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So what are you going to do now? Because if you try to destroy that, I'll rip her heart out.
Damon to Stefan and Elena

Children of the Damned is the thirteenth episode of the first season of The Vampire Diaries and the thirteenth episode of the series overall.

Summary[]

A BLAST FROM THE PAST — In flashbacks, Stefan and Damon recall the long-ago actions taken by town's people including their father, Giuseppe Salvatore, and Pearl, leading to the devastating events that caused the rift in their relationship. In the present, Bonnie's date with Ben takes a frightening turn. Elena helps Stefan as he and Damon race to find the missing journal that belonged to Elena's ancestor. Stefan learns the reason behind Alaric's interest in both the journal and the town's history. Damon discovers that an old acquaintance has returned to town with an agenda he understands.

Plot[]

In 1864, Katherine stops a horse-drawn carriage and asks for help because her "husband" has been attacked. A man is laying on the road and one of the two men from the carriage goes to help him. Katherine attacks the one who left at the carriage and then the other one. Her "husband" gets up and it's revealed to be Damon who is still human, Katherine teaching him how a vampire hunts.

In the Present day, Damon enters Stefan's room without caring he is with Elena. He wants to start looking for Emily Bennett's grimoire and Stefan promised to help him, which for him means Elena is also helping. He asks her to find Johnathan Gilbert's journal that is the key of where the grimoire is. Anna calls Jeremy trying to arrange a date with him while Ben is getting ready for his date with Bonnie later. Meanwhile, at the Gilbert house, Elena and Stefan talk about Damon as Elena is looking for Johnathan's journal. Jeremy shows up and tells them that he gave the journal to Alaric.

During 1864, Damon is with Katherine when Emily gets into the room and announces Katherine that Pearl is here to see her. Katherine meets Pearl, who tells her that she worries with the fact that she is with both Salvatore brothers and them knowing their vampire secret. She gives Katherine an elixir made of vervain and informs her that people start to drink it because they suspect about the vampires. Pearl wants to move to another town but Katherine's not ready. While they are talking, Pearl's daughter passes by, none other than Anna.

Stefan and Damon's father, Giuseppe, is a vampire hunter and promises his fellow hunters that both of his boys will help them. He later talks to his sons about their plan and asks for their help. When their father walks away, Stefan says that if they talk to him about Katherine, they will convince him not to kill her. Damon doesn't believe that and makes Stefan promise he won't tell a thing. Stefan, despite his promise, tries to talk to his father denying though that he knows any vampires, but his father figures out that he is lying and spikes his drink with vervain. Later, Stefan is with Katherine who tries to feed on him but because of the vervain, she faints. Giuseppe gets into the room and asks Stefan to call the sheriff. Stefan tries to change his dad's mind, but he can't. They take Katherine away to burn her with the other vampires.

In the Present day, Alaric reads Johnathan's journal at school, while Anna is watching him. Alaric hears something and calls to see if anyone is there. When he doesn't get any response, he goes to his locker and gets a gun that shoots wooden stakes. He returns to the classroom and finds Stefan there. He shots him but Stefan catches the stake before it hits him. Alaric tries to reload but Stefan stops him and gets the gun.

Stefan asks Alaric to sit so they can talk and promises he won't hurt him and gives Alaric his gun back. Alaric is confused but trusts him and informs him why he is in Mystic Falls. He confesses he witnessed a vampire, Damon, killing his wife but Damon had to hear him, and he disappeared along with his wife's body. Stefan tells him that if he is here for revenge, it won't end well for him and offers to help. He asks where the journal is and Alaric points to the desk where he left it, but the journal is missing.

Anna got the journal and now she reads it to find where the grimoire is while Ben leaves for his date with Bonnie. Later, Ben tries to fish info from Bonnie about Elena and unsuspected Bonnie tells him that the two of them are like sisters and that she would die for her. Bonnie decides to give it a chance and kisses Ben. The moment she does, though, she senses evil and pulls back. She acts like nothing happened and tells him that she needs to go to the bathroom. Realizing Bonnie suspects him, Ben stalks her to the restroom and kidnaps her.

