is sitting on the steps in front of the pews, holding Hayley's body in his lap. "No, no, no, no," Elijah mutters, as he falls to his knees in front of them. I think he knows before he touches her that she's dead, but when Klaus manages to numbly rasp, "She's gone," Elijah can't help but start to cry, which just makes Klaus cry, too. He takes a good look at his older brother, and realizes that he's been bitten. Without being asked, he bites into his wrist, and offers it to him to heal. Elijah is stunned at his brother's unusually generous act of kindness, which just drives home how devastated they both are that Hayley's gone.
Over at the Abbatoir, Davina returns to the compound and proudly holds out the half-full cup of dirty, old Klaus-blood that she managed to collect from the fight scene. Behind them, Cami is caring for Josh, who is clearly fading fast, having been bitten easily twelve hours before the rest of them. Marcel sighs, and hesitates before gently admitting that there's only enough blood in the cup to heal one of them. Davina, faced with the death of two of her only friends, becomes incredibly distraught. "No! This HAS to be enough!" Davina shouts, which just makes Marcel feel even worse. "I can't choose," Davina whispers quietly, as she starts to cry. "Please don't make me choose." Once again, I'm completely heart-crushed by yet another character, when Marcel gives Davina a sad look and takes the cup from her. "Save your friend," he says kindly, as he walks toward Josh with the cup. "I can take care of the rest of us."
Cami is NOT so sure about this plan, and neither is Josh, who doesn't want to keep Marcel from being healed either. "Judging by the look of that bite, you don't have time to argue." Davina is crying harder now, and calls after him, but Marcel is adamant that Josh take it. "Josh is one of my guys, and enough of my guys have died today." Oh my god, Marcel! See what I mean about this episode being perfect? I'm loving characters I usually hate, and everyone is just loving each other. It's perfect. Marcel hands the cup to Cami, who helps Josh drink it, just as Davina notices that Mikael's spirit is just chilling in the courtyard. "One point for you, and one point for Niklaus," he sneers, which just makes Davina even more angry. Marcel forces himself to get up to his feet, and weakly starts making his way toward the door. Cami, in full-on Bossy Mom-mode, asks him what the hell he thinks he's doing, but Marcel insists that he needs to track down Klaus, get his blood, and save as many of the NOLA vamps as he can with it. He turns to leave again, but once again, she stops him, though for a different reason, this time. "Wait!" she says, as she blocks his way. "For that, you'll need a weapon. And, it just so happens, I have an arsenal." Davina catches her eye with interest, and they all start to formulate a plan. AW YISS, DAVINA/MARCEL/CAMI TEAM UP. This is what I'm talking about.
Elijah lays Hayley's body back on the table at St. Anne's Church, while Klaus sits nearby and continues to remain silent. After a long moment, Elijah can hold his tongue no longer, and he whispers, "How?" Klaus is still pretty numb, after everything, so all he has to say is, "I was bested." As you can probably imagine, this is NOT what Elijah wanted to hear at all. "You were bested," he repeats. "Huh." His scary calm turns to unbridled fury in about a millisecond, and he then bellows, "YOU were BESTED?" Klaus stares at him in shock at Elijah's uncharacteristic outburst, and though part of Elijah may feel the tiniest bit bad about it, he can't help how he feels. "My invincible brother," he spits defeatedly. Klaus, feeling worse by the minute, pulls himself to his feet and weakly approaches Elijah to look him in the eyes. "They took the baby," Klaus admits. "But, there's still time. We can save her." I'm not one to question the way people grieve, but wouldn't it have been helpful to inform Elijah that the baby was still alive a while ago? Like, as soon as he showed up, after he found out Hayley was alive? Time is at the essence, here, fellas, that means immediate full disclosure.
The brothers head straight for LaFayette Cemetery, where they quickly walk around, trying to find where the witches are keeping the baby. After a while, Elijah frantically points out that not only are the tombs empty, but they haven't run into anyone, which likely means they're NOT here. Klaus, however, knows that this is the only place they COULD do this, and argues that they need to keep searching. Elijah continues to worry that they're wasting time, so Klaus reminds him of the facts. "The Harvest was here! The Reaping was here! They're about to perform a ritual which will feed their ancestors for centuries! Ancestors who are buried HERE." Klaus opens his mouth to continue to speak, but is distracted when he notices an angel statue perched on the corner of one of the tomb's roof. He sighs in frustration, and mentions that he remembers passing by this specific statue three times in their search, and they passed it while going the same direction. Confused, Elijah stops, and the two start investigating the nearby tombs.
"They've fabricated some kind of illusion," Elijah determines, as he runs his fingers along the stone of one of the tombs. Klaus zoops up to the roof of the nearest tomb to get a better vantage point of the cemetery from above. Unfortunately, when he looks out toward the horizon, he realizes that there is some SERIOUS illusory magic going on, because there appears to be an infinite number of tombs arranged in their own blocks, as far as the eye can see. "That's one word for it," Klaus quips in response, as he gapes at the huge cemetery stretched out around him. FUCK! So, I'm guessing the spell is to keep them running in circles a safe distance away from where the sacrifice will be performed? That is not only brilliant but SERIOUSLY intense magic! I'm not sure we've ever seen such a powerful display of magic so far, except maybe from Qetsiyah to make the Other Side.
Meanwhile, Cami has arrived at Kieran's secret apartment with Davina and Marcel, who trail behind her as she leads them into the secret storage room through the closet. They both gape in shock, and Marcel guesses that this is what Kieran was hiding with that key. "More like stockpiling," Cami admits. "From what I can gather, it's mostly weapons." Davina, who is preoccupied with the shelf full of artifacts, corrects her by informing her that they're actually dark objects, which were created by witches, and presumably ganked by the Human Faction over the years. She starts going through the objects on the shelf, which includes the previously-mentioned Needle of Sorrows that Kieran took from Agnes, as well as a small clock, a bangle bracelet, and a pocketwatch that looks suspiciously like the Gilbert vampire compass. Could Kieran have managed to get that from Mystic Falls? I NEED TO KNOW. It HAS been a really long time since anyone on TVD has seen or used it.
"Kieran's been keeping this a secret for years," Marcel says quietly, as he walks closer to Cami. "You really sure you wanna show me all this?" As mad as Cami may have been at Marcel for hiding the key thing from him, in the end, she wants to help him. "You said knowing my uncle's secrets could get me killed. But, what if those same secrets could save the lives of my friends?" CAMI, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. And this is why she's way more fit to lead the Human Faction than anyone else (although, it's not like Francesca will be needing to lead the humans anymore, so maybe she'll be able to take Kieran's position after all?) Davina interrupts their moment by showing them a gold throwing star that is about the size of her hand. "Look at this!" she says excitedly. "I learned about it in the lycée, it's called the Devil's Star. They say one throw can make a thousand cuts!" Marcel smiles a tiny smile, and points out that they need to make Klaus bleed, so it sounds like just the weapon they need to get the blood to heal the rest of the vampires. Davina hands him the star, and he gives her a nod before leaving to go find Klaus.
