Stefan Salvatore

* Human
* Vampire

### Turend

* By Katherine Pierce on September 25, 1864 (transition initiated by Giuseppe Salvatore)

### Occupation

* Carpenter (Formerly; Unknown)
* Nomadic Traveller (Formerly; 1920s)
* Allies Soldier of World War II (Formerly; 1942)
* Harvard University Student (Formerly; 1970s)
* Ambulance Driver (Formerly; 1990s)
* Immigrant Worker (Formerly; Unknown)
* High School Student (Formerly; 2009 to 2011)
* Mechanic (Formerly; 2012)
* Cade's Soul Harvester (Formerly)

### Title(s)

* The Ripper of Monterey
* Stefan Cooper (An Alternate Identity)
* Sleepy-head, Sweetness (Both by Lexi)
* Shady Stefan, Saint Stefan, Superman, Beefcake, Stefan: The Hero, Fabio, Hero Stefan, Hero Hairdo, Noble Stefan, Stef, Buzzkill Bob, Baby Bro, Brother, Lily's Little Angel, Mad Max, Baby, Ebenezer, Pal, Bunny Snacking Pacifist (All by Damon)
* Rippah, Old Friend, Pal (All by Klaus)
* Kid (by Mikael)
* Sleepy-head, Gorgeous, Sweet Pea (All by Qetsiyah)
* My Sweet, Sweet Boy (Both by Lillian)
* Mr. Salvatore, My Love, Handsome (All by Katherine)
* The Good Salvatore, Steven (Both by Kai)
* Love (by Valerie)
* My Shadow Self, Me (Both by Silas)
* Toddler (by Lucien Castle)

## Physical information

### Species

* Human/Doppelgänger
* Vampire (Niklaus' bloodline/Broken) (Currently)
* Ghost (Formerly)
* Phoenix Stone Spirit (Formerly)

## Family information

### Family members

* Caroline Forbes (Wife)
* Selene Salvatore (Adoptive Daughter)
* Samara Salvatore (Daughter)
* Silas † (Progenitor Of, Distant or Ancient Paternal Ancestor)
* Unknown Silas Doppelgängers † (Distant Paternal Ancestors)
* Giuseppe Salvatore † (Father)
* Lillian Salvatore † (Mother)
* Damon Salvatore (Older Brother)
* Elena Gilbert (Sister-In-Law)
* Elizabeth Forbes † (Mother-In-Law)
* Unborn Child † (with Valerie)
* Giuseppe's Unnamed Son † (Paternal Half-Brother)
* Zachariah Salvatore † (Paternal Half-Nephew)
* Zachariah's Unnamed Son † (Paternal Half-Nephew)
* Joseph Salvatore † (Distant Paternal Half-Nephew)
* Joseph Salvatore's Unnamed Son † (Distant Paternal Half-Nephew)
* Zach Salvatore † (Distant Paternal Half-Nephew)
* Tom Avery † (Doppelgänger, Descendant)
* Sarah Salvatore † (Distant Paternal Half-Niece)

## Supernatural Information

### Significant sires

* Patient † (2010)
* Unnamed Frat Boy (2016) (While body possessed by Ambrose)
* Violet Fell † (2018)

### Significant kills

* Johnathan Gilbert (revived by the Gilbert Ring)
* Giuseppe Salvatore
* Thomas Fell
* Honoria Fell
* Marianna Lockwood
* Monterey Victims
* Liam Grant
* John Beach
* Randy Smith
* Danah Leach
* Terrilyn Henson
* Catherine Marid
* Matthew Wagner
* Michael Reddinton
* Christian David
* Dianne Wagner
* Ashley Holliday
* Margaret Forbes
* Christopher Gilbert
* Vicki Donovan (as a vampire)
* Noah (as a vampire)
* Ben McKittrick (as a vampire)
* Bethanne (as a vampire)
* Frederick (as a vampire)
* Brady
* Jonas Martin
* Keisha
* Samara
* Andie Star
* Ray Sutton (as a hybrid)
* Dana
* Chad
* Mindy (as a hybrid)
* Patient (as a human)
* Silas
* Katerina Petrova (as a spirit)
* Enzo (1st and 2nd time; as a vampire)
* Julian (as a vampire)
* Robert Williams
* Tina Williams
* Hospital Staff
* Violet Fell (as a human/vampire)
* Arcadius

### Cause of death

* Gunshot Wound/Loss of Blood (as a human)
* Heart Extraction (as a vampire)
* Stabbed by The Phoenix Sword (2nd and 3rd time, as a vampire)

### Killed by

* Giuseppe Salvatore (1st time, as a human)
* Julian (1st time, as a vampire)
* Nora Hildegard (2nd time, as a vampire)
* Rayna Cruz (3rd time, as a vampire)

## Appearance

### Actor

* Paul Wesley
* Sawyer Bell (Young, age 10)
* Luke Judy (Young/Child)
* Ryan Dorsey (Possessing Marty Hammond)

### Episode count

* 171 (TVD)
* 1 (TO)
* 172 (Totaled)

### First seen

* Pilot (TVD)
* A Streetcar Named Desire (TO)

**Stefan Salvatore** was one of the two main male protagonists of *The Vampire Diaries*. Stefan is a 171-year-old vampire and the distant descendant and doppelgänger of Silas. Stefan was born and raised in the supernatural town of Mystic Falls, Virginia and came of age during the time of the Civil War. Stefan was the youngest child of Giuseppe Salvatore and Lillian Salvatore. He had an older brother, Damon Salvatore, who is also a vampire and whom he shared a strained relationship with, stemming from the appearance of Katherine Pierce over whom they fought whilst human.

During the years following his transition, despite the help from close friend Lexi Branson, Stefan has constantly battled with his bloodlust, and during the 1900s after "falling off the wagon" due to Damon's unhealthy influence, he widely became known as the Ripper of Monterey due to his inability to control his blood thirst. For a brief time, Stefan was romantically involved with the Original, Rebekah Mikaelson, and shared a close friendship with her brother, Niklaus.

After many years away, Stefan returned to his hometown of Mystic Falls to visit his distant nephew, Zach. Stefan then saw Elena Gilbert for the first time while rescuing her after her parents' car drove off Wickery Bridge. After finding her personal records and observing her from afar, Stefan determined that Elena was definitely not Katherine. Still, he was strongly intrigued by her and decided to pose as a new transfer student at Mystic Falls High School to get to know her. They were instantly drawn to each other and they immediately bond, beginning a romantic relationship shortly afterwards. However, despite them becoming romantically involved, various and numerous obstacles begin to come between the two, making Stefan and Elena struggle and fight to be together. They grow distance after Elena's transition, and later break up, due to Elena's heightened feelings for Damon. He later discovered that this is due to the creation of a sire bond between Elena and Damon after Elena's transition to a vampire. He then embarked on a journey to Nova Scotia with Elena, Shane, Damon, Bonnie, Jeremy, and Rebekah to seek the the cure that can help break the sire bond.

At the end of the fourth season, Stefan ends up heartbroken when the sire bond is broken and Elena still decided to choose Damon over him. Stefan decides to leave town and start over elsewhere. However, Stefan ends up being confronted by Silas, finally revealing his true form and locks him in a safe underwater.

Throughout the fifth season, Stefan loses his memories due to Qetsiyah's attempt at incapacitating Silas and suffering effects due to Silas' confrontation, he slowly finds closure with Katherine as she helps him overcome his demons. Being a doppelgänger, Stefan's blood is used for a spell by the Travelers in order to resurrect their leader, Markos. During this time, he begins to grow close to Elena again and they are able to form a close friendship. As things begin to spiral out of control, Stefan was unexpectedly killed by Julian, a Traveler warlock, while trying to protect Caroline, but he was resurrected after Damon, Caroline and Elena's plan to bring him back from the Other Side is a success. However after Damon fails to return, he is left devastated at the loss of his brother as the Other Side collapses. Following this, Stefan moved away from Mystic Falls and had tried to start over and move on from the loss, pain and tragedy. Unfortunately for Stefan, he ended up being dragged back to Mystic Falls due to unexpected drama.

During the sixth season Stefan after having given up on his search for a way to revive Damon gets dragged in by a vengeful Enzo (angry at Stefan for giving up, and envious of how others regard him highly), when he kills and turns his new girlfriend Ivy. This results in their initially stable relationship into an antagonistic one before she was captured and killed. Stefan later has a heartfelt reunion with Damon when he escapes the Prison World he was sent to following the Other Side's destruction. Later when it's revealed that Stefan has another living relative Sarah Nelson (who was born as Sarah Salvatore), Enzo tries to use the information as leverage before Stefan shoots down his hopes of it ruining his relationship with Damon. Stefan also begins to develop feelings and a relationship with Caroline but things go awry when her mother is diagnosed with inoperable cancer and dies, causing Caroline to turn her humanity off and forces Stefan to do the same by kidnapping Sarah and threatening to have her killed due to Stefan being Caroline's "humanity trigger". They then continue their relationship (albeit physically only) as they go on a killing spree. Stefan is reunited with his mother Lillian, thanks to Damon and Elena causing his humanity to turn back on. Stefan then helps Caroline turn hers back on by showing her one of his last memories with her mother.

During the eighth season, Stefan worked for Cade, the Devil. To keep both him and Damon out of Hell, he flipped his humanity switch off. While a ripper again, he attempted to murder Elena in her coffin, ripping out Enzo's heart, killing him as he was in his way. He then attacks Bonnie before going after Elena, only for Bonnie to use the Cure, taken from Elena's blood, on Stefan in revenge and self-defense. Stefan faints from being cured of his vampirism. When he awakens his emotions immediately turn back on and he feels the full weight of everything he did while his emotions were off, filling him with immense guilt. He then has to face the consequences of his actions when his compulsion on others wears off and is temporarily detained before Caroline has him freed. He then sets out to redeem himself for his past actions and succeeds by killing Cade. He marries Caroline Forbes

Stefan's life has been fraught with constant change and various complications: from falling in love and being with Elena to mending his complicated relationship with Damon; from sacrificing his freedom for his brother's life to growing apart from Elena after her transition to a vampire, and suffering the guilt that came from making a split-second decision that resulted in Elena becoming a vampire.

He was best friends with Lexi Branson until her death (now reunited in death), and eventually became best friends and married to Caroline Forbes. He was also close friends with Bonnie Bennett and his ex-girlfriend, Elena Gilbert.

Throughout the series, outside forces threaten those he loved and what he most desired: a normal, human life.

**Stefan** is a member of the **Salvatore Family**.

## Early History

Human Life
**Stefan Salvatore** was born on November 1st, 1846, on Veritas Estate in what would eventually become the town known as Mystic Falls, Virginia. He is the youngest child born to Giuseppe Salvatore and Lillian Salvatore. He is the younger brother of Damon Salvatore. In 1851, when Stefan was five years old, during a Thanksgiving dinner in the Salvatore Estate with his parents and brother, his father confronted Damon about money that was taken from his bureau, believing his oldest son to have been the thief. Young Stefan witnessed as his father burned Damon's hand with a lit cigar as both a punishment for lying and stealing. Unknown to Stefan, it was actually his mother who took the money, trying to flee from her husband with her sons. Damon mentions that in October 1852, he broke Stefan's nose trying to teach him how to throw a right hook. In 1858, his mother Lillian became very ill with tuberculosis (also known as consumption). Deciding not to spend any time with her while she was ill, he instead did whatever he could do to avoid her, such as walking into Mystic Falls and getting the tea she liked or picking out her favorite flowers. Whereas he pretended that he was doing it for her, Stefan was actually in denial about her impeding death and in fact, was afraid to see her in such a sick and grave condition. Sometime later, Giuseppe sent her away but then ended up dying. Stefan mentions that he would have given anything to have spent one more day with her before her death. Flashbacks show that Stefan felt extreme guilt for the death of Lillian. Giuseppe had sent Stefan to retrieve a remedy to help with Lillian's illness. Stefan felt guilty because he felt that he did not retrieve the remedy fast enough before Lillian was then sent away to a TB ward where she ended up dying. Unknown to Stefan, she ended up turning into a vampire. The death of his mother was something that Stefan never got over and he never really moved on from her absence. Stefan was very close to Lillian as a child, so much that Damon himself even referred to Stefan as being a "mama's boy". It's strongly indicated that Stefan was Lillian's favorite son and that between the two brothers, Stefan was the son she shared a closer bond and relationship with. After his mother's passing, Stefan lived with his father and his brother Damon. Stefan is seven years younger than Damon. Despite the semi big age difference between the two brothers, Stefan grew up to be the best of friends with Damon and had even said that Damon was his best companion, despite having other friends growing up since his childhood. Going by flashbacks, it is evident that Stefan was also Giuseppe's favorite son, and that Stefan had a rather close and good relationship with his father, the complete opposite of Damon, who appeared to have had a rather strained and tension-filled relationship with Giuseppe. Personality wise, Stefan was seen to be kind, caring, compassionate, introverted, intelligent, well-spoken, responsible, dutiful, noble and an overall respectable young gentleman.

1863
Stefan met Valerie and Julian in 1863, at the County Fair in Mystic Falls. Unbeknownst to Stefan - who was still human at the time - Valerie and Julian was a siphoner witch and a vampire, respectively, who, per his mother's orders, came to Mystic Falls to make sure Stefan was doing well before they left for Europe. Valerie introduced herself to Stefan, despite Lily's instructions to simply observe him and not interact with him, and the two quickly became smitten with each other. Julian attempted to separate them early on, but Valerie used her magical amulet to cast a cloaking spell so they wouldn't be seen. Stefan ultimately lost his virginity to Valerie that night, though he was not aware that they had conceived a child during their lovemaking. Julian eventually caught them afterward and forced Valerie to leave with him, but before she left, she assured Stefan that she would find her way back to him. At the end of the summer that year, Valerie sent Stefan a telegram asking him to run away with her - Stefan then arrived at their meeting place two hours early with a bouquet of flowers and waited for her there, only to be devastated when she didn't show up. Stefan didn't know that Julian caught her trying to leave and then beat her, causing her to miscarriage - Stefan would only learn the truth about it a 150 years later.

1864
One day In 1864, Stefan was fixing a broken carriage when a man who was riding a carriage carrying Katherine Pierce and Emily Bennett had stopped to talk to him. This is when Katherine had first seen Stefan and described that she was instantly drawn to him and attracted to him. When Stefan had first met Katherine, when she and Emily had come to stay at the Salvatore Estate, he had become strongly attracted to her and eventually had fallen in love with her, as did his brother Damon. However, despite Damon's feelings for Katherine, it seemed to be evident that the younger Salvatore was Katherine's preference as it was Stefan that she had asked to escort her to the Founders Ball. One night, Stefan and Katherine had spent a passionate night together. Another night, Stefan and Katherine were spending a passionate night together when she suddenly bit Stefan. It was during that time when Stefan and Katherine were making love that Katherine revealed her true identity to Stefan and that she was a vampire. It is unknown if Katherine had compelled Stefan to forget after she had bitten him. The next morning after their passionate affair, Stefan awoke with a bloody wound on his neck, and the previous night slowly returned to him. He was clearly frightened of her, saying that her face resembled that of a demon and also told her to get away from him. To calm him down, Katherine compelled him to not be afraid of her. After hearing of the town's plan to kill the vampires, Stefan went to see his father Giuseppe and unintentionally hinted to him that he knew of vampires staying in Mystic Falls when he suggested that vampires might not be as bad as they are made out to be. During this conversation, his father tricked Stefan and drugged his alcoholic drink with vervain. When Katherine went to see Stefan that night and bit him so that she could feed on his blood as a form of foreplay, the vervain within Stefan's blood had poisoned and incapacitated her. Stefan was confused, worried and concerned about what was happening to Katherine and could not understand why Katherine appeared so sick and weakened all of a sudden. Giuseppe, hearing Katherine collapse, entered Stefan's room. He then told Stefan that he had tricked Stefan and had put vervain in his drink after Stefan had asked his father how he knew about Katherine and other vampires existing because "he did not raise his sons to be so weak. Giuseppe than urged Stefan to let the sheriff know that they have another vampire in Katherine captured and for him to go the sheriff as quickly as possible. Giuseppe then set in motion Katherine's capture, which corresponded with a town-wide vampire round-up. Later, finding out what had happened with Katherine being captured by their father, Damon was extremely devastated and furious with Stefan, as Damon had made him promise not to tell their father about Katherine. Damon ended up blaming Stefan for Katherine's capture although it was not ever Stefan's intention on hurting or betraying Damon and outing Katherine.

As a result of indirectly betraying Damon, Stefan felt extreme guilt for unintentionally being responsible for Katherine's capture and promised Damon that he would do everything he could to help Damon get Katherine back. They then planned a course of action to get around the guards who were on watch for the vampires, and eventually made it to the cage where Katherine was being held captive. They got Katherine out of the cage, but as soon as they were ready to escape with her, Damon was shot by an unknown person. Shocked and overwhelmed with grief to see his brother dying, Stefan picked up a gun to shoot whoever had shot his brother, but before he could do so, Stefan was also shot directly in the chest. He slowly lost consciousness as he watched Katherine, who lay on the ground nearby, still weakened by the vervain. Once Stefan died, Katherine returned to Stefan's body and let him know that she loves him.

The next morning, Stefan woke up confused and dazed. He searched for his gunshot wound but found he had been healed, and noticed that he was a wearing an unfamiliar, large silver ring, with a deep blue stone and the Salvatore family crest with the letter 'S' on it. Emily Bennett then approached Stefan and told him that Katherine had her make that ring for him (*and Damon*) weeks before. She explained everything that had happened since he was shot: she had found him and Damon lying dead in the woods, brought them to the quarry, and he and Damon were now transitioning into vampires. Stefan, confused, wondered how that was possible if he had never drunk Katherine's blood, but Emily confessed that Katherine had compelled him for weeks to drink her blood, while Damon drank from Katherine willingly. Stefan soon approached Damon, who recounted seeing the townspeople dragging Katherine into the church and setting it on fire. The two discussed their options, and both brothers seemingly agreed to die without transitioning, as neither one wanted to be a vampire without Katherine.

Later in the evening, Stefan began to notice that he had heightened senses, including super-hearing. He overheard his father and Johnathan Gilbert discussing the vampires being captured and destroyed, and that his father wanted to keep secret that his sons were vampire sympathizers, preferring they be known for dying nobly and bravely in the fight against the vampires. After Johnathan had left, Stefan went inside to talk to his father one last time, who was shocked to see that Stefan was "***alive.***" Stefan wondered aloud to his father that even in their death, he still felt ashamed of his sons. Giuseppe retorted with disgusted disapproval that their mother would have been extremely disappointed in her sons, were she alive to see what they had become. He then confessed to Stefan that he was the one who had shot and killed both him and Damon, shocking Stefan.

Stefan then told his father that he had not fully turned into a vampire yet and that he was choosing to let himself die instead of drinking human blood. Not taking any chances, Giuseppe tries to stake and kill Stefan. Underestimating his new-found vampire strength, Stefan threw Giuseppe against the wall, causing him to accidentally be stabbed by the wooden stake in the stomach. Overwhelmed and shocked, Stefan tried to help him, but Giuseppe refused him, disgusted by what Stefan was becoming. When Stefan pulled the stake out of his father's stomach, his bloodlust became too much for him to suppress and he tasted his father's blood, completing his transition into a full vampire.

Stefan then went to meet Damon, who had also planned to let himself die. He told Damon about how amazing it felt to be a vampire, that it was a gift; how he could willingly turn off his emotions, the pain and the guilt. Stefan had compelled a young woman to go with him to Damon, where he convinced his brother to become a vampire by drinking her blood. Damon initially refused, but Stefan would not relent, saying he couldn't let him die. Eventually Damon drank the girl's blood and told Stefan that he was right, that it felt like a whole new world being a vampire. Stefan hoped this meant they could be brothers and companions together forever, but instead Damon promised Stefan that he would make Stefan's life miserable for the rest of eternity.

Weeks after he was newly turned and still lacked control of his bloodlust, Stefan went on a rampage, killing members of the Founding Families out of revenge for what they had done to Katherine. One member was Johnathan Gilbert, though he later came back to life with the help of his Gilbert Ring. Stefan continued on a blood-drinking bender to try to make the guilt and pain of what he had done to Damon and his father go away. He compelled young women to go home with him, so he could toy with them and feed on their blood. When Damon found Stefan like this, he was upset by his brother's uncontrollable behavior and compelled all of the women to leave and to never come back. Damon tried to convince Stefan to control his bloodlust and moderate his behavior, but could not get through to Stefan until he announced he was leaving town. Desperate to keep his brother in his life, Stefan begged Damon not to leave, that he promised he would do better. Damon showed no sympathy for his brother's pleas and left, saying he would not let Stefan get them both killed, and that he would leave him to do that to himself.

One night, Stefan went to a camp where the war-wounded lay, and discreetly fed on their blood. It was there that he spotted a girl in the shadows and tried to attack and feed on her. Instead, she drove Stefan to the ground and turned out to be another, much older vampire by the name of Alexia Branson. Lexi needed a place to stay, so Stefan brought her home with him, where she found corpses drained of blood lying everywhere. Lexi told Stefan that he was a Ripper, and that there are good parts of being a vampire and there are bad parts, and that he was the bad parts. Determined to change that, she later walked with him through the camp where they had met, asking him how he felt about the suffering war victims. Stefan told her that he felt emotionally numb, that he felt nothing. She then explained that he felt nothing because he had managed to turn off the part that makes him feel, the human part of him; that in spite of the intensified pain and suffering vampires feel, love is what makes life worth living. Over the course of many decades, Lexi became Stefan's mentor, best friend and companion, and she showed Stefan the 'good parts' of being a vampire; how to live compassionately and reclaim the caring, empathetic person Stefan had been as a human. From 1864 to 1912, Stefan lived on a strict animal blood diet and no longer fed on human blood.

1912
In 1912, Stefan returned to Mystic Falls to attend the funeral of his half-nephew, Zachariah. It was there that Stefan saw Damon for the first time in almost fifty years. Damon initially had no desire to rekindle any brotherly relationship with Stefan, but Stefan convinced Damon to join him for a drink, saying he had missed him.

Later, while at a boxing ring, Damon tried to persuade a very resistant Stefan to have a drink of human blood with him again, selecting Marianna Lockwood and luring her away from the crowd. Stefan fed on her, but quickly lost control of himself and accidentally ripped her head off, astonishing both of them. Out of extreme guilt and remorse, Stefan irrationally apologized and tried to put her head back onto her body. Stefan, angry with Damon for forcing him to drink human blood, refused Damon's offer to help him learn to control it, then ran off into the woods. Damon watched him go, concerned for his brother's well-being, though not enough to pursue him. After drinking human blood in 1912, Stefan fell off the wagon and returned to his former Ripper lifestyle.

1917

Klaus revealed that Stefan had become notorious for his horrific killing sprees, including the massacre of an entire migrant village in Monterey in 1917, after which he became known among the vampires as the "Ripper of Monterey". 100 years later, Arcadius told Stefan that he actually attacked the village on Christmas Eve. Stefan was reluctant to believe him at first, but then Cade showed him that Seline had met him after the massacre. Instead of giving Stefan's soul to Cade, she took pity on him. After seeing how regretful he was, she altered his subconscious and made him forget, convincing him that he was worth living.

