S06.E09: I Alone

[prospazzinator]

Finally got around to watching. Elena is the worst. I loved it that Damon corrected her about why he was trying so hard to get Bonnie back. I especially liked when he interrupted her mope session about her parents being dead to remind her that they were there to get Bonnie. 

[Dust Bunny]

I'm not a fan of Elena, but I'm fairly sure she got all her memories back when she crossed the border. I think she keeps testing Damon, to see his selflessness, or whatnot. After the border, she asked him again what happened the night it rained, and he lied. Then she suggested he was only saving Bonnie to show how much he loved Elena, but he flat out said he was doing it for Bonnie alone.

 

I see a reconciliation around the corner. Pity. I'm so over the drama. I'm looking much more forward to Matt and Jeremy saving people, hunting things, etc, etc.

[Terrafamilia]

They sent him away from Oregon, right? Isn't that where they did the circle pretend mergey thing in the flashback? So it's hard to know where his ascendent is, though it probably came with him for plot purposes later.

While I do find this "1994" thing interesting, it's not really time travel, since there are no people and the day just repeats over and over... but things from the past are still there. Does Kai taking them in the past move them in the future? Is Jo's magic still fully functional in the knife in present day or is that nullified because Kai stole it in 1994?

I'm under the impression that the ascendant stays in the world it started in. The original stays in the real world and the doppelascendant stays in the doppelworld. I also got the impression that the Jo's doppelmagical essence didn't make the trip with Kai since he was still running on the magic he stole from Liv when he confronted Damon and Elena, though this could all change by next episode.

 

There is one thing I'm not sure I saw right. Liv connected her use of the ascendant with the full moon and said that would last for eight hours. It started in broad daylight and 7 1/2 hours later it was evening. The had a shot of the full moon that looked like it was high in the daytime sky. How is that supposed to work astronomically speaking? The VD world must be a lot stranger than I though it was.

[Miles]

There is one thing I'm not sure I saw right. Liv connected her use of the ascendant with the full moon and said that would last for eight hours. It started in broad daylight and 7 1/2 hours later it was evening. The had a shot of the full moon that looked like it was high in the daytime sky. How is that supposed to work astronomically speaking? The VD world must be a lot stranger than I though it was.

It's fall at the moment (the only time of year you can actually see the moon at daytime is fall and spring, btw.). Thanksgiving just passed, so that checks out. I guess they started in the morning hours and Liv brought them back in the evening. Fall days are short. In south virginia they are a between 8 and 9 hours from sunrise to sundown at the moment. When you consider that the sun was already up when they started and it was still up when they came back, those 7 hours check out.

What makes it feel wrong is that they are all dressed way too lightly for the season. You'd think it was the middle of summer, looking at them.

Edited December 6, 2014 by Miles

[TigerLynx]

I want Damon to save Bonnie all by himself.

 

Why does Enzo hate Stefan so much?

[roctavia]

I'm under the impression that the ascendant stays in the world it started in. The original stays in the real world and the doppelascendant stays in the doppelworld. I also got the impression that the Jo's doppelmagical essence didn't make the trip with Kai since he was still running on the magic he stole from Liv when he confronted Damon and Elena, though this could all change by next episode.

 

There is one thing I'm not sure I saw right. Liv connected her use of the ascendant with the full moon and said that would last for eight hours. It started in broad daylight and 7 1/2 hours later it was evening. The had a shot of the full moon that looked like it was high in the daytime sky. How is that supposed to work astronomically speaking? The VD world must be a lot stranger than I though it was.

 

 

I guess that makes me wonder if he can 'use up' Jo's magic then, since he had to use it to get back into the real world... does it like go back to the knife in Oregon? or just out into the world? Maybe Bonnie can find Jo's old magic and use it.

 

I could buy that the ascendant is left behind, but where did kai do the spell? in the woods in Oregon? or did he travel all the way back to Mystic falls? It just makes it hard for Bonnie to find the ascendant if it was left behind.

 

[rue721]

While I do find this "1994" thing interesting, it's not really time travel, since there are no people and the day just repeats over and over... but things from the past are still there. Does Kai taking them in the past move them in the future? Is Jo's magic still fully functional in the knife in present day or is that nullified because Kai stole it in 1994?