Klaus and Elijah are still determinedly searching for the baby and the rest of the witches. Klaus is using a medium-sized rock as a piece of chalk, so he can mark the various tombs with tally marks in order to keep track of where they've been. "It's ingenius," Klaus breathes in exhausted frustration, as he rubs a hand across the stone wall of a tomb. "I can see them, I can feel them, and yet, they are not real." Elijah is pacing around as he anxiously tugs his fingers through his hair as he insists that there MUST be another way. Unfortunately, Klaus did not take into consideration just how badly this event is affecting his brother.
KLAUS: [interrupts] "--What we need to do is FOCUS."
ELIJAH: [angry] "My only focus right now is that child and her safety, do you understand me? [beat] This--all of this--this is the world that you created, Niklaus."
KLAUS: [guilty] "Brother--"
ELIJAH: [furious] "All of your scheming, the enemies that you have made every single day of your MISERABLE LIFE-- what results did you expect? That your child would be born into a happy life? That the mother would be alive to KNOW her daughter? That we could live and thrive as some-as some sort of family?"
KLAUS: "That was YOUR fantasy, brother, not mine!"
ELIJAH: [enraged] "NO, brother! This was our HOPE. The was our FAMILY'S HOPE. And now she is gone. [takes a deep breath and lowers voice] Do you understand? I let this person in. I let her in! [begins to cry] I don't let people in. You know this. You've taken her from me! I needed her, and you've broken me."
OH GOD MY HEART. Klaus is in such a hard situation, because 1) he knows that Elijah is right about this all being a result of his own actions, and 2) he actually did care about Hayley, although perhaps not as much in a romantic way as in a familial sense, but either way, he's still grieving as well, and 3) he knows that they both have to hold it together so they can find the baby before it's too late for her, as well. Plus, the fact that Elijah has literally broken down in front of him for the first time we've ever seen in the however many years of flashbacks to which we've been privy is making the fact that Elijah is devastated loud and clear. So, instead of yelling at him, or fighting back as he normally would, he instead walks toward his brother and sits next to him on the stoop of a nearby tomb. "You can tell your niece how much you cared for her mother when we save her." Elijah, not at all used to these kind words coming out of his brothers mouth, just stares at him, chin quivering, until Klaus nods encouragingly. SO MANY MIKAELSON FEELINGS. This episode just made it clear that all of these monsters are capable of kindness and compassion for others, and as much as I love the ruthless badassery that they enjoy so much, I am getting a lot of joy from seeing them show that they have hearts after all. MAKE IT SO, PLEC.
As if Klaus' words were a cue, we return to St. Anne's Church, where Hayley still lays on the table where the boys left her. Why would they just leave her at the church? I know Kieran is dead, but what if someone showed up? Surely there have to be other priests who can/will take over the church? Sigh. Hayley's neck appears to have healed itself, with just a little bit of blood dried around it to indicate that she was even injured at all. Suddenly, she awakens with a loud gasp and sits up. She's immediately overwhelmed by flashbacks of the events of the past day or so--the witches taking her, going into labor, giving birth to her baby girl, and being killed by Monique. She starts to freak out for a moment, until she seems to sense something. She realizes that her daughter is still alive, and instantly pulls herself together so she can go track her down. HAYLEY IS A HYBRID HAYLEY IS A HYBRID HAYLEY IS A HYBRID. I am so thrilled about this development! More on that later.
Elsewhere in the cemetery, Monique, Abigail, and Genevieve, who look very pretty in clean, white dresses, are hanging out in a tomb. Genevieve is just finishing swaddling the baby in equally clean, white sheets and places her in a basket. She looks up through the cobwebbed skylight and notes aloud that the moon has almost faded, before grabbing her athame and leaving to prepare the altar. Abigail and Monique both give her some very blatant side-eye as she walks out the door. "She'll go through with it," Abigail snits with a sigh. Has she ever spoken before? I feel like this is the first time we've actually heard her talk. "The ancestors promised her her life." Monique, not to be outdone in the whining department, hisses, "What about their promise to US? Four Harvest girls sacrificed, four girls returned." Monique doesn't think it's fair that Genevieve gets to stay alive at Cassie's expense, when it was Genevieve's friend who hijacked the Harvest's power in the first place. As much as I hate to admit it, on this count, she's totally right, tbh. Celeste and Genevieve were/are friends, and she shouldn't be rewarded for hijacking their ritual. Monique reminds Abigail that Cassie was their friend, which convinces them to make a pact that if Genevieve chickens out, they'll take advantage of the opportunity to sacrifice the baby AND Genevieve, too, so they can fulfill their duty to their ancestors and get their friend back at the same time. Once they're agreed, Monique grabs the baby and her basket, and the two leave to join Genevieve.
The sacrifice is set to be performed in front of this gorgeous and humongous tomb, at the end of an aisle of much smaller tombs. At the top of the steps of the large tomb, a huge stone tabletop has been set up as an altar, with a circle of salt placed around a pattern of designs. Genevieve leads the girls to the altar, and lays the athame at the top of the table as the girls take their places on either side of her, the baby's basket placed in the middle. Finally, she takes note of the sky before announcing, "It's time." SHITSHITSHIT.
Meanwhile, at the Abbatoir, Davina is with Mikael in Klaus' study, where he seems to have helped Davina find the specific spell needed to bring him back in Esther's grimoire. Oh shit! Klaus probably didn't have the chance to hide it again after the whole fiasco with the vampires and the werewolves and whatnot. That's SO gonna fuck him over, too. He'd probably be better off if Davina takes it for herself than if any of the other witches got their mitts on it. ANYWAY, Davina has set up a salt circle on the floor, whose symbols look just like the one that is set up at the sacrifice site, I'm guessing because of what we learn next. Davina reads the spell, and points out that it says she needs to channel her power through a "nexus vorti," which gives Mikael a good, friendly laugh, as though he's actually a kind gentleman and not the Destroyer of Worlds or whatever it is that he likes to call himself. "Ah, yes," Mikael explains. "My wife, Esther, always did love to dress things up a bit. It's fancy witch-speak. A nexus vorti-- a rare occurrence. Something so infrequent, it's almost a miracle. Like, an astrological event. Or..." Davina's eyes widen in understanding. "...a miracle baby," she breathes quietly, earning herself a proud smile from Mikael. Oh god, this is awful.
Back at the cemetery, Genevieve lifts a white-diapered Baby Mikaelson into the air above her head, while Abigail and Monique hold their hands up toward the baby as they cast their spell. "Nouvel vie, nouvel ame, me lange avec nous." Haven't they done this spell before? I feel like I remember that chant, although my French skills are horrible, so I could just be remembering it incorrectly.