1922
After he left Mexico, Stefan traveled to Chicago in 1922. It was there that he frequented a particular speakeasy, and one day caught the eye of a beautiful blonde vampire, Rebekah. She initially resisted his interest, but not long after that, they became romantically involved.

Stefan eventually met Rebekah's older half-brother, Nik. At first, Nik disliked Stefan because of his relationship with Rebekah. As time went on, however, they bonded over their similar family histories, as well as Stefan's penchant for petty cruelty toward humans, and became best friends who enjoyed each other's company immensely. The three of them frequently partied together at the speakeasy, enjoying booze, blood and dancing all night long.

On one such night of revelry, the club was attacked by what appeared to be the police. Discovering that the police were using wooden bullets, Stefan realized they knew there were vampires inside. He sensed Rebekah's panic when she responded cryptically "*He's here*," but before he could find anything out, Nik compelled Stefan to forget about him and Rebekah. Unbeknownst to Stefan, Katherine was in the club while the police were searching it; she spotted Rebekah's necklace on the floor and went to pick it up, but fled when she heard Stefan approaching. He in turn saw the necklace and picked it up, observing it carefully. A detective then approached him, showed him a sketch of Nik and Rebekah and asked if he had ever seen them before. Stefan told him what he believed to be the truth: that he had never seen those people before in his life.

In April of this year, Lexi found Stefan again, "dragged him off the train tracks" and started to help him recover his humanity and get off of human blood. According to Stefan's journal entries, it took the better part of a decade to do so; around 1935 he still felt cravings for human blood, but it was getting easier, and by the 1940's, still under Lexi's guidance, he continued to make progress with his rehabilitation.

1942

Before he left for the war, Stefan, at Lexi's insistence, sought out his brother Damon in New Orleans in order to make amends with him. He approached his brother in a bar, and after an initial skepticism, Damon welcomed the reunion and seemed glad to have Stefan back in his life after thirty years apart. After Stefan told Damon about his plans to join the war effort as an ambulance driver, Damon proposed spur-of-the-moment that he could join Stefan. Unknown to Stefan at the time, Lexi talked Damon out of leaving with Stefan, citing his profligate lifestyle and how Damon's behavior would not be good for Stefan's rehabilitation. She seemed to be proven right when, after Charlotte had brought a bleeding victim back to the bar, Stefan started to lose himself at the sight and smell of human blood. Lexi's interference proved instrumental in the brothers' long estrangement, as Stefan left for the North African campaign believing Damon had abandoned him yet again.

1960
As the elections for a new president go under way, a lady is walking alone through an alley, Stefan appears and attacks her, biting her and drinking her blood, he lets her go alive and compels her to forget everything, then a woman who seems to know everything about vampires appears and she knows who he is, she knows he is the brother of Damon Salvatore, who she is looking for. Stefan asks who she is and she tells him that her name is Maggie James, Stefan advised her to stay away from Damon as he is lost by his comportment, she confesses that she is looking for Damon only to kill him because he is a monster, so Stefan decides to attack her but only to scare her and leave the town.

1977
Stefan returned to Mystic Falls this year along with Lexi. Stefan asked Lexi to go to New York City to help Damon get his humanity back and to get his act together.

1987
He was in Chicago with Lexi at a Bon Jovi concert, which unbeknownst to them was Katherine watching them from afar.

1994
Stefan mentioned that the last time he saw Damon was sometime in the 1990s, 15 years prior to the Pilot. It's revealed in Season Six, that the brothers met again in May, 1994, when Stefan came back to Mystic Falls to be with his great nephew Zach. Damon, who didn't see Stefan for nearly 50 years, and has had his humanity switch shut, claimed he wanted to go straight and narrow. Stefan, who knew that Damon had sent Lexi flowers to apologize for leaving her to burn on a rooftop 17 years earlier, reluctantly let him back into his life. He thought Damon was living on animal's blood until he saw bite marks on the wrist of Zach's pregnant girlfriend Gail. It turns out Damon had weened Zach and Gail off their vervain and didn't consider feeding on his relative and a pregnant women bad, since he was keeping it all inside the house. Stefan had snapped his neck and had taken him to the shed of the boarding house, where he could take off his daylight ring, gave him time to cool off, and berate him for always ruining his life. Damon, who just missed his little brother and wanted him to go off on a road trip with him, snapped. That's when he killed all the people at the party, including Gail. He promised Stefan an eternity of misery—resentment for Stefan turning him into a vampire so he wouldn't be alone, but then not wanting to be the kind of vampire Damon became and left him all alone. Damon them left his brother. Stefan was able to compel Zach to forget about Gail and the deaths, but he couldn't hide the body count. Stefan then took Gail to the hospital, and all though the doctors couldn't save her, they saved her baby girl. He then made sure that the baby was adopted right out of the hospital by a great family, who named her Sarah Nelson. Stefan left town right after, and looked out for Sarah all her life, without Damon knowing anything, so he wouldn't jeopardize her life with the supernatural world.

## Throughout The Vampire Diaries Series

* Season 1
* Season 2
* Season 3
* Season 4
* Season 5
* Season 6
* Season 7
* Season 8

Stefan was first seen as a mysterious, handsome and new high school student at Mystic Falls High School. He was born and raised in the town of Mystic Falls and had just moved back to town, where he lives with his nephew Zach in the Salvatore Boarding House. Zach refers to him as "Uncle Stefan", even though Stefan looks significantly much younger. When Stefan first arrives at the high school, all the girls are irresistibly attracted him and want to gain his attention.

It is at the high school that Stefan inevitably and fatefully meets Elena Gilbert, who bears an unusual, and striking uncanny physical resemblance to Stefan's past love from 1864, Katherine Pierce. Upon meeting each other, Stefan and Elena are instantly, undeniably drawn to each other and the two instantly connect. Over a gradual period of time, Stefan and Elena bond, fall deeply, passionately in love and eventually develop a romantic relationship. According to Caroline Forbes, Stefan's favorite color is blue. Stefan wears a large, silver ring made from enchanted Lapis Lazuli stone (a stone which was enchanted by Emily Bennett back in 1864) that allows him to walk around in the sunlight without burning. Unlike Damon, who drinks human blood and feeds off of innocent people, Stefan has chosen a vegetarian diet, living on an animal blood diet.

His best friend, and supposedly one of his few friends, was a vampire named Lexi Branson. In *162 Candles*, it was mentioned that she visited him every year on his birthday, and this was the only day he allowed himself do any crazy or stupid stuff. He has jumped naked into the Template:W and he has also got drunk on a tour to the Statue of Liberty. When Damon killed her, he was furious. He was thinking about killing Damon. He instead let him off with a warning, staked him, but missed the heart on purpose.

It is revealed that it was Stefan who rescued Elena from the car crash which killed her adoptive parents he tried to rescue them too, but he was too late.

When Damon turned Vicki Donovan into a vampire, Stefan tried to teach her the ability of self control but she couldn't handle it. She ran away and went to the Halloween Party at school, but when Vicki was threatening

Elena and Jeremy's life, Stefan had to kill her. He has a bitter relationship with his older brother Damon.

They overcame some of their differences when they tried to free Katherine from the tomb, but after they opened it, they discovered she wasn't there. When Damon learned that Katherine wasn't there and that she had never really loved him he was heartbroken, leaving both Stefan and Elena to do their best to comfort him. In Let The Right One after the vampires were released from the tomb, a vampire named Frederick and some other vampires kidnapped Stefan and tortured him and tried to kill him. Harper tried to protect him, but they tied him up. He was saved by Damon and Elena.

They killed most of the vampires, but because Harper tried to help Stefan, he told Damon not to kill him. Elena gave Stefan some of her blood so could be stronger Frederick put a stick into him and almost killed him but Stefan was faster then Fredrick and killed him. But then he became addicted to human blood, and drank it behind Elena's back.

When Damon told Elena what he was doing, they got into a fight. Stefan then attacked Amber, a girl in the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant. He drank her blood and almost killed her but was stopped by Bonnie when she cast a spell on him. Elena and Damon then locked Stefan up in the basement to try to get him back to normal.

In *Blood Brothers*, Stefan felt really guilty about all the things he had done and thinks that Damon did was his fault since he forced Damon to turn into a vampire. He also told Elena how he and Damon became vampires. Stefan felt so guilty that he tried to take his ring off and was about to commit suicide, until Elena convinced him not to do it. When they came back, Damon told him two things. 1: What Damon does isn't Stefan's fault, it's Damon's. 2: Damon still hates Stefan, but not because he forced him to turn into a vampire. He hates him because he wanted Katherine all to himself.

In *Founder's Day*, when the tomb vampires was about to attack the during the Founder's Day festival,, Stefan was affected by the device when John Gilbert started it like all other vampires in town. He was about to be taken by a deputy, but Alaric and Elena came when Stefan was spotted, Alaric sent the deputy to towards another vampire instead of Stefan, saving his life. after they discovered that Damon had been taken, Stefan and Elena asked John were Damon was, he told them where they could find Damon; Stefan saved Damon with some help from Bonnie.

In *The Return*, Stefan arrived at Elena's house and examined Jeremy, confirming that he wasn't a vampire. Stefan then watched Jeremy while Elena goes to the hospital to check on Caroline. When Stefan comes downstairs, he sees "Elena", who is really Katherine. Stefan quickly realizes who it is and immediately throws her over the couch. Katherine breaks his arm, and then leaves when Damon and Elena walk into the house. Stefan asks Damon how Katherine had fooled him and Damon replied that he had kissed her, thinking he had kissed Elena. This upsets Stefan and he was about to attack his brother, but Elena stopped him.

Stefan and Elena went to question John about the attack, but John insulted Elena's love for Stefan and offended her. Stefan then threatened John's life by giving him blood to turn him into a vampire, and would do it if John didn't leave town. Stefan arrived at the Lockwood Estate in time to stop Katherine from attacking Bonnie. Stefan tried to get Katherine to spill why she was there, ignoring her flirting. Katherine told him she had come back for him, but when he responded that he hated her, she stabbed him and said that it was the beginning of a love story—not the end.

Elena took care of Stefan's wounds until Damon came and she went to see how Jeremy and Jenna were. Damon was ready for a fight, but Stefan refused, knowing this was what could tear them apart with Katherine on the loose. Katherine got under Damon's skin and Damon killed Jeremy with the intention of turning him into a vampire, but due to Jeremy's ring, Stefan was able to identify that he was still human.

In *Brave New World*, at a carnival, Damon challenged Stefan to hand-wrestle Mason Lockwood but Stefan lost. Damon thought he hadn't been trying, but Stefan admitted that he actually had and Mason was unnaturally strong. Damon decided to compel Carter, a worker, to get in a fight with Tyler Lockwood and see how Mason reacted. Stefan spied the fight from a far and witnessed Mason's unusual fighting against Carter. When they left, Carter was confused by why he did what he had done, and Stefan told him he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Stefan tried to give Elena a normal day, but the revelation of Caroline's transformation into a vampire was a shock. Stefan was furious that Katherine would do this to her, and was in agreement with Damon that Caroline should die (because of what happened to Vicki Donovan). While talking to Elena, Stefan was distracted when he smelled blood from Caroline's victim. He and Elena arrived just in time to stop Damon from killing Caroline.

Stefan took her off to the bathroom to clean the blood of her face. Caroline was disgusted and horrified by what she had done and freaked out when she saw her eyes change to black. Stefan got her to calm down and showed that this was completely natural. Caroline asked him why Katherine had done this to her, but Stefan didn't know. Afterwards, Stefan convinces Bonnie to create a lapis ring for Caroline and begins to teach her how to live on the animal diet. At the realization that Mason Lockwood was a werewolf, he even tried to protect her.

In *Kill or Be Killed*, Stefan tried to make peace with Mason who told his secret to Elizabeth Forbes, the sheriff, who went about trying to destroy the brothers. This time Caroline came to the brothers' rescue. Knowing that he was too weak from his diet, Stefan decided to start taking small amounts of human blood every day, and Elena who was against it at first, started to help him by giving him her own blood.

In *Plan B*, Stefan jumps into a well to try and find the moonstone that Mason hid, but didn't realize the water was full of vervain and he couldn't move, his face and body beginning to burn; Elena comes down to rescue him. After a dangerous situation in which Jenna, Elena's aunt, stabs herself after being compelled by Katherine, Stefan and Elena realize that it was a mistake not listening to Katherine and allowing themselves to challenge her, and decide to break up, despite their affection and deep love for each other.

In *Masquerade*, Stefan and Damon decided to kill Katherine at the Masquerade party, Alaric, Bonnie, Caroline and Jeremy helped them. At the party when Katherine came he had to dance with her or she would kill someone. Katherine told Stefan that she wants the moonstone back and when he told her that she can't have it Katherine killed Aimee Bradley and left her in Stefan's arms he put Aimee's body in his car. Stefan returns to the party and says to Damon they need to call the whole thing off, but Damon convinces him to change his mind. Later Stefan and Damon is in the room were Bonnie had cast a trapping spell.

Caroline lured Katherine inside the room, then the brothers attacked Katherine. Stefan and Damon continue fighting, and when Damon is just about to drive the stake through Katherine's heart Jeremy comes and says "Everything you're doing to her is hurting Elena" both Stefan and Damon stop. Trapped inside the room Stefan realizes something. He remembers that Katherine told him that she gave George Lockwood something that he needed to make him help her fake her death, he figures it's the moonstone. He asks Katherine why she needs it back but Katherine doesn't answer him. Lucy appears, getting their attention, she gives the moonstone to Katherine. All of a sudden Katherine starts gasping and falls. Lucy says that Elena is fine and that the spell is broken. She apologies for her involvement to the Salvatore's and leaves. Stefan the goes out to Elena while Damon traps Katherine in the tomb. Stefan tries to get back with Elena, but she refuses and decides to wait until she makes sure that she and her loved ones are safe first.

In *Rose*, Stefan and Damon have to rescue Elena, when she is kidnapped and held by two vampires called Trevor and Rose. When Stefan finds Elena, he and Damon work together to bring down another vampire called Elijah. In the tenth episode he goes into the cave to save Jeremy from Katherine. He got stuck in the tomb with Katherine because Bonnie is unable to release the spell over it. However, Elijah made a deal with Elena; to get Stefan out of the tomb, and so he kept the deal and got Stefan out and compelled Katherine to stay in the tomb until he told her to come out. He has now started drinking vervain to build up tolerance to it.

In *Crying Wolf*, Stefan brought Elena to a lake house where Elena and her adoptive family used to go. When they arrived, Elena took a few moments and went into the house, leaving Stefan outside. She tricked Stefan into believing that the house was left to John Gilbert after her parents died, but she revealed the truth shortly after. Elena then invited Stefan into the house. Later that night, Tyler and Brady wanted to retrieve the Petrova Doppelgänger, Elena. Brady shot Stefan in the chest, probably not hitting his heart and left Tyler with a gun and a stake to watch over him while Brady took Elena. Elena was smart enough to hide around the house while Brady searched for her. Brady was stabbed a couple of times by Elena. Elena rushed towards the door and out and when Brady came out in pursuit, Stefan pulled his heart out, literally. Stefan explained to Tyler that Elena had to be sacrificed to break the curse and Tyler released him.

In *The Dinner Party*, Stefan tells Elena about a dark time in his history. He states that he was a monster and fed off human blood and was worse than Damon back then. He also tells Elena the person that changed his life around was Lexi. When Elijah shows up at the lake house, Elena tricks him by stabbing herself with the dagger and subsequently stabs him with the dagger. Stefan then gives her his blood to heal her. Stefan and Elena both realize that Katherine is no longer in the tomb and she's posing as Elena. Stefan then goes to Bonnie hoping that they can get the Martins on their side. Later Stefan goes to the Martin's house when Luka was just killed. Stefan tries to comfort him, but Jonas casts a spell that causes him to scream in pain. Jonas yells that he has no-one left and Stefan is about to find out what that feels like. Stefan then goes to the Grill and finds Caroline, updates her on the situation, and while she goes after Jonas, he will get Elena away. At the Gilbert house, Katherine pretends to be Elena and bites Jonas, but he soon wakes up and attacks Bonnie. Stefan then snaps his neck.

When Isobel returned to Mystic Falls, Stefan and Elena wanted answers from her. He is later seen with Elena, protecting her, as John falls down the stairs, dead. Katherine kidnapped Elena and posed as her, but Stefan knew where Elena was, and he gets stabbed with vervain. He then teams up with Damon to find Isobel and Elena. After that, they give Elena their house to protect her from vampires. Damon and Stefan realized that they have a new secret weapon: Bonnie.

In *The Last Dance*, Stefan attends the 60s Decade Dance with Elena after Klaus starts to send his disturbing messages. He can see that something is troubling Jeremy and after talking with him, he finds out that Bonnie might die if she uses too much power to kill Klaus. He goes to Damon asking if he knew that already, and Damon admits he did. Later both Stefan and Damon help Jeremy who is being attack by students, Stefan then realizes that it was a distraction.

He meets up with Elena, both rushing to find Bonnie and Damon. After Elena has freed Elijah from the dagger, Stefan respects her wishes and lets her try to talk with him alone and soon after is seen protecting Jenna from Klaus who is still in Alaric body. Later Stefan tells Damon to stop treating Andie Star like that. The brothers start to fight about Damon loving Elena, after Stefan says that Damon doesn't have Elena's respect. They are interrupted by Elijah and Elena.

In *The Last Day*, Stefan respects Elena's decision on using the Elixir that Elijah has to save her. However, when Damon fed Elena his blood, Stefan fought him and ended up with a stake in the stomach. Stefan then took Elena on a hike to watch the sunset and to have one last romantic day together. During the sacrifice he tries to exchange himself for Elena's aunt Jenna Sommers as the vampire but Klaus refuses saying he has plans for him. Stefan watches in horror as Elijah, instead of killing Klaus as planned, fled with him.

Klaus' plans are revealed in *As I Lay Dying*. Klaus offers him a deal to save Damon from a werewolf bite: he will become his right-hand man, leaving everything including Elena and Klaus will cure Damon. Stefan accepts and drinks the number of blood bags Klaus gives him. Klaus then gives his blood, the cure, to Katherine to be delivered to Damon. At first Stefan is shocked, but relieved when Elena sends him a text saying Damon is okay. As Stefan watches Klaus place Elijah's body with the rest of his family. Klaus then calls out a teenage girl from behind the crate and forces Stefan to kill her and drink her blood as his initiation. Stefan does so, and Klaus is pleased.

In *The Birthday*, Stefan and Klaus are in Tennessee. Stefan stops a brunette/black haired woman from running out of her house, while being chased by Klaus. The girls give up Ray Sutton' s location, a werewolf, but Klaus tells Stefan to kill the blonde quickly and make the runner suffer, before walking out. Stefan obliges. Then Klaus and Stefan arrive at a bar to find Ray. Ray is suspicious and soon figures out that he's in the company of vampires. Stefan's compelled everyone in the bar so Ray is all alone - and refusing to give up the location of his pack. Still, that doesn't bother Stefan, who menacingly suggests that they're going to play a drinking game - "truth or wolfsbane". Back in the bar, Ray's being tortured, he's chained up and Stefan's throwing wolfsbane soaked darts at him. He's still refusing to give up details of his pack. Fortunately for Ray, he gets a slight reprieve when Klaus gets word that Damon has been sniffing around. Stefan promises to go and deal with it - and vows to return to Klaus. Damon meets Stefan who tells him to stop causing problems. Damon, of course, claims that he doesn't care about Klaus, but Stefan tells him again to let him go. Damon warns that if Stefan carries on, they'll be no saving him, but Stefan says he doesn't need that - though Damon points out that Elena thinks differently. Stefan, at this point, shows just how far he has fallen. He calls out to Andie, who is up high on a beam in the studio roof. Terrified, she sobs that Stefan has compelled her and she can't move. Damon tells Stefan that it's "not cool" but Stefan chillingly replies: "Oh, come on. A little bit cool".

He then tells Andie that she can move, she falls and breaks her neck. Stefan returns to Klaus, who has extracted the wolf pack information from Ray. Klaus announces that he now has to go through a three-stage process. First, he feeds Ray his blood, and then he swiftly breaks his neck. Klaus says he knew Stefan would come back, and Stefan, for his part, claims that he doesn't care about anything anymore. Interestingly, Klaus accuses him of putting on a "good show".

He says Stefan will never stop caring about his family, but the blood makes it easier to let go. Later Stefan leaves the bar in Tennessee. He calls Elena, but when she picks up he remains silent, Elena realizes who is on the phone. She tells him he will be alright and tells him to hold on to the fact that she loves him. Stefan nods and begins to cry.

In *The End of the Affair*, it is revealed that Stefan use to be a lover of Rebekah, an original vampire and Klaus' sister. Klaus takes him to Chicago about their memories (who was erased by Klaus) and their days and Rebekah is now dead, waiting for her resurrection. Elena stays at Stefan's old apartment, hides from Klaus and Stefan who hides from Elena before he takes a wine. As Elena attempted to shoot him with a vervain dart, Stefan tells her that he doesn't want to come back. After Rebekah's reawaken, Klaus compels him to remember.

Still in Chicago with Klaus and Rebekah at the start of *Disturbing Behavior*, Katherine signals to Stefan (who is in a clothing store) that she wants to talk with him. She knows he has a plan, and warns him that Klaus is smart and will figure it out. As Gloria starts to search for Rebekah's necklace, Stefan begins to worry that Elena will be found. Gloria later says that what she saw in her vision bothered her, that the girls she saw were talking about him. She tells him he could tell her, or she could torture him for it. As Stefan speeds to attack her, she only glances at him and he falls to the floor in pain. Gloria sets up everything to torture him for the information, and finally sees where the necklace is. Katherine arrives and stabs Gloria in the neck. Katherine offers that they should work together, yet Stefan still refuses. Stefan goes to where all Klaus' family members coffins are held, and almost opens one before Rebekah comes in. He asks her out about the man that was looking for them, but she give him a straight answer. She kisses him, testing if he has any feelings for her, and is disappointed, asking him if he would ever love someone like his previous girlfriend (Elena). Klaus comes in a few seconds later telling them Gloria is gone, and Rebekah says Stefan isn't on their side, that he's been asking about Mikael. Klaus attacks him. He is shown to wake up in the back of a truck, where Klaus welcomes him back to Mystic Falls - to find out what Stefan is hiding.

Klaus started using mind compulsion on Stefan in *The Reckoning*, to get Stefan to obey to his orders and kill two students, Dana and Chad. He then compelled him to kill Elena if the clock reached 0. Stefan showed great strength when he fought the compulsion and told Elena to run. Unfortunately, Klaus then used compulsion one last time and ordered Stefan to turn his emotions off. Stefan was forced to attack Elena. In the end of the episode, Stefan is shown back at the Salvatore boarding house, saying as Klaus left town, he's been ordered to keep Elena safe (for the reason that her blood is needed to create hybrids).

His attitude is much like that as when Damon first arrived in Mystic Falls in the season one premiere. In *Smells Like Teen Spirit*, Stefan goes back to school and has moved back to Salvatore Boarding House again, staying behind to keep an eye on Elena, and "guard" her for Klaus. Damon is unimpressed by his brother's behavior, most importantly the way he is feeding off of girls in the house. As Rebekah enters telling them Klaus left her behind and she doesn't have a place to stay, Stefan shows he doesn't really care about that.

