Flashbacks

Flashbacks are interjected scenes that take the narrative back in time from the current point in the story. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story's primary sequence of events to fill in either crucial backstory for one or more characters, the history of an ongoing present-day story line, or both.
Throughout The Vampire Diaries, there have been flashbacks to many different points in history, including many set in 1864, 1912, the 1920s, 1942, 1953–58, 1977, 1994. There are also flashbacks to even earlier time periods, such as 1st century BC in Ancient Greece, the early 11th century New World, 12th century Italy, and 15th century Bulgaria. 
The Originals, as a show focusing on the immortal Mikaelson family, also has a wealth of flashbacks to earlier points in history, such as the Kingdom of Norway in 972, France in 1002, and New Orleans, Louisiana from the early 1700s to 1919. 
Throughout Legacies, the history of Malivore is revealed through flashbacks, as well as the history of the several supernatural creatures consumed by Malivore.
==The Vampire Diaries Series==
Throughout Season One and Two, there are many flashbacks to 1864, which serve to show Stefan and Damon Salvatore's early history as young gentlemen of society in the South during the Civil War, including how they met Katherine Pierce and began the romantic relationships with her that led both men to eventually be turned into vampires. In Katerina, there were flashbacks to Bulgaria in 1490, revealing that Katherine had an illegitimate child out of wedlock when she was seventeen. The child was taken away directly after birth and adopted by a Traveler family, and Katherine was exiled to England, where she first met the noblemen Niklaus and Elijah Mikaelson in 1492. 
Season Three involved flashbacks to over 1,000 years ago, circa 1001 AD, when the Viking warrior Mikael and his children Finn, Elijah, Niklaus, Kol, and Rebekah were turned into the Original Vampires. These flashbacks severed to demonstrate how the Mikaelson family lived as humans and what led their matriarch, the powerful witch Esther, to turn them into vampires using an adapted version of Qetsiyah's immortality spell.
In Season Four, two different years were visited in flashbacks. First was a flashback to 1943, which involved Stefan, then an Army soldier set to deploy to Egypt to fight in World War II, reuniting with his brother Damon for the first time since 1912. It also revealed that Damon's girlfriend Charlotte, whom he had sired that year, had developed a sire bond with him. The second era visited was 1977, when Damon was living without his humanity in New York while Lexi Branson, who was sent to him by Stefan, tried to help him get his life back on track.
In Season Five, the flashbacks explored Damon's time as an unwilling test subject for the Augustine Society from 1953 to 1958. During this time, he was tortured daily in the name of science, along with a fellow captive named Lorenzo, with whom Damon became very close. It also revealed that Damon's escape from the society (and the fact that he had to leave Enzo behind) was what caused him to turn off his humanity until 2009/2010. There were also several small flashbacks to Nadia Petrova's search for her mother Katherine throughout her nearly 500 years of life.
Season Six's flashbacks detailed two separate events that happened between May 9 and May 10, 1994; a massacre caused by Damon Salvatore at a solar eclipse viewing party at the Salvatore Boarding House, and Malachai Parker slaughtering four of his brothers and sisters (and severely injuring a fifth) at his home in Portland, Oregon. Also included in the flashbacks were several brief memories Caroline Forbes had about her mother before and after her death.
Thus far in Season Seven, the flashbacks have shed light on the history of the Salvatore Family prior to Lillian Salvatore's death in 1857, as well as the history of the coven of Siphoner/vampire hybrids known as the Heretics, who were adopted by Lily after her transformation into a vampire.
In Season Eight there have been flashbacks about Sybil and Seline. It showed them when they told the story of Arcadius and when Sybil was exiled to the island.