We cut over to the Abbatoir. Davina gathers an armful of dark objects that she pilfered from Kieran's apartment, as Mikael asks her if she's sure she has enough power to bring him back. She just smirks and replies, "I do now," as she walks around the salt circle on the floor, setting the various objects around the perimeter; the bangle bracelet, a key, the suspicious-looking maybe-Gilbert pocketwatch/compass, and the tiny clock. So, I'm assuming this means she's using the magic from the dark objects to add fuel to the spell that will channel power away from the ~miracle baby~? Get it, Davina, you are the best witch. Mikael watches her in fascination as she lifts up her arms and begins to chant the spell. "De la cendre à los, de la chair à la vie. De la cendre à los, de la chair à la vie." As she chants, Mikael doubles over and starts moaning in pain.
Wait, didn't Esther speak her spells in Latin? (I'm pretty sure they're actually written in her grimoire in Runic, judging by the screenshots of her spells, which just makes me more confused, but that's not really the point of this question) I NEED TO KNOW HOW THIS LANGUAGE THING WORKS. Genevieve did her moonlight ring spell in Latin, which I thought was because that was the language she and all the other TVD witches had used for their spells, but Davina's is in French. Can they translate it to different languages or something? Are witches given the ability to understand magic written in any language? Can't Julie Plec just write us a fucking TVD/TO Universe Codex or something to explain all this stuff? I have so many questions. (I just finished the last book in the Mortal Instruments series, a book series that, despite it's many flaws, is amazing in the way that there is SO MUCH BACKSTORY and world-building involved. They explain how all the different forms of magic work, where it came from, etc, and it just makes it so much more enjoyable. Step up, TVD/TO writers!)
Klaus and Elijah are still frantically trying to find their way to their baby daughter/niece by literally busting their way through the various tombs. Elijah sighs when he sees two tally marks on the top of a doorway, and points out that they've already been here twice. "We're running out of time," he says with a sigh, before he angrily punches through another wall in frustration. "Then we move faster," Klaus replies tiredly, as he adds a third tally mark to the wall. That's when an exhausted, familiar female voice calls out behind them, "Or smarter." The two brothers freeze at the sound of Hayley's voice, and can hardly believe their eyes when they turn and see her standing in the doorway. Bloody smudges still linger around her neck, and she's covered in a thin sheen of sweat, still in the maternity dress she was wearing the night before that is now way too big for her now-flat stomach. She's almost in a daze as Elijah gapes at her, before he's finally able to rasp, "Hayley." He rushes toward her and gently cups her face in his hands, so shocked to see her that he's almost afraid that she's an illusion. He quietly asks her how she could possibly be here.
"I woke up in the church," Hayley replies numbly. She can barely focus on either of them. "I felt this hunger... I knew what I needed. I can feel her. She's here. I can feel my baby." Man, I always knew that vampires who have just awakened in transition eventually get an impulse/craving to feed on human blood as a survival instinct, but it is SO SMART (and in this situation, extremely helpful) that she would be drawn to the only living blood source that could complete her transition, since there are no more living human doppelgängers to feed on. "You died with the baby's blood in your system," Klaus says in horror, as he realizes what happened. "She's in transition." Elijah quickly begins to comprehend the implication of their current predicament--Hayley needs the baby's blood to complete the transition, which means if the baby dies, there's no hope of keeping her alive either. To both brothers' credit, the thought of Hayley being a hybrid HORRIFIES them, probably both because they know she never wanted it, and because deep down, while they love being vampires (or, at the very least, the power it affords them), it's definitely not the life they would want for someone they care about, at least not if they could help it. Hayley insists that she doesn't give one fuck about herself at this point, or anything else that doesn't involve her newborn child. "I'm gonna go find our daughter," she declares, as she determinedly stomps away, leaving Klaus and Elijah to quickly follow after her.
Davina is continuing the spell to bring Mikael back from the dead. "De la cendre à los, de la chair à la vie. From ash to bone, from bone to flesh, from flesh to life!" SEE WHAT I MEAN? That's like the first time I've ever heard a spell done in English in this show. WHAT IS HAPPENING. Mikael's bones continue to crack as he's literally made corporeal again, and once the spell is complete, Davina faints and falls to the floor, unconscious. Once she's down, Mikael collapses on the floor next to her, still yelling in agony.
Hayley is leading the boys through the cemetery as they continue on their rescue mission. Genevieve, Abigail, and Monique are continuing to perform their spell. It really is convenient that these spells take SO much time to complete, isn't it? Otherwise none of them would ever make it in time to save anyone. Genevieve lifts the knife into the air in preparation to sacrifice the baby. NOOOO!
Mikael finally is able to pull himself up from the floor in Klaus' study, and gasps when he realizes that he is alive (or rather, undead) yet again. He grins an evil grin, and makes his way downstairs, leaving Davina alone, still passed out on the floor. I'm glad he at least has the common decency not to feed on the baby witch who actually brought him back from the Other Side before it imploded, though I guess that's probably only because 1) she's a human/witch, and he's more of a vampire-blood kind of guy, and 2) he has no idea if he'll need her help in the future, so there's no way he's going to off her if there's any chance he'll need additional help.
Hayley, Klaus, and Elijah finally turn down the aisle of smaller tombs that leads to the larger tomb where the sacrifice is about to be completed. Hayley sees Genevieve holding the athame over the baby, as the three witches continue to chant, "Nouvel vie, nouvel ame, me longe avec nous." Hayley screeches, "NO!" at the top of her voice, which causes Elijah and Klaus so much alarm that Elijah quickly picks up an urn off the ground and lobs it straight at Genevieve, which hits her right in the hand and knocks the blade out of her grasp and onto the ground below. The three Mikaelsons (for lack of a better collective term for them) lunge toward the witches, so Abigail and Monique grab each others hands while aiming their hands at the three vampire/hybrid intruders. Abigail chants, "La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur..." over and over, which throws Hayley, Elijah, and Klaus backwards, while Monique addresses their new visitors.
"You fools!" Monique shrieks dramatically, likely speaking for her beloved ancestors. "To come against us in our place of power, in our strongest hour! You don't face three, you face us all!" Genevieve continues to search for the athame, as Hayley, Klaus, and Elijah fight against the magical force holding them back. Sure enough, you can see the vague holographic forms of all of the witches buried in the cemetery, some of whom are recently deceased (Bastianna) and more who are clearly from the 1700 and 1800s, judging by their clothing. Regardless, all of whom are fighting to make sure that they get the offering they believe that they're due. I reaalllllly want to learn more about the inner-workings of ancestral magic, it seems much more powerful than traditional earth magic or spirit magic.
Diego is still dying from his werewolf bites in the courtyard of the compound when he notices a figure coming toward him. As he focuses his vision, we can see that it's Mikael, though Diego clearly has no idea who he is. Just as he's about to ask who the FUCK he is, Mikael grabs him by the hair and sinks his fangs into his neck. He drinks deep, and when Diego is finally dead, he pulls away, his fangs coated in blood, and grunts animalistically before looking around for another vampire to be his next course. Ew, shouldn't the werewolf venom be affecting him? I understand the CONVENIENCE of feeding on all these dying vampires to rebuild his strength, but shouldn't the venom in their blood negatively affect him? Sigh. So long, Diego. It's been real.