In the meantime, Damon is at Elena's house, cooking and talking with Jenna while Stefan handles Alaric. Elena is surprised to see him there. Jenna leaves them alone and Damon asks Elena straight if he can trust Stefan, something that Elena reassures him that he can. The night continues with Damon and Jeremy playing video games and Jeremy telling him about Anna. Stefan arrives, also surprised to see Damon there, and tells them what happened and that someone else took the journal. In the question who else knew about it, Damon interrogates Jeremy who admits that Anna also showed interest about it. Damon leaves with Jeremy to find Anna. Anna arrives and Damon sees her from afar, recognizing her as Pearl's daughter.

While Damon is off to track Anna, Stefan tells Elena that he has a copy of the journal from Alaric. They start reading it and Elena finds a mention of Stefan's father in it. Though they find no mention of where the grimoire might be, Stefan remembers a conversation he had with his father and realizes where the grimoire is; buried with his father. The two go to Giuseppe's tomb and start digging.

Damon follows Anna at the Grill's restroom and attacks her, but she fights back and they both give up. Anna tells him she was wondering how long it would take him to find her and they go to her motel to talk. She tells Damon that the key to open the tomb is hidden in his dad's journal and asks for his help. Damon takes the journal for himself and walks away telling her that he works alone.

Elena and Stefan manage to unearth the grimoire, but Damon shows up. Damon looks hurt but also mad over their betrayal, especially Elena's who promised him that he could trust Stefan and he believed her. Damon asks for the journal otherwise he will kill Elena. Stefan knows that he would never do that and then Damon grabs Elena and forces him to drink his blood. He wouldn't kill her, but he could turn her into a vampire without hesitation. Stefan knows that he would do that and gives him the journal while he walks away with a terrified Elena.

Damon gets the journal and flashes back to the night he lost Katherine. He tried to stop his father, but Giuseppe states that whoever sides with the vampires must die as well. Stefan finds Damon and promises to help him save Katherine, but an enraged Damon accuses that it was all his fault.

At the last flashback, we see that Pearl in her attempt to run away, she runs into Johnathan Gilbert whose watch points to her indicating she is a vampire. Pearl is shot and captured while her daughter Anna is watching with Emily. Emily promises Anna she will see her mother again. Stefan also sees Emily with Anna hiding but he doesn't say a word to the hunters.

Back at the Gilbert house, Elena asks Stefan to bring her an aspirin and he goes downstairs to ask Jenna for one. Jenna tells him that Jeremy's friend Anna is in the house. Stefan, in a quick flashback to the night when Katherine was captured, he remembers Pearl's daughter and realizes who is Anna. He runs upstairs to Elena's room, but Elena is gone.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Special Guest Star[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

Trivia[]

  • Antagonists: Katherine Pierce (1864), Ben McKittrick, and Annabelle
  • A flashback shows Damon leaving the service of the Confederate Army for his own reasons. His father, Giuseppe Salvatore, considers his desertion cowardice, whereas Stefan respected his brother's decision to stop fighting in a war that was against his principles.
  • Stefan tells Elena that the amount of blood Damon fed her will be out of her system by morning. This is the first instance to a timeframe as to how long a person must be careful not to be fatally injured to ensure that they won't wake up in transition to become a vampire. Stefan also explains that in some instances, being fed vampire blood can give some humans headaches. This is the opposite reaction that Vicki experienced in Lost Girls, which was more akin to a drug addict as she stated that Damon's blood was "so good" and wanted another "hit".

Body Count[]

Continuity[]

Locations[]

Behind the Scenes[]

  • This episode had about 3.99 million viewers in the USA, which was 0.28 million more than the previous episode.
  • This is the final episode to bill Matt Davis as a special guest star. From the next episode onwards, he is billed as a starring role.
  • Ric Reitz is credited as Benjamin Lockwood. However, Alaric learns his name as Barnette Lockwood from the Gilbert Journals. This is a blooper or a crediting error.

Cultural References[]

Quotes[]

Voiceovers

Alaric: (reading Johnathan Gilbert's journal) "I met Barnette and Giuseppe this evening. I saw the skepticism in their eyes when I showed them the compass."
Anna: (reading Johnathan Gilbert's journal) "I saw her again today, the most beautiful woman in town, with a name just as pretty, Pearl."

