“ | You're gonna think that the pain will never end, but it will, but first, you have to let it all in. You can't fight it. It's bigger than you. You have to let yourself drown in it, but then eventually, you'll start to swim, and every single breath that you fight for will make you stronger. And I promise that you will beat it. | ” |
The relationship between the cured vampire/human doppelgänger, Elena Gilbert, and the former Enhanced Original vampire/current human, Alaric Saltzman.
Alaric became Elena's new history teacher following Mr. Tanner's death. Shortly afterward, Alaric began dating Elena's aunt, Jenna, and the two slowly became allies after she discovered he was a vampire hunter. They grew very close, especially when they discovered that Alaric's "dead" wife, Isobel, was Elena's biological mother. When Jenna died, Alaric moved in with Elena and Jeremy and took the role as their new guardian. He also began teaching Elena to fight vampires. When Esther turned him into an Original vampire, Elena was heartbroken, and they shared a final hug. Elena soon discovered that Esther had tied their lives together, so when Rebekah killed Elena, thus turning her into a vampire, Alaric died, too. When Alaric's ghost returned, he protected Elena from Connor and was happy that Elena had found happiness with Damon. They were reunited when Damon sacrificed himself to save everyone on the Other Side, and Alaric quickly returned to his role as a parental figure to Elena.
During Season Six, Elena asked Alaric to compel memories of Damon away and he gladly did so for her. However, he regretted them as soon as Damon returned from a Prison World. Alaric continued to be there for Elena until the day of his wedding and the Gemini Coven Massacre, thanks to Kai Parker. Elena was supposed to be his former fiancée's maid of honor but Elena was put under a sleeping curse due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. While slumbering, Alaric was able to get inside Elena's head after the events of the wedding. Elena told him to not give up and she wished him a good life.
In the eighth season finale, it can be assumed that Elena and Alaric reunited at some point being they both still live in Mystic Falls and Elena is no longer in a magical coma.
Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series[]
Alaric introduced himself as Elena's new history teacher. Over time, Stefan and Jenna began to suspect that Alaric's wife may be Elena's birth mother. When Damon made fun of Alaric, calling his wife "tasty," Elena confronted him. When the vampires from the tomb captured Stefan, Elena and Damon sought Alaric's help and were eventually able to convince him to help them. Alaric later showed Elena the assignment Jeremy did about vampires, and they both began to worry that Jeremy may be suspicious as to the truth about the supernatural. At the pageant, Alaric was curious as to why Elena was dancing with Damon, rather than Stefan, and also gave her a ride to the event. When Alaric discovered that Isobel had returned to town, he informed Elena that she wanted a meeting with her and waited outside the Grill with Damon while they met for the first time. Alaric later helped Elena protect Stefan from the deputies when John activated the device.
Alaric, Elena and Damon traveled to Duke to look at Isobel's research on werewolves and doppelgängers. When Vanessa tried to kill Elena, Alaric pinned her against the wall, and backed Elena up when she and Damon went to explain the situation to her. Alaric defended Elena from Damon when he tried to get her to talk to him. At the masquerade ball, Alaric was tasked with making sure Elena stayed at home while the others executed their plan to kill Katherine. Elena became suspicious when she realized that Jeremy went to the ball, and demanded answers from Alaric, but he begged her to just forget about it. She later snuck out to go to the Masquerade and find out what her friends were doing while Alaric wasn't watching her.
When Alaric discovered Elena was missing, he let Damon, Stefan, Bonnie and Jeremy into his classroom to try to track her with magic. He also lent his weapons to Damon and Stefan. When Jenna learned that Isobel was alive, Elena immediately called Alaric, and they begged her to listen to their explanations, though Jenna refused to talk to them. They discussed what to do about Jenna, and Alaric promised Elena that he would do what she wanted him to do. Later, Alaric visited Elena but was confronted by John. Alaric, furious at John for his role in his fight with Jenna, punched John in the face before apologizing to Elena immediately afterward; however, Elena wasn't offended—she was actually impressed by his nerve. Later, when Alaric was talking to Elijah, he brought up the deal he made with Elena, and stated that Alaric was on the list of people she wanted to be protected. When Damon returned with a (temporarily) dead Elena after Klaus broke his hybrid curse, Alaric rushed to her side. Alaric later moved in with Elena and Jeremy, knowing that they needed a guardian and wanting to ensure that they had someone to take care of them.
Alaric attended Elena's party. He later went to talk to her, and told her that he was moving out, as he didn't think he was a good role model, and he believed Elena was now old enough to look after herself and Jeremy. After Damon refused to help her, Elena turned to Alaric for help in finding information about Stefan and his whereabouts. She convinced him to tell her that Klaus had been hunting in the Smoky Mountains lately. Elena returned Alaric's ring which John gave her and convinced Alaric not to give up just because he feels lost. Alaric agreed to keep the ring and not leave her and Jeremy any time soon, and ultimately moved back in with them at the end of the episode, even taking his own bedroom.