Hayley, Elijah, and Klaus are still fighting against the intense strength of the witches' spell, so they decide to split up-- Klaus runs to the right, while Hayley goes left, and Elijah continues to make his way up to the altar from the middle. Hayley runs into Genevieve, who has just found the athame on the ground, and immediately starts to fist-fight her to keep her from using it on her baby. Damn, for a woman who literally gave birth hours ago right before being killed and waking up in transition, she is seriously fighting HARD. She hasn't even fed yet! Hayley is so fucking badass, especially when she's in mama-bear-mode. So, she knocks the blade out of Genevieve's hand and continues to fight her to make sure she can't get it and use it. Meanwhile, Klaus has run into the ghosts of Papa Tunde's twin sons, who he killed and beheaded back in 1919. No matter where he runs, they still catch up to him, and finally, they corner him and use their magic to telekinetically throw Klaus into a tomb, which shatters into pieces. Hayley hits Genevieve so hard that she falls to the ground, but when Hayley runs toward the baby to grab her and run away, Genevieve hits her from behind with a mystical migraine, which brings her to her knees.
Monique and Abigail are still holding hands, chanting their spell that allows them to channel the full power of their ancestors, as Elijah continues to fight against their power to get to the baby. "La mère, le père, le frère, la sœur..." Klaus, furious, pulls himself out of the pile of broken rock that made up a tomb and rushes toward the action. Realizing that the two Harvest girls are the key to this intense demonstration of magical power, he grabs a pike from a wrought iron fence around a tomb and LOBS it at them like a fucking javelin. The pike flies toward Abigail and lodges in her stomach, and the force of the throw is so strong that it literally pins her body to the wall behind her. Monique watches in horror as the spirits of all the deceased ancestors fade from sight as their connection to the ancestors breaks, and rushes toward where Genevieve dropped the athame so she can grab it and finally finish the sacrifice herself.
Klaus and Elijah vamp-speed toward her to save the baby, but she quickly casts a spell that creates a wall of fire between them and the altar, preventing them from intervening. "NOOOO!" Hayley cries, as she watches Monique lift the athame into the air. Genevieve hits her with another mystical migraine, just to be on the safe side. However, before Monique can plunge the blade into the baby's body, the Devil's Star whizzes past the gang from behind, where it is plunged into Monique's abdomen. Suddenly, her skin breaks open into at least a thousand cuts all over her body, and she coughs up a puddle of blood before she collapses onto the ground. Everyone else turns to find that it was Marcel who showed up just in the nick of time! YAY MARCEL! I have never been more proud of him, especially since he broke his sacred rule about not hurting kids. Although, the baby is much more of a kid than Monique was-- she died the first time at age 16, and when she come back a year later, she was a fully-indoctrinated soldier for the ancestral witches' cause, so I think she's old enough and hardened enough to be considered more an adult than a child. She killed her own fucking aunt with no remorse, ffs! Anyway, before anyone can say anything, Marcel zoops toward the baby, picks her up, and zoops away with her. OH SHIT. Naturally, Klaus wastes no time zooping after him, leaving Elijah and Hayley to deal with Genevieve.
He finds his estranged surrogate son in the Mikaelson compound's courtyard, sitting on the edge of the still-bloody fountain. He's got the baby still wrapped up in his arms, and is clearly trying and failing to swallow down the pain of seeing all his henchvamps dead around him. SHIT, did Mikael seriously eat them all? That's insane. "I was too late," Marcel admits quietly. "There should have been more time." Klaus, of course, has no idea whatsoever that his father is actually back in the world of the living, so he takes a look at the vampires with their throats ripped out and automatically assumes that the Guerrera werewolves must have come back to finish them off before they had the chance to possibly heal themselves. The baby starts to stir and coo a bit, and Marcel can't help but stare at her in shock and awe. Klaus correctly guesses that Marcel took his daughter so that he could leverage her for his blood to heal him and his friends. Marcel gives him a pained look, clearly feeling pretty guilty, but Klaus just laughs exhaustedly at his nerve and shrugs it off before holding out his wrist for Marcel to take.
Surprisingly, Marcel pulls away from him. "This bite, all this..." he begins, as he looks over at Diego's dead and desiccated body. "I know it didn't come from nowhere. This is the last note in a song that I started a century ago, when I brought your dad to town. And, for that, I am sorry." Even more surprisingly, Klaus kneels down in front of Marcel and insists that for saving his child, they are totally even, and encourages him to heal himself with his blood. Once he does, Klaus adds, "We will take down whoever brought this upon us, I swear it." See what I mean? They're so much better when they're a team. And I truly believe that together, they'll get back at Francesca and her cronies for what they did (and, maybe even the witches, too, though that will take some more delicate scheming)-- as long as they can find the patience to wait it out, to play the grieving family in public and plot their long game in private, I think they'll be a forced to be reckoned with, absolutely.
Marcel seems shocked that Klaus is so quick to forgive and forget, but he's a daddy now, y'all, and having to fight so hard for his daughter right off the bat has changed him very quickly, it's kind of incredible to watch. I'd say the Battle of New Orleans and his fight against the witches just now is kind of Klaus' crucible, of sorts. Klaus looks down at his newborn daughter in his adopted son's arms, and asks him if he can hold her. Marcel hands her off to him, and she immediately starts to coo at him. "Oh! Hey! Hey there," Klaus says adorably, and Marcel can't even believe his eyes at the sight of the two of them. Then, the baby turns and looks at Marcel with wide eyes, and he can't help but smile at her. I really hope for some big brother-little sister vibes from Marcel and the baby someday, if she's ever able to come home. For right now, Mikael is lurking in the shadows, with the recently-pilfered indestructible white oak stake gripped tightly in his hand. SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT. Klaus should have NEVER gotten that stake out of hiding, because otherwise everyone would have forgotten it existed. Also, if Mikael were anyone else, you'd think that seeing Klaus act this way toward his newborn daughter would maybe make him reconsider his plans to kill his own step-son, but nope. Mikael is a bigger monster than anyone on this show could ever be.
Sometime later, Klaus has moved up to the nursery, where he lays his swaddled child in her bassinet. He can't take his eyes off of her, and stares at her intently, not knowing that Mikael is currently skulking his way up the stairs with the stake. He walks down the hall and is about to turn to go into the nursery when he's blocked by an invisible barrier. Confused, he looks behind him, where Davina is standing and smirking. Klaus senses someone in the compound, but when he looks out the door to investigate, there is no one there. Yikes!
