There are a lot of things that make a good season finale.
And, of course, answers to the big questions posed throughout the year.
This hour was funny.
Credit: Jace Downs/The CW
And it offered up the kind of payoff that only the best finales can.
(Mystic Falls loves secret tunnels, but did this exist inVampire Diaries?
I dont remember a tunnel under the Salvatore mansion but a lot has changed.)
Shockingly, Hope is not into helping Triad.
She, Josie, and Lizzie head into Rics office to find the school cell phone and call him.
More on that later.
Hope calls Ric, who asks her to do nothing, but of course, she ignores him.
(It was formed from the pit and weaponized by Triad scientists.
I love her so much.
Thankfully, MG isnt far behind, and he knocks out the guard.
Shes been the hero all year.
Plus, Landon didnt have to look for the third artifact anyway.
Does he remember taking the first two?
He did it without realizing.
And hes done the same thing this time: The third artifact is in his pocket.
Once he hands it over to Clarke, they sit and wait for the next monster to show up.
but hes more than that: Hes Malivores host.
While Landon digests that terrible news, none other than the Headless Horseman shows up for the artifact.
Doing his best Damon Salvatore impression, Clarke gives us his, Dick move, brother.
He then discovers that Josie was shot … but so was Hope?
Theres a bullet hole in her sweater, but the bullet didnt pierce her skin.
With that, Ric goes to save Josie, and Hope tells him to try giving Josie her blood.
(Now hes definitely getting that raise!)
If Josie is going out, its going to be in a blaze of glory.
Ultimately, Rafael goes full invisible wolf thanks to a cloaking spell and takes down the terrible Agent Burr.
Well, he takes him down temporarily.
She uses her fight training while Landon uses his sci-fi knowledge to figure out how to kill this thing.
Kill the head, the body dies.
Landon yells when they defeat the Horseman.
He then runs up and kisses Hope, only stopping so that she can tell him she loves him.
And he loves her too.
And once shes caught up, Hope concocts a plan … but its not one Landons going to like.
So, she kisses him and then snaps his neck.
(Dont worry, hell come back.
Hes a phoenix, remember?!)
But nature created a loophole with Hope.
The Malivore bullet didnt affect her.
Her blood cured Josie.
Shes not a cosmic mistake, and her purpose is clear: Shes the answer to all of this.
Maybe she wouldve realized that sooner if she hadnt been beating herself up for years.
As for Ric, hell need to burn her files.
Ric promises to do just that, and she hangs up.
But before she can jump into the pit, Clarke wakes up.
It seems a snapped neck doesnt kill him.
(I guess he was molded from mud?
Thats a weird sentence.)
And surprisingly, he doesnt want to stop Hope.
But if Hope can kill him, hes all for it.
Hope, being the badass that she is, decides to do a little mimicking spell.
She learned it in second grade.
And this way, when she jumps into the pit, Clarke, well, he follows the leader.
Ric then calls the recently-back-from-the-dead Landon and neither of them can figure out whats going on.
Ric mentions the note and Landon asks the million-dollar question: Who left it?
Ric tells him, I have no idea.
Malivore is no more … but the same can be said of Hope.
Talk about a hero journey for Hope Mikaelson.
TheVampire Diariesuniverse has always excelled at finales, and this one was no different.
With Hopes victory, the show achieved its own.