Elena, Damon and Alaric later formulate a plan to catch Stefan off guard and lock him up, to try and restore him to his normal self. The plan fails thanks to Vicki interfering and trying to kill Elena, but Elena does see a glimmer of hope for Stefan: that there may still be a part of him left. Stefan later asks Elena why did she save him from the burning car, and calls her pathetic when she says she still has hope, causing his ex-girlfriend to stab him.

In *Ghost World*, after Bonnie casts a spell revealing all of the ghosts, Lexi appears. She knocks him out and locks him in the county Jail. She brings Elena and shows her how to get him to feel something, by torturing him. Stefan tries to get Elena to let him go by saying that he loves her, but Lexi and Elena see through it, causing him to howl in rage and say that he wishes that he never met them. After Lexi disappears, Stefan asks Elena if she's given up, but Elena says no, but Stefan couldn't either, because he would lose her if he did, she would not love a ghost.

In *Ordinary People*, Damon frees Stefan, seeing Lexi's approach as useless.

The two of them go to a bar and drink, both beer and blood. Stefan asks why Damon he freed him, but Damon brushes the question off. Eventually, Mikael shows up and drives his fist through Damon's heart in an attempt to get Stefan to tell him where Klaus is, after hearing that Stefan is connected to him. At first, it seems as if Klaus' compulsion made it so that he didn't care, but he eventually agrees to lure Klaus to Mystic Falls. However, he later tells Damon that he did it to get freedom from Klaus, not because of any feelings for his brother.

In *Homecoming*, Stefan participates in the plan to kill Klaus, luring him to Mystic Falls by saying that Mikael is dead (in fact he was dead as Elena daggered him so Stefan could inform Klaus of this and not have Klaus' compulsion stop him from lying.) After hearing about a change in the plan, Stefan asks what it is, only to be attacked by Mikael. Katherine later shows up and informs him that Klaus' hybrids have orders to kill Damon if Klaus is killed.

She tells him that she is going back to go through with the plan, but that will mean Damon's death. She tells Stefan to care enough about Damon to save him. After Stefan interrupts the plan, which results in Mikael's death, Klaus undoes his compulsion, and Stefan and Katherine leave. Stefan asks why Katherine, who wanted Klaus dead for 500+ years, would stop a plan that would have worked to killed him, just to save Damon. Katherine states that, while humanity is a vampire's greatest weakness,

it is the one weakness that cannot be beaten down, and that she loves Damon, despite early comments. Stefan states that he can't go back to feeling after everything he has done. But Katherine tells him that he needs to feel, because she needs him to get angry. He then calls Klaus and tells him that, despite fulfilling his promise and undoing the compulsions, he took everything from Stefan.

When Klaus tells him to let bygones be bygones, and that an eternity of bad feelings gets old, Stefan counters saying that revenge never gets old, and reveals that he stole the coffins that hold Klaus' family. Klaus threatens to kill everyone Stefan has ever met, and Stefan says that if he does that, he will never see his family again.

In *The New Deal*, it is revealed that Stefan is hiding Klaus' family coffins with the help of Bonnie. Damon gets angry with Stefan when he realizes that Stefan stopped him from killing Klaus in order to save his life again.

In *Our Town*, Stefan's obsession for revenge, drives him to kidnap Elena in an effort to get Klaus to call off his hybrids. He threatens to drive Elena off Wickery Bridge unless he calls them off. He agrees at the last moment. Elena is very hurt and Stefan tells her that Klaus took everything from him and now all he has left is to get revenge on Klaus. Elena says he had her but he says, "I lost you the minute I left town..."

In *The Ties That Bind*, When Bonnie shows Elena the coffins, Stefan gets angry because Elena shouldn't have seen those. He then followed Elena and Bonnie to Abby's House, talking to Elena. Then, Jamie came to protect Elena but Stefan compels him to leave. Stefan gets shot by Jamie, after realizing that Jamie has been compelled by someone. Unable to move he has to lie on the ground together with a tied up Elena.

After she knocked out Jamie she helps Stefan to pull out the wooden bullets and she tells him, she kissed Damon. Stefan is quiet but he seems hurt by the news. Elena seems confused by his reaction and he later tells her that she is better than Damon, that she is better than both of them. Stefan leaves and goes to Damon who was surprised to see his brother. He then hits Damon due to kissing Elena. He then becomes concerned when Damon reveals that he undaggered one of the Originals.

In *Bringing Out The Dead,* Stefan makes sure that the fourth coffin is safe and wants Bonnie and her mom to open it. After that he was accused by Elena of having killed Brian Walkers, he asks her if Damon has recently killed someone and leaves. He and Damon have a conversation about un-daggering Elijah and Damon explains that Elijah's in the perfect mood to help killing Klaus. Together they appear at the Original Family's mansion for dinner with Klaus and Elijah. They reveal their past with Tatia, the Original Petrova.

After Klaus made the offer that the Salvatores would keep away from Elena, Stefan disagrees, causing Klaus to overpower him and burn his hand in the chimney while Damon and Elijah go away. Stefan states he should kill him and Klaus asks where the Ripper has been. Elijah frees Stefan and Damon, meaning that this is family business. As Stefan and Damon leave and walk in the woods Stefan says "I love her, Damon," and Damon says that he does as well. Afterwards they look to see if the coffin got opened. They find Bonnie and Abby knocked out and the coffin opened. Whatever was inside is gone now.

In *Dangerous Liaisons* it is learned that Elena had been invited to the Mikaelson Family home for a ball and that the mother, Esther has requested an audience with her. Stefan and Elena agree that she should meet with Esther while Damon doesn't want her to go. They all end up showing up to the ball and Elena is escorted in by both brothers. Later, Stefan watches as Damon and Elena begin to dance but as the waltz shifts to a sequence that switches partners, Elena runs into Stefan.

They dance and while the energy is intense they share a light hearted chat about Stefan's usual lack of enthusiasm for dancing. The subject then switches to Damon and Stefan tells Elena that Damon needs to figure out that she can look out for herself. Elena tells Stefan she needs to talk to him and she asks for his help in getting her into the room with Esther alone. She mentions that he cares about killing Klaus more than anything and Stefan says she's not wrong, though he has a conflicted look in his expression.

Elena mentions her appreciation that he still at least lets her make her own decisions. Stefan helps Elena and later takes her home. They talk about Damon's self destructive behavior that night. Elena says she said something she didn't mean and Stefan admits that he did too. Stefan says goodbye and as he walks out Elena stops him and asks how he can't feel anything and tells him that feeling anything is better than acting like he doesn't care. Stefan reveals that he can't because he hates himself for what he did to her. He says "If I let myself care, all I feel is pain," and then leaves.

In *All My Children*, Elena calls Stefan but he declines to answer, an emotionally pained expression on his face. He also appears to be writing in his diary for the first time in a while.

Stefan asks Damon why he killed and turned Abby into a vampire while it should of been him. Damon says he can see that Stefan just wants to be the old him again and Stefan responds shaking his head and saying, "That part of me is gone for good." Damon doesn't believe this and mentions that he has taken notice that Stefan has not been drinking human blood lately. Stefan reveals that he stopped drinking human blood since the night he threatened to drive Elena off of Wickery Bridge.

In the episode *1912*, it was revealed that this was the year that Stefan went into "ripper" mode again. He and Damon showed up for a funeral of a family member and Damon later convinces Stefan to start drinking human blood again. Later Stefan is shown drinking the blood of a woman. He looses control and ends up killing her. Stefan panics and goes into a frenzy, crying, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." He gets angry at Damon saying, "What did you do to me?" Damon offers help and Stefan pushes him away as he says "I don't need your help." In the present, Stefan and Damon try to figure out the murder mystery occurring in the town. Damon notices that Stefan seems to be having a hard time going back to his animal diet.

Later, Damon tempts Stefan into drinking from a human girl and tries to stop him before he gets too carried away. Elena catches them and seems very upset. Stefan is hurt and angrily walks away from Damon. Later on Stefan is at the house sitting and looking upset. Damon walks in and tells him, "You did really well tonight." He explains that he is trying to help him recover. Stefan asks Damon why he is trying to help him and Damn responds, "Because right now, you're all I got." This statement seems to have an emotional impact on Stefan.

In *Break On Through*, Elena runs into Stefan at the Salvatore boarding house and catches him serving himself blood from a blood bag. Stefan seems uncomfortable with her presence as he is about to drink the blood. He then told Elena about Samantha Gilbert and says if the same thing is happening to Alaric then there is nothing she can do about it. Elena seems disappointed with Stefan's comment and leaves. Damon tries to tell Stefan to control his blood lust and to accept the fact that he is a vampire. Later, Stefan and Elena are about to go into Alaric's apartment and Stefan tells her that he is not trying to hurt her, he just can't be what she wants him to be right now.

In reference to Alaric, Elena tells Stefan that she wasn't planning on giving up on either of them. This seems to effect Stefan. As they return to Elena's home Stefan realizes that someone is bleeding upstairs. He tells Elena he is going to need her help and they go upstairs to find Meredith badly injured and bleeding. Stefan seems to be tempted by the blood but then looks at Elena. He finds the strength to stay long enough to heal Meredith by feeding her his blood, and then leaves, resisting the urge to drink from her. At the end, Stefan is shown having a drink and he reveals to Damon that he is toasting to "control".

In *The Murder of One*, Stefan and Damon make a plan with Elena, Matt and Caroline to kill the Originals. Damon is later taken by Rebekah and tortured. When Elena asks to go rescue Damon, Stefan refuses and insists that they carry out the plan. The truth of the vampire bloodlines is revealed and Stefan goes to rescue Damon, offering Klaus the remaining white oak stakes in exchange for Damon's freedom. Klaus realizes that Stefan had not given him all of the stakes but Rebekah releases Damon anyways. Later, Elena enters Stefan's room telling him that he scared her by trying to go up to Klaus on his own. Stefan says she doesn't have to worry about that anymore because he realizes hating Klaus and getting revenge isn't worth it. He seems disappointed saying it was all for nothing and that he is back where he started.

Elena tells him that's not true and that he was dragged through hell but he came out the other side. Stefan reveals that hating Klaus was easy because it allowed him to ignore everything happening around him, everything he let slip away. Elena reveals that she never stopped loving him but Stefan seems troubled at the notion that she has feelings for Damon. He says to Elena, "I love you, I will always love you." He tells her he wants her to look him in the eye and say she doesn't feel anything for Damon. She says she doesn't know what she feels. Stefan nods and walks away in sadness.

In *Heart of Darkness*, it is revealed that Elena is going on a trip to Denver with Damon due to Stefan's idea that she figure out her feelings for Damon. Stefan stays to watch over Alaric and he tells him in regards to Elena, "No matter what I go through to get her back...none of that matters if she has feelings for somebody else." Klaus shows up to get the stakes. Later on, Klaus tells Stefan he is still waiting for his "old friend to come back," after Stefan notes that Klaus won't kill him. Stefan responds saying that he has been trying to fight off the "ripper" part of himself but that now that he has accepted it, it can't control him. He then tells Klaus, "And neither can you. So, unless you're gonna stake me, why don't you get the hell out of my house."

In *Do Not Go Gentle*, Elena asks Stefan to the decade dance with the encouragement of Caroline. Stefan seems excited by her invitation and when he goes to pick Elena up they exchange compliments. They joke about the bad luck they usually have at the dances and Elena responds saying that they need to live their lives. Stefan jokes, saying, "Who gave you that horrible advice?" and Elena responds with "some guy I use to date," in an ironic and sweet reference to Stefan. When they arrive at the dance and begin to slow dance Stefan mentions that he has been meaning to apologize to Bonnie. Elena brings up Damon and their trip to Denver but Stefan stops her saying, "If you and I find our way back to each other, you can tell me if you want to. Otherwise, I don't need to know, I don't want to know."

He expresses that he is just honored to be her date that night. Later on, Stefan and Klaus are standing outside talking about Esther. Klaus mentions that the dance's 1920s theme reminds him of their friendship and "brotherhood". Damon walks up, saying "Well he already has a brother...not to be, you know, territorial or anything." Klaus laughs at this and jokes about "The Salvatores and their unshakable bond." He starts provoking them with the idea that Elena's "choice" will shake them up a bit. This episodes exhibits more growth for Stefan as he apologizes to Bonnie and tries to comfort Caroline and Tyler.

After it is revealed that Alaric is going to let himself die, Stefan watches Elena break down and asks her to come with him. He takes her hand and leads her to the gym, explaining that that is the place where he hit rock bottom. He says to her, "After I bit you I never wanted to feel anything again." He explains that someone kept telling him that it was okay to feel, that emotions is what makes people human. Elena responds saying "Who gave you that horrible advice?" Stefan says, "Some girl I use to date," as tears form in his eyes. Elena is saddened and says that she doesn't have anyone anymore. Stefan comforts her and tells her, "You have me."

In *Before Sunset*, Stefan appears the most upbeat he has been all season. He offers Elena and Jeremy help with painting Alaric's old bedroom. Him and Damon worry after Bonnie shows up with news of Alaric and it is revealed that Elena is missing. Stefan, Damon and Klaus finally agree to save Elena and Caroline together. While waiting to complete their plan, Klaus talks to Stefan about Elena. Stefan mentions that he will turn his back on everything to make sure Elena is safe. Klaus tells him that he is Elena's better option and says "Personally I think she is wasting her time with Damon." Stefan responds saying that all the time and energy Klaus had put into trying to make Stefan and Damon hate each other has actually brought them closer. He says "Damon and I have been through a hell of a lot worse than you."

Later on, Stefan, Damon and Tyler begin to desiccate Klaus' body with help from Bonnie. As Stefan stops Klaus' heart, Klaus looks on in shock and sadness and Stefan's expression seems conflicted as well. Stefan seems satisfied at finally being able to stop Klaus but a part of him appears sad as well. As Stefan and Damon take off to put away Klaus' body they talk about Elena and Stefan mentions that if she chooses Damon he will go away and let them be happy. Damon agrees to do the same and implies towards the trouble they go through for "one girl". Stefan responds saying, "She is a pretty special girl" and Damon agrees. This episode reflects one of the strongest points in the relationship between both brothers.

In *The Departed*, Stefan and Damon decide that one of them needs to go back to Mystic Falls to keep on eye on Elena. Stefan later appears and Elena hugs him. Stefan seems very comforted and relieved to be with Elena in that moment. In the kitchen, Stefan talks to Matt about the importance of free will. Later, Stefan allows Elena to decide whether she wants to trust Elijah or not and she decides that she will.

After it is revealed that everyone is in danger from Alaric, Stefan prepares to take off and help keep everyone safe. He comforts Elena with his promise. As he walks away Elena stops him, implying that she wants to say something to him but then she changes her mind. Stefan begins to walk away again but then turns around, walks over to Elena and kisses her. He looks at her longingly and says, "That's just in case there is no later," and then finally leaves.

Later on, Damon reveals to Stefan that Klaus is dead and they both seem very sad. Stefan reveals that he is concerned that Damon won't be able to say goodbye to Elena. Though it is not explicitly said by either brother, in this moment it becomes clear that they each care for each other very much. After Matt forces Elena to decide which brother to say goodbye to, she calls Damon and reveals that she has chosen to say goodbye to Stefan. They are both sad, but Elena expresses that Stefan came into her life at a time when she needed someone and she fell for him instantly. She explains that despite her feelings for Damon, she always loved Stefan. Afterwards, Rebekah calls Stefan and reveals that she wants to kill Elena while Stefan tries to stop her.

In the last moments of the episode, it flashes back and forth as Stefan tries to save Elena. In the past, it shows Elena's father asking him to save his daughter and Stefan's confusion as he sees her face. In the present Stefan reaches to pull Elena out but she refuses and motions for him to save Matt first. They exchange intense looks and Stefan finally surrenders to Elena's plea, pulling Matt out of the car. After Damon realizes Alaric is dead, it is revealed that Stefan ran out of time to save Elena and that she has died. The last shot of Stefan shows him sitting over her dead body as tears fill his eyes and he mourns the loss of her human life.

In *Growing Pains*, Stefan and Damon are with Elena when she first wakes up in her bedroom. Stefan, with a few choice comments from Damon, tells Elena that she was in an accident, that Meredith Fell had healed her with vampire blood the other night and that she had died with vampire blood in her system. Downstairs, he and Damon argue about what to do next: Stefan wants to do everything they can to find a way out of Elena's transition, while Damon wants her to accept the inevitable, feed on human blood and not risk dying permanently. While Damon is gone, Stefan and Elena are captured by the Town Council and imprisoned in a cell, along with Rebekah. It is there that Stefan confesses his regrets about Elena not feeding in order to complete her transition. In a heartfelt moment, Stefan tells Elena that he loves her. Elena, who continues to weaken without blood, confesses that the reason she was on the bridge was because she was coming back for Stefan, and that no matter what happens, it's the best choice she has ever made. Desperate to save Elena, Stefan quietly plots with Rebekah.

With Rebekah's help, Stefan brutally kills a guard by cracking his head open against the bars. Stefan alerts Elena to the growing pool of blood on the ground. Elena gathers what little strength she has left and manages to dip a finger in the blood and taste it, completing the transition. After Stefan, Elena and Rebekah escape and are let free, Stefan then uses his blood to heal Matt after Damon had bitten him. Matt then tells Stefan that he wishes that he would stop saving him, that Stefan should have let him drown and saved Elena. Stefan tells Matt that the only reason he saved Matt first was because Elena insisted upon it, that Elena sacrificed her own life to save Matt and instead of bemoaning what has happened, maybe Matt should try to live up to the sacrifice Elena made for him and earn the life he has because of it.

Later, Stefan sits with Elena on the rooftop of the Salvatore mansion. They make small talk about what will happen next with the Council. Stefan tells Elena that he wishes that he could promise that everything would be okay, that he could save her from craving blood and a heightened sense of pain, but unfortunately, being a vampire will be all those things. Elena then tells Stefan that even though there will be struggles, the important thing is that she will get to live and be there for everyone she loves, including him. Stefan then gives Elena a daylight ring that Bonnie made. He puts the ring on her finger and tells her that they will take it one day at a time. They share a romantic moment as they kiss and watch the sunrise together.

In *Memorial*, Stefan wakes up in the woods with Elena, where they spent the night in preparation for an early hunt. The scene is inter cut with a scene from the night before, when Stefan argued with Damon about the best way for Elena to feed. Stefan tells Damon that he wants Elena to try the animal blood diet so that maybe she can avoid hurting or killing anyone, something that Stefan feels would be especially hard for Elena. Even after Damon voices his opinion to Elena herself, Stefan and Elena leave for their camping trip as planned.

Stefan helps Elena take down and feed on her first deer. While Stefan instructs Elena on using vampire speed, she is distracted by Stefan's touch. She describes the sensation, that it feels like he is touching every single nerve on her body. Stefan continues the sensual description, explaining that everything is heightened, including emotions, sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. Elena, overwhelmed by desire, begins to passionately make out with Stefan against a tree. Soon, however, Elena begins to feel sick, pushes Stefan away, runs away with vampire speed and vomits up the animal blood.

Later, in Stefan's bedroom, Elena finishes leaving a message for Caroline to ask for help adjusting as Stefan walks into the room with two glasses and a bottle of champagne. He wants to celebrate her first feed, but Elena is less enthusiastic, reminding him that it kind of made her sick. Stefan explains that it took him a while to get used to animal blood, but it gets easier over time. Elena observes that Stefan is awfully cheery, and he responds that he's just happy she is here. Elena gives into Stefan's high spirits and pops open the bottle, laughing gleefully as it overflows. Stefan and Elena kiss, but are interrupted by a phone call from Damon.

Later, Stefan helps remove peculiar wooden bullets from Tyler's chest. Stefan explains to Tyler and Caroline that the bullets were specially carved, and that if he were a normal vampire instead of a hybrid, he would be dead. Tyler tells Stefan that the hunter who shot him was clearly looking for vampires, and that his gloves were soaked in vervain. Stefan scrutinizes the special bullets, intrigued by the etchings on them. When Stefan touches one of the bullets, it burns him, and Caroline speculates that the bullets might have been spelled by a witch.

Stefan visits Bonnie to ask her about the bullets. When Bonnie answers the door, Stefan sees how despondent she looks and is immediately concerned. He asks her to invite him in, and after she does he embraces her, comforting her as she cries. After relocating to the living room, Bonnie explains that watching the spirits torture her Grams was like she was dying all over again. Stefan tries to assuage her fears, suggesting that the witches might just be messing with Bonnie's head to teach her a lesson. Bonnie tells Stefan that she has been unable to perform magic without reliving the horror of watching her Grams be tortured.

Bonnie apologizes for the state she's in and for avoiding everyone, and asks what he needs help with. Stefan tries to back out of it, but Bonnie insists that he tell her what's wrong. Stefan then shows Bonnie the special bullets that he took out of Tyler and tells her that the bullets burn to the touch. He suggests that the bullets might just be steeped in vervain, but asks Bonnie if she has ever seen the writing on the bullets before. She says that she hasn't, and that it is not magical writing. Stefan then tells Bonnie that he thinks they have a new vampire hunter in town.

When Stefan arrives at the church for the memorial service, he sees Elena walking away from Damon, who is putting a blood bag into a satchel. Stefan confronts him about it and Damon explains that he brought the blood bag for Elena, and they argue again about what is best for Elena. Stefan insists that if Elena hurts someone, she will be desperate to turn the guilt off, maybe even enough to shut off her humanity.

Damon suggests that what Stefan is really afraid of is that Elena will become like Stefan's ripper alter-ego or, worse, that she will be like Damon. Damon insists that losing control and killing people is inevitable for a vampire, and the sooner Elena accepts that, the better. Stefan remains adamant until Damon reveals that Elena hasn't been able to keep any blood down, including animal blood, human blood from a blood bag and Damon's blood. Stefan, already surprised that Elena had kept her difficulties from him, is especially shocked that Elena drank from Damon.

Eventually Stefan walks into the church and, after briefly talking to Tyler and Caroline, finds a seat as Carol begins the service for Pastor Young and the council. Elena volunteers to say a few words in Pastor Young's memory as Damon enters the church. Damon sits down beside Stefan and they watch Elena as she begins her speech. Damon remarks that Elena is not looking so good, and they banter quietly about jealousy and keeping secrets.

As Elena is giving her speech, she and the other vampires smell blood dripping from the ceiling. Damon intuits that it's a trap and very quietly warns everyone not to move. Elena almost loses control before Stefan comes up to the podium and leads her back to her seat. Back in their seats, Elena is barely holding it together, and Stefan and Damon argue under their breath about what to do. Finally, Matt suggests that Elena feed from him. Stefan agrees to it and lets Matt take Elena. Matt pretends to console Elena while she feeds from his neck. Once she has fed, Elena releases Matt and tells Stefan that she can still smell the blood. She suggests it must be April Young, who was missing, and that they have to help her. Stefan doesn't want to risk getting caught, but Tyler decides to reveal himself by going up to the podium. The hunter shoots Tyler, and Stefan, Carol, Caroline and Elena go to check on him while the rest of the church becomes chaotic. Once Caroline has taken the bullet out of Tyler, Stefan tells Elena that he is going to find Damon.