Hilariously, Davina has dragged Mikael over to St. Anne's Church's attic, where he has apparently moaned and groaned in pain and annoyance the entire trip. Once he gets to the threshold, he can't pass through it, and yells at Davina to stop. "No," she barks back, as she magically allows him entry. He limps into the room, only to succumb to another bout of pain, which causes him to double over. "Agh! Why is this happening?" Mikaal rasps. "You brought me back to kill my son!" Davina's face goes steely-cold, and she becomes so incredibly badass that I just want to give her the biggest hug EVER. "I brought you back to PUNISH him," she replies, correcting him. "And you will! When I'm ready, and not a MINUTE before." Mikael starts to realize that he's totally been played, but unfortunately for him, she knows what it's like to be in his position, and has made sure that she has thought of EVERYTHING. So, when he lunges at her, she's easily able to neutralize him with her magic.
(via crack3dtheory)
She holds up her wrist, on which she's wearing the cursed bangle bracelet from Kieran's secret stash of dark objects, and explains that she added a little extra bit to the spell that brought him back to life. She doesn't explicitly say it, but it seems as though the bracelet has bound him to her will, so he can't do ANYTHING unless she allows it, which is why he couldn;r. AMAZING! Davina, you are brilliant, and I really hope this doesn't result in your death, because you're too awesome for that. "I spent eight months of my life up here, as a secret weapon," she explains, before smiling a cold and calculating smile. "Now, you can see how it feels!" She thrusts her arm toward her to magically pull him closer to her, before gesturing downward, forcing him to fall onto his knees. "Kneel!" she commands, like she's Loki fucking Laufeyson, before smirking and telekinetically slamming the attic door shut behind her. SO BADASS. Mikael stalked and harassed her as a ghost, because he was desperate to come back to life before the Other Side imploded, and he figured she was a stupid yet powerful girl who he could easily manipulate into bringing him back, and this is the perfect comeuppance--instead, HE got manipulated, just like Klaus did, because he couldn't even consider the possibility that Davina could turn on him. Sigh, BEST DEVELOPMENT EVER.
(via crack3dtheory)
Back at the cemetery, Elijah and Hayley have shackled Genevieve by her wrists inside one of the many tombs in hopes of getting some answers from her. When Hayley furiously demands to know why she would kill her and her child, Genevieve straight-up gives her answers in hopes of begging for mercy. She claimed the ancestors left her no choice, which does NOT satisfy or impress Hayley one bit. "You were willing to sacrifice an innocent baby for more power?" she asks incredulously, but Genevieve insists that it wasn't just for power. "It was the ancestors' decree. It was HER decree!" Elijah grabs Genevieve by the face and forces her to look into his eyes as he asks her who this mysterious "she" is, but Genevieve just laughs in such a defeayed way that you can tell she knows she's a goner. She tells Elijah that he shouldn't be at all surprised by this outcome, considering that it was Elijah who so passionately convinced his siblings to bury his mother on New Orleans soil to complete the Harvest. OH SHIT! I so had an inkling this was coming, but it still shocked the hell out of me to realize that the Original Witch herself was pulling the strings all along.
HAYLEY: [stunned in disbelief] "Esther."
ELIJAH: [furious] "So, not even death can stop my mother from seeking the annihilation of her own flesh and blood."
GENEVIEVE: [anxious and terrified] "This isn't the end. As long as that child lives, the witches of New Orleans will never stop coming for it. ESTHER will never stop coming for it. It has been decreed--your baby will be consecrated among her ancestors. She will not live!"Hayley and Elijah glare at her, so pissed at her for her betrayal (and, let's be real, they're also pissed at themselves for trusting her and not realizing what she was doing sooner), but Genevieve seems to have accepted her fate. "They're coming for me," she says weakly, as blood starts to stream from her eyes, nose, and mouth. "I can feel it. I failed them." She pleads with them to understand that she just wanted to stay alive, and begs them to tell Klaus that she's sorry. She starts to choke up blood, but Hayley isn't the slightest bit moved by her pleas (nor should she, imo). She takes the athame that was used to kill her, and drives it into Genevieve's stomach, yanking it upward to slice open her organs. "I'm not," Hayley spits, as Genevieve quickly dies and goes limp in her restraints. Once she's done, Hayley drops the blade and storms out of the tomb, as Elijah follows quickly behind her. I honestly can't say I'm sorry to see her go, because she has basically been asking for it ever since she teamed up with Francesca. There's no beating Klaus, at least not permanently. If you do get the upper hand on him and his family, you're just gonna get slaughtered at the soonest opportunity. That's just how it works. She's probably gonna be chilling with Sophie Deveraux, wherever the witches who disobey the ancestors are sent when they die. Maybe Sophie will make her some gumbo or something.
Klaus and Elijah are sitting in Klaus' bedroom, discussing this newest revelation about Esther, while Hayley and the baby rock together in the rocking chair in the nursery in the other room. Klaus is kicking himself for not realizing Esther's hand in all of this sooner, because in his words, "We should have known she would not be bound by anything as obvious as death." Even worse, she seems to not only be leading the ancestors, but also the witches who are still alive, which is a pretty terrifying thought. The brothers agree on the assumption that the NOLA witches will never back down, nor the Guerreras, considering that since Hayley and the baby are the last living descendants of the royal Labonair bloodline, they're a threat to Francesca's power-play. "What was it you said to me earlier?" Klaus asks Elijah. "That I have made enemies every second of my miserable life?" Elijah blanches at the reminder of his uncharacteristic meltdown, but Klaus is actually agreeing with him. "Well, the worst of them are within these borders, brother. I have brought into the world a weapon they can use against me."
Elijah, not keen to give up, reminds him that they have (eventually) vanquished every enemy they've faced since moving back to New Orleans, and believes that they should arm themselves and stay and fight. He starts to suggest making the compound a fortress, but Klaus doesn't want his daughter to have to live as a prisoner in her own home. Elijah's back-up plan is that the four of them leave together and settle down somewhere else, but Klaus doesn't really like that plan, either, because even if they DO leave, it's not like their only enemies are in Louisiana. They're EVERYWHERE the Originals have ever been. "Wherever we go, however far we run, those who seek power and revenge will hunt us! They will hunt HER. She has inherited all of our enemies with none of our defenses." Not yet, anyway, but I'd hazard a guess that she'll be a powerful hybrid/maybe-witch once she's old enough to learn self-defense and maybe even magic. Seriously, the witches wouldn't be so obsessed with killing her and consecrating her among her ancestors if she didn't possess a shitload of magical power.
"So, whether we stay, or we leave--we condemn her," Elijah admits with a sigh, as Hayley and the baby walk into Klaus' room to join them. However, Hayley has a third option: "I grew up in a warzone. My parents thought they could protect me, but, in the end, they were slaughtered, and I spent my childhood alone and unloved." She starts to tear up, but she can't help but smile when she looks down and sees her newborn baby daughter, who she's waited so long to finally meet. "I made a promise, to my baby, and to myself, that she would not grow up like I did," Hayley argues. "That she would grow up safe, and loved. And here she is, on her first day in this world, with a grandmother who is hell-bent on sacrificing her."