==The Originals Series==
In relation to The Originals series, there have been numerous flashbacks that help flesh out the main characters' histories. In Season One, the flashbacks centered around the Mikaelsons arriving in New Orleans three hundred years prior to the pilot (in approximately 1711) and how their lives progressed as they helped build the city into what it is today. These flashbacks included moments in 1820-21, 1835, 1914, and 1919. Also included in these flashbacks was the backstory of Marcel Gerard, a young slave on the Governor's plantation until Klaus personally adopted him and raised him as a surrogate son. Season Two's flashbacks focused on the Esther and her sister Dahlia's captivity by the Vikings in the late 960s and Esther's firstborn child Freya being taken from her by Dahlia in the early 970s; the Mikaelson children's early life in the New World at the end of the 10th century; and Marcel's time serving in World War I from 1916-1919. As of the beginning of Season Three, the flashbacks have begun in Marseilles, France in 1002, just months after the Mikaelson siblings were turned into vampires and fled back to the Old World after their father Mikael vowed to hunt them down. These flashbacks shed light on how the Originals began to learn the extent of their new powers, such as mind compulsion, as well as the fact that their blood can both heal humans and turn them into vampires.
These are episodes in which flashbacks provided much of the main plot or important backstories for characters.
==The Vampire Diaries Flashback Episodes==
===Season One (5)===
===Season Two (6)===
===Season Three (4)===
===Season Four (4)===
===Season Five (6)===
===Season Six (6)===
===Season Seven (2)===
====Age of Innocence====
The episode focuses on the history of the Heretic Valerie Tulle. The episode shows a flashback to 1863, the year that Stefan and Valerie first met. It shows the two meeting, which Stefan believes is by chance, however, it is revealed that Valerie had been sent by his mother, Lillian Salvatore, to watch over him. The episode shows the events leading up to Valerie's death, and how she became the first vampire-witch hybrid after killing herself following harsh assault from Julian.
====Mommie Dearest====
The flashbacks focus around the Salvatore Family, specifically their family dynamic in 1851. Multiple flashbacks show Giuseppe Salvatore as a harsh patriarch, and the interactions he shared with his sons and wife. Flashbacks show how Giuseppe killed Damon's rabbit and made his family eat it at dinner, and further how Damon would take the blame for things in fear of what his father would do to Stefan; often, this would end in Damon being physically abused by Giuseppe. Lily would do nothing, only watch her children being abused by their father.
===Season Eight (2)===
====You Decided That I Was Worth Saving====
Sybil, using her abilities as a siren, showed Damon visions of the night of the car accident that killed Grayson and Miranda Gilbert. The flashback shows Sheriff Liz Forbes calling in the incident, upset that her friends are dead. Instead of the actual events, Sybil shows Damon an altered reality in which Elena died with her parents, meaning that Damon never got to meet and fall in love with Elena. 
====An Eternity of Misery====
This episode shows a number of flashbacks. The first is a flashback to an unknown island, 750B.C. Seline explains to a young Sybil about Arcadius and his life as a psychic. Within the flashback is another flashback to Arcadius being burnt at the stake sometime earlier due to his extraordinary abilities, Seline explains about Cade's triumph in death.
Sybil further explains how she figured out that Seline had been lying to her over the years, and when she learned the truth about being cannibals, she threw herself off a cliff in an attempt to kill herself. At that moment, Cade appeared and offered them a deal, which they took without thinking. She further explains that Cade created Hell in order to damn the souls that killed him.
====The Next Time I Hurt Somebody, It Could Be You====
Arcadius shows Stefan a flashback to his time as the Ripper of Monterey, 1917. In the flashback, children hear noises and assume this to be Santa, however they are pleasantly surprised to find that it is actually Stefan Salvatore, the Ripper. It is assumed that he killed the children. Cade shows him the site of the massacre, and Stefan assumes it to be a former place of work, however Cade corrects him, telling him nothing but evil could produce a scene as such as that. Cade tells him that he had already decided on Christmas 1917 that Stefan would be his someday.
==The Originals Flashback Episodes==
===Season One (11)===
===Season Two (8)===
====Alive and Kicking====
In this episode it is shown that in 1702, Kol's violence in Spain drew too much attention. This brought his father, Mikael, straight to the family, burning the country in his wake. While the flames drew closer and Mikael beheaded Klaus' horse, Elijah and Klaus searched for Kol while Rebekah brought the daggered Finn on board a ship to flee from Europe. They found Kol in a tavern where he drank and feasted on humans carelessly. Despite their warnings of Mikael's impending arrival, Kol refused to flee, believing Mikael was only after Klaus and that they could just leave him and he'd be fine. When Klaus and Elijah insisted, Kol attempted to resist them but was subdued by Elijah, as Klaus pulled out a White Oak Ash Dagger. Kol struggled, panicked by the betrayal, and promised Klaus that a day would come when he would not be so easily subdued. He was then daggered and neutralized.
