| “ | When my master, Cade, learned of your bell's ability to drive us from your lands, he devised an altogether different purpose for it. [...] The twelfth ring will unleash hellfire, incinerating your entire village. You will not breathe a word of it. | ” |
Mystic Falls Founders Bell, also known as The Maxwell Bell, was a supernatural church bell currently situated at the top of the Mystic Falls Clock Tower. It was originally enchanted by Bennett witches to drive the sirens from Mystic Falls although it was eventually corrupted to open a doorway to Hell thereby giving it the ability to summon Hellfire. It consists of the bell, the Maxwell Heirloom and the Staff of Arcadius. Together, the staff and heirloom are combined to form the bell's striker. When activated the bell glows red with heat until white.
History[]
The Bell was created by Ethan Maxwell in 1790 and spelled to be indestructible by the witches. This act would later warrant their deaths and be known as the massacre of a hundred witches. Sometime later, Seline looked for the bell back in 1883.
The bell eventually came into Peter's, a descendant of the Maxwell family, possession and threw the bell in the lake under the Wickery Bridge in 1992. The bell, however, was retrieved by Elizabeth Forbes in 2009 when they pulled out Grayson and Miranda's car from the river. After her death, all of her belongings were boxed up by Matt. Not having the heart to go through her mother's stuff, Caroline placed the boxes in the garage.
Sometime after Seline was hired as the twin's nanny, she found the bell and took it for herself.
Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series[]
Season Eight[]
In We Have History Together, Sybil and Caroline Forbes went looking for the bell in the garage of her house, but Seline managed to take it before them.
In The Simple Intimacy of the Near Touch, Seline reveals that the bell can be assembled with the Striker (Maxwell Family Heirloom) and the Staff of Arcadius. Once together, Seline claims it holds terrible power, enough to kill her sister, Sybil. Later, she informs Dorian that only the Maxwell Family can use the bell's power and willingly hands it over to Matt.
In Nostalgia's a Bitch, Peter and Matt assemble the bell by welding the Staff of Arcadius and the Maxwell Striker together. Seline informs them that, to kill Sybil, a Maxwell must ring the bell 12 times. Later she elaborates to them and Stefan that the bell can kill sirens with hellfire (indirectly), as it rips open a hole in Cade's domain, his psychic imprint of his death (burned at the stake) and will kill everyone for miles. Later, Matt is compelled, yet with a free choice, to ring the bell 12 times if he can't forgive Damon for killing Vicki. He rings the bell 11 times before he is stopped.
In What Are You?, Matt is put into a trance-like state which allows him to re-live the history of the bell. During the visions, he is present as the Maxwell family create the bell for the first time. Matt is privy to details surounding the first activation of the bell, and witnesses as the bell is struck. Beatrice explains to her coven that they must combine their magic to stop the bell before its twelfth ring. Unfortunately, the Bennett witches are too late and the bell rings for a twelfth time. With their combined magic, however, they are able to contain the hellfire brought forth by the bell.
In We're Planning a June Wedding, Vicki Donovan is revealed to have escaped Hell and proceeds to ring the bell.
In I Was Feeling Epic, Vicki continues to ring the bell twelve times. She was ordered to do so by Katherine Pierce so that she could destroy Mystic Falls, kill Elena and get her revenge against the Mystic Falls Gang. When the bell was struck for a twelfth and final time, Bonnie contained and drew the hellfire to the Armory where she and other Bennett witches redirected it back to and destroying hell, killing Katherine and Stefan in the process.
Appearances[]
The Vampire Diaries[]
- The Simple Intimacy of the Near Touch
- Nostalgia's a Bitch
- What Are You?
- We're Planning a June Wedding
- I Was Feeling Epic
Legacies[]
Effect[]
Since the the bell has been welded together with the Staff of Arcadius (and the Striker), the Staff's effects are amplified greatly. So much so that it can weaken and drop the psychic boundaries of Hell. Due to this, should the bell be rung 11 times, the bell could open a portal to hell. In doing so, spirits could escape the tortures of hellfire, although they would still be tethered to Hell and could only return permanently if allowed by Arcadius. Should the bell be rung 12 times, specifically by a Maxwell, the walls of hell will be breached and hellfire itself will be released. Since the destruction of hell, the bell is no longer capable of releasing the hellfire, nor spirits, as the dimension of hell was destroyed.
Trivia[]
- A replica of the bell was used in the Founders' Day Parade.
- Even though the Staff of Arcadius disrupts psychic abilities and affects both sirens and witches, it does not affect a witch's ability to perform magic. This indicates that magic and psychic abilities are separate from one another.
Gallery[]