She breaks down in a sob, and can barely finish her speech, because she's hiccuping so hard. "And a-a mother, who has to drink the blood of her own baby to survive transitioning into a hybrid, and I'm the one who loves her the most." Klaus and Elijah are clearly heartbroken just watching and listening to her, as she pulls herself together to tell them her plan. "I think the only thing to do, is...send her away, while we stay behind and clean up the mess that we've made." Elijah is predictably against this idea, and reminds her that Genevieve said that the witches will continue to come after her, as long as she lives, which means they NEED to be around to protect her. Thankfully, Klaus' deviousness actually comes in handy sometimes, and he starts to get an idea. He walks toward Hayley and puts a comforting arm around her shoulder before replying, "Not if no one knows she lives." Elijah, confused, asks him just what exactly he's planning, and Klaus smiles faintly as he declares that he's about to do whatever it takes to save their family. YES! YES! YES!
It's daytime in the Quarter, and everyone is gathered on Dauphine Street, where Francesca is holding a press conference in her effort to cover up what had gone on in the neighborhood the previous night. The streets are packed with community members, police officers, and reporters, as well as Oliver, who is standing off to the side. Francesca notices Marcel joining the crowd, and gestures to Oliver to take care of it before she starts to speak. "Today begins a new day in the Quarter," she begins in her kindest politician's voice. "My family, long-time residents of this great community, pledges to help every citizen recover from the terrible outbreak of gang violence that erupted on the streets of OUR city last night." Oliver follows Marcel into the Jardin Gris voodoo shop, though we get to hear the rest of Francesca's speech before we join them: "We WILL rebuild. We will remember those who perished," she proclaims, as she gestures toward a memorial wall to honor those who were killed in the Battle of New Orleans, "as we disinfect our town of its worst elements. We WILL work together to ensure that the heart of the Crescent City THRIVES again!" Pretty words from a professional politician, wouldn't you say? I'm already so excited to see how the town changes under her leadership, and werewolf leadership in general.
Oliver walks into the Jardin Gris, where Marcel is standing by the front desk, waiting for him. He closes the door behind him before smirking, "Last man standing, huh?" Marcel just shrugs, and admits that he's there because he's prepared to make a deal with them. Oliver notes that Marcel (and the vampires in general) don't have that much to offer these days, but Marcel's not deterred. "I'm hearing word the Guerreras want the Quarter to be a No-Vampire-Zone. I can make that happen, in exchange for you leaving us alone across the river." Oliver looks at him skeptically, which Marcel seems to have anticipated, so he adds, "OR, I can unleash hell on your new wolf pack." Oliver gets a real kick out of that statement, and asks him how on earth he'll be able to do that. Marcel informs him that he and Klaus have forgiven each other for their slights toward one another, and he cured him. So now that they're a team again, it's Oliver and Francesca and the wolves against Marcel, Klaus, and presumably the rest of the Mikaelsons.
"Klaus is a warmonger," Oliver argues, not wanting to believe its a possibility. "You think he's gonna choose to side with a pack of scrawny vamps, or the new wolf breed that HE created?" Well, they're hardly a new breed, are they? Without those stones, they're just regular werewolves. Anyway, Marcel has a plan for that, too. "I'm thinking he's gonna side with us," he begins, and though Oliver scoffs in disagreement, he continues on. "Especially when he finds out that your pack killed his kid." WHAT? Oliver is stunned into seriousness, and asks him what he's talking about. Marcel turns slightly and gestures toward the front counter, where a cardboard box is perched. "Open the box, and let me know what you think Klaus will believe about who's responsible for what you find inside of it," Marcel says with one of his bright, wide smiles. Oliver just gapes at the box as he processes this information, as Marcel walks toward the door to head out. Before he leaves, he stops, and suggests that cremation may be the best way to go, lest Klaus smell the evidence on him and decide to take his bloody, murderous vengeance on the pack. Once he's gone, Oliver gulps and turns toward the box as he slowly walks toward it. He nervously opens the lid, and he looks inside. Though we can't see what is in it (thank god, I don't really have the stomach for desecrated dead babies) it's clearly gruesome, because Oliver flinches and goes pale at the sight of it. This might be the most insane thing the Mikaelsons have ever done, tbh.
In the streets of the French Quarter, a crowd of people have gathered outside to pay their respects at the memorial set up for all of the witches, vampires, and humans who perished at some point in the last day or so. Cami approaches the wall, passing various people crying and talking and laying down bouquets of flowers, and scans the wall for any familiar faces. Her eyes find a framed sign that reads, "In Memorium: Baby Mikaelson" attached to the wall, and Cami instantly gasps and starts to cry as she runs away.
She rushes over to the Mikaelson compound, where she finds Klaus on the balcony over the courtyard, staring sadly down below at the warzone. Man, I really want to see a layout for this compound, because it seems to have about a hundred rooms and like, five different entrances at various levels. ANYWAY, Cami is clearly heartbroken at the news, and quietly calls out, "Klaus? The baby?" He looks absolutely devastated when he admits that the baby died a few hours after the Guerrera attack. Cami immediately starts blaming herself, though Klaus assures her that it wasn't. "No! If I hadn't hesitated, I could have uncovered Francesca's plot in time to stop it!" Klaus reminds her that she still wouldn't have been able to predict that the witches were in league with her, and can't help but tear up at the thought of everything that has happened. "No," he murmurs. "If anyone is to blame, I am."
Cami apologizes to him for everything, especially the baby, but Klaus is clearly having difficulty dealing with the situation. He tells her he appreciates her concern, before confessing that they cannot be friends anymore, which hits Cami right in the feels. She asks him what is going on, so Klaus says probably the nicest thing he's ever said to someone who wasn't Caroline Forbes. "You had me pegged from the start," Klaus replies. "A man, damaged by his demons. And those demons are not dormant-- they're hell-bent on killing me, and everything I find beautiful." He walks closer to her, and looks her in the eyes. "And you, you ARE beautiful." He waits a beat, but Cami is stunned into silence. "Please. Please, just go," he pleads. Cami starts to argue, but he cuts her off and asks her again to go. Cami bursts into tears as she leaves, and Klaus looks wrecked as he watches her go. What a fucking past 36 hours for everybody, right?