Then in 1821, after Elijah seemed to be taking Klaus' own young ward, Marcellus Gerard, under his wing, Klaus felt he needed someone to have fun with. He undaggered Kol against Elijah's wishes. Elijah rushed to Kol's coffin to find him awakened and already feeding without discretion on humans that Klaus had offered to him as an apology for daggering him. Kol and Klaus began causing trouble together, killing what was reported to be forty-six people in a building. Kol mused that the body count was probably at least sixty, saying that the reports had probably forgotten the victims in the attic. Later, Kol showed Marcellus the theater by compelling a large number of people to perform Hamlet. By using compulsion, Kol ensured that all of the murders within the story were actually enacted, resulting in the real deaths of the actors. Kol forced Marcellus to watch it until Elijah showed up to stop him.
Kol revealed that he was just training Marcellus on how to be a vampire, since he knew that Klaus eventually wanted Marcellus to transition. Kol revealed that he had already fed the boy his blood, and so he told Elijah that all he had to do was kill him. Furious, Elijah grabbed Kol and condemned him for his vile and sadistic imagination. Klaus intervened, telling Elijah to let Kol go. When Kol thanked Klaus, his half-brother daggered him yet again. Elijah stood over Kol's coffin, tidying up his body while apologizing for his daggering. He said that it was for Klaus' own benefit since Klaus needed Marcellus and it would be impossible for that relationship to blossom with Kol around, due to Kol's tendency to lash out and his "bad influence" over Klaus.
====Every Mother's Son====
Once the Mikaelson siblings were very young, Esther finds out that Klaus is hiding in the woods because Mikael was going to take Klaus for hunting and he is afraid of him as he always gets angry Klaus. Then Esther tells him that when she is afraid she listens to the starlings and also tells him whenever he hears one bird sing Klaus will find her with him. Always and forever. She then makes a bird Necklace for Klaus and gives as a gift which she only gave to Klaus but none of his other brothers or sister. Esther tells him that this is because he is special.
One day Klaus is found crying in the woods in great pain which can be heard throughout the forest. Esther rushes toward the sound of his voice until she finds him. He's pinned to a tree with Mikael's sword, which has impaled him through the shoulder. She grabs the handle of the swords, and though she struggles, she eventually removes the sword from his shoulder. She then drops it onto the ground and immediately begins pulling bundles of moss from the tree, which she uses as a rudimentary bandage for his wounds. She then finds out that Mikael did this to Klaus. He challenged him in a fight. At first Mikael easy defeats Klaus and take the necklace away from him. This time enraged Klaus almost defeats Mikael and cuts him as he was taking the necklace which was a gift from his mother. At this Mikael becomes furious and struck him with his sword.
It is later revealed that Esther gave that necklace to make him weak and to prevent him from killing someone, which would trigger his werewolf gene. This became even more necessary when Mikael became abusive towards Klaus as he thought that his son was weak. And she became obsessed with the idea that Klaus always has to hold the necklace.
====Red Door====
With Elijah still as her captive, Esther used her magic to make Elijah relive memories from his past that he had long since buried. She forced him to remember what really happened to the doppelgänger, Tatia, a woman in his village he had loved around the time he was turned into a vampire. He was forced to see that he had actually killed her due to his bloodlust as a newly turned vampire.
====Wheel Inside the Wheel====
This episode features flashbacks involving Mikael, Esther, Ansel, Freya, Finn and Dahlia. Later, a brief scene shows Klaus as a baby and Dahlia mentions Elijah, as Esther is pregnant with him.
====The Map of Moments====
It was shown that Kol was daggered in December 1914 by Klaus with the help of Elijah for working against him.
====Brotherhood of the Damned====
In 1916, Marcel left New Orleans to fight for the United States in World War I.