Quotes

Katherine: "And that's how it's done."
Damon: "What happens to the bodies?"
Katherine: "We'll take them into the woods and the other animals will finish them off."

Ben: "Why did you choose me?"
Anna: "I needed someone in a position to be my eyes and ears. Small town bartender fit the bill."
Ben: "But there were plenty of bartenders to choose from. Why me?"
Anna: "You were sad, Ben. You lacked purpose."

Damon: "Rise and shine, sleepyheads."
Stefan: "What are you doing?"
Elena: "Damon, please!"
Damon: "Oh, stop being smutty."
Stefan: "Seriously, get out of here!"
Damon: "If I see something I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it."

Stefan: "There are other ways to get what you want. You don't have to kill people. Damon has no regard for human life. He enjoys inflicting pain on others. For 145 years, every single time that I have let my guard down and let Damon back into my life he's done something to make me regret that. I'm not going to make that mistake again."

Giuseppe: (looking at the Gilbert compass) "And we're supposed to believe that can track one of them?"
Barnette: "What is it? Magic?"
Johnathan: "Its science."
Barnette: "I'll believe it when I see it."

Alaric: "I'm also a historian. And while researching Virginia, I made a few discoveries about your town."
Stefan: "So, you show up like Van Helsing?"

Damon: "She knows Father would have her killed if he knew the truth"
Stefan: "Not if we talked to him, explained how we feel. He could help us keep her safe."
Damon: "Have you gone mad? No, Father would drive a stake in her himself."

Damon: (to Jeremy) "Who're you dodging?"
Jeremy: "This girl Anna. She can be, uh... persistent."
Damon: "Is she hot?"
Jeremy: "Yeah, yeah, but she could be weird."
Damon: "Hot trumps weird, Trust me."
(He starts eavesdropping on Elena and Jenna in the kitchen)
Jenna: (whispers about Damon) "He is ridiculously hot!" :(Elena shushes her, but Damon hears her with his vampire hearing and smiles)
Elena: (whispers) "He's an ass!"
(Damon rolls his eyes)

Anna: (interrupts Katherine and Damon's kiss) "Miss Fell is approaching."
Pearl: (hugs Anna) "Thank you, Annabelle."

Giuseppe: "Stefan, these creatures are of the darkest parts of hell. They have the ability to control your mind, seduce your spirit. They are deadly. They must be destroyed. Those who stand with them-- those who bring shame to their family-- will be destroyed as well."

Giuseppe: (talking about Katherine) "Go get the Sheriff. Tell him we have a vampire."
Stefan: (horrified) "What? No!"
Giuseppe: "Do as I say, son. Nothing that you feel for her is real. She is a vampire, Stefan, a monster! I fed you vervain hoping that it would expose her."

Damon (holding Elena): "Give me the book Stefan, or I'm snapping her neck, and you and I will have a vampire girlfriend!"

Damon: (as they take Katherine away) "No! Don't take her!"
Giuseppe: (holds him back) "Do you know what they'll do to you if you're branded a sympathizer?! You'll be killed along with them!"
Damon: (furiously) "Then let me be killed!"

Elena: "Are you okay?"
Stefan: "Damon was right. This is-- this is my fault."

Flashback to 1864

Stefan: "Damon!" (He holds Damon back) "Damon stop, stop! I'll help you; we'll get her back!"
Damon: "Help me?!" (He pushes him away) "Don't you think you've done enough?! You promised you wouldn't tell him!"
Stefan: "I didn't think this would happen!" (He watches with Damon as the vampires get taken away)
Damon: "You did this" (He backs away) "This is your fault!" (He runs away)

Present Day

Stefan: "I put my faith in my father, but Damon put his faith in me, and I destroyed that. This is my fault."
Elena: "You didn't do anything wrong. Don't forget that."

Multimedia[]

Soundtrack[]

Last.fm_play.png "When You're Ready" – Kate Earl
Last.fm_play.png "Floating Vibes" – Surfer Blood
Last.fm_play.png "Goodbye" – Elefant
Last.fm_play.png "Stellar" – Experiement Aircraft

Pictures[]

References[]

See also[]

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