Klaus leaves to find Elijah on the other side of the courtyard, who is watching Cami walk out the door. When he joins him, Elijah asks if Marcel played his part in this performance they've planned. Klaus assures him that he was able to find a stillborn baby in a hospital upstate, which ICK. I know this was the best possible plan for them, in terms of faking the baby's death, but the thought of them using a stillborn baby (that was no doubt probably been torn apart postmortem to make it look like it was killed by a werewolf) gives me the CREEPS. So, I'm not thinking about it anymore. ANYWAY, apparently Klaus and Marcel made a deal, where Marcel would allow Klaus to compel him to believe that the baby died at the hands of the werewolves, in order to make it harder for others to learn the truth. In exchange, Marcel asked for a couple vials of Klaus' blood, since they're obviously going to be having werewolf problems in the near future. "The witches will HAVE to believe this," Elijah insists. "Soon, that fourth Harvest girl will resurrect. The coven will rebuild. If they sense that your child lives, they will hunt her." Klaus determinedly replies that the witches will be convinced, as long as they are properly convincing in their performance. They stand together in silence, leaning against the railing of the balcony, until Elijah finally speaks. "Well, then, all that remains is to say goodbye." OH GOD, HERE COME THE TEARS.
Sidebar: I thought the NOLA witches were only powerful in New Orleans? I get that they have enemies everywhere, which is why they're staying, but at least if they left, the NOLA witches would be powerless against them, because the source of their power only exists within New Orleans' borders. That's the downside to ancestral magic--they're afforded a ton of power, not to mention generations and generations of knowledge and experience gathered from those who came before them, but in exchange, they're limited to a specific place in which they're forced to stay in order to have access to said power. I don't know, I'm thinking about this way too much.
In the closing montage, Klaus and Elijah complete their conversation in voiceover while we get clips of what they've been up to in the hours after everything has been settled. (Their conversation will be bolded to separate it from the other dialogue, just fyi!) Hayley packs up the baby's bag in the nursery, where she tucks the letter she wrote to her into the front pocket. Elijah helps her lift the baby from her cradle, but when Elijah holds out a pin, Hayley turns her head, not wanting to watch. He gently pricks the baby's thumb with the needle, releasing a large drop of blood, and Hayley hesitates before leaning down and gently sucking the blood from her fingertip, finally completing her transition. That baby is a champ, btw, she barely even cried or anything! She's a cutie.
A crowd of people are still gathered outside of the memorial, where they're holding a candlelight vigil for the deceased community members. Elijah and Hayley arrive, the latter holding a bouquet of flowers, and approach Baby Mikaelson's memorial plaque as Klaus and Elijah continue their conversation in voiceover. "They will be watching us," Klaus states sadly. "All of them. The three of us leaving together will draw too much attention. I will go alone. Take your mourning public when I am gone." Francesca watches as Hayley walks up to the memorial and kneels by her daughter's plaque, placing the flowers on the ground in front of it. She breaks down in tears, and places a kiss on her fingertips before touching them to the placard. "I don't imagine that will be too difficult," Elijah replies in voiceover. "Grief, after all, is grief." It's true-- Hayley and Klaus' daughter might not be dead, but they won't get to see her grow up, or shower her with love and affection, or know her in the way that they dreamed of knowing her. The fact that this was her best chance at survival doesn't diminish the pain of having to be separated from your child. Elijah holds a hand out to Hayley, who takes it and allows him to help her back toward their car.
Meanwhile, Klaus is sitting on the roof of his SUV on a dark country road, holding his swaddled daughter in his arms, as he waits for her new guardian. "In what world will she be safe without her father?" Elijah asks. "Who can protect her better than we?" Klaus pauses for a moment, before replying, "There is one person." OMG OMG OMG. As soon as he said that, I knew exactly who it was going to be, but I was still SO HAPPY and shocked to see who it actually was. A car approaches them from the opposite direction and stops a few yards away from him. The car door opens, and a platform-heeled boot steps out, revealing that REBEKAH FUCKING MIKAELSON IS COMING TO TAKE THE BABY. When she sees her brother and her newborn niece, she smiles at them, and Klaus beams right back at her.
(via ercnorthman)
He greets his sister as she approaches them, and she immediately turns toward the baby, gently touching her fluffy hair. "Oh, she looks like her mother," Rebekah whispers excitedly, before grinning a little wicked grin. "Maybe there is a God after all?" I HAVE MISSED HER SO MUCH OMG. "Well, she has a hint of the devil in her eyes," Klaus retorts. "That's all me." His face grows serious as he reminds his sister that they need a witch she can trust who can put a cloaking spell on her, but she insists that she has it covered. I wonder who she's gonna get? A witch we know? I immediately thought of Bonnie Bennett, but she's not a witch anymore. :( Klaus emphasizes that no one can EVER find her, but Rebekah wants to keep her little niece just as safe and happy and loved as her parents do. "Perhaps we'll get a white fence," Rebekah suggests, as she continues to stare in awe at the baby. "I think that would be lovely." *insert Emma Stone "THIS IS THE BEST" gif here*
Klaus turns the baby around in his arms so he can look at her in the face, and prepares to give his last goodbye to her. "This city would have seen you dead," he says in a gentle whisper. "But I will have it your home. And every soul who wishes you harm will be struck down, just as sure as my blood runs in your veins." Rebekah, who has been watching her brother be the perfect daddy from afar, goes completely bug-eyed in horror as he says that last line, which seriously cracked me up so much. Never change, Rebekah. "You will return to me," Klaus promises, before kissing his daughter on the forehead and cheek before handing her off to Auntie Beks. Before she leaves, Klaus hands her the small, wooden knight that Klaus had carved for Rebekah 1,000+ years ago, and Rebekah is so touched that she starts to cry. "In spite of our differences, Rebekah, there is no one I would trust more with my daughter's life," Klaus says, and my slight tears turn into ugly sobs. He tells her to be happy, before she leaves, and Rebekah assures him that they both will. They smile, and Rebekah realizes she doesn't even know her name yet. Klaus pauses for a moment, before replying. "Hope. Her name is Hope." He starts to tear up more as he watches Rebekah carefully put baby Hope in her carseat. THIS FAMILY, I S2FG.
Finally, over at the cemetery, Cassie, the fourth and final Harvest girl, finally awakens from her peaceful limbo in one of the broken tombs. I think it might actually be the one that Klaus was thrown into by Papa Tunde's sons during the fight, actually. She carefully makes her way out of the tomb, still barefoot and dressed in the white dress she in which she was consecrated, and looks around as she makes her way through the cemetery. She finally stops at a flat gravestone, upon which she places a dried rose. She is quickly joined by an older black gentleman who is apparently named Vincent, and who also seems to have risen from his grave as well. "May you rest in peace," the manwitch says to Cassie, who replies, "What's the fun in that?" She pauses for a moment, before adding, "Come along. We have much to do!" Vincent bows his head respectfully and turns to follow her. "Yes, mother," he replies, as the two make their way out of the cemetery. The camera pans over to the gravestone, which reads, "ESTHER: OUR BELOVED MOTHER." OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHITTTTTT! ESTHER CAME BACK IN CASSIE'S BODY AND SOMEHOW SHE MANAGED TO BRING FINN (I THINK???) BACK TOO? THIS IS INSANITY. More on this in the notes!
