All season has been building up Klaus coming after Elena to sacrifice her and end the curse of the sun and the moon. The Last Day brings us to the full moon where the sacrifice will be complete. Klaus has Katherine who escaped from him centuries ago, her doppelgänger, Elena, and a vampire and werewolf to sacrifice along with her. Elena goes willingly, but her friends and family are still put at risk, some even kidnapped in the process.
Elijah’s plan to save Elena requires her to die, but he has a serum that will bring her back to life. Damon and Stefan are hesitant to trust this. Stefan comes around though. Elena trusted him when she found out what he was and he is putting that trust back in her to make the right decision. This pushes Damon to an entirely new level though. He’s desperate, unable to risk the chance of her dying and never coming back. Damon’s old instincts kick in, those telling him to take charge of the situation.
This is followed by some very intense and traumatic moments as Elena realizes life has been taken from her one way or another. She will never be able to grow up, have children, or be able to choose a life of her own. She will either be dead or undead. She is still piecing together which outcome she would truly prefer.
Damon doesn’t fully regret what he has done, but he still knows that it’s not what Elena wanted. He goes on a suicide mission, interfering with Klaus’ plans. Of course, Klaus has been planning this for a long time. He has plenty of back up plans. He doesn’t really care who it is that gets sacrificed when he has his life’s work on the line. If anything meddling with his plan will only make him more sadistic and personal in how the ritual pans out. Damon is well aware of this, but doesn’t care. Anything he has to do for Elena will be worth it in the end.
Damon really played multiple parts in this episode; villain, hero, and everything in between. It was another chance for us to see his many colors, highlighting why he is such an enthralling and complex character. We see Elena’s determination, Stefan’s trust, and Katherine’s humanity as strange as that sounds.
Even though Katherine is most exciting as the sultry, mischievous, double-crossing powerful vixen there is a human element to her that has been evident in the past few episodes that makes her an even stronger character. Katherine is looking out for herself. There is a part of her that cares about those around her, but she’ll abandon who she has to in order to save herself. Katherine has a level of self-preservation higher than even most vampires since she has gone through so much and loves the fierce creature she became all those years ago. That fierceness has been compromised lately, but her worst fear has come true. Klaus has her captured and is slowly torturing her in unique ways. She begged for death, compromising her dignity and desire to live as an immortal forever, knowing nothing could be worse than being his prisoner. Still, she will follow his every command and endure whatever he has in store if it means she might be able to find a way to escape him, for good this time.