Any episode of The Vampire Diaries that start with Alaric half-naked offering Elena a taste of his Chunky Monkey can't be bad, even if that is the only scene with him. But "The Sacrifice" isn't all warm and fuzzy, it's full of characters willing to sacrifice themselves for the ones they love.

Elena's Sacrifice

Elena decides that rather than risk Klaus killing her whole family, she will give herself to him so only she will die. Self-sacrifice is so Supernatural. She uses Rose to get a message to some vampires who may or may not know Klaus and they come running.

Damon's Sacrifice

Once Damon hears about Elena's plan, he rushes to her side and threatens to hurt her unless she leaves with him. The vampires come to collect their prize, but then Elijah shows up, still alive to everyone's surprise. Damon is willing to risk dying to protect Elena, but he doesn't have to, because Elijah kills the two goons and leaves. It turns out Elijah and Jonas are scheming to keep Elena safe. For now.

Jeremy's Sacrifice

Meanwhile, the Salvatore brothers concoct a plan to despell the moonstone. Jeremy, eager to prove that he's a big, strong man to Bonnie, rushes into the Tomb to get it himself. He gets the moonstone out, but Katherine gets him and, even though he has the immortality ring, she can still have fun playing with her new toy and drinking his blood.

Luka's Sacrifice

Bonnie and Stefan find Jeremy in the Tomb, so Bonnie tries to break the seal. She may not be strong enough, but she channels Luka's power. Unfortunately for him, that means he has to suffer the pain. That's what you get for trying to come between Bonnie and Jeremy. Sadly, even with the stolen power, Bonnie still isn't strong enough to free Jeremy.

Stefan's Sacrifice

This leads Stefan to make the ultimate sacrifice. Katherine starts biting Jeremy again, so Stefan runs into the Tomb and saves Jeremy. The only problem is that now Stefan is sealed in the Tomb with Katherine, unable to escape because Bonnie can't break the spell. This is why Stefan will always win out over Damon. Damon is willing to sacrifice himself to save Elena, but Stefan is willing to sacrifice himself to save Elena's brother.

Bonnie's Sacrifice

With Stefan locked away, Bonnie takes Jeremy back to his place where he tries to put the moves on her, but Bonnie sacrifices her own happiness by resisting him. Come on Bonnie, open your eyes to see the awesome dude in front of you!

Tyler's Sacrifice

In the minor storyline of the night, Tyler and Caroline grow closer when they find Mason's diary in the slave cave, complete with a flash drive containing a video of Mason's first transformation. It's basically five hours of horrible agony before he even turns, so Tyler is going to be sacrificing his own body. Luckily, the faint sounds of romance between Tyler and Caroline are alive to make it all better.

Matt's Sacrifice

Matt decides to sacrifice his dignity by coming to Caroline's door and essentially begging her to take him back. Just then, he sees that Tyler is already in her house. I smell love triangle.


Next week on The Vampire Diaries: It's the mid-season finale, and it looks like Stefan is getting it on with Katherine in the Tomb. Normally I'd think that's bad, but any excuse to get Stefan to take his shirt off for the first time this season is OK in my book.


(Image courtesy of the CW)