Outside, Stefan calls out Damon's name, and the hunter, Connor, gets away in his truck. Stefan runs over to Damon and starts to help him up, but decides to punch him instead. Lying on the ground, Damon asks what that was for, but Stefan merely responds, "You know what," referring to Damon letting Elena feed on him, and he leaves.

Back at the Salvatore mansion, Stefan and Elena are in the living room. Stefan pours Elena a glass of bourbon, explaining that alcohol helps with the cravings. They sip their drinks for a moment before Elena addresses the tension between them. Stefan admits he's hurt that Elena has not been truthful with him, and Elena defends herself by saying that she didn't want to ruin Stefan's good mood. They argue about Elena going to Damon for help instead of Stefan, and Elena admits that she felt that Damon would understand. Stefan resents that Elena thought he wouldn't understand, and goes on to explain why he's angry that she fed on Damon. She apologizes and begins to cry, confessing that she can't stop feeling everyone's grief. Stefan finally lets go of his anger and comforts her before he asks her to go somewhere with him.

At the school, Stefan and Elena join Matt, Jeremy, Caroline, Damon and Bonnie to have the memorial that they didn't have a chance to finish. Stefan tells Damon and everyone else that they have lost so much, and suffered so long, without allowing themselves to grieve and heal. Damon objects to Stefan's idea and thinks that they have more important things to do, like tracking down the vampire hunter, but Stefan they need to do this first. Stefan then lights a Japanese floating lantern in memory of his Uncle Zach, his best friend Lexi and for Alaric. He, along with everyone else who lit a lantern, releases his lantern into the sky.

In *The Rager*, Damon finds Stefan working on his motorcycle in front of the house and teases him about it before informing him that Connor had abducted Tyler long enough for him to extract some werewolf venom from Tyler's mouth. Damon turns down Stefan's offer to help, reminding him of their deal that whoever Elena didn't choose would leave town. Stefan suggests that the situation has changed now that Elena is a vampire.

At school, Stefan and Elena endure harassment from Rebekah until Elena tries to retaliate: she throws a pencil forcefully at Rebekah, who catches it and throws it into Elena's chest. Stefan leaves the classroom with Elena, trying to talk her down from her building rage. They see Connor in the hallway, and as he starts to head toward Jeremy, Elena wants to interfere, but Stefan tells her that he'll deal with Connor and Jeremy while she cleans up the blood from her pencil injury. Stefan follows Connor and Jeremy to the classroom they're sitting in, and after deeming Jeremy safe, he leaves.

Outside the school, Stefan and Caroline try to soothe Elena, who is still furious about Rebekah's antagonism. Elena finally agrees to skip the rest of the school day and have fun, and leaves to go home and change. Caroline shares her concern about Elena with Stefan, and he explains that Elena is channeling all her emotion to rage, and that she'll learn to deal with it better. Caroline commends Stefan on being so good at helping new vampires adjust.

When Stefan and Elena arrive at the party, it seems that most of the school is already there. Stefan compels a boy to give him his cup of beer, and he gives it to Elena. She sees April and decides to go say hi to her while Stefan goes to find something stronger than beer. Later, Stefan halts Elena from going after Rebekah with the white oak stake. He says he won't stop her, but instead explains exactly what will happen, and in the end the guilt of killing Rebekah and her entire bloodline isn't worth it. He suggests they leave the party instead, and Elena finally hands over the stake. Before they leave, Stefan watches Elena do a keg-stand, to the cheers of the party-goers, as a last-ditch effort at irritating Rebekah. They take a ride on Stefan's motorcycle on a deserted country road; Elena stands up on the bike and laughs, reveling in the sensation, and Stefan smiles.

Back at the boarding house, Stefan and Elena are getting hot and heavy in Stefan's room, and they make out until suddenly Elena starts to hallucinate that Stefan is Damon. Stefan asks he what's wrong after she pushes him away, and they see that the veins in Elena's arms pulsate and look inflamed. Stefan remembers that the hunter had werewolf venom, and Elena must have been poisoned with it. Stefan calls Klaus numerous times until he finally shows up. Stefan begs him to heal her with his blood, and Klaus feigns reluctance before cryptically suggesting that Elena might still prove useful to him, and he heals her.

Later, after Elena has left, Caroline arrives at the boarding house at Stefan's request, and he shares his concerns with her about being able to help Elena enjoy being a vampire, when he himself has so much trouble keeping a balance between enjoyment and becoming the Ripper. He points out that Caroline is good at being a vampire, and she insists that it's because Stefan helped her when she first turned. Caroline promises to be there for Stefan, and tells him that he should come to her when he needs help, and she won't let him lose control.

In *The Five*, Stefan finds Damon in the living room unpacking boxes. Damon explains that he confiscated Connor's belongings from his RV after he and Klaus killed him, and that he's looking for clues that might explain who Connor was and what he was after. Damon thinks Connor was supernatural for several reasons, including that fact that Klaus mentioned something about Connor being connected with the Five. Stefan asks him what "the Five" is, and Damon says he's hoping he'll find something in the boxes that explains that. Stefan peruses the boxes while Damon fields a call from the sheriff, who informs him that Connor's remains were not found at the site of the explosion. Damon tells Stefan that he needs him to investigate the Connor situation while Damon takes Elena to college. This is news to Stefan, and Damon explains that he intends to teach Elena how to feed from humans without killing them, and that Elena needs to learn "snatch, eat, erase" now more than ever. Stefan starts to object, but Damon stops him, reminding him that they're not in a fight.

Later, Stefan and Elena are in the woods practicing "hunter defense" with bows and arrows. Elena stands by the plan, insisting that she has to learn to feed without killing, especially since she almost lost control feeding on Matt. Stefan suggests that Caroline help her, but Elena says that Caroline is too good at self-control and wouldn't be as easy to relate to. She adds that they're crashing Bonnie's college visit, as the professor who took over her Grams' classes teaches there and invited her. While continuing to playfully practice defense techniques, Elena reassures Stefan that Damon is only teaching her how to feed, and that Stefan is really the one getting her through her adjustment period. Satisfied with Elena's reasons, Stefan reminds her to be careful, as it's easy to get caught up in the feed. She promises to be careful, and they share a moment leaning forehead to forehead.

While Klaus is checking on Connor, who is his hostage and chained to an Inquisition-age rack, he senses that Stefan is behind him. They banter about breaking and entering and keeping hostages before Klaus admits that Connor hasn't been forthcoming with information. They leave the room so that Connor can't listen to their conversation, and Stefan asks Klaus about the Five. Klaus lightly admonishes Stefan for his nosiness, but admits that he might be useful in persuading Rebekah to cooperate with Klaus.

Klaus proceeds to tell Stefan that the brotherhood of the Five was a group of highly skilled vampire hunters and that Klaus and his siblings had crossed paths with them in the 12th century in Italy. Stefan interrupts to confirm that these vampire hunters have been around for 900 years. Klaus answers in the affirmative, but adds that Connor is the first member of the Five that he has encountered since the 12th century. Stefan also recalls from the story that Rebekah had been involved with one of the hunters. Klaus elaborates that Rebekah had in fact been in love with the hunter, and during that time had learned many of the brotherhood's secrets. Klaus says that he will share these secrets with Stefan if he does Klaus a favor: he wants Stefan to persuade Rebekah to come to the house. Klaus needs important information regarding the hunter that only Rebekah would know, but she is still angry with Klaus. Stefan wants to know what's in it for him, but Klaus merely says to trust him when he says that Connor holds the answer to all of Stefan's prayers.

Rebekah and April are sitting at a table at the Grill when Stefan approaches them and sits next to April. He compels April to not remember anything that he and Rebekah talk about, before he turns to Rebekah and tells her that Klaus wants him to fake peace with her so that she'll talk about The Five. Rebekah resists, so Stefan asks Rebekah to forget about helping Klaus and to just help him instead. He even bribes her by offering her a clean slate, saying that while he is not necessarily willing to forgive Rebekah for what she did to Elena, he is willing to put his anger towards her aside and start over. She is still suspicious, so he dangles the offer to talk Matt into giving her another chance, and finally Rebekah gives in.

Stefan and Rebekah arrive at Klaus' mansion and she sees Connor chained up. She asks Stefan and Klaus if it's a trick, wondering aloud how this hunter could be one of The Five if he doesn't have the tattoo. Klaus informs her that his tattoo is invisible, and suggests they sit down to eat. Klaus and Rebekah bicker until Stefan reminds him that he would rather be eating dinner with anyone else. Klaus then apologizes to Rebekah, though somewhat backhandedly, and Rebekah replies that she is willing to take his apology under consideration. Stefan returns the conversation to the story of the Five, and Klaus explains that Rebekah's beau, Alexander, was looking for vampires with the assumption that they could not walk in the daylight, so Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah felt safe around Alexander while wearing their daylight rings.

After Klaus reveals that Alexander had claimed that the Five possessed a special weapon that could destroy all vampires. Rebekah interrupts to say that it was not just any weapon, but Klaus tells her to not get ahead of the story. Stefan wants to know how this weapon could be the answer to all of his prayers, as Klaus put it earlier. When they say nothing, Stefan gets impatient and asks them to get to the point. Klaus finally answers cryptically that they need to solve the "puzzle" which seems to have disappeared. Stefan guesses that the tattoo is the puzzle, and Klaus elaborates that the tattoo is a map that will lead them to the treasure. Rebekah points out that this will be difficult, as the tattoo is invisible, but Klaus has already solved this problem: Jeremy can see the tattoo, and Klaus has one of his minions bring Jeremy into the room. Stefan speeds over to Jeremy but Klaus blocks his way, warning him against trying anything. Klaus announces that Jeremy will draw the tattoo for them, though Jeremy insists he won't help him. The hybrid minion then removes Jeremy's Gilbert ring and tosses it over to Klaus, who reasserts that Jeremy will help, tacitly threatening him should he still refuse. Stefan watches the exchange with concern.

While Jeremy sketches the tattoo, Klaus finishes telling Stefan the story about the Five, and how they daggered all of the Original siblings. Klaus wasn't affected by the daggers, so he killed all the hunters and found out why Rebekah trusted Alexander: the hunter had told there was a cure for vampirism. Unfortunately, after Klaus killed all five hunters, their tattoos, and thus the map leading to the cure, disappeared and Klaus hadn't seen another hunter until Connor. Klaus and Rebekah argue, and Rebekah leaves the house angrily. Klaus sends Stefan after her to find out where the hunter's sword, required to decode the map, was hidden.

Back at the boarding house, Stefan is pouring drinks when Rebekah arrives, having been summoned. Stefan lures her into trust by admitting he would want to take the cure with Elena and be human with her, and Rebekah inadvertently admits that she buried the sword with Alexander in Italy. Klaus emerges from another room, clearly having listened, and after Rebekah argues with him some more he daggers her. Stefan looks troubled by this, but knows better than to try to intervene. Stefan agrees to deal with Rebekah's body and compel Jeremy to forget the day's events, as well as keep mum about the cure, while Klaus travels to Italy to retrieve the sword.

At the Gilbert house, Stefan opens the front door to find Elena talking to Damon on the porch. Damon leaves, and Elena admits that although she was able to feed successfully, she hated the experience and how it made her feel. He comforts her, reassuring her that she'll get through this.

In *The Killer*, Stefan writes in his journal his concern about Elena, but adds that there's hope now that there might be a cure. He writes that he'll do whatever it takes to get the chance for Elena to be human again. He is interrupted by Klaus, who contacts him from Italy to tell him that Connor has escaped and stolen werewolf venom from the hybrid guarding him. Klaus reminds Stefan that he is too far away to be able to cure anyone should they become infected with the venom, and charges him with finding and catching Connor, keeping him alive in order to use his tattoo. Stefan wants to tell Damon, whose own agenda involves killing Connor, but Klaus is adamant and threatens to dispense with their search altogether if Stefan tells anyone.

Later, after ignoring Damon and Elena's calls all morning, he meets the others at the Lockwood mansion where Damon, Elena, Caroline, Tyler and Hayley are discussing their rescue mission to save Jeremy from Connor, who is holding him and possibly others hostage at the Grill. Without telling the others about his knowledge of the cure, he manages to buy himself time to come up with a plan to save the hostages whilst keeping Connor alive by reminding them he may have werewolf venom.

Later, Stefan is walking around outside Mystic Grill on the phone with Klaus, trying to negotiate getting Klaus' hybrids on board with his plan. He then calls Elena and Damon and tells them there are three hostages in the Grill, having heard Matt and April's voices as well as Jeremy's.

Stefan arrives at Alaric's loft to meet Damon and Elena, and explains his plan to have one of Klaus' hybrids enter the Grill first, as they are immune to werewolf venom. Damon, immediately suspicious about Klaus' involvement, tries to get Stefan to admit what he seems to not be telling them. Unsuccessful, Damon announces he'll go and kill Connor himself, so Stefan quickly subdues Damon with vervain to stop him. Stefan convinces a shocked Elena that she needs to stay behind, promises he'll get Jeremy and the others out alive, kisses her and leaves.

Stefan calls Connor and reveals he knows about the Hunter's Mark, yet Connor refuses to free the hostages until all of the vampires are dead and hangs up. After making his way through the tunnels and into the back room of the Grill, Stefan tells Matt and April to leave before he cautiously makes his way into the main restaurant, ducking behind the bar as Connor shoots at him. He tries to negotiate with Connor, to no avail.

Elena enters the Grill, safe as long as Connor doesn't know she's a vampire. Her try at negotiating fails, and Stefan reveals himself after Connor begins a countdown to shoot Jeremy. When Connor starts shooting at him, Elena runs at Connor, exposing herself as a vampire. Connor shoots Jeremy before Elena tackles him. Seeing that the bomb is about to go off, Stefan grabs the injured Jeremy and hurls them both over an overturned table for cover. Elena, distracted by the bomb blast, looks up to find Jeremy; Connor takes advantage and overpowers her. Stefan rushes over and manages to push him off of her. With vampire speed, Stefan grabs Connor and leaves.

Underground, Stefan is leading Connor by force through the tunnels when they run into Damon, who wants to kill Connor. Stefan won't allow it and wants to take Connor, but Damon, still suspicious about Klaus' involvement, doesn't let up. Stefan tells Connor to run and pins Damon to the wall, but Damon quickly overpowers him and plunges his fist into Stefan's chest, refusing to relent until Stefan reveals what he's up to with Klaus. Stefan finally confesses that he's been working with Klaus because Connor's tattoo is the key to finding a cure for vampirism.

Stefan and Damon later join Elena in the woods, where she is digging a grave for Connor's body. She tells Stefan angrily that she thought she could trust him. The brothers helplessly watch her break down as the enormity of taking a life sinks in, and neither mentions the cure to her. Later, back at the boarding house, Stefan thanks Damon for not telling Elena about the cure, and that by killing Connor she may have lost her only chance to be human again. Damon calls Stefan out on his motives for wanting the cure for Elena, and Stefan responds that although he will always love her, Elena is not meant to be a vampire, and he doesn't want her to be this person.

In *We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes*, Stefan shows up at the Gilbert House after receiving a call from Damon that Elena had stabbed and killed Jeremy. He heads upstairs to Elena and says he understands if she is still upset with him from the previous day and wants to help her. She accuses him of working with Klaus and refuses to talk to him after he tells her it isn't what she thinks.

Klaus calls him and soon appears at the Gilbert house. Outside, Stefan demands to know what Klaus knows about Elena's hallucinations. Klaus tells him when a hunter is killed by a vampire, the consequence is that the hunter will torment his killer from beyond the grave until the vampire commits suicide. Klaus wants to take Elena and lock her up to prevent this from happening, but Stefan refuses. Elena, suffering another hallucination, runs onto the porch and before either Stefan or Damon has time to react, Klaus snatches Elena and disappears. A short while later, Bonnie arrives at the Gilbert house at the Salvatores' invitation. She says if she could do anything to help she would, but the spirits won't allow her to use magic. She offers to ask Shane for help and Stefan leaves.

Stefan calls Caroline and tells her that he needs Tyler's help to distract the hybrids at Klaus' mansion so that he can get inside and release Elena. He joins Caroline and Tyler at the Lockwood mansion, and Tyler tells Stefan about Hayley, who helped Tyler break the sire bond and has been helping another hybrid, Chris, do the same. After Caroline lures Klaus away to distract him, Stefan and Tyler arrive at Klaus' mansion and persuade Chris to get rid of the hybrids guarding Elena. After relieving the hybrids of their guard duty, Chris gives Stefan the key to the room where Elena is being held. As Stefan enters, Elena backs away in fear, as she sees Connor instead of Stefan. She manages to stab Stefan with a metal pole from the bed and escapes through the open door. Stefan calls Damon while removing the pole from his abdomen, informing him of Elena's escape and asking Damon to take over in the search for her.

Later, Stefan arrives with Jeremy at the Lockwood mansion and incapacitates Chris with a stake. Stefan apologizes before nodding to Jeremy, who then decapitates Chris with a meat cleaver.

Stefan returns to the Gilbert house the next day to talk to Elena. They discuss recent events, acknowledging that now they all know about the cure and will have to work together going forward. After Elena asks why he sent Damon to look for her, Stefan admits that Damon seems to have Elena's trust in ways that he doesn't anymore. She starts to apologize, but Stefan instead urges her to be honest and admit to where she stands when it comes to him and Damon. Elena confesses that while she loves Stefan for helping her through her transition, she can't deny her relationship with Damon has intensified since she became a vampire. Stefan tells her sadly that he "can't do this anymore," and they break up.

In *My Brother's Keeper*, Stefan works out in the woods while on the phone with Caroline, who is trying to persuade him to attend the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant. He reminds her that he and Elena have broken up, and mentions that Elena admitted to having feelings for Damon. Caroline scoffs at this, promises to talk some sense into Elena, and advises Stefan not to let this setback get the better of him.  File:Stefan-and-Klaus-in-TVD-4x07-My-Brothers-Keeper.png  As Stefan hangs up and stands, Klaus appears suddenly and grabs him from behind in a chokehold, demanding to know why he told people about the cure. He orders Stefan to find some vampires for Jeremy to kill, threatening worse consequences if he fails to do so.
As Stefan leaves the boarding house, Damon intercepts him and asks what he's up to. Stefan gives a few one-word answers and Damon calls him out on being shady again. Abruptly Stefan tells Damon that he and Elena broke up. Damon, accepting this with minimal reaction, brings Stefan up to speed on the hunter situation, suggesting that they find another hunter besides Jeremy to complete the mark. He also shares the new information about Shane's involvement with Pastor Young, and supposes they might get more information out of the professor. Stefan shows little interest in Damon's scheming, and after Damon suggests they blow off steam instead with some brotherly bonding, Stefan laughs and reminds his brother that he knows Damon is probably happy that Elena is now single.

Stefan is next seen at the hospital, checking through clipboards for potential vampires, and finds a police officer guarding a door. He compels the officer and the man handcuffed who reveals he is a convicted murderer. After learning the man has no regrets other than being caught, Stefan feeds him his blood and snaps his neck.

He then texts Jeremy to meet him and waits in the cellar for him to appear.

He asks if Jeremy is interested in making Elena human again and he agrees, following Stefan deeper into the cellar to reveal the fugitive who is tied up and in transition. Stefan cuts Jeremy's wrist and gives his blood to the fugitive who completes his transition into a vampire. Stefan thrusts a stake in his hand and demands that Jeremy kill the vampire, who protests but stakes the vampire after Stefan threatens he will let the vampire loose. Whilst on the phone with Damon, he tells Stefan to leave Jeremy out of it, and Stefan responds with 'Elena needs the cure'. Hanging up, Stefan shows Jeremy a picture of Connor's tattoo and asks where the mark is up to. Jeremy won't tell Stefan anything as he can't be trusted, and Stefan tries to compel him into revealing how far the mark has grown, Jeremy however stakes Stefan in the stomach, saying he can't be compelled anymore before leaving.

Stefan then rushes into the house when the out of control Jeremy attempts to stake Elena and pulls the stake from her neck. She then tries to find Jeremy and Stefan catches up with her, he is silent when Elena asks if he has been making Jeremy kill vampires. She doesn't want her humanity back if it means Jeremy loses his, but Stefan says it's the only way to 'fix all of this'. He looks hurt when Elena tells him that the old Elena died on the bridge and that he should let her go, and leaves after seeing Damon approach.

Later on, Stefan leaves his house after Elena moves in due to not being able to live in the same house as Jeremy anymore, telling her to 'pick a room'. He moves into Caroline's house who tells her he can't give up on the cure- or Elena. Stefan retorts he couldn't even if he wanted to due to Klaus wanting more hybrids with Elena's blood. Caroline suddenly stands after talking about Tyler's hybrid friends being un-sired, and after talking to through with Stefan, he realizes that Elena is sired to Damon.

In *We'll Always Have Bourbon Street*, Stefan is first seen discussing Damon and Elena's sire bond with Caroline, and stops her from calling Elena until they know for sure. Caroline tells him she will talk to Tyler, and Stefan asks her to keep the information to herself File:408-0014.jpg  . Later, he walks into his house and shares an awkward greeting with Elena before telling Damon they need to talk. Off screen, he tells Damon about the potential sire bond who adamantly rejects his claims. After Stefan asks Damon to test the sire bond; for example tell Elena to drink from a blood bag (which she previously cannot do, due to Damon's indirect command), Stefan admits if he is wrong, he will be the first to apologize.
Stefan is on the phone with Caroline, having spoken to Tyler about his own sire bond, she reveals hybrids are sired due to being grateful to Klaus, and Stefan seems upset when she adds there is no vampire equivalent for the reasons behind a sire bond. He hangs up and enters the library where Damon is rummaging around through old papers. Damon tells him that he was right, Elena is sired and Damon holds up a photo Stefan realizes of being from New Orleans in 1942. Stefan asks about 'that girl you used to hang around with', to which Damon tells him was Charlotte, a woman he turned.

Damon reveals the time when Charlotte killed a sailor after touching Damon's drink, having told her to 'have no mercy', he tells Stefan that was his first clue she was sired. Stefan retorts 'I can only assume you took full advantage of that?' then Damon hands him a paper which reads Valerie LaMarche, Stefan looks up curiously and Damon tells him she was the witch who helped break the sire bond.

Later, Stefan and Damon arrive in New Orleans and Stefan says he hasn't been back since 1942. The two begin arguing with Stefan demanding to know 'one thing you've asked her to do, you haven't gotten?', he says he blames the sire bond for Elena feelings and that 'it's impossible for her to be so blind that she doesn't see how wrong you are for her'. Damon walks away, angry to which Stefan apologizes.

A flashback shows Stefan, dressed in his war uniform rehearsing lines to Lexi which to say to his brother. Stefan walks up to the bar and pats Damon's shoulder and tells him he wishes to 'bury the hatchet' before they hug. Whilst drinking and laughing, Stefan reveals his plans to join the war and seems surprised, yet joyful when Damon requests to join, and says he will speak to his C.O before leaving to get another round of drinks. When he returns, they clink glasses before Charlotte arrives, with a bloody corpse in her arms. Clearly trying to fight his blood-lust as Charlotte tosses the corpse over to him, his fingers bloody and veins appearing underneath his eyes. Damon takes the victim from Stefan before Lexi drags him from the bar.