Alaric became worried about Elena and Damon's growing friendship. They tried to stop Damon from attacking Bill, but Damon ended up killing Alaric by snapping his neck, shocking Elena, though Alaric was wearing his Gilbert ring. Alaric began to train Elena to kill vampires in the woods after a violent encounter with Stefan. He also tried to help defend her when Stefan began harassing her. Elena defended Alaric when Meredith accused him of being the town's serial killer, and hugged him despite what Meredith told her about him. However, Elena started reading Samantha Gilbert's journal, and later began to believe that Alaric could be the killer, due to the side effects of constantly dying with the Gilbert ring. She confessed to Alaric that Meredith may be right, leading to Meredith to suggest that they perform some medical tests.
Elena later went to the hospital with Alaric where Meredith performed a CT scan on him. They realize that Alaric may be going insane due to the ring, so he returned the ring to Elena just in case. Alaric later tried to attack Elena, but Stefan saved her. Elena begged Stefan not to hurt Alaric, however. When Stefan and Damon kept Alaric locked up in the cellar of the boarding house, Elena brought him food, water and books to help him pass the time. She also informed him that she was going to Denver with Damon to bring Jeremy back to Mystic Falls. He asked if she wanted his disapproval, but Elena admitted she wasn't sure what she was feeling.
Elena was horrified to discover that Esther had turned Alaric into an Enhanced Original Vampire with the intention of making him the deadliest vampire-vampire-hunter since Mikael. Once Alaric awoke in transition, he realized what he had done and apologized for it all, promising Elena and Jeremy that he won't complete the transition for everyone's safety. However, Esther forced him to complete the transition anyway by sending a partially-possessed Bonnie to go to him and feed him her blood. Alaric later attacked Elena, so she begged him to kill her, but he didn't. Klaus then arrived and saved Elena after realizing just how strong Alaric was. Elena stopped Alaric before he killed Klaus, threatening to kill herself, having figured out that her life force had been linked to Alaric's by Esther to ensure that he wouldn't be immortal like her children. Alaric beghed her not to kill herself, and she escaped with Klaus. Later, when Rebekah ran Matt's truck into the river, Elena drowned, and due to his link to Elena's life force, her death caused Alaric to die in Damon's arms. In ghost form, Alaric went to the Gilbert house to visit Jeremy and break the news about Elena's death.
When Elena entered Alaric's classroom for the first time since his death, she became distraught. Following Jeremy's death, Elena listed all of the people she loved and lost who had lived in her house, Alaric being one of them. She also stated that she knew Damon wanted Alaric back, but insisted she wasn't willing to bring back every dead supernatural to do it. Later, when Elena was fighting with Caroline, she mentioned that Alaric had trained her so she could easily win in a fight.
When ghosts returned, Elena, Alaric and Jeremy had lunch together in the cemetery, and when Connor called Elena, Alaric went to meet him at the Grill. He told Connor that he was in charge of Elena and seemed proud when Connor told him that she killed him, mentioning that he was the one who taught her how. Alaric later gave Damon the cure, telling him to get the girl. After Damon and Elena kissed, he congratulated him on getting the girl and left to return to the Other Side again.
Elena was reunited with Alaric in Graduation (Episode).Elena and Alaric are reunited once again in Home after she and Damon blew themselves up in an explosion meant to mass-kill the Travelers in Mystic Falls. After arriving on the Other Side with Damon, Alaric told her to go ahead to Bonnie, and promised that he would find Damon. Later, Alaric managed to find Damon and return to the living, though Damon was unable to return after the spell had been broken by Luke Parker. Both Elena and Alaric mourned Damon's death together.
In I'll Remember, Elena was shown to be in regular contact with Alaric, as he compelled himself a job as a professor at Whitmore College, and Elena had begun taking his class. After Alaric had learned that Elena was taking psychotropic herbs to hallucinate Damon, he brought her back to her dorm so she could sleep the effects off. While he was with her, Elena confessed that she wanted him to compel her to forget that she ever loved Damon.
In Yellow Ledbetter, Alaric spent the day helping Elena compel away her memories of loving Damon by going through various significant moments and altering them, including her dance with Damon at the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant, their kiss in Heart of Darkness, their experiences with the sire bond, and Elena's birthday party. Afterward, Alaric compelled Elena to forget that he had compelled her, and made her believe that they had spent the day talking about Bonnie.
In I'll Wed You in the Golden Summertime, Elena is one of the people Alaric loves who was effected by his wedding-turned-Gemini Coven Massacre. Alaric was devastated to lose his almost-wife, his almost-lost babies and even Elena.
In I'm Thinking Of You All The While, Alaric, with the assistance of his friends' vampiric abilities, was able to get inside Elena's head and say good-bye to her. Elena told him that things would get better and she wished him a good life in her absence. They hugged one last time before Alaric ended his dream with Elena.