‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 8 discussion: The power of Delena’s love and what’s next for Damon
The Vampire Diaries recap: Season 8, Episode 9, “The Simple Intimacy of the Near Touch,” Aired Jan. 20, 2017
The Vampire Diaries’ recent episode brought some major throwbacks to old, epic Delena scenes which had us earning for a Delena reunion. We also saw Damon fighting back against Sybil and his inner darkness, watched Stefan living up to his rippaah alter ego to the fullest — as he turns an innocent girl into a vamp (why, Stef? WHY?), — saw Matty and his helper team up with Seline to try to stop Sybil from collecting all the pieces of the bell to create a weapon that can kill a Siren, had cute Bonenzo scenes that now have me on the search for my own personal Enzo, and also had some tense Stelena scenes that now makes us question what their future will be like!
The ending scene though was a great cliff hanger — we saw Sybil force Damon to turn his humanity switch back on, which leaves us wondering how the hell Damon will deal with all the guilt. Ugh, evil Sybil needs to be gone already!
Let’s discuss the immense power of Delena’s love:
In the past few episodes, especially in 8×09, we have seen a lot of focus on Delena and how powerful their love is (and I certainly am not complaining). In the most recent epiesode, we had some epic throwback scenes to when Damon saved the day at Elena’s Miss Mystic Falls pageant and stepped in as her escort while Stefan was away having one of his rippaah moments. I really liked what they did here with this episode, because I feel that it was almost taking back Damon to where the root of his love for Elena was. As Stefan said, that day was the day that Damon knew he could take Elena away from Stefan.
Since Damon had been struggling between good and bad for a while (full article on that inner struggle here), I knew that it would be a great thing for Damon to be reminded of what good is – and that’s exactly what went down. Damon took a stand against Sybil — he fought the compulsion/sway she had over him and refused to give her the third piece of the bell that he had. Yass, Damon. Yass!
Despite Sybil trying really hard to erase all the good things and loving memories Damon had of Elena, it did not work in the end. No matter what Sybil could do now to manipulate his thoughts, she didn’t have control anymore (and that angered Sybil like CRAZY). The outcome of it all was that Delena’s love was so strong it could survive anything. Isn’t that just enviable? We all deserve a love like the love Damon and Elena have for each other, right?
(If you love Delena as much as I do, check out my post on 10 times Delena were total relationship goals.)
Can we please take a moment to all appreciate both Salvatore brothers in a suit again:
Will Damon be able to cope now that his humanity switch is turned back on?
Sneaky Sybil managed to cause even more pain for Damon in the recent episode, as she forced him to turn his humanity switch back on. Yup, this now means that all the guilt, pain, and shame that Damon hadn’t been dealing with (due to his crazy and impulsive actions with his humanity switch off) will now come rushing back. Sybil doesn’t think Damon will be able to handle this, do you agree? Will Damon ever forgive himself for killing Tyler Lockwood? Kidnapping Alaric and Caroline’s twin girls? Or, even the fact that he was the one who suggested the plan that himself and Stefan should hand themselves over to Cade to do his dirty work – leading to rippaah Stefan to make his infamous return?
I’m not quite sure if Damon will necessarily do well with all this heavy emotions now coming back to him. I do think, with time, he will be able to get a grip on himself. I think one of the worst things he will have a hard time forgiving himself over is the fact that he killed Tyler Lockwood. Ty has helped them out so much over the years and become a good friend to them all. This one might not be so easily forgivable in my opinion.
What is next for Damon with his humanity switch back on? First of all, Damon will need to face his fears and deal with all the sh*t he has kept himself from feeling. Secondly, Damon will have to find a way to bring back Stefan. Stef made a deal to be the rippah for only a year and Cade agreed, but he said ‘you will end up loving that life and won’t go back’, and Stef basically confirmed that was his exact thought now. Surely, if anyone is to bring him back to the good side, it will be Damon? By fixing their rift, maybe Damon can save Stefan before it’s too late.
Another thing to discuss is the fact that Damon majorly pissed off many people. Will they be so forging to him, even now that he is back to the normal Damon? Matty blue eyes certainly won’t be turning into his bestie any time soon for sure, but hopefully the rest of the group can ease into the fact that the good old Damon is back!
Side note: HOW ADORABLE ARE BONENZO?
OMG, I honestly cannot get enough of Bonnie and Enzo’s relationship. I think their chemistry is amazing, and I’m loving every minute of their time together. One request I have for TVD’s end is that these two need to have a happy ending and live happily ever after – PLEASE!
Are you a fan of Delena? How do you think Damon will now cope now with his humanity switch turned back on? Share all your thoughts, feelings, and predictions in the comment section below. And don’t forget to give us a tweet at @Pure_Fandom and @OhMyZinaa. Make sure to keep up-to-date with all TVD news and posts here!
Love always,
Zina
The Vampire Diaries airs Fridays at 8/7c on The CW.
(Image credit: The CW)