In the present, Stefan apologizes again, saying he 'shouldn't blame him for the sire bond' and asks if Charlotte may still be in New Orleans, then leaves to see 'how literal the sire bond is', after Damon reveals he told her to count all the bricks. After reaching the corner, Stefan bitterly retorts that not telling Elena the truth- as Damon suggested 'is Damon speak for let's just do what's right for me'. After Damon leaves, Stefan looks at the ground, ashamed yet rushes forwards after he hears a commotion in Damon's direction. He pulls a vampire off Damon and asks what the hell happened, looking confused when Damon tells him the vampire kissed him. Stefan looks horrified as the vampire is revealed to be Charlotte, having counted every single brick in New Orleans, waiting for Damon.

Stefan and Damon enter a shop, approached by a woman who Damon quickly asks for Val. The woman, Nandi, tells them Val was her great grandmother and another flashback reveals Val told Damon of a way to break the sire bond with twelve human sacrifices. Back in the present, Stefan is horrified and demands to know whether Damon killed twelve people, looking disgruntled when he says he did.  File:408-0099.jpg  Sometime later, Stefan re-enters the shop after Damon and finds out Nandi is actually Val's daughter. She tells them her mother sold Damon a bill of good because she wanted access to Expression, a form of magic which channels the power of human sacrifices. After asking about the sire bond spell, Stefan looks dismayed and upset when she reveals that the only way a vampire bonds to her sire is if she had feelings for them before she was turned, and the only way around the bond is to release her.

As Stefan and Damon leave New Orleans, Stefan tells him he doesn't think he will be able to let Elena go, as 'selflessness isn't a trait of his'. As Damon tells him of the time when he let Stefan go to war alone, for his own good rather than joining him, Stefan looks shocked. He then says he is upset about losing Elena to him, but when it's all over and if she never feels the same way about him, it'll be her choice.

Stefan is last seen at Caroline's house, feeling sympathetic towards Damon, believing he will do the right thing. He tells her that Damon loves Elena as much as he does so he can't be selfish with her, and will let her go.

In *O Come, All Ye Faithful*, Stefan first appears at Klaus' house exchanging small talk about Klaus' 'snowflake' painting before revealing Elena is sired to Damon, and so he needs the cure now more than ever. Klaus tells him that they were 'in this together' and proceeds to show him Alexander's Sword, explaining that the sword decodes Jeremy's hunter's tattoo.

Stefan is next seen in the Salvatore Houses' library when Caroline calls him, he repeats Klaus' words about the tattoo leading to the Cure. Caroline says they need to find the sword, as the Hybrids are taking out Klaus that night. Stefan agrees as he is later seen ripping off the handle of the vault in Klaus' mansion, looking frustrated when he sees that the sword is gone. He talks with Damon over the phone on ideas of where Klaus could have hidden the sword and rejects the idea at killing Tyler before falling silent after rummaging around a trunk and finding letters, none of which are addressed to Klaus and he begins to read one.  File:409 - 047.jpg  He puts down a letter he had been reading and questions Damon over Elena's movements, he is sympathetic towards Damon after asking how she took Damon 'letting her go', and Damon quickly offers an excuse before he hangs up.

Caroline and Stefan are later waiting by an alley nearby the Grill and Stefan demands that Tyler stop or delay the plan to attack Klaus. Tyler dismisses him and Stefan attempts to stop Tyler with super-speed however stops as Caroline motions towards the number of hybrids standing in the alleyway. Tyler takes them to the Lockwood Cellar where he tells the hybrids to keep them down there until they're ready to bring in Klaus, Stefan tries to persuade him that it isn't about revenge for them, to no avail. Some time later Caroline and Stefan are still 'hostages' in the Lockwood Cellar and Stefan answers the phone, it's Damon who tells him something unheard. Stefan hangs up; telling Caroline and the hybrid guards that they don't need the sword anymore.

After being released, Stefan finds Klaus at the Winter Wonderland event, when Klaus threatens to compel the truth about why he has been 'dodgy' as a distraction tool, Stefan admits that he broke into Klaus' house for the sword and that he doesn't trust him. He says he found Klaus' letters from 'pen pals' over the centuries and is silenced momentarily as Klaus reveals that he memorializes his dead, much like Stefan because of 'loneliness', that keeping letters and writing names on a wall is because they are left utterly alone. As Klaus spots a hybrid; Adrian over his shoulder, Stefan watches him go with a thoughtful look on his face, clearly having listened to Klaus' words.

Whilst sitting with Caroline later on, they exchange words regarding Klaus, and Stefan admits he felt guilty watching Klaus get 'led away to his slaughter'. Stefan says that he has been trying to figure out what makes them better than Klaus, and that it is because they have family they can trust. Caroline eye's him wearily as she asks somewhat bitterly about having heard from Damon. Stefan seems confused at her question and by Caroline's look knows Damon and Elena are  File:S030a-d13-vam1-10-29.jpg  together. Stefan looks away as Caroline doesn't answer 'how together are they?' and demands to know, yet finally realizing by Caroline's lack of response just how together they are. He paces and knocks over a chess piece, suddenly lashing out, tossing the chess board off the table and throwing the end table against the wall, angry at how far Damon and Elena's relationship has escalated.
In *After School Special*, Stefan is drinking alone at the Grill, expressing his bitterness over the phone to Caroline about Damon and Elena sleeping together. She berates him about missing the mandatory school assembly consisting of Carol's memorial and tells him to get it together. Whilst still at the Grill sometime later, he answers the phone to an unknown caller, revealed as a now un-daggered Rebekah who says she has Elena hostage at the school and expects to see him there soon. Angered, he calls Caroline and asks if she 'would like to drive the White Oak Stake through Rebekah's heart' whilst quickly leaving the Grill.

Stefan shows up at the school in search of Rebekah, checking his text messages for any word from Caroline. Hearing a noise down the end of the corridor, he starts to text Caroline yet Rebekah soon shows up, pushing him against the locker, stating she wants the cure. Stefan switches their positions, pushing her against the wall as a means to distract her until Caroline reaches them, though releasing her when Rebekah holds up the stake, saying she already found her. Rebekah forces Stefan into the library where she quickly delves into finding out how far they have gotten into finding the cure. Things turn ugly when Rebekah learns Elena and Stefan broke up and taunts them into knowing the reason. Under compulsion, Stefan reveals Elena slept with Damon.

Rebekah, continuing to divulge information sarcastically asks Stefan why Elena would hurt him like that to which he responds 'she was sired to Damon'. Rebekah looks at Elena, knowing she is hiding something and compels her into 'fessing up', Elena admits that she slept with Damon because she's in love with him, leaving Stefan looking visibly hurt and heartbroken at the admission. Rebekah then moves onto finding out about the cure, and Stefan tells her where they can find Professor Shane. Later, Rebekah re-enters the library and compels them into playing 'truth or dare', where she dares Elena into telling Stefan the truth about Damon. As Elena tells him she isn't in love with him anymore, Stefan is hurt and tells Rebekah to 'go to hell' after further goading. As Tyler arrives, Rebekah provokes him into transforming, compelling Elena, Stefan and Caroline not to 'vamp run' in the hallways. As Tyler begins to transform, Stefan quickly ushers Caroline and Elena out. As Caroline darts away in another direction, Elena and Stefan run through a hallway, slamming a door and trying to use their collective strength to keep hybrid-Tyler out.

After they no longer hear Tyler, Stefan and Elena run into the lab after Bonnie's screams of help where they are stunned to find an unconscious April, Stefan feeds her his blood to heal her and forces Bonnie to get herself and April out of the school. After they leave, the room is tense as Elena tries to approach Stefan to talk about what has happened. Stefan is visibly angered at her approach and demands 'how many more ways is there for you to rip my heart out?'. Elena apologizes, and Stefan scoffs whether she 'sorry that it happened, or sorry he found out' before Rebekah appears, striding into the room with a grin on her face. She seems disappointed that after everything, Stefan still protects Elena and offers to take every memory of Elena away. Both Elena and Rebekah seem shocked as Stefan jumps at the chance, telling her to 'do it'. Elena protests immediately, and Rebekah begins to laugh, saying it would be far too easy, and that she refuses to make Stefan forget Elena, the way Klaus made him forget her. She smirks at Elena, at least she knows how Stefan really feels before looking back to Stefan declaring his pain is her revenge.

After being freed from the school, Stefan is at home with a drink when Rebekah walks through the door. Stefan called her and convinces her to join forces in the race to the cure, saying they both hate their brothers, both have nothing, so they're better off as partners as if they find the cure first, they can decide what to do with it.

In *Catch Me If You Can*, Rebekah comes to the Salvatore boarding house talking to Stefan while reading his diary and they decide to steal Silas' headstone, because the others are way ahead of them in search of the cure; Klaus has Jeremy (a hunter) and Shane has Bonnie. Rebekah tells Stefan when they get the stone Shane will have to join them and Klaus will be left in the cold.

They go to Shane's office and try to find the headstone and Rebekah comes across some "herbs" and suggests that they have fun. She asks Stefan what's wrong with him as in the 20s he used to be 'fun'. Stefan responds that he was a psychotic killer with no emotions back then and Rebekah disagrees by saying that he might have been a killer, but he wasn't emotionless, to which Stefan admits that he really did have fun. She hands him the herbs and tells him not to worry because Shane won't be back any time soon, she has made sure of that.

They look at the professor's stuff and Stefan is amused by Rebekah's cultural knowledge. They also talk about Elena and Rebekah says that she wouldn't compel him to forget her, not because she want's him to suffer, but because she has realized that love and caring ruins people She adds that they had fun in the 20s because they didn't care, they just did what felt good-drinking, feeding, sex. They younger Salvatore responds that sex wasn't good because they didn't care, it was good because she was crazy and crazy sex is always good. They almost kiss when someone enters the office. The person is also looking for the headstone and finds it, when the original sister catches him. They both question the man but are unable to figure out who he is and what he's doing there as he's compelled to kill himself, which he does by grabbing Rebekah's knife and stabbing himself.

They figure that there must be a third team in the race for the cure. At this moment Elena calls Stefan and he is wondering whether to answer or not when Rebekah picks up instead of him. Elena explains that Kol compelled Damon to kill Jeremy because the original doesn't want them to wake Silas and they are in the tunnels and she can't seem to find them so she needs help. Stefan however, doesn't respond in any way and Elena hangs up the phone, trying to make Damon resist the compulsion but he's unable to do so and demands Jeremy shoot him in the heart. Just before the younger Gilbert succeeds in that, Stefan appears and snaps Damon's neck.

Later, the brothers are in the cellar and Stefan is shown to have bled Damon out because he didn't have vervain and needed to find a way to weaken him. Damon wants to see Elena, but Stefan refuses to fulfill his wish as the sire bond still exists and the elder Salvatore could use it to get free. Stefan adds that it's better for Elena if Damon stays locked up, until they find the cure and she's not sired anymore-then they could both do whatever the hell they want. Minutes later, Stefan has a conversation with Elena who has come to speak with Damon, but Stefan refuses to let her see his big brother, she then asks him what was he doing with Rebekah-she's the one that tried to kill her. Stefan responds that this is the second time Damon had tried to kill Jeremy so nobody's perfect, to which Elena asks him if he's trying to punish her, because she doesn't know how many times she can apologize. Stefan retorts that he never asked her for it and he doesn't really care what she does. She says that he's hurt and he's acting out, that this is not his true self. Stefan responds by saying he's being himself, but she doesn't know what he looks like when he's not in love with her.

At the end of the episode, Stefan goes to Rebekah and she explains that she didn't dagger Kol because he threatened to kill her. The younger Salvatore asks where she has hidden the headstone, but she refuses to tell him as he has already betrayed her twice. Then they hook up and agree to not include feelings or any attachments in their relationship.

In *A View to a Kill*, Stefan wakes up in Rebekah's bed. He's wondering how to get out silently but as he's about to succeed in that Klaus gets in his way. The Original sister also wakes up and starts arguing with her brother. Nik is there because he needs a dagger in order to put Kol down, but Rebekah refuses to give her last one to him as she doesn't want to leave herself unprotected. Klaus then asks Stefan to talk some sense into his sister, but the younger Salvatore explains that he has to take care of Damon as he's still compelled to kill Jeremy. Klaus convinces Stefan that he needs to help him dagger Kol because then Damon will be free, Jeremy will live and they'll be able to find the cure. Stefan agrees to try and get the dagger from Rebekah but first him and Klaus go to Damon as someone still needs to babysit him. Stefan is not talking to his big brother because he's still mad at him for sleeping with Elena. Klaus, however, reveals to Damon that maybe his little brother has moved on since he caught him sneaking out of Rebekah's bed this morning.

As Stefan is leaving the house, Elena calls him and tells him her plan to kill Kol. She says that Bonnie can use her magic to hold Kol and Jeremy can kill him and then his mark will grow as Kol's bloodline will be very big. Stefan is concerned that if they do that Klaus and Rebekah will go after them and Elena responds that in this case Stefan will use the dagger on the original sister and Bonnie will be able to deal with Klaus. Stefan says that he can't dagger Rebekah and Elena responds that she knows vampires can't use the dagger and they'll make Matt do it. Stefan agrees and goes to Rebekah who is preparing for the 80s decade dance. He informs her that the event was cancelled. They talk and she says that she knows he was trying to sneak out this morning and asks him if he regrets spending the night with her. He responds that he doesn't and suggests that they go to the dance together even if it's cancelled. Both of them go to the school and start dancing while Matt is trying to find the dagger in Rebekah's place. The younger Salvatore tells the original sister about the 80's. He gives her a koala corsage and then they dance. Rebekah admits that Stefan is actually fun tonight and he responds that he can't listen to the 80's music without thinking of Lexi. She asks if Stefan has slept with her too, but he says no and adds that he was just a better person when he was with Lexi. He never thought he would feel like that again until he met Elena and now it was over. At this moment a balloon cracks and Stefan looks around scared but Rebekah then reveals she has the dagger with her in case Kol comes. They slide in the school corridor while Matt is sneaking behind them so that he could put her down when Stefan gets the dagger. Rebekah however knows what the Salvatore brother wants and she gives him the dagger herself. She agrees to Klaus putting down Kol as she actually doesn't realize that their goal is to get rid of her.

In the last moment Stefan changes his mind and decides not to go with this part of the plan. In the meantime, however, Jeremy and Elena manage to kill Kol and Bonnie helps them trap Klaus inside the Gilbert house. When Stefan gets the news about Kol being dead, he tells Rebekah. She yells at him for betraying her once again. Stefan responds that he can't let the people he loves get hurt and she can hate him for it but now Kol can't hurt her either. He adds that he wants them to find the cure together-not for Elena, but for her too so that she can have what she wants. Rebekah asks why should she trust him and he answers that he could give her his word but at the end of the day she'll just have to take a leap. After that Stefan goes home and sees Elena, Damon, Bonnie and Jeremy there. File:Mfg.jpg  He brings the headstone and explains that he didn't dagger Rebekah, because he didn't need to as she is on their side. Elena can't believe him and asks how could he think that he could trust her. Then Damon says that Rebekah probably pledged her allegiance while she and his brother were "knacked in the sack". Stefan is mad at Damon and attacks him by saying that he should calm Elena down by using the sire bond. Then Damon hits him and as Stefan is about to respond Jeremy starts screaming because his mark is growing.
In *Into the Wild*, Stefan, Damon, Elena, Rebekah, Bonnie, Jeremy and professor Shane go to an island near Nova Scotia in search for the cure. Stefan is dealing with the rage between Rebekah and Elena. File:Inthewoods.jpg  The original sister is irritating Elena on purpose so the last one threatens Rebekah with the white oak stake. They start walking around the island and Shane is leading them while also telling the story about Silas and the magic well. As they are walking they find out that someone has put traps in their way. While Elena and Jeremy are talking in the woods a man with a bow and arrow tries to kill Jeremy but Elena manages to pull him away. Then they find out that the attacker was killed by someone else with a hatchet. After that Shane decides to stop and put up the tents. Damon is not trusting him and he wants all of them to move on, find the cure and get out of there, but Shane doesn't agree. Stefan and Rebekah sit around the fire and talk about the cure and the tombstone, which Stefan is holding, because he doesn't want to let it out of his sight. Rebekah hears some strange noises in the dark and catches Stefan's arm, admitting that she's a scaredy-cat. The original sister then asks him what will he do when Elena takes the cure and comes back to him. He had said that he also wants to become human and have a life with her. She asks it that's still true, but instead of answering he also question her why would she take it. Rebekah responds that being a vampire is miserable and she would give anything to be human again. After that Stefan also confesses that if he takes the cure now it will be for him and not for Elena. During the night, however, Jeremy gets kidnapped and the others decide to split in order to find him. Elena, Rebekah and Stefan go together, while Bonnie, Shane and Damon stay in the camp. While the original sister, Elena and Stefan are searching the girls continue their fight and the younger Salvatore is trying to ease the situation. However, when Elena almost dies and Rebekah saves her life, they split once more, because Elena decides to go back. When she goes to the camp she gets into a fight with Damon and he leaves. In the meantime Stefan and Rebekah are still roaming in the woods and Stefan "saves" the original sister from another trap. She says that this wouldn't have killed her, but he responds that his actions are a force of habit. Then they talk about Elena again and Rebekah says that they all seem to forget that when she drove her off the bridge she was trying to protect her family-something all of them would to if they were in her position. After that they decide to go back as Jeremy is nowhere to be found and when they get there Rebekah realizes the tombstone is gone. She assumes that Stefan has betrayed her once again, but he manages to convince her that he wouldn't risk anything get in the way to the cure after 146 years of the pain of being a vampire. Elena gives her the white oak stake as a sign of peace and they decide they need to stick together in order to succeed. At the end of the episode Damon is caught by a vampire hunter and Shane has managed to gather Jeremy and Bonnie together as his plan was to separate them from the others from the beginning.

In *Down the Rabbit Hole*, Elena is talking to Caroline who is still in Mystic Falls dealing with Klaus. She explains the situation they are in-Damon is gone as well as Bonnie and Jeremy and they have no idea how to get to the cure without the hunter's sword and the translation of Jeremy's tattoo. Stefan suggests that Caroline looks for the sword on her own as there are only a few places you could hide a three-foot peace of metal to which Caroline agrees. File:Elena and stefan dtrh.jpg  In the meantime Stefan and Elena talk on the shore and Elena asks him why didn't he tell her that he wants the cure for himself. He replies that he has seen every side of vampirism there is and that even the good parts sucks in the long-run so it's understandable why he would want to take it. Elena says that she knows why he would take it but she doesn't understand why he didn't tell her. Stefan says that it has nothing to do with her. Yes, he wanted a human life with her but being a human himself, being normal is something he has longed for a long time. Elena says that she's glad he told her now and he responds that this is a secret shared between friends. In the meantime Caroline and Tyler find the sword and with Klaus' help they manage to translate everything so they call Rebekah. Klaus however decides to share an important information with his sister which he didn't tell the others-there's only one dose of the cure. As a result Rebekah, who desperately wants the cure decides to snap Stefan's neck because she knows that his intentions are to give it to Elena. So the original sister leaves Elena and the younger Salvatore on their own.

Damon is still dealing with Vaughn when Rebekah finds them. Elena and Stefan talk about the cure and Elena says that she can't take it if it's only one dose. But she says that maybe everything is a blessing in disguise and that even if she can be human again she won't be the same person because thing changed the minute she got off the bridge. It's about time to accept the person that she is right now and start living the rest of her life. Stefan says that she'll still live her life sired to Damon. Elena responds that she'll have to deal with that when she gets home. When she mentions home, however, she remembers that Klaus would still want to avenge his brother's death. So they need to find a cure and make him mortal so that he doesn't kill everyone. They manage to find Damon and Rebekah who were overpowered by Vaughn. Elena goes down the well in order to find the cure while Stefan is helping his big brother. He frees Damon and pushes him to keep going but the elder Salvatore refuses to go, saying that he needs a minute and that he'll just slow them down. Elena needs only one of them and it's better for her that one to be Stefan because he wants her to take the cure. Stefan says that it's not that easy anymore but Damon says that right now it is and that he needs to go down the well. Stefan agrees and goes down while Damon is left up with Rebekah. When Stefan gets down he sees Shane trapped, but he decides not to help him, because now the professor can understand what it feels like to have hope and then to lose it. In the meantime, however Katherine (who has appeared on the island without them knowing it) attacks Elena and steals her clothes. She goes to Jeremy and Bonnie who are trying to get the cure out of Silas' hands, but Vaughn is trying to prevent them from doing it. Katherine gets rid from Vaughn for the moment. Jeremy who thinks that this is Elena is trying to make her help Bonnie who was hurt but Katherine doesn't have these intentions. She bites Jeremy's neck and puts it in Silas' mouth. Silas drains the Little Gilbert and kills him while Katherine manages to take the cure and run away.

In *Stand By Me*, Elena and Stefan find Jeremy dead and Silas and the cure gone. Elena is in shock and still thinks that the Gilbert ring will safe Jeremy but when Stefan sees him he realizes that this probably won't happen. He talks to Damon and tells him that the ring wont bring Jeremy back because he was a hunter, which meant he wasn't an ordinary human but a supernatural individual which meant that the ring won't work. The elder Salvatore says that Elena won't survive this-he tells Stefan to get her and go back home while he tries to find Bonnie. They get back to the Gilbert house and see Caroline cleaning the floor from the burn mark where Kol died. When she sees Stefan with Jeremy's body she suddenly stops talking and looks at the younger Salvatore. Stefan just nods his head to her, with which he implies that the little Gilbert is gone. Elena tells Stefan to get Jeremy up to his room. She sits on the bed and holds his hand saying that she'll stay with him until he wakes up. After that Caroline and Stefan talk in the kitchen and Caroline asks how long has Elena been like this.

Stefan replies that she's been waiting for Jeremy to wake up ever since they found his body. Caroline points out that Elena must know that the younger Gilbert is not going to wake up. Stefan lets the water run in the sink so that he could prevent Elena from hearing their conversation. Then he says that deep down she probably knows that but hey are talking about Elena here-she's feeling grief more than anyone else and her denial right now is the only think keeping her from letting it all in. Then Caroline adds that Elena can't stay like this forever. Stefan responds that he knows that but he doesn't want to be the one to break it to her, at least not until Bonnie is safe and Damon comes back to use the sire bond and convince her that everything is going to be okay. In the same moment Elena appears behind them and says that she's not in denial, but she thinks that Jeremy has no longer his tattoo which probably means that he has fulfilled his supernatural destiny and maybe he's back to normal. Caroline tries to talk to her but Elena interrupts her and says that there's still hope and she has to hold on it because there's no way her brother is dead. After that Caroline and Stefan talk on the porch. First they talk about Tyler and Stefan says that there's a way for him to run away from Klaus and not be found as Katherine has already succeed in doing the same. That's probably why she stole the cure-she wants to bargain it for her freedom. Caroline says that she can't believe that after everything the cure is just gone. Stefan agrees and says that when they talk about denial he could say that in his head there was no way that Elena could stay a vampire forever, especially now when she doesn't have a family. Caroline says that they can't think about that right now. They have to make plans and lists, they need to make a funeral and think up of a cover story. She says that it's probably a good idea to go to her mom, because she'll know what to do. Stefan suggests that they also get Matt over there at the house. Caroline agrees and says that she'll get Matt and also do whatever people are doing in this situations. She decides to go but suddenly stops because she smells something and asks Stefan what is it. He says that Jeremy's body is starting to decompose and that they should get Meredith over here too. In the meantime Rebekah and Damon are attacked by Vaughn and manage to overpower him while Bonnie is talking with Shane (who is actually Silas pretending to be Shane) who is trying to convince her that there is a way to bring Jeremy back to life. Meredith goes at the Gilbert house and tries to convince Elena that her brother is actually dead but Elena doesn't want to accept it. She tries to attack Meredith but Stefan holds her tight. She says that there is no science here, only magic and that they need to find Bonnie because she'll be able to bring her brother back. In the same moment Matt also comes and when he sees his friend dead he starts to cry. Elena goes to him and says that everything will be okay and that he doesn't need to cry. Matt takes Elena out for a walk while Stefan and Meredith stay at the house.

