The Murder of One
The Murder of One is the eighteenth episode of the third season.
Written by: Caroline Dries
Directed by: J. Miller Tobin
Original Air Date: 03/29/12
Elena goes over to Alaric's apartment to see him but Damon won't let her in. Inside, he, Alaric, and Stefan are creating stakes from the Wickory Bridge sign. Alaric wants to turn himself in because of what he's done but they won't allow him to. Damon also makes him put his ring back on. Elena tells Caroline about Alaric, which means that he killed her father. Elena tries to make her see that it's not his fault, just like Caroline didn't ask to be made into a vampire. They meet up with Matt, Damon, and Stefan, although Bonnie doesn't show up.
Klaus finds Finn and asks where Esther is, and tells him that he needs to come back to Mystic Falls. Rebekah appears and helps Klaus drag Finn back to town. Stefan and Damon give everyone a stake and then go over plans on how to kill an Original. Once back home, Sage reveals her presence to Finn, and his spirits immediately lift. Rebekah goes to the Salvatore mansion and attacks Alaric, then kidnaps Damon. Matt, Caroline, and Elena are surprised to spot Finn back in town, and he's with Sage. Elena calls Stefan and tells him. He also finds out from Alaric that Damon was taken by Rebekah. At her place, she's planning on bleeding Damon dry of vervain so that she can compel him to kill Elena or Stefan.
It's revealed that Klaus has Bonnie and wants her to break the spell that links the Originals together. To give her motivation, Klaus calls Kol and has him show her a video of Jeremy, revealing that Kol knows exactly where he is. Caroline goes to watch over Alaric and gives him some more herbs. He apologizes for killing her dad and she says she knows what it's like to kill someone. Stefan is continuing on with the plan, but Elena wants to save Damon first and foremost. Rebekah gets inside Damon's head and makes him hallucinate Elena coming to save him. Damon then insults her, calling her desperate for attention. She continues torturing him. Klaus keeps threatening the people Bonnie cares about, and then hands over his own blood and that of his siblings.
Sage and Finn are at the Grill, and she's trying to catch him up on things. She also sees Troy, a vampire she turned. Stefan and Matt are there as well, ready to act on their plan. Stefan lures them outside and while Sage is pinning him down, Elena shoots an arrow into Finn and then Matt stakes him. Sage cries nearby as Stefan, Matt, and Elena hightail it out of there. Right before the staking took place, however, Bonnie managed to complete the spell to unlink the siblings. As Bonnie goes to leave the mansion, she sees Damon chained up and bleeding. She doesn't do anything, but as soon as she goes outside, Bonnie calls Elena. She then breaks down crying, all of the recent events taking their toll on her.
Stefan is about to go get revenge on Klaus himself, but Sage throws him back inside, and Troy is there with her. Sage clearly has the upper hand, but she then begins to cough up blood before dying. Troy dies alongside her. Stefan, Caroline, and Elena try to figure out why they both died out of nowhere. Stefan figures out that it's because of Finn turning Sage and Sage turning Troy. Thus, if an Original dies, every vampire linked to them dies. Going further, it means that Esther was planning on killing all vampires, not just her children. Stefan goes to Klaus and gives him eight stakes in exchange for Damon. Klaus thinks there might be more stakes, so he compels Damon to try to rip his hands out of the chains they're in.
Elena and Caroline discuss the fact that they don't know whose bloodline Damon, Stefan, and Caroline belong to. They both hope it's not Klaus so that he can be killed--but then Caroline remembers that Klaus sired Tyler. Klaus allows Damon to stop trying to free himself. Damon is then forced to tell Klaus that there are actually eleven stakes left. Klaus tells Stefan that he should be thanking him for some of the things he's done, and Stefan attacks him, but wisely steps down a moment later. Rebekah lets Damon go so that he and Stefan can get the other three stakes. Rebekah is surprised that Klaus is so cavalier about Finn being dead, and she respects the fact that the Salvatores are willing to die for one another. Klaus is now planning on leaving Mystic Falls and take Elena with him, and he calls Rebekah pathetic for wanting to stay.
Stefan tells Elena that he's done with revenge, that is was mostly just a way to not have to focus on anything else. Elena says that she never stopped loving Stefan, and he knows, but he believes that she also loves Damon now. Stefan confesses that he loves her, that he always will, but he wants her to admit her feelings for Damon. Elena says that she doesn't know what she feels. Damon goes to get the last stake from Alaric but it's not where he put it. They realize that Alaric's alter ego must have come out and hidden it. Since Alaric has no memory of what he does when in that state, they now they have no idea where the final stake is.
Rebekah: "The Salvatores may fight like dogs, but in the end they would die for each other. At least they know what family means. You destroyed us."
Soundtrack:
Sleigh Bells - Demons
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Shame and Fortune
Alabama Shakes - On Your Way
