Is Elena really gone for good? Nina Dobrev left “Vampire Diaries” after season six, but it’s always been hard to believe the show’s makers would keep her out of the action.
After all, her body was still around and awaiting reanimation — until now.
Episode 11 of season seven kicks off with Damon’s sudden realization that he has been in the real world — and he just tried to murder all his friends for real.
He starts trying to undo the damage and save them, only to be stabbed in the head by Caroline (Candice King). He wakes up later, chained to a wall.
He soon finds out he hasn’t been gone for just a few days like he thought — he’s been gone for weeks. In that time, Julian (Todd Lasance) and his heretic friends have taken over Mystic Falls and made it into their own personal playground.
After he explains what’s been going on in town, Stefan (Paul Wesley) tells his brother that he’s been hallucinating since his own return from the stone. As a result, he’s reluctant to unchain Damon (Ian Somerhalder), who he’s afraid will have hallucinations too.
He lets him go, though, and they go on a town tour together — and regrettably run into Julian. He ominously warns the brothers that the hardest part of being in the Phoenix Stone is adjusting to life outside it.
On a happier note, Caroline is having the baby shower for Jo and Alaric’s twins that she’s magically carrying in her womb.
At the party, Damon accidentally kills someone he thinks is a hallucination, so he and Stefan head home and Stefan warns his brother that the hallucinations will only get worse.
When he came out of the stone, Stefan tried to rid himself of the hallucinations of Damon by burning his body — but Caroline narrowly stopped him.
Unfortunately, it turns out that the guy Damon killed is a heretic — and Julian is pissed. He breaks in on a little heart-to-heart between Stefan and Damon, but it turns out that Damon is not really there — Stefan has been hallucinating him. Though he can’t find Damon, Julian threatens Stefan.
Damon is off threatening Tyler (Michael Trevino), the guardian of Elena’s coffin. Damon really, really wants to see Elena’s body and he coerces Ty into taking him there.
When Damon looks in the coffin, all he sees is a hallucination of his buddy from the Civil War.
Meanwhile, Stefan is frantically looking for Damon, worried that he’ll start killing people.
Instead of killing people, though, Damon is busy burning Elena’s body, in hopes that it’ll get rid of his hallucination. His hallucination survives, though, and explains that by tricking Damon into getting rid of Elena, he’s freed him to be himself.
After the party, Nora and Bonnie meet up and Nora shares a terrifying postcard she’s gotten. The card has nothing but a red X, but Nora knows it’s from a strong vampire known as “The Huntress” — and she knows it means that she’s on the predator’s list. Unexpectedly, Bonnie offers to help.
While unpacking from the party, Caroline is devastated to discover a letter of acceptance for Alaric (Matthew Davis) to work at a different college. Although she’s sad, Caroline tries to be understanding and encourages Alaric to get as far away from the craziness as he can.
In a difficult scene, Damon struggles to tell Stefan that he’s burned Elena’s body — but he fails to do so and instead the brothers end up drinking together.
Finally, the show goes back to the future, as it did at the start of every episode before the mid-season break. We’re back at the studio shooting scene where Caroline seems to be held hostage. Finally, things are starting to piece together as we hear that The Huntress is the one behind all the future chaos.