They both talk , mainly about what death means to each one of them and how it affects them. Stefan says that he's been alive for almost two centuries now and that with the amount of people he has seen die it must have been easier for him to accept death and to hurt less, but it doesn't. While they talk Damon calls Stefan and asks how is Elena. Stefan says that she's starting to lose it and asks if he had found Bonnie. Damon says that he hasn't found her yet but he can't just show up without Bonnie. Stefan suggests that he goes back to the island and Damon comes back so that he could use the sire bond and help Elena. Damon agrees but as he hangs up the phone he turns around and sees Bonnie. He gets her home and as they park the car in front of Elena's home Damon let's the girl go inside and asks Caroline to bring Stefan out as he has to talk to his brother. Then Bonnie gets inside while the Salvatore brothers talk outside, but both groups are actually discussing the same thing. Bonnie says that she knows how to bring Jeremy back-she has to complete the third massacre for Silas so that she could drop the veil between this side and the other side. Damon on the other hand explains to Stefan that Bonnie was brainwashed by Shane and that they can't let her drop the veil because every supernatural being on the other side will come back to their world with vengeance. Caroline also says that it's crazy and they can't just kill 12 people and sure as hell can't invite every monster who has ever died back into their world. After this talk Elena goes upstairs and finally accepts that Jeremy is really dead so she tells Damon to bring his corpse down to the living room. Caroline and Stefan are downstairs and Bonnie is gone because they made Matt take her away as they thought it would be best. Elena says that in this case they have to do it the old fashion way. She decides that it's best if they burn the house down so that way they would have a proper cover story. She is very fragile in that moment and she breaks down because it's really hard to accept that her only living relative is dead. When Stefan sees her like this he asks Damon to help her.

The elder Salvatore then uses the sire bond and makes her turn her emotions off. Stefan tries to stop him but Damon just waves him with which he says that Stefan needs to stay away. Elena turns her humanity off. Then the brothers are shown at the porch. They talk and Stefan says that this wasn't the right way, that this was a mistake, but Damon says that it was the only for her to survive. They'll both help her and then he'll use the sire bond to bring her back. Stefan says that it was her humanity, everything she had left but Damon responds by saying that humanity means nothing when you don't have anyone to care about anymore. Stefan says that she had him but the elder Salvatore disagrees by saying that her brother just died and he's not enough, not this time. Then Stefan says that he knows they've been through some bad spots lately especially when it comes down to Elena but he just wanted Damon to know that he cares about him and that he loves him (even though the younger brother doesn't actually say it, that is what he implies) and Damon responds by saying that he knows that. After that they both go inside where Elena is standing with a lightened match, ready to burn down the house. The brothers try to persuade her not to do it but she refuses to listen to them so she sets everything on fire. When they walk out of the house only Stefan turns back to see the flames while Damon and Elena keep going.

In *Bring It On*, Stefan and Damon talk about Elena's emotional state after she had tuned of her humanity. Stefan says that they are going to lose her but Damon thinks that she just needs some time as only a few days have passed. Stefan says that right now Elena is basically numb to everything that makes her who she is. The elder Salvatore says that the humanity switch is one of the perks of being a vampire, when you kill and the guilt gets too much you turn your emotions off. Stefan responds by saying that she burned her family house down with her brother's dead body inside. Damon says that she just saved them the trouble of doing this themselves and he calls that a win. He says that the worst case scenario right now is to use the sire bond and bring her back. But Stefan says that her brother just died and if they force all this grief on her it will overwhelm her. He says that they need to give her a reason to want to turn her emotions back on. Damon agrees and says that they should show her a good time. He knows that his brother doesn't like to have fun but some people actually do that. Stefan asks if this really is going to work and Damon says that there's only one way to find out. So Damon goes on "the fun route" with Elena where she feeds on a random woman on the road by using one of Damon's tricks, but that doesn't turn out that well so Stefan suggests that Elena goes back to school. He says that he doesn't really want to play chaperon but his big brother can't go back to school because he's not a student and he also needs to go and try to find Katherine because Elena needs the cure now more than ever. While they talk Caroline also gets in the room only wearing a robe and says that it would be a good idea to bring Elena back to school. Damon asks her what she's doing there and she says that she needed a bath since their water was the only one not full with vervain. Then Damon remembers that the mayor put vervain in the town water supply. Caroline says that it's going to get even more ugly and her mother could use some help so Damon says that he'll go look for Katherine and Stefan should go talk to the Sheriff while Caroline takes Elena to school. While they talk Elena comes into the room naked and everybody look at her with surprise to which she responds by saying that it's nothing they haven't seen before. File:DSCE.jpg  Then Stefan nods to Damon saying him that he should use the sire bond to convince Elena to go to school and have fun. Damon does that and he also adds that she shouldn't eat anyone. After that Stefan goes to Sheriff Forbes and she says that all the blood bags from the hospital in Mystic Falls were stolen. Stefan says that he doesn't understand-is she accusing them. But the Sheriff says that she isn't but the town is on a tipping point and anymore unexplained house fires and things will boil over. She says that she's sorry, but it's been a rough week and that Miranda Sommers-Gilbert was one of her best friends in high school and seeing what happened to her family is just too much. Stefan says that if there's anything he could to to help, he'll do it. The Sheriff says that this is good and they need to figure out who stole the blood because if they don't they risk exposing everyone including her daughter. She asks him who he thinks could want so much blood and also be that careless. After that Elena feeds on one of the cheerleaders, who has come to a cheerleading competition in Mystic Falls in which both Caroline and Elena take participation. Caroline, however, finds out what her best friend has done. She tells Stefan who calls Damon and they realize that the sire bond is not working anymore because it was based on emotions and when Elena turned them off the sire bond just disappeared. Stefan asks where Damon is right now and he responds that he's trying to find a an almost dead vampire who could lead him to Katherine and the cure. He says that Stefan should grab Elena and get her home and he'll be back when he can. So Stefan goes to Elena and says that they need to talk. She acts a bit inappropriate with him considering that Damon is still her boyfriend. She says that Stefan could help her stretch and she puts her leg on his shoulder

He asks her if she had fed on the cheerleader and she says that maybe she had. He then asks her if she knows anything about the missing blood bags from the hospital but Elena says that right now she's sick of blood bags and she prefers something a little warmer. After that Stefan says that he knows what she's going through, because he was also having the time of his life when he turned too and he didn't start ripping people's heads off until 1912 and the next thing he knows he was killing and entire village. She then asks him if she should be scared of becoming him. And he responds that she should be scared because he knows how deep down she can fall and how difficult it is to climb back out. He adds that she's better than this and Elena says that she doesn't know and maybe this is the better version of her. After that Stefan watches the cheer leading competition where Elena plays with Caroline and lets her fall on the ground on purpose. Stefan follows Elena outside the school. She says that she doesn't want anymore lecture and he responds that he was impressed by her actions, because she played them all very well as her intentions from the beginning were to simply find a person to feed on. Elena says that it wasn't that hard because he wants her to get good so badly that he would hear whatever she decides to tell him. He tells her that if she wants to have fun they should go somewhere more privately. She asks where and he answers that he knows a bar out there off the beaten path. Elena says that he's bluffing but Stefan reminds her that he also had his switch flipped in this town too and he knows where to take someone to have a good time. After that he runs with his vampire speed next to her and manages to put her down with and injection of vervain.

Then they are back at the Salvatore boarding house and Elena wakes up. She asks Stefan what has he done and he says that he brought her home before she could do anymore trouble. Elena says that he's grounding her because she dropped Caroline on her thick neck. And he responds that this is not why he did it but because she fed on someone in public. Elena says that she was hungry and she gets out of bed and starts undressing in front of him. Stefan asks her if she's going to keep stripping in front of him because that's not really mature. She responds that she's done cheering so she'll change. Stefan says that he knows she would do that, why not manipulate people with sex and that this is the same trick Katherine used to pull. Elena says that he shouldn't compare her to Katherine because she's been running for so long that she's afraid of her own shadow while she is not afraid of anything. She has shut it all off, including her feelings for him. But he shouldn't get her wrong-he's standing there and he looks good and she remember their sex and it was good sex but she just doesn't feel anything about it anymore. While she's talking to him she's constantly looking at her phone. After that Elena says that he clearly cares about her. She states that she doesn't understand why is he so concerned on whom does she feed or who she kills. Stefan answers that it is his fault that she's like this and he brought this into her life. He adds that he has killed many people and he has to live with that but he's not going to live with the guilt from the people she has killed too. He then takes her phone away from her as she's clearly not listening to him. Elena gets angry and says that he should look at himself, because his whole life revolves around her and maybe he's the one who needs to turn it all off. After that Stefan hears some voices and gets downstairs only to see people getting inside the house. He than realizes that Elena has invited them to a party in their house and that is why she was texting so much. A little after that Caroline comes to the Salvatore boarding house and starts talking to Stefan.

He says that this party won't last because they'll either drink all the booze and get bored or Damon will come home and kill everyone. Caroline says that they can't compel them to leave because the locals are on vervain from the water supply and she asks what should they do. Stefan answers that he doesn't know-probably enjoy the part and keep Elena from butchering Grove hill's cheerleading squad. Then Caroline asks where is Elena and Stefan points out to her only to see her dancing with the others. Caroline states that she has almost forgotten what that feels like. Stefan asks what, Elena smiling? And she says-No, having fun. Though everything is very bad when she looks at her it makes Caroline wanna let go. Stefan says that when he parties too much he ends up killing people. Caroline says that as his sober sponsor she's giving him the greenlight. She adds that Stefan is at a kegger full of hot girls, and he's single and he should have some fun. Stefan asks what is he supposed to do-just grab a girl, take her over his shoulder, take her to the dance floor to which Caroline responds that he should take his own advice and have some fun. After that Stefan grabs her and takes her over his shoulder while Caroline shouts that she didn't mean that he should take her. They start dancing and Elena goes to them, showing to be a bit jealous although she denies it. Caroline suggests that all of them dance together but Elena refuses. After she leaves them she meets Sheriff Forbes at the party and they have an argument which ends with Elena trying to feed on Liz until Caroline and Stefan stop her. Caroline wants to get into a fight with Elena but Stefan stops her but in that exact moment Elena disappeared from their sight using her vampire speed. They go to look for her in the forest but can't seem to find her. Stefan realizes that this was Elena's plan from the beginning-to bring too many people to the house as a distraction so that she could be free and do whatever she wants. Stefan says that it would be easier to find her if they split-he goes to look around the road and Caroline stays to search the wood. Stefan adds that Caroline shouldn't hesitate and snap Elena's neck the moment she sees her. In the meantime Damon comes back home with Rebekah and gets a text from his little brother, asking for help. In the meantime Caroline manages to find Elena in the woods. They get into a fight and say some pretty ugly stuff to each other until the Salvatore brothers come and prevent Elena from killing her best friend. Stefan takes Caroline back to the boarding house and they talk about Elena. Caroline says that Elena wouldn't come back to them because she lost everyone she cares about. Stefan responds that they can't give up on her, because when he was at his worst she didn't give up on him. At the end of the episode Elena and Damon leave for New York because Damon wants to follow a lead to the cure and Stefan receives a call from Sheriff Forbes saying that they have a bigger problem-there are six other hospitals from which there was a blood theft. Stefan calls his brother and tells him this. He also adds that probably Silas followed them from the island and now he's stealing blood so that he could get his strength back. Damon however says that his brother has to deal with that on his own until he comes back.

In *Because the Night*, Damon and Stefan talk on the phone and Stefan asks his big brother what are him and Elena doing in New York. Damon says that the reason why he hasn't picked up the phone the first 20 times Stefan called is because he knew his little brother would be pissed. He then explains that he's actually in New York because he's trying to follow a lead to the cure. A friend of his called Will was living there. He was a vampire who provided fake IDs for other vampires on the run and Damon used to work for him back in the seventies. The elder Salvatore also adds that Elena doesn't know the real reason behind this trip and Stefan says that when she understands she'll bolt. Damon says that he knows that but he's hoping that Elena will be so wasted on booze and blood that she won't even think about it but his little brother disagrees and advises him not to underestimate her. Damon however says that he can handle Stefan with his flipped switch so he'll manage to handle Elena too. Stefan says that Elena is ruthless without her humanity and the cure is the fastest way to get her back. Damon however interrupts his lecture and says that Stefan needs to be a good brother and keep Mystic Falls afloat for him. He has to deal with and immortal named Silas. After that Stefan calls Klaus to come to the Salvatore boarding house where the original hybrid meets with Caroline and starts pissing her off.

Stefan interrupts them and starts explaining to Klaus the reason he called him. Klaus says that the missing blood from the hospital is not that much big of a deal and that it could have been Elena or even Stefan who stole it. Stefan however says that it's neither of them. Klaus then says that he agrees but even if it was Silas who stole it he doesn't see how this affects him. Stefan explains that Silas wants to die and be reunited with his one true love, but he's also supernatural so if he takes the cure and dies he'll be stuck on the other side. Klaus, however, keeps to respond ironically. Stefan keeps explaining and says that if Silas manages to destroy the other side altogether he can take the cure, die and pass on. But in destroying the other side every supernatural being over there comes back into their world with vengeance. Caroline says that Klaus should care now because he has killed many supernatural beings including vampires, werewolves and witches. Klaus then asks how can they stop him and Stefan says that Silas has to complete the third massacre so that Bonnie could do the spell and if he's here that's what he's doing so they need to find him and stop him. In the meantime Damon tells Elena and Rebekah (who has followed them and found them) about the time he had in New York back in the seventies when his humanity was also turned off.

Lexi found him back then and tried to help him. It turns out that Stefan has begged her to do that as they've heard how reckless the elder Salvatore has become. Back in Mystic Falls Klaus, Caroline and Stefan go to Shane's office and try to find out what would be Silas' next move and where he would do the third massacre. Caroline and Klaus keep picking on each other and Caroline asks why is Klaus even needed there to which Stefan responds that if they have to face Silas the original hybrid who can't die might definitely come in handy. Klaus also adds that him and Stefan work well together, or at least they did back in the twenties. Stefan said it was like this because his emotions were off and Klaus says that this is the reason why he was more fun. He also suggests that Damon is also having fun with emotionless Elena right now in New York and Stefan responds that his brother knows what he's doing. Klaus, however, questions that and adds that Stefan mustn't underestimate the allure of darkness because even the purest hearts are drown to it. While the boys talk Caroline finds a book about the symbolic figures of the dark arts and they understand from it that Bonnie is trying to complete the expression triangle by killing twelve witches. Bonnie manages to find the which Aja who has come to help her and has also brought twelve witches with her which is exactly what Bonnie needs to complete the triangle. In the meantime Elena is pissed at Damon when she understands the real reason behind his actions and teams up with Rebekah. Back in Mystic Falls Caroline and Klaus get out a map and figure out that the third massacre could be done in two places and since they don't know which one exactly it would be they go to the forest and decide to pair up-Stefan goes alone to the one possible spot and Caroline and Klaus go to the other. In the meantime the witches are trying to help Bonnie not knowing that her secret plan is to try to kill them. While Stefan is headed to one of the possible spots for the massacre he speaks with his brother on the phone and explains him what's going on. Stefan asks how is the cure search going and Damon says that he's not doing great because Rebekah has trailed them to New York and he can't also find the information about Katherine in his friend's stuff. Stefan asks his brother what is he trying to find and Damon explains that Will had a repeat customer-a 5'7 brunette which was probably Katherine back then and he was actually helping her run from him. However he says that he's sure that this filing system goes by birth date and he can't remember when was Katherine's birthday. Stefan responds that it is June 5, 1473. Damon is surprised and says that this is the reason why his little brother is the better boyfriend. He looks at the files and finds what he's looking for. He hangs up the phone and in that moment Elena comes and finds him. He leads her out and keeps telling her about what happened with Lexi and how they at the end hooked up. After the talk with his brother Stefan manages to find the third spot with Bonnie and the witches. He's trying to explain that Bonnie is trying to complete the expression triangle and when he does Aja brings out a knife and says that Bonnie has to die and she can't be saved. Stefan tries to stop her but Aja uses magic on him and prevents his actions as she's also linked to the other twelve witches and she has great power right now. In the meantime Klaus and Caroline find him. Stefan says that they have to save Bonnie but Klaus doesn't agree with that because he doesn't want them to fulfill Silas' wish. While they argue Aja is just about to kill Bonnie when Caroline goes and stabs her with her own knife instead. She also kills not only Aja but the other witches too as they are all linked as one. Klaus is mad and yells at her while Bonnie says that the triangle is now complete. Back in New York Elena and Damon talk on the roof of Will's bar and she tries to seduce him so that she could take the information about Katherine. Damon, however, understands her intentions and says that it was exactly what he used to do. Then he tells that back in the seventies after he slept with Lexi he locked her on the roof so when the sun went up she couldn't escape from it. He played her and said that he doesn't need her help and it was time for him to pay her for six months of her. After that he managed to avoid her for years until she came back home to wish Stefan happy birthday and then all of the guilt and emotions came back rushing through him so that's why he killed her. They talk a little more and Damon says that he'll get the cure for Elena even if she doesn't want to take it but in that moment Rebekah comes from behind and breaks his neck. The two girls get the information about Katherine and leave with his car.

Back in Mystic Falls Stefan has taken Bonnie to her house and when she wakes up he realizes that she doesn't remember anything that happened after her and Jeremy were trying to get the cure from Silas back on the island from the island including Jeremy's death so the younger Salvatore starts explaining her everything. After that Stefan and Damon talk on the phone and Damon explains what happened and Stefan tells him that he wasn't able to stop the massacre. Damon says that now Silas has everything he needs and Stefan adds that he has everything but the cure.

In *American Gothic*, Stefan and Damon manage to track Damon's car that Elena and Rebekah stole from New York. They fill it with gas while they talk. Sheriff Forbes has given them the name of the town where the original sister and Elena have went to find Katherine. They talk a lot and Damon says that if Rebekah takes the cure they could kill her right there, but Stefan reminds him that in this case Elena will stay a vampire forever.

The younger Salvatore reminds his brother that it will be best if they find the girls, get the cure and get out of there before Damon gets his neck snapped once again. The elder Salvatore says that he has learned his lesson and understood that Elena is a stone cold bitch when her humanity is off and he won't trust her until they get the old Elena back. Stefan concludes that they are finally on the same page about something. So the brothers took off to find the girls in a small town in Pennsylvania called Willoughby. In the meantime, however, Rebekah and Elena are already there and they understand that Katherine has compelled the whole town to be her friend and to keep her secret of where she has hidden the cure. However they manage to find Katherine near a small diner. They go inside and Rebekah and Elena are trying to find out where the cure might be.

Katherine is playing smart and doesn't want to tell them so the original sister steals her phone and Elena sees that Katherine has a meeting with someone with the initials EM at two pm. So Elena decides to impersonate Katherine and go to the meeting while Rebekah stays with the older doppelgänger. In the meantime back at Mystic Falls Klaus is in deep pain because Silas has left a part of the white oak stake in his back and now he's hurt so the original hybrid calls Caroline and she comes and tries to help him. The Salvatore brothers have arrived at Willoughby and try to find where the girls could be. They manage to find their car but Elena and Rebekah are nowhere to be seen. Stefan asks his brother what will happen when they find Elena, how are they going to make her come back home when they have in mind that she has also an original vampire on her side. Damon says that they'll do whatever they have to do-he'll throw Rebekah under a school bus and wrap Elena in a burlap sack. Stefan says that he's being serious and his brother responds that he's also serious. He adds that he doesn't care what Elena wants right now because she's this close to going off the rails for good and that's not happening. Stefan asks what happened to the guy that said that Elena should embrace being a vampire. Damon says that this guy got his neck snapped in New York and this guy is royally pissed off. In the meantime Elena gets some of Katherine's stuff so that she could impersonate her better and she leaves for the meeting, leaving the original sister and Katherine talking. Katherine teases Rebekah by saying that she doesn't understand why she wants the cure, because when she turns back to being human all her enemies will come looking for her and will want vengeance. Elena goes to the meeting and finds out that EM is actually the original brother Elijah Mikaelson. At first he thinks that she's Katherine but than when he kisses her (as he is indeed romantically involve with Katherine) he understands that this is Elena so he takes her away. By that time however the Salvatore brothers have also find Katherine and Rebekah at the diner. The Original sister doesn't want to tell them where Elena is so they turn to Katherine.

She says that Elena is probably dead as she has went to meet up with a friend of hers. They actually may know him-he's an original brother with impeccable taste. Everyone are surprised and Stefan says that they have to question Elijah's impeccable taste if he's friends with her. Katherine adds that when she says friend she means romantically involved friend to which they all act out disgusted. Finally Rebekah tells them where Elena has went because Stefan reminds her that anything happens to Elena she has no chance of finding the cure. Stefan goes to deal with Elijah while Katherine takes Damon and Rebekah to the cure. Katherine says that she won't do that because the cure is the only way for her to get her freedom back. Damon says that there's no way for Katherine to broke a deal with Klaus and Stefan realizes that she was going to make Elijah break the deal for her and that some things never change. Katherine than agrees to lead them to the cure. Stefan calls Elijah and the original brother says that Elena is safe but how long that remains depend on them. Stefan says that the same goes for Katherine because Rebekah is with his brother.