Thank all of you for reading these recaps, even when I'm a big bucket of fail who can't get them done in a timely fashion. I'll be back in the fall with The Originals recaps when Season 2 starts in September/October. If, for some reason, you're really missing my work, you should stick around for my recaps of Season 4 of Teen Wolf, starting June 23rd, as well as my newest project "Emily Re-Watches TVD," where I will be briefly reviewing the Season 5 episodes from "500 Years of Solitude" to "Home," in anticipation for Season 6 in the fall! <33
[screencaps via Screencapped]
NOTES/SPECULATION/QUESTIONS: (**There will be discussion of things Julie Plec has said in interviews which could be considered "spoilers, so if that's not your thing, click away, dear reader!**)
-ALRIGHT, let's start with Esther, shall we? Ever since I first saw this episode, and it was revealed that Esther had quite a hand in the events of the last third of the season, I've been trying to think back to the episode she was consecrated and made a New Orleans witch ("Après Moi, Le Déluge") and what has happened since then. Do you guys think that she had any help in the spell that Celeste used to bring back Papa Tunde, Genevieve, and Bastianna? The first two specifically have history with her children (and specifically Klaus and Rebekah) as well as a huuuuge desire for revenge, and Bastianna just hates vampires in general, so I could definitely see Esther lending a hand, if it meant her children would be killed. On the other hand, Papa Tunde failed at killing the Originals/stealing their power for his own gain, and Celeste didn't seem to have any interest in killing ALL of them, just one of them to make Elijah miserable. I do think it's safe to say that the majority of Genevieve's actions since being resurrected, if not all of them, were all as a result of fulfilling Esther's orders. The way she said "Esther decreed it" seemed to suggest that Esther has pretty much rallied the ancestors/witches into following her lead, which is SUPER scary-- Esther is terrifying enough with just her own power, but with the full might of the ancestors behind her? Even scarier.
As for who is possessing Vincent, I'm going with Finn; he was always the most self-hating of all of the Mikaelsons, and was more than willing to die if it meant taking out his siblings. He really seems to be the only one Esther actually gives a fuck about-- she didn't seem at all fond of Kol, Klaus, or Rebekah--although, she did feel the slightest bit guilty about trying to kill Elijah that one time. Either way, I'm pretty damn nervous about what she's planning. What do you think the chances are that she knows that Hope is still alive? I can see the Mikaelsons being able to full the living witches, but I'm not so sure about the ancestors, mostly because we don't really know how they work. Are their spirits only in the earth of New Orleans, or do they have eyes everywhere? Also, the real Cassie really got a raw deal, didn't she? Not only did she stay dead way longer than any of the other Harvest girls, but when it was finally her turn to come back, some ancient Viking witch co-opts her body? Super unfair.
-HAYLEY IS A HYBRID HAYLEY IS A HYBRID HAYLEY IS A HYBRID. On the one hand, it's kind of a bummer because we all know that Hayley had no interest in being a hybrid (she even called Tyler a "half-breed," which kind of indicated she wasn't exactly fond of them) so this seems to pretty much guarantee that she will be experiencing at least a little self-loathing at first. It's kind of a big change, being undead, having to live on blood, having to face the fact that as long as no one rips your head off or your heart out, you're going to exist for eternity. BUT, think of all the possibilities! First, we now know that Hayley isn't in THAT much danger from the werewolf or vampire fronts-- I think the NOLA vamps have been decimated to the extent that they probably won't be an issue anyway, but you never know, Marcel will probably be recruiting to build up their ranks again. As for the werewolves, the Guerreras (and the Crescents who joined them) may have their little moonlight stones, but they still don't have the same speed, strength, and agility that Hayley will have as a hybrid. She was already a good fighter to start out with, and we already learned with Elena Gilbert that experience can give you an edge over age if you're a good fighter and can catch your enemy off guard.
That said, I get the feeling Hayley will probably pull away from Elijah, at least at first. He's been a vampire for longer than just about anyone, and his level of control is so impeccable that it's gonna be hard for him to relate to her new-found hunger. Klaus, on the other hand, has always had a voracious appetite, so I can definitely see him trying to show Hayley the ropes, helping her relish in it like he does. Maybe she'll be receptive to it, maybe she won't, but regardless, she'll have plenty of people around to help her. Maybe even Josh could give her some lessons? He seems to have gotten the hang of vampirism pretty quickly.
-Now, let's talk about the Mikaelsons in general--Julie Plec said in an interview that any plans for revenge for what the Guerreras/witches did to them are going to have to be put on the backburner when the new season starts back up, because they're going to be too focused on playing the roles of grieving family to really sell the idea that Hope is really dead. I can't imagine that it'll be easy for them to just let them all get away with it, at least at first, but at least it will give them some time to really plan something big and surprising? Clearly Klaus is eventually gonna have to deal with the wolves because of those damn moonlight stones-- as long as the wolves still have them, Klaus is still vulnerable during the full moons. (Which I still find to be really stupid, because that just means that he's going to binge on humans to keep the pain and weakness at bay, which really doesn't do much to care for the community at large. Oh well, the hypocrisy of all the different players is well established by now, so I don't even know why I'm focusing on it.)
-As for Mikael, I'm torn. I'm THRILLED that Davina put him in his place, because he totally deserves it. I mean, really-- being at the mercy of a sassy, empowered 17-year-old witch is like, even more of a hell than being forced to hate-watch your his monster of a step-son's life for him, isn't it? I'm REALLY nervous about Davina, because Mikael isn't so much of an idiot that he can't figure out a way around it. If the power comes from the bracelet, then I hope she keeps her guard up so that he can't snatch/destroy it, though. I guess I'm just saying I hope she did her homework on this and has some back up plans in place. It would be really hilarious if he destroyed the bracelet in an attempt to get his autonomy back and then ended up killing himself in the process, if say, the bracelet is what tied him to life, or something. I don't know. An even better question is, what's going to happen with both Esther AND Mikael back at the same time? We've only ever seen them interact in flashbacks, so I have no idea what their relationship could be like, now. I get the impression that Esther wasn't a big fan of him anymore, because he was an abusive dick, plus she did cheat on him with Klaus' dad, so there had to have been problems there. Mikael, on the other hand, has only really had neutral-to-good things to say about his former wife, though whether that was just to make him seem nicer to Marcel and Davina is anyone's guess. So, will Esther and Mikael team up to work together to kill their children, or will they just be getting in each other's way/antagonizing each other? SO MANY POSSIBILITIES. I AM SO FUCKING EXCITED.
-What happens to the power of the Harvest, now that Abigail and Monique are dead? The way Monique talked about killing Genevieve to give the witches full access to the power of the Harvest, it made it seem like the power came from the girls all being resurrected and alive together. We saw Abigail and Monique link hands to connect with the ancestors in the cemetery, too, which is why I'm thinking that maybe losing half the Harvest girls will have a negative effect on the witches' magic supply. I guess we'll just have to wait and see?
I love your reviews so much!
ReplyDeleteI’m currently re-watching the originals and I read your reviews after each episode.
xx
Rose