====Save My Soul====
In 977 in the Kingdom of Norway Dahlia teaches a young Freya of her gifts of magic. Dahlia created a link between herself and Freya which allowed her great power. She used this power to kill a neighboring village who threatened accused them of practicing witchcraft. Some years later Dahlia performed a spell on herself and Freya to allow them to sleep forever waking up for one of every century though Freya protest Dahlia forces her to be part of the spell. Freya says the spell made them "immortal and impervious to harm", which is why she could not kill herself to be free of Dahlia. Sometime later Freya was impregnated by a man named Mathias who was killed by Dahlia for wanting his child to be free. Afterwards Freya drank Dahlia's "strongest poison" to kill the baby and herself so noone would have to suffer through a life with Dahlia, but she later awakened learning that she could not die.
====City Beneath The Sea====
While Klaus is in Dahlia's head she shows him her past. Vikings invade the village where Esther and Dahlia live, killing everyone and capturing them. The vikings forced Dahlia and Esther to perform spells for them. Dahlia explains she has found a way for them to escape the vikings, but Esther says she no longer wants to practice magic. She has fallen in love with one of the vikings, Mikael, and they plan to marry and start a family. Later we see an adult Dahlia and Freya arguing over her freedom to roam around where they live, which causes Freya to lose control over her magic and start bleeding from her nose, causing great winds and the birds in the area to die.
===Season Three (3)===
====For the Next Millennium====
====I'll See You in Hell or New Orleans====
====The Axeman's Letter====
===Season Five (5)===
====One Wrong Turn On Bourbon====
====Ne Me Quitte Pas====
The most of this episode is a flashback.
====Don't It Just Break Your Heart====
====The Kindness of Strangers====
====Til the Day I Die====
==Legacies Flashback Episodes==
===Season One (1)===
====We're Being Punked, Pedro====
This episode contains a short flashback to 14th century France. It shows that they gargoyle was the protector of the supernatural knife Landon had stolen earlier in the series. When the knife was under threat from two assailants, the gargoyle, who goes by the name "the Guardian" killed them, despite being initially thought to have been a myth. He protected the knife from being stolen.
===Season Two (4)===
====Since When Do You Speak Japanese?====
This episode focuses on Kurutta, a samurai demon hunter from Japan. The flashbacks to 1308 detail him being absorbed by Malivore following his possession by the Oni. Further flashbacks explain his history, including when he could not bring himself to kill a little girl who had been possessed by the Oni. Instead, he took on the Oni and attempted to kill himself, but was unable to do so given the Oni's control over his body.
====I Couldn't Have Done This Without You====
The flashbacks in this episode focus on the Necromancer and his life after returning the supernatural knife to Malivore. The flashbacks show a year prior to the events of I Couldn't Have Done This Without You, showing the Necromancer in his human form without magical abilities. He initially thinks that Malivore has broken their deal and betrayed him, and confuses Texas with Peace. He eventually gets a job in an ice cream factory where he begins practicing necromancy in a bid to return his abilities. The flashbacks decrease sequentially in time until returning to the present day.
====This is Why We Don't Entrust Plans to Muppet Babies====
The flashbacks in this episode focus around Alyssa Chang; more specifically, they focus on how she became a student at the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted. Flashbacks to eight years prior, 2020, show that she accidentally used magic to burn down her house, killing her parents in the process and becoming an orphan. Alaric tells her about a special school for special children, and she agrees to become a student at the school.
A further flashback four years prior, 2024, shows that Alyssa had become quite the problem student. Emma and Alaric talk about "expelling" her — which in reality means sending her to a prison world — however they remark that they do not do that anymore. Two years later, 2026, Emma and Alaric talk again with Alyssa. This time, they ask her if she would like to be sent away, or she can have her memories wiped and begin fresh; she chooses to have her memories wiped.
====Kai Parker Screwed Us====
A flashback to ten years prior shows Alaric and Dorian discovering a group of dead students that have been fed on by vampires, and then burned using magic. He finds Jade's Salvatore School pin with one of the students. He questions her over the deaths, however she refuses to give any answers, and Alaric and Emma have no choice but to send her, Diego and Wendy to the Prison World.
===Season Three (1)===
====Do All Malivore Monsters Provide This Level of Emotional Insight?====
In Belgium, 1933, Ryan Clarke located Albert's cabin in search of a mysterious artifact. He and his men tossed the placed so that they would find it before .
==See also==
*Flashforwards
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