Elijah wants to talk with his sister but Stefan says that she's not with him and that everything will be ok as long as Katherine hands over the cure. Elijah however says that Rebekah despises Katherine and that she'll put an end on her the moment she doesn't need her anymore. Stefan says that Elijah can tell him where they are and they can all talk it through. The original brother however says that if anything happens to Katherine he'll descent upon Elena and he hangs up. Elena and Elijah talk and Elena says that the original brother is not the same anymore because he has fallen for Katherine's trap. Elijah than says that Katherine may have been a liar but she didn't lie about Elena's transformation. He however sees that there's also something else-Elena has turned off her humanity and he asks why. Elena responds that Katherine has killed her brother which was unknown to Elijah. The original brother then realizes that Elena is right and Katherine is really lying and using him. In the meantime Katherine takes Damon and Rebekah to "her" house. She opens a safe and says that the cure is not there. She's trying to play them but Damon says that they're not falling for her trap. Damon says that everything she says is a lie and that this isn't even her house, because it doesn't look like her. Katherine responds that maybe they don't know her at all and have no idea who she really is. The elder Salvatore says that she's really not that deep and they know everything is an act. Then Rebekah and Damon start looking for the cure themselves as Katherine doesn't say where it is. Damon sees an aquarium with no fishes and than understands that the water is vervained. He sees a small box in it and thinks that this might be the cure. While he's trying to get it out Katherine goes behind him and pushes his head in the vervained water while she manages to get out the cure. Rebekah however hears them and crosses Katherine's path. The doppelgänger gives her the cure and runs away using her vampire speed. Rebekah takes the cure and Damon does nothing to stop her. In that moment Stefan arrives and sees what has happened. He's mad at his brother for not preventing the original sister from taking the cure. He says that Damon was never on his side. All he had to do was stall her and Damon said that he didn't have a pony to distract her. Stefan is mad and says that Damon wanted Elena to stay a vampire and that's why he didn't stop Rebekah. In that moment Rebekah wakes up, Damon tries to kill her but she catches the knife he threw at her and with that they realize that she's still a vampire and the fake cure was probably just some blood with vervain in it. In the meantime back at Mystic Falls Caroline tries to help Klaus and finally they realize that his pain is caused just from an illusion. Silas has made the original hybrid believe that he was dying. Back at Willoughby Elena and Elijah talk but Katherine appears and snaps her neck. They both fight because of Jeremy's death and later Katherine gets the real cure and brings it to Elijah in order to show him that she can be trusted. So the cure ends up at the original family-Elijah and Rebekah go back to Mystic Falls. In the meantime Stefan and Damon are on their way to meet up with Elena and they talk to each other. Damon admits that he didn't do anything to stop Rebekah but he thought that if she takes it all of his problems go away and then when she really took it he realized how badly he screwed up. Stefan asks what is his point and Damon says that his point is that he's sorry. He had a moment of weakness, that is his thing-like them falling for the same girl-that was their thing. And Stefan says that it was their thing. Stefan says that they could judge Katherine all they want but they keep repeating their own history and their mistakes just like she is. He adds that nothing ever changes and it has to stop. Damon asks what is he talking about and Stefan answers that he's done and he can't keep reliving his life like this. He owes Elena her shot at being normal again but once they give her the cure he's getting out of her life and he's getting a life of his own. Damon is surprised and doesn't know how to react but he says that they could talk about that after they take the cure. Stefan asks him if he really still wants to get the cure, because that means he could lose her and Damon says that this is a chance he's willing to take. They go to the diner where Elena is waiting for them. She says that she doesn't want the cure and asks them if they'll accept her decision and let her be who she is or not. Damon says that they won't.

Stefan says that this isn't really her and she respond that she is and they need to accept it, because otherwise there will be consequences. Stefan keeps trying to explain that he was in the exact same situation and she didn't accept the way he was when his emotions were off. Elena however doesn't respond and kills the waitress in the diner in front of them while also adding that if they don't stop there will be more deaths they will be responsible for.

In *Pictures of You*, Stefan and Damon are throwing football in the living room and asks Stefan how long has it been eight or nine days since Elena killed anyone, Stefan says that he lost count and Damon says that's progress and Stefan asks what are they going to do keep throwing the football around for another 150 years until Elena gets her humanity back, Stefan sarcastically says he's cool with that and Damon says that Elena doesn't want the cure and she's going to start killing people if she knows they're still trying to get it for her Stefan says the could always make her want it Damon asks how are they going to make an emotionless vampire want anything Stefan says to get her to flip her humanity switch, Damon asks what are they going to do pull a Lexi, Bombard her with emotions until one of them sticks and Stefan says if that doesn't work they go to plan B lock her and keep her sidelined they he and Damon figure out a plan C, Damon asks what when she gets slammed with every emotion she's repressed since Jeremy died Stefan says that then Damon will be right by her side ready to help her through it and Damon says because Stefan doesn't want to keep reliving history and when its all over he's just going to get out of her life, Stefan says "bingo" and Damon asks him how does he wants to do it.

Later Elena is leaving Rebekah's house and Stefan gets out of a limousine carrying flowers Elena says that doesn't need a babysitter and Stefan said that the last time he saw her she snapped the waitress' spine, Elena says it got him to stop searching for the cure and Damon shows up behind her and says that they are here to make sure she holds up her end of the deal and Damon tells her not to eat the prom queen, Damon asks if he may put the corsage on Elena she refuses and he forcefully puts it on her and compliments her on the dress Elena thanks him and says that she stole it and gets inside the limo, later Stefan and Damon are walking with Elena and Damon asks "where's the disco ball" Stefan says that Caroline has been working on photo yearbook of the senior class for a while, and Stefan shows Elena a photo of her and Matt in first day of freshman year, Elena remembers that her mom took that when she dropped them off at school and it switches to a photo of her and Jeremy and says that she's going to get a seizure by looking at these photos.

Later Stefan finds Elena and makes her dance with him and she tells him to let go or she'll bite him Stefan reminds her that he's the one that hates to dance and Elena says that she finally sees why, Stefan then asks Elena that she's only here to help Rebekah get the cure on what happens to be the most sentimental night in high school and Elena asks him if he thinks that this is her cry for help and that she'll be happy to show him what a real cry for help sounds like, Stefan asks her does she feel anything about them she says that feels nothing Stefan says that he doesn't believe her and she says that she doesn't care, Stefan start to dance slowly with her and asks her that she doesn't remember what it used to feel like when they danced and when his hands would touch her waist as Stefan slowly puts his hands on Elena's waist, Elena says no and Stefan holds her hand asks how does she feel their fingers would touch Elena says she feels nothing and then Stefan lays her down and asks her if her heart refuses to remember, Elena asks what heart and leaves, later Stefan asks Caroline to dance with him after Elena stole her dress and asks Stefan if she can kill her, Stefan notices that she found another dress Caroline says its from Klaus and Stefan says that she has him wrapped around her finger she says that if she had Klaus wrapped around her finger then she will be with Tyler and asks him about any progress with dress thief, Stefan says its affecting him a whole lot more than its affecting her Caroline asks him what does he mean he says that every time he tells himself that he's moving on there's this part of him that just can't seem to shake her, Caroline says that normal and that they were in love and that doesn't go away because he declares that
he's moving on Stefan asks her how does anyone seem to move on Caroline says that someday he'll meet someone new and fall madly in love he would have moved on without even realizing it.

Later Stefan and Damon are with Bonnie and Matt and she explained that Silas was appearing as Jeremy, Stefan says that's what Silas does and not to let him get to her and Damon says that because that she's all crazy and brainwashed and Stefan then suggests that one of them should take Bonnie home and Damon says its safer for her in public and Silas can't make everyone see the same thing and Matt asks how to look out for someone who can appear as anyone, later Stefan is talking to Damon outside and asks him if he's looking for Silas or waxing nostalgic about misspent youth Damon asks Stefan about what happened to him being over Elena, Stefan asks him what does he mean Damon says for a guy ready to move on he seems convincing as boyfriend on the dance floor, Stefan says that what they are doing reminding Elena of what she's lost Damon asks like her feelings for him Stefan says maybe and then he provokes Damon that he and Elena have history and he only has a one night stand that was probably result of the sire bond, it's revealed that Silas was posing as Stefan and attacks Damon, Damon asks him where Stefan is and Silas says that he's in the woods where he convinced him that he was him and that he's probably in a bit of pain too and tells him Bonnie belongs to him and to stay away from her, later Damon finds Stefan staked and jokes by saying an extremely handsome man came up to him claiming to be him and Stefan says "yeah".

Stefan and Damon find Bonnie attacking Elena and Stefan tells Bonnie to stop and that she's killing Elena, Bonnie says that she knows what she's doing Stefan says that the magic talking and that's her best friend and Elena begs Bonnie to stop and she does Stefan asks her if she's okay she says that she's not and that she almost died and her best friend almost killed her and none of this okay and Stefan injects Elena with vervain and says "Plan B", later Stefan and Damon lock Elena in the cellar and Damon says that she's going to feel that in the morning and Stefan asks "what is the plan?" Damon says that she was scared thinking that she Bonnie was going to kill her, Stefan says fear and Damon says its a pesky human emotions and Stefan says that's plan C make her life a living hell Damon talks about Silas and Stefan says that he still needs Bonnie and that she's no pushover and she's not going to let him manipulate her anymore, Damon said not underestimate his talents because he fooled both of them and as Stefan closes the door to the cellar Damon asks how did Silas get to him Stefan says that he lead him out to the woods claiming he saw Silas and staked him Stefan asks Damon how did Silas get to him, Damon jokes and says that he talked about his hair and he figured it had to be Stefan, Stefan replies "funny" and looks at Elena and Damon asks if he's coming Stefan says "Yeah" and leaves.

In *The Originals*, Damon is talking to Stefan saying that Elena is calmest desiccating vampire that he has ever and said he remembered when Stefan starved there and he would've wept at his feet for an orange peel, Stefan says that she's not going to beg for blood and begging means desperation, emotion and Elena was still in no-humanity zone Damon asks how hungrier that she has to be before they can torture some feelings into her, Stefan says a lot hungrier than she is now and Damon asks what were they supposed to do in the mean time and Katherine appears and says that she might provide a little excitement, Stefan says Katherine and she says "the one and only, sort of" and asks when is the welcome home party and Damon is surprised at Katherine's boldness considering that Klaus was plotting her eternal demise, Katherine says that it doesn't matter because Klaus is gone and Stefan asks her what does she mean by he's gone and she says that werewolf girl Hayley turned out to be just the thing they needed to get Klaus out of their lives for good.

Later at the Salvatore house Damon is Elena at the cellar and she is breathing heavily Damon says that she looks terrible, Elena says that she's hungry not that Damon cares but he said that he cares and that's the whole point he cares and she doesn't and its time for it to change he gives her a blood bag, It turns out its laced with vervain and asks her if she's hurt because he betrayed her or scared because its only going to get a lot worse, she runs for the door but Stefan stopped her and says if they want to play and see who breaks her or them first and it ends with Stefan closing the door.

In *She's Come Undone*, Stefan and Damon are at the house with Elena locked in the safe and Damon playing mind games with her for over an hour and still no emotional response from Elena, Later Stefan is Caroline and she wants to see Elena and Stefan said they are not letting anyone see her and that it was whole point of locking her isolation leads to misery and lead to emotion, Caroline says that she's been there for days and hasn't improved at all Stefan says that she doesn't want to not yet and that she's devastated she's lost her brother, she attacked her friend Bonnie and killed an innocent woman and Caroline said that Stefan knew how to help her Stefan said that he is helping her and Caroline asks him by torturing her and Stefan says its not torture but an intervention and the only chance they have with her is to provoke her to trigger something fear, anger, self-pity or anything Caroline asks Stefan to let her talk to Elena before anymore intervention and that Elena can't hurt her if she's weak and begs him to let her try, later Caroline is with Elena at the basement Stefan wishes her good luck and leaves her with Elena, Caroline says the she brought something for Elena and pulls a vial of blood and gives it to Elena so that it could help think straight and she also adds that she doesn't agree with what Stefan and Damon are doing to her making her suffer to turn her humanity back and its not who Elena is, Caroline says she's not giving up on her and Elena starts to provoke her about that she's the reason that Tyler left town and the he was running from her and not from Klaus and about how pathetic she's going to look in the cap and gown and that she's a repulsive, blood-sucking control freak monster and Elena is attacking Caroline and she breaks Elena's neck and Stefan is behind her and tells him to do what he has to do, later Stefan and Damon are in a room with Elena tied up to chair and they took her daylight ring and they plan on using sunlight to torture her and as Stefan slowly opens the curtain Elena asks if she's supposed to feel scared and Stefan said that she will be and to focus on that fear because its the key to getting her humanity back and she says that they are not gonna burn her and adds that if they get her humanity back she'll remember that they tortured her and she'll hate them for it, Damon says to work risk and Stefan opens the curtain and Elena's skin is burning and Damon extinguishes the fire and asks for any emotion so they can stop it and Elena says that she's going to kill them, Stefan says that they don't want to torture her and she can stop it and its her choice, Elena is provoking Stefan for being the one to pull back the curtain and a part of him enjoys it considering that she dumped Stefan, Damon believes that they are breaking through the tough shell and getting to the center of her humanity and asks Stefan to shed some light into the situation, Stefan is ready to reopen the curtain and Elena says its going to hurt Stefan more than it hurts her Stefan says he knows what she's going through and that she's afraid to face the guilt she feels if she turns her emotions back on and the only way to help is to make the alternative hurt even worse and Stefan opens the curtain and Elena is in pain, later Elena is still in pain from exposure to sunlight Stefan closes the curtain and Damon says she'll thank him someday and after she gets her humanity she'll know that life without emotions blew and she provokes Damon by telling him that the sire bond also blew and going everyday believing that she was in love with him and saying that he was afraid that it wasn't real and says that it wasn't, Elena says to keep torturing and she and Stefan might give their relationship another go and she exposes herself to sunlight Stefan and Damon extinguish Elena from the flames and she says that they won't hurt and she doesn't have to afraid of anything, later Stefan and Damon are at the driveway Stefan sarcastically says that it went well and Damon is frustrated that Elena is being stubborn and doesn't want to turn it back on, even though every vampire does it with out any problems Stefan says that she has nothing to come back to after she lost her home and her family and destroyed her relationships, Damon said that scaring her should have worked and that she's smart and she knows that they won't hurt her and Stefan suggests to bring someone who really will hurt her Damon asks who, Stefan suggests Katherine because she is the reason Jeremy is dead and she's the only who can provoke an emotion into Elena and Damon says that Katherine won't help them Stefan says the she was just abandoned by Elijah and that she has nothing and has no one and that she won't refuse their offer to torture Elena, later Damon and Katherine are discussing what will happen if Elena goes back to her old self when Stefan says the Elena is not in the cell and its revealed that Katherine lost interest in Elena's recovery and didn't lock her in Stefan with Damon and Matt search for her, later Stefan stops Elena for feeding on Matt and Damon has had enough and he's done playing nice and tells her to turn her humanity switch or he'll kill Matt, Elena calls his bluff and he breaks Matt's neck and Elena is crying and she's sad about what happened to Matt and later is revealed to be wearing the Gilbert ring and will come back to life and Elena gets her humanity back, Damon says that she's going to be okay and she remembers what she has done and Stefan stops her and says the he knows the stage the emotions are over-whelming her and that she has to focus on one thing Elena says she can't and tells to find the thing that makes her strong and to latch on to it and channel everything she's feeling into one emotion and to let it in, Elena does what she's told and he tells her to breathe it in and blow everything else out and she's screaming in pain and Damon asks her if she's okay, she says "no" but she'll get better. Later at the Salvatore house Damon covers Elena with a blanket and asks her how she feels, she says the pain is still there, the grief and the shame and she gets that shutting it all off its a cheat putting up this wall and nothing affects you things don't matter, but she says things do matter thing that happened that can't be undone and that she knows that there's something that she needs to do something about it Stefan says that the only thing she needs to do is to take easy for a couple of days or maybe a couple of years and she says she can't she has so much to do, Damon asks her what she's talking about and she explained what Katherine did to them and that she brought Klaus to mystic falls and she killed Jeremy and it all comes down to her and she focused on her hate for Katherine and Damon says that's not what Stefan meant, Stefan said that Katherine is not worth her time even if she spends ten minutes of her life hating her she wins, Elena says not if she kills her.

In *The Walking Dead*, Stefan is letting Elena beat up cinder-blocks telling her to focus on letting it go Elena only wants to find and Kill Katherine and she asks Stefan to tell her where she is Stefan says he doesn't know where she is and he won't tell her even he did, she said the he told to channel all of her emotions into one single feeling and he said that he figured that it would be love or hope or compassion not the "unwavering" hate for a vampire that's 500 years older than her, Elena reminded him that he wanted to kill Klaus after her got his humanity back and he says that he couldn't and says that he thinks that she doesn't want to kill Katherine and Stefan thinks that she doesn't want to and she said that she just wants to kill her.

Later, Stefan is seen at the hospital with Damon and he says that he just "missed the donuts" and explains that he was burning off a few thousand hate filled calories with Elena and asks why he didn't help him and Damon was avoiding because he knew that her goal was to end Katherine's life and it wasn't going to simply disappear with Pilates, Sheriff Forbes is seen and they ask her why were they invited and she explains that hospitals kept the blood banks empty since they were raided and they thought it would keep the vampires away and then she shows them a dead body and that there were four other victims had been nearly drained of blood and asks if they think its Silas, Stefan assumes that he is fueling up for something big. Damon explains Silas' plans to Liz the he plans on removing the veil to the other side so that he can take the cure and die and move on, later after Bonnie lowers the veil Stefan and Damon are still at the hospital and the power is out. Liz explains that the power outage came from three different places in mystic falls, Stefan said the Bonnie is doing the spell and that she was seen with Katherine, Stefan finds the center of the Expression Triangle he and Damon arrive at the school to find Elena, Stefan asks where is Caroline, Elena says that she's inside the school looking for Bonnie. Stefan splits up for Damon and Elena and goes and finds Caroline at the cafeteria, asks her if she had any luck finding Bonnie, Caroline said the searched the whole and didn't find her they hear the ice melting and Caroline said that she is at the center of the triangle and that's where Bonnie should perform the spell, Stefan realizes that they are the right place but the wrong elevation, Stefan asks Damon about the entrance to the basement Elena said that its of the boiler room. Stefan is later seen with Caroline and he finds Bonnie injured and hurt and finds out that she linked herself to Katherine, Caroline says she'll stay with her and Bonnie unlinks Katherine, Stefan stops Elena from killing Katherine and threatens her to leave before he kills her and Elena is angry at Stefan and asks him why did he save Katherine and he said that she was linked to Katherine so if she died Bonnie would die as well, Elena doesn't believe him asks Stefan if he still has feelings for Katherine he said it wasn't about her it about Jeremy and he also explains that killing Katherine won't take the pain away its a distraction just like beating up cinder-blocks and turning off her humanity and that loss is a part of the deal of being a vampire and the he was alive for a 163 years and he lost more lovers than he can count and it keeps hurting every single time and that Elena needs to face her grieve and he says he can help her but she refuses and punches him in the face and said it was like the cinder-block nothing. Later Elena is at the cemetery and Kol finds her and attacks her and Jeremy shoots him and Kol was saying a quote to Jeremy but Stefan interrupts and breaks his neck and says to leave at that, then Stefan and Damon are with Bonnie and she says that they need to get rid of Silas' body after he's been turned to stone and Stefan suggests to drop his body in the middle of the ocean and he says he should make sure that Kol's body is safe until the veil is put restored and welcomes Elena back.

He's seen at the grill later with Caroline wanting to celebrate getting rid of Silas and he says the he's not in the mood to celebrate, because he thought that there was someone he was going to see but he didn't, Lexi Branson shows up behind him and says that he better meant her and he looks to find his best friend standing next to him, he gets up and hugs her and Lexi thanks Caroline for keeping an eye on Stefan, the two are seen walking and Stefan told Lexi that Elena punched him and laughs and he asks her that she's been back for five minutes and she's already laughing at him and Lexi says that she's been laughing at him for a while but he couldn't see her and Stefan said that he missed Lexi and she says that sees that she has replaced but another blonde Lexi says that she's "cute" Stefan asks not to start.

In *Graduation*, Stefan is partying with Lexi (while drunk) and he is told by Damon that something must have gone wrong and the veil to the other side must be down as Lexi, Alaric and Jeremy are all back. Stefan later *kills* Galen Vaughn when he is threatening Damon. Stefan talks with Lexi of how it works with Vaughn being dead again. When Lexi brings up that Stefan is missing his chance to take part in Elena tacking the cure or not, Stefan tells Lexi that the cure is not their biggest problem as the sire bond is gone and Elena's emotions are back on and now she knows what she really feels for Damon. Lexi then says what ever Elena feels is for Stefan and Stefan tells Lexi that she is the love of his life and he would go back to her in a heart beat, but if that is not what Elena feels he thinks that it might be what he needs to finally leave. Vaughn then wake up and Damon gives him the cure, with Stefan asking what he is doing Damon tells him that he is going to dig up Silas and calls for Vaughn as he leaves. Stefan talks to Elena, who that thinks they should do something, but he tells her that Damon is stalling Vaughn as Damon has not had enough time to bury Silas' body yet. He tells Elena that the best thing for them to do is to go to their graduation and with Jeremy thinking the same thing, they go to their graduation. During the graduation Stefan talks to Alaric about Damon not having much time left until the werewolf venom kills him and Damon doesn't want the cure, he wants it for Elena. Stefan tells Alaric to wait and is attacked by the twelve witches from the last sacrifice, luckily Klaus arrives and saves them from the witches. Later Elena wants to talk with Stefan and he asks her what it is and she just wants to thank him and she gives him the cure because he is the worst one of them two at being a vampire and human blood is his downfall and she also wants him to have it because he deserves it. Stefan then tells her that all that he did to get the cure was for her and it is her choice of being who she wants and then he returns it to Elena. Stefan is saddened when he hears that Elena chose Damon. Stefan now upset decides to dump Silas' body and he tells Damon that he is not happy about Elena but he is not not happy for them either.

As he drives to bury Silas, Lexi is with him and they talk about where Stefan will go and Lexi tells him that Elena will always be his epic love and he will find another, but he has to let go and move on. Stefan then asks if she has ever been to Portland and then he sees that Lexi has returned to the other side because the veil is back up. When Stefan is about to bury Silas he find only rocks in the sack that Silas' body was inside. He then hears Elena's voice saying he is not there revealing that Silas had now taken Elena's face. He tells Stefan that he is no longer stone because every spell has a loophole as nature require balance and when the witch that turned him into stone died he was free he also revealed the mystery of himself by telling Stefan how he created the immortality spell and as he could not die, nature had to find balance so it created a shadow self of Silas that could and when Stefan asked of he was another one of the Tatia doppelgängers, Silas changed his face into Stefan's and revealed that Stefan it is his true face and Stefan is his doppelgänger. Silas then stabbed Stefan with a stake in the stomach and then asked Stefan if he knows how it feels to starve for 2000 years, then Silas trap Stefan inside a safe and pushed it under water leaving Stefan to starve as the water came poring inside the safe.

In *I Know What You Did Last Summer*, Stefan have been in the safe for three months in the lake. He is drowning and waking many times helplessly with no exit. It was revealed that Stefan was hallucinating conversations with Damon for all this time. When Damon told Stefan to turn off his humanity, Stefan refused in case he escaped. Later Stefan contemplates turning the switch off until a vision of Elena convinces him to keep on fighting.

In *True Lies*, Stefan is still hallucinating. He is next to the quarry with Elena, and the two are talking about it being a vision. The two kiss until Elena starts coughing and begins spitting out water to Stefan's shock until he wakes up once again. Later on, Elena, Damon and Elizabeth Forbes, finds the safe in the middle of nowhere. They open it to find a dead body of a man inside meaning Stefan is out and is hungry.

In *Original Sin*, Stefan is walking through the street in a daze, until he comes across a bar. He enters and finds the bartender, Jo. He attacks her and drinks from her but stops himself and tells her to run. She does, but he follows her soon after. As he gets out of the bar, the sun rises, but since his daylight ring was taken from him, he begins to burn. Later on he wakes up and sees a mysterious woman. He warns her to stay away as he doesn't want to hurt her but she gives him a blood bag. She mentions how he is a doppelgänger, in which she reveals that she knew Silas, and he was her true love. She tells the story of how Silas and her were together and then revealing that while he was her true love, she wasn't his, and reveals herself to be Qetsiyah.