 

I think that Kai's Prison World is an exact replica of the actual world as it was on the day he was exiled. The prison world is not the actual May 10, 1994, it's an exact copy of it. I think of it as being sort of like how the reflection in a mirror is an exact replica of what the mirror is reflecting but isn't the actual thing it's reflecting. I don't think that anyone is traveling through time, they're traveling to a *place,* Kai's (immense) prison cell.

 

I'm under the impression that the ascendant stays in the world it started in. The original stays in the real world and the doppelascendant stays in the doppelworld. I also got the impression that the Jo's doppelmagical essence didn't make the trip with Kai since he was still running on the magic he stole from Liv when he confronted Damon and Elena, though this could all change by next episode.

 

When he was fighting with Damon and Elena, Kai also said that the magic he stole from Liv was fading. I think that he can steal or absorb magic, but he can't hold onto it for long. But I'm not sure what happens to the magic once it fades from Kai? Does it go back to the coven somehow, or back to the person it came from (can the person it came from produce more?) or does it just disappear?

[fantique]

I don't mind Enzo.  He's an asshole, yes.  But right now he's keeping Stefan busy and away from Elena.  Which is what most of you want anyway.  This is the first time the brothers have had to face different enemies.  Stefan has Enzo to deal with and Damon has Kai.  It's nice to see characters get away from their normal circle and do something different. 

I don't care about shipping, Delena, Stelena, whoever, but what does Enzo being a little pest have to do with keeping Stefan and Elena apart. Even without Enzo, there is no narrative reason why Elena and Stefan would be spending much time together anyway so there doesn't need to be an "obstacle". Personally I don't get people who say Stefan is still in love with Elena, I mean the guy is pretty much her relationship counsellor on all things Damon and he looks happy to help.

Kai is not Damon's problem, he's everyone that's a witch's problem. I don't even mind Enzo being the fuel for the vamp hating to start from the human side but the motivations are so pathetic that I can't deal with them. I'd rather he just seems to thrive on havoc wreaking, that is more appalling from Matt's POV than some deep rooted sense of inadequacy centred around people he met months liking someone they've known for 4 years better than him. Heck, it can even be that he feels he owes Stefan one for "killing" him (using quotation marks because he basically committed suicide just to make Stefan the bad guy for killing his brother's best friend). Anything is better than whining "why does everyone like that guy better?"

Also Stefan has been seen dealing with whatever mumbo jumbo away from Mystic Falls and Elena a lot of times before while leaving her in Damon's care (the whole impetus behind them getting closer), it's not much of a dynamic shift, but I see your point about the fact that they are shaking things up a bit in terms of interaction combos. I like that, I just need people to stop doing things because of their achy, breaky heart.

 

Can i just say, it's really enjoyable to have a lot of the discussion centred around world mythology and anticipation of mysteries being solved. Rather than dull "OMG, when is X going to find out Y hooked up with Z and W is in Q's body?!?!?!?!?!" Going back to what Kevin Williamson said a bazillion years ago, the thing that initially makes it not-Twilight is the town. the world they live has strange rules and it's fun to see the characters navigating this weird world. My guess is, they got some inspiration from the books with "1994" and the gemini coven because I don't think world building is necessarily CD and JP's strength.

 

My take on "1994" vs "real world".

I understand 1994 to be another plane or universe. Things that happen in there don't affect anything in real world unless there is exchange between the two when one escapes 1994. Technically it's not time travel. It's not the past of the real world, it's a carbon copy of it that has every physical object present in the real world at the time of its creation. I think magic is like a physical "thing" that can be stored or energy that can be conserved like electricity. Meaning when the parallel world of 1994 was created, by magic, the objects carrying magic in them still got created holding the magic. Basically the magic in the knife exists in 1994 but it doesn't mean the "real" knife has been sapped. One thing I gathered is that the ascendant stays in the world it send the person through from. I think the reason why there is an ascendent in "1994" is because magic always has a loophole and it created every object carrying magic. 

 

My take on Kai's magic

I think he was born with the ability to "nullify" magic. I think what happens is that, for whatever reason they are sure to explore, his body is not meant to have magic in it so all he can do is steal it for a bit and then his body is "stealing it" the way he steals it out of others. Also, on whether he would win in the merge with Jo, the merge is not some ritualistic fight. I understand it to basically be a spell where they have the twins hold hands and the spell is designed that the one with the stronger magic absorbs the magic of the other. Obviously since Kai's power is through touch, as they touch the magic will be going out of Jo and by default he wins because she would have no magic whatsoever. Ironically, Kai's power is almost exactly what the merge accomplishes, it transfers the magic from one person to the other and one stolen from eventually "dries up" and dies. I feel like Kai is some kind of Karmic punishment to that coven for their practice. OR the will later reveal that their father did something to not to have his twin magically sapped and the "punishment" is having a child that can only take magic from others.

