Entertainment

Can Elena Get Her Memories Back?

by Christine DiStasio

We've seen Elena and the rest of TVD's characters make some bad decisions (remember when Stefan decided it'd be fun to hang out with Klaus again?), but this might be the actual worst of all time. Last Thursday, Elena erased her memories of Damon on The Vampire Diaries because she was too weak to handle her grief without turning into a witchy herb-addicted monster. Which was probably seemed like a good decision at the time, considering she was living in her mind and with a hallucination that turned on her, but she'll regret it later. Because here's the thing that Elena didn't realize when she was hellbent on believing Stefan's negative outlook that Damon is gone for good — Damon will absolutely be coming back. So what happens then?

My big questions when Elena pushed Alaric to do this for her was what would happen when Damon ultimately returns? Would Elena erasing her memories of Damon be a clear indication that Bamon would absolutely be happening in 1994 and beyond? Elena, who apparently loves Damon on a deep emotional and molecular level (how could we forget the extremely rare Sire Bond question), should feel the pull to get back together with him when he returns to the land of the living. Right? That's what I'm pulling for, but how would it work?

When we left off on last Thursday's episode of TVD, the only recollection Elena was left with of Damon was that he killed Jeremy and that he was "Stefan's brother" and "a monster." Not exactly an outlook that promises a happy reunion when he returns home safely. But there are ways that this could work — especially if Caroline stays strong with her opinion that Elena just made perhaps the biggest mistake of her eternal life.

Thus, leaving us with three possible options for how things will go down when Damon ultimately returns from 1994 and is reunited with the love of his life:

Compulsion Can Be Reversed

Rest easy, Delena fans, because Elena actually could get her memories of Damon back. But it'll be painful and she'll need to put some serious trust in a witch. On TVD, compulsion can be reversed by a witch's magic, Elena will just have to find someone to do it. Well, actually Caroline or Alaric or any of her friends will have to find someone to do it because Elena isn't actually aware that her memories have been compromised. It's a difficult, painful, process, but the romantic and passionate memories of Delena could return. Boom.

Alaric Could Die Again

Alaric is an Enhanced Original Vampire what means that, when he dies by the White Oak Stake, any compulsion he's performed on a vampire will be lifted. It's kind of morbid to predict that Alaric will die again on TVD, especially because he's just returned. But this is an equally possible outcome for Elena to get her memories back — I mean, Alaric could sacrifice himself for Elena's benefit. He returned at just the right time to help her through this situation with Damon, so it'd be pretty symbolic if he died so she could get Damon back. Just saying.

The Sire Bond Is Strong

There was an entire storyline after Elena became a vampire and picked Damon over Stefan that Elena and Damon were connected by an extremely rare vampire Sire Bond. It seemed like TVD tried to disprove that, but it's possible that it's always been there, just not in the same way as Klaus and his hybrids. Damon never tried to control Elena, she just seemed to have an attraction to him that couldn't be ignored. So, if the sire bond does exist, it'll be in Elena's genetic makeup and no compulsion can change that. She'll be drawn to Damon either way and they'll just have to start over.

Images: Bob Mahoney/The CW, Giphy, Rebloggy, Fanpop