Edited December 7, 2014 by fantique

[Smug47]

I just thought I would mention that Kai's Twitter is up and running, and is amazing. https://twitter.com/cobrakai1972

[Goldmoon]

Also, on whether he would win in the merge with Jo, the merge is not some ritualistic fight. I understand it to basically be a spell where they have the twins hold hands and the spell is designed that the one with the stronger magic absorbs the magic of the other.

How do you know this? I didn't get this from anything said on screen.

[GraceAnne]

I finally was able to watch the episode and I have to agree with everyone, the plot seemed very contrived.

 

I mean why in gods name WOULDN'T Damon and Elena vamp run or hot wire a car and meet Bonnie halfway?  Since when do things ever go the way these idiots plan?? So maybe instead of eating PANCAKES and SITTING on porches you guys should, oh I don't know, DO something productive. Also why not mention to Jo and Alaric that Kai has the ascendent (possibly broken) and Bennett blood so them letting Damon use the present day one to try and save Bonnie shouldn't be an issue.... Heck maybe they could try and kill him in 1994 if he went back again with more vampires.

 

Now out of nowhere Enzo hates Stefan enough to dedicate all his time to ruining his life? It's obvious they have never liked each other and have been aggressive towards each other but Enzo's actions just seem over the top. 

 

I understand when I watch a show on The CW about vampires some amount of suspended belief is needed..... However this all seems just like sloppy writing to move the plot along.

 

 

PS- Elena blows..... can't she be missing for an episode not Caroline?

[slayer2]

I want Damon to save Bonnie all by himself.

Why does Enzo hate Stefan so much?

Because if he laid a hand on him Damon would kill him? Men are so silly.

[fantique]

How do you know this? I didn't get this from anything said on screen.

They showed the merging ritual during the Friends-giving episode. It showed that basically, the merge is a spell cast by the cover. Otherwise Kai would be wondering what these randoms are all here and he asked why they weren't chanting when he realised something was amiss. Also, their father said Kai would automatically win and since he doesn't have actual magic the only way that would be the case is that the ritual requires touch. This clip shows the merge at 55 seconds. That's where I got the reasoning from.

[Morgan of Hed]

Have they ever explained why Kai isn't dead? What is the point of an elaborate time-travelling prison when he could just simply have been killed?

I also didn't get why Bonnie and Damon didn't just stuff his sorry ass in the nearest town jail cell while they were stuck in 1994.

I need to stop thinking when I watch this show.

[roctavia]

Have they ever explained why Kai isn't dead? What is the point of an elaborate time-travelling prison when he could just simply have been killed?

I also didn't get why Bonnie and Damon didn't just stuff his sorry ass in the nearest town jail cell while they were stuck in 1994.

I need to stop thinking when I watch this show.

 

I think before, they couldn't kill him because he would have just gone to the "other side" where it was possible he could have gotten out or caused trouble or something... now that they've made the other side into something that people can come back from.

 

But, now that the other side is gone, killing Kai seems like the best answer... but that didn't work in the 1994 prison, since I'm guessing they were already some sort of 'dead-like' state, since it was an equivalent to the other side. So while he was there, killing him wouldn't have mattered and he'd just keep coming back.

 

I expect that is different now, and killing him should do the trick, but I'm sure it will instead be some weird elaborate plan to re-lock him up or something.

[DigitalCount]

I think before, they couldn't kill him because he would have just gone to the "other side" where it was possible he could have gotten out or caused trouble or something... now that they've made the other side into something that people can come back from.

But, now that the other side is gone, killing Kai seems like the best answer... but that didn't work in the 1994 prison, since I'm guessing they were already some sort of 'dead-like' state, since it was an equivalent to the other side. So while he was there, killing him wouldn't have mattered and he'd just keep coming back.

I expect that is different now, and killing him should do the trick, but I'm sure it will instead be some weird elaborate plan to re-lock him up or something.

I'm just posting to say I had the same impression; as soon as they killed him he'd make a beeline for Emily and be back before anyone knew it. And of course they have to lock him up, how else can he return in Season 7? Edited December 11, 2014 by DigitalCount