Qetsiyah begins to make a daylight ring for Stefan and tells him of how at the planned wedding of hers and Silas, everything started dying, she realized that Silas was drinking the immortality drink along with another. She finds them and finds out that Silas chose to be with Qetsiyah's hand-maiden, Amara, the original doppelgänger of Elena. Stefan realizes that Qetsiyah wasn't making a daylight ring for him. He tries to reason with her saying how he wants to take down Silas just as much as she does but she mentions how she is a vindictive bitch and doesn't trust anyone. She proceeds to knock him out.

Stefan wakes up just as Damon arrives. Damon tries to free him from his binds but they are magically bound to him. Qetsiyah arrives and tells Damon, that she plans to use a spell to link Stefan and Silas so that she can strip Silas of his mind control. Despite reservations from Damon, Stefan tells her to do it anyway. She does the spell in which she begins to fry Silas' brain. Stefan falls unconscious. Damon tries to wake him but it doesn't work. Qetsiyah reveals that he will wake up in time and then mentions to Damon how his relationship with Elena is doomed.

She reveals how every incarnation of the doppelgängers, always meets and falls in love and conquers all, saying it is the doing of the universe. She mentions to Damon, that he can leave Stefan with her so that he can continue his relationship with Elena with no interference. But Damon decides to kill Qetsiyah, but she is able to knock him out. Damon wakes up to find Elena arriving and going to Stefan not even noticing him.

Back at the Salvatore Boarding House, Elena is sitting next to Stefan and puts his daylight ring on his finger. After Damon tells Elena what Qetsiyah says, and they are about to kiss, Stefan wakes up. Both Damon and Elena are happy to see him awake, but Stefan reveals that he has no idea who they are, having lost all his memories of them.

In *For Whom the Bell Tolls*, After Stefan loses his memories, spending time with his brother Damon who is determined to help him recover his memory. When in a bar drinking together arrives the waitress, Stefan feels the need to drink her blood. After a while comes Elena but Stefan can't remember her, then Stefan disappears, Damon and Elena are worried about him. Stefan found the waitress in a room alone, he compels so she would not yell at the moment, when he is about to take her blood Damon appears and stops him. Later they go to the Mystic Falls Cemetery for the traditional Remembrance Day to honor the dead. Damon has to go and leaves Elena and Stefan alone, and they talk about their family tragedies. He asks her how they met and Elena leads him to school to relive the moment.

When they are in school remembering the first time they met, a student is bleeding and passes near Stefan. Elena realizes this and takes him outside of school. They have an enjoyable time together, where Elena teaches him some of her skills, she takes him to the Wickery Bridge to remember when he saved her from dying. He tells her that when he is with her the blood thirst disappears and he feels better. They are about to kiss but Elena tells him she's with Damon, that bothers Stefan and his bloodlust returns, and he disappears leaving Elena alone.

Stefan returns to the cemetery, where he meets with Caroline. He immediately recognizes her and calls her his best friend and that she looks much hotter than the pictures. Caroline is surprised and then Jesse arrives. Stefan tells Jesse that he can smell the blood and he wants to drink it. Caroline compels Jesse to go and hide. She tries to calm Stefan but he asks if she has bags of blood, she says that she has some in the car but then Stefan disappears. Jesse is hidden in a crypt but Stefan arrives and attacks him savagely, as Stefan is drinking his blood, Caroline arrives and stops him. She tells him that he is better but Stefan tells her that he has to go, he goes and leaves her alone with Jesse.

Later he is in the Salvatore's mansion burning his diaries, and Elena and Damon arrive. They were worried about him. Stefan says that he does not want to be with them and that everything will be fine because Caroline will be calling him every hour and that he trusts her. Later, He stands alone in the crypt when Caroline arrives. She is very sad about the death of Bonnie, someone that he can't remember. When Caroline is saying that she only has anger and sadness, Stefan interrupts her saying that she has him, he takes her hand and tells her that he will be there for her.

In *Monster's Ball*, Stefan attends the Costume Ball with Caroline and Tyler, and he dresses like James Dean. Later, when he's drinking, Qetsiyah comes and joins him, but Stefan can't recognize her because of his memory loss, but Qetsiyah reminds him who she is. They are talking but they are interrupted by Damon taking Stefan. When Stefan and Damon enter a room alone, Silas appears, Damon breaks Stefan's neck so that Silas can take his identity and talk to Qetsiyah.

Later, when Stefan regains consciousness, Damon attacks him and Stefan is unconscious again. When Stefan regains consciousness a second time, before Damon can make something Stefan attacks him, breaking his neck, Silas is kneeling in pain and Qetsiyah is worried about him because she thinks he's Stefan but Stefan arrives then where they are and reveals to Qetsiyah that she has been deceived, Stefan also regains his daylight ring.

In *Handle with Care*, Stefan is located in the cabin of Qetsiyah, she tells him that is the day that Silas will die because he has taken the cure and that she will kill him, when Qetsiyah tries to leave the cabin they realize they are trapped by a spell cast by Silas. Later, Elena arrives at the cabin where Stefan is, she is worried about him because she believes he has been sleeping with Qetsiyah. Stefan made clear to her that it isn't true. When Elena tries to leave the cabin she realizes that she is trapped with them.

Elena is still with Stefan and Qetsiyah in the cabin. They are hoping that Damon will carry out a plan to kill Silas because Qetsiyah has threatened the life of Elena. Stefan tells Elena that he wouldn't let Qetsiyah hurt her. When Qetsiyah is distracted, Stefan stabs her and he escapes with Elena after Silas' spell is over.

Elena is grateful to Stefan for having protected her, as he always does and then says goodbye to him. When Stefan enters to his room meets with Qetsiyah, who is angry for his betrayal and to revenge on him, she puts all his painful memories, Stefan is dismayed after that.

In *Death and the Maiden*, Stefan's having a dream about how Silas stabbed him and put him in the safe. He wakes up as Elena comes inside his room and wakes him up. At first he's confused to why is she there and she says that she missed him. She brought him coffee and said that ever since he lost his memories she feels like she has lost a friend and she wants them to start clean. In that moment he interrupts her and says that he remembers driving to Portland and saying goodbye to Lexi as he was about to drop Silas' body at the quarry.

Elena is confused and asks him how does he remember this. He explains that Qetsiyah was in his room last night and brought back his memories as an act of revenge for his betrayal. After that they go downstairs and Damon asks him questions about there past to make sure Stefan really got all his memories back. Elena is happy about that fact but Stefan again remembers a moment from the past where the safe finally opened, and in his anger, he breaks the cup of coffee.

Later, Damon shows him Amara in her cell and explains to his brother that they can use her so that Silas could bring Bonnie back to life. Silas however refuses to help them because he prefers Amara dead and gone to the other side so he can reunite with her. Damon, Elena and Stefan discuss the situation and Elena says that they need to hide Amara and keep her alive so that they can use that again Silas. Stefan, however is pessimistic and says that Silas isn't going to bring Bonnie back. Elena says that he got his memories back and he knows her better than anything and she's not going to give up on her plan. Stefan responds that he indeed knows her best-she puts her hope in all the wrong places and sometimes in the wrong people. He adds that Silas needs to die and put them all out of their misery. Elena says that as long as he's alive she's holding on hope that he can help them. The younger Salvatore is however angry and says that Silas needs to die and he needs to be the one who kills him.

After that Elena talks to Stefan and says he shouldn't kill Silas, because witches are not easy to kill and Stefan might die. She adds that they've both been down the revenge road and it's not worth it. Stefan says that while he was drowning in order to keep himself sane he would think of the moments that made him happy. Now every time he closes his eyes he sees Silas' stabbing him, he could feel himself drowning and he needs to make it stop or he'll go insane and turn his humanity off. In the meantime Damon decides to use Qetsiyah's help so he could bring Bonnie back. She agrees and wants to use the tree doppelgängers so she can preform the spell and make Bonnie the anchor instead of Amara.

Elena, Katherine, and Amara gather up and Qetsiyah starts preforming the spell but Silas interrupts them and because of his magic the lights in the house go down. In that time Stefan steals Amara away and drags her to the woods. He calls Silas and says that he'll make everything to keep Amara alive until Silas comes there. The first immortal follows him in the woods and has a heartbreaking confession with Amara until Stefan catches him from behind. They fight for a short moment until Stefan throws a knife at him and kills him. Amara yells devastated and kills herself too.

At the end of the episode they show Stefan as he is about to bury Silas. Elena comes and asks him if killing Silas worked and if he is now ok. Stefan doesn't respond but rather asks her why is this all so important to her. She says while he was drowning she was having the summer of her life, she got everything she wanted, even Bonnie and she needs to know that he's ok too. The younger Salvatore doesn't respond but instead says that he wanted Elena to find him when the safe find opened. He wanted it to be her and Damon. In the last minutes of the episode as Stefan is burying Silas all those bad moments from the drowning appear in his mind again. He falls to the grown saying that this should've stopped, but he's all alone in the woods.

In *Dead Man on Campus*, Stefan continues to have nightmares for everything bad that he spent because of Silas. He is invited to the party that Caroline and Elena are organizing but he refuses to go to the party. Stefan is lonely and he don't want talk to anyone when he is drinking in The Grill Katherine appears and begs him to stay with her, he reluctantly agrees. Katherine is drunk, feeling hopeless about the fact that she is dying. They have a conversation. Katherine tells Stefan that what he is suffering is called PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder). Nadia arrives. Katherine introduces her to Stefan. Stefan helps Katherine to discover what is happening to Matt and what are the intentions of Gregor, Nadia's boyfriend .

Later on, outside Mystic Grill, Katherine discovers Stefan getting crazy because of the memories of being locked inside the safe. She calms him down by telling him to remember and name the people he has killed in order, starting with Giuseppe Salvatore. By telling her the names, he can control himself. At the end of the episode, Katherine decides to commit suicide to end her misery by jumping off the bell tower. She writes a note to her daughter Nadia. Before Nadia has a chance to read it, Stefan discovers the note. Katherine jumps off the tower. Stefan catches her right on the moment which she is about to hit the ground. Katherine tells him that she has decided not to address the problems but he reminds her that she is Katherine Pierce and that she has to suck it up, he leaves and Katherine smiles.

In *The Cell,* Stefan took in Katherine and decided to watch over her so he could make sure she didn't kill herself. While Katherine remained somewhat difficult with him, she enlisted the help of Caroline so he could resolve his own personal problems first rather than handle her own. Stefan was forced to be locked into the very safe he had been trapped him to for three months in an attempt to face his PTSD problems, but it was to little effort and he soon began hallucinating that was drowning all over again.

Realizing this, Katherine locked herself in the safe with him when he was unconscious and gave him an ultimatum: either Stefan faced his problems now or he'd end up killing her by giving in to his stress. Stefan became angered under all of his anxiety and nearly choked Katherine to death as well as fed on her. However, she managed to get through to him by telling Stefan he was distracting himself with his safe trauma when his true problem was the anger and misery he felt over Elena falling in love with his brother and leaving him. Katherine showed her unwavering faith in him, tenderly touching his face and telling him she was with him. Stefan seemed unsure how to respond to this, but did not pull away from Katherine as she drew him closer for a kiss. The moment is interrupted when a worried Caroline unlocked the safe. File:Tumblr mxe4spsC0I1rypsblo4 250.gif
After this experience, Stefan appeared to come to terms with his problems more firmly. He admitted that Katherine had been right and that he had to focus more on moving on from Elena than his 3 months drowning during the summer. As he discusses this with Katherine, strong sexual tension quickly appears between them and this time they resolve it by passionately making out in front of the fireplace at the Salvatore Boarding House.

In *Fifty Shades of Grayson*, Stefan wakes up next to Katherine in bed but she frantically covers herself with a sheet and leaves the room and Stefan looks on amused. Stefan is changing his clothes when Damon comes to his room telling him that Elena has gone and they have to go to her rescue but he doesn't know where she is, so they need leverage.

Stefan and Damon find to Aaron in Whitmore College and Damon tells Aaron to call his uncle Wes to get Elena back, Aaron calls Wes and he agrees to meet them in his classroom. Stefan asks to Damon about how he and Aaron are known but when Aaron is about to tell the whole truth to Stefan, but Stefan interrupts him, then they arrive with Aaron at Wes' classroom and find Enzo waiting for them. Enzo starts counting everything that happened in the past with Damon to Stefan and Aaron .  File:5x10-01.jpg
Later Stefan calls Wes and tells him that they have Aaron, and that they are trying to decide how to kill him but Wes tells him that if they touch Aaron, he'll never see Elena again. Damon is ready to get on with killing Aaron, but Aaron mentions some files Wes gave him that are in his dorm room. Enzo tells Damon to stay with him as Stefan goes with Aaron. Stefan accompanies Aaron to his room for clues to find Elena but Aaron gets a gun and tries to shoot him, Stefan stops him and is about to kill him but Aaron tells him the truth about what Damon did to his family, Stefan stops and tells him that he is not like his brother Damon but when he is about to leave Aaron stops him to deliver some documents and so to find Elena. [[File:Elenastefan5103.jpg|thumb|250px|Stefan saves Elena.

When Wes is about to inject a substance into Elena, Elena hears Stefan's voice and stops him, Stefan arrives and frees to Elena pulling her out of the lab. Later Katherine is looking in the mirror and Stefan arrives, she tells him she is dying and if he thinks she may have some redemption to what Stefan replies that 147 years is a long time to forgive in one night, Katherine looks crushed and when she is about to leave he stops her and takes her hand, telling her that he sorry that she are dying, Katherine leaves the room.

In *500 Years of Solitude*, Stefan is in the hospital worried about Katherine. She is in the emergency room for a heart attack. Stefan tells Nadia that Katherine is dying. He's compelled the doctors to let him take her home so she'll be more comfortable, and he says that she won't survive the day. Stefan calls Damon and Elena to tell them what is happening with Katherine. Upstairs, Katherine asks Stefan if they're talking about her. Stefan says that they're "reminiscing" trying to gloss it over a bit for her. She says that she probably deserves it. While they're talking, she's looking at her hands and asks him if her hand looks wrinkled to him. He says it looks fine. Katherine tells him that if she "starts to sag. Anywhere," that he's to slit her carotid artery. Stefan accuses her of being vain, and she says that she'd rather go glamorous. Then, she's convinced that she sees an age spot on her hand, and Stefan tells her it isn't one and holds her hand. Katherine asks Stefan why he's being to her. He says that since she's dying, he can "muster" some compassion for her.

Stefan is reunited with the others in the room and he was upset that they are celebrating the death of Katherine, Damon invites you to celebrate too and he takes a drink, but he reminds them of all the bad things that have happened in her life, Damon taunts of him and reveals that Stefan slept with Katherine, everyone is surprised especially Elena. In that moment they are interrupted by Nadia, Katherine's daughter who seeks help to carry out a plan and save her mother, Damon tells her that no one will help, but she threatens them with Matt's life, so Stefan and Elena are the volunteers. Stefan and Elena arrive with Nadia to a old house, she tells them that is looking for a Traveler for do a spell where Katherine take her body. Within in the house, is revealed that Elena and Stefan are needed to perform the spell for their doppelgänger's blood, they are surrounded by many Travelers that begin to perform the spell, they are stuck unable to leave because their rings of light stopped working. In one of the visions of Katherine is reveals to Damon that she met Stefan before than him, and for Stefan, she made the decision to stay in their home.

Stefan and Elena are away from sunlight and they are bleeding from a cut into their wrists and the wounds aren't healed immediately. They talk about Katherine and about the relationship between Damon and Elena, Stefan tells her that she should not to give up with Damon. After they have completely filled a pot each, their wounds begin to heal and they are released.

Damon is in the room with Katherine who has been torturing, Stefan asks to Damon to stop and he leave the room. Stefan sits down on the bed. Katherine says something about how these drugs she is on are "hard core." Stefan tells her to close her eyes, that he's come to say goodbye. Katherine says that she doesn't want to, because she wants to see him. He tells her that she will, and they go into her memory/dream thing of coming home and finding her family dead. He asks her if this is really the memory she wants to revisit? She says that it was the worst day of her life, and that Damon told her it was all her fault and that she deserves it. She says that she thinks Damon was right, she doesn't even deserve to be loved. Stefan disagrees and asks her to open her mind to him. Stefan takes away all the blood and gore of the scene, and all the bodies and then leads her to a crib, with a crying baby in it. We're led to believe that it's baby Nadia laying there. Stefan tells her that she's a 17-year-old girl and none of this is her fault. The baby cries again, and Katherine goes to the crib. There's a bright white light, and Katherine seems to go into it. Stefan says, aloud, "Goodbye, Katherine" and Elena walks in and asks if she's gone. Stefan tells her that not yet, but she won't open her eyes again.

After Stefan says his goodbye to Katherine he and Damon talk about their eventful days. Damon understands why Stefan was being nice to Katherine. She helped pull Stefan out of a dark place. Stefan tells him to fix whatever is going on with him and Elena. Stefan tells Damon that she is the best thing that has ever happened to him and Damon doesn't deny it and confesses that he can't live without her but he doesn't think he's any better than Katherine and Elena will be better off without him. Stefan gives him a look and convinces him to get her back. Damon jokes that when he gets Elena back and the whole universe freaks out for keeping the doppelgängers apart, Stefan should remember he's the one who talked Damon out of doing the right thing for all mankind, Stefan agrees and smiles.

In *The Devil Inside*, Stefan is in the Salvatore's mansion and Damon arrive, Stefan asks where he was and for Katherine's body but Damon doesn't want to tell him. Stefan tells Damon that could be a bit of a problem, then Nadia appears asking for it. He doesn't approve that Damon refuses to give up her body but doesn't fight with him.

Later, Stefan is talking with Caroline in the phone because he tries to help his brother to fix his relationship with the Elena, and asks Caroline a favor to help him, initially she refuses but then Caroline feels guilty about sleeping with Klaus and for this reason she agrees to help Stefan with Damon and Elena relationship. As they find out that Elena doesn't answer Damon's calls, them they realize that Elena doesn't appear. On the Grill, Stefan and Damon are drinking, Stefan tells Damon that him without Elena is making miserable and that he must deal with his problems, on that moment Caroline arrives and Stefan tells him that she wants to help, Damon is surprised because he knows that Caroline hates him and in the end Damon tell to them that he don't need their help, so Stefan decides that they must better try with Elena again.

Then he goes to the Tyler's welcome party and meets Katherine, who is pretending to be Elena. She asks him if he feels bad for Katherine's death, but he says that he is fine with it. As Katherine asks her about her body Stefan tells her that Damon only told him that he put it somewhere where is should have been long time ago. At the same party, he finds Caroline and Tyler fighting, he steps between them and pushed Tyler to the wall to protect Caroline as he sees to Tyler threatens her with starting to turn into his wolf form. Tyler tells Stefan that Caroline slept with Klaus, Stefan looks surprised to her and Caroline is embarrassed and leaves. Caroline and Stefan Stefan hits Tyler for hurting Caroline saying that even when he is drunk she didn't deserve this behavior.

Later, He witnesses how Katherine (in Elena's body) breaks up with Damon, and tries to be there for him but he turns him down. Later Caroline is in the Salvatore house, Stefan arrives and sits down to talk to her telling her that he had been looking for her everywhere, Caroline tells him that he is her friend and she need to hear what he really thinks about she and Klaus, but Stefan starts joking, making smile to Caroline, he also looks at her with a tender smile.

In *Total Eclipse of the Heart*, Stefan arrives home and finds Damon's car with Aaron's corpse inside of it. When Stefan asks to Damon about this Enzo arrives and says that it was his idea, he also talks to Stefan about their intentions to kill Dr. Wes. Stefan tries to make Damon to change his mind, Damon tells him that he doesn't want to be saved and Stefan should find himself a new hobby and that he feels better 'like' he is. When Enzo is digging a grave in the woods, Stefan arrives and Enzo asks for help but Stefan threatens him and tells him to leave and that leave his brother alone, because he is afraid of Enzo's bad influence on Damon. After leaving Enzo he calls Elena (Katherine) and tells her that he wants to talk with her and Katherine invites him on Bitter Ball, although at first he refuses then accepts her offer.

Stefan goes to the dance and spends time with Katherine, they dance and talk about her breakup with Damon and about his new comportment. When Katherine asks him about what he wanted to say to her, he can't bring himself to ruin her happiness with the bad news about Aaron's death. Caroline interrupts them and tells him that Katherine promised to join her at the shredding station, Stefan is agrees, so she and Katherine leave him alone. When Katherine is absent for a while he meets Caroline and tells her about his concerns about Damon and reveals that he doesn't want Elena to give up on Damon, because he is afraid that they might loose him without her help. They are interrupted by Damon and Bonnie. Damon reminds him again that he doesn't want to be saved and Damon tells them that he plans to find Wes and that Enzo has Jeremy as hostage and that if Bonnie doesn't help him to get a witch, Enzo will kill to Jeremy.

Katherine playing Elena, asks him to help her save Jeremy and tells him where he is. They find to Jeremy and Enzo and Stefan fight with Enzo meanwhile Katherine save Jeremy, Stefan is winning the fight but Enzo attacks Katherine, Stefan help her to pull out the stake when Damon arrives, he says to Enzo that the spell worked and that they can now go to find Dr. Wes, Enzo leaves the room and when Damon is also going to leave, Stefan tells him that he shouldn't bother in coming back at all, Damon tells him that he did not intend to do and leaves.

Later he is talking to Katherine (appearing to be Elena), and reveals to her that he used to hope that Damon would mess up with her so badly that she would give up on him, but then he started to like the person he begun to be and says he doesn't want to lose this person. Katherine tells him she would help him recover to Damon, not for Damon or for herself, only for Stefan, she hugs him and then Caroline arrives and interrupt them, Stefan and Caroline stare at each other.

In *No Exit*, Stefan is first seen with Katherine and helps her study history until Caroline arrives to tell him information about Damon. Caroline tells him that Damon is off the rails and all his victims are decapitated and their skin is desiccated, which leads Stefan to conclusion that Damon is feeding on vampires. Stefan feels guilty for letting Damon go, but Caroline tries to cheer him up, saying that it isn't his fault and that no one could've stopped Damon from going after Wes the other night, Stefan says her that he have to find Damon. Katherine arrives and offers to come with him and then she leaves to pack her things, leaving Stefan alone with Caroline. When Caroline asks what is happening between Elena and Stefan, he tells her that maybe this car trip would be good way to find out how Elena truly feels.

When they are on the road with Katherine and stop to tank, Katherine breaks his car, so they would be forced to wait until it is repaired. While they wait they take room in hotel so they could shower, and Katherine flirts with him and then kisses him until Stefan breaks it, telling her that it is wrong, because she just broke up with Damon.

When they find Damon trapped in the house, Damon tries to scare him off but Stefan says that he is not afraid of him. When Katherine steps inside and cuts herself and makes Damon drink on her, Stefan interferes and cuts himself to distract Damon from feeding on Elena (Katherine) and snaps his neck.

Then Stefan chains Damon and vervains him to weaken him, and when Damon wakes he tells him that he shouldn't have told him to leave and that he will never give up on him. When Damon says that Elena already has given up on him, since she knew that Augustine vampire can't control their bloodlust, and still cut herself, and when he feed on her she essentially asked Stefan to kill him to save herself. Stefan is skeptical and leaves him. Caroline is standing in front of the fireplace, and Stefan arrives, Stefan ask her when she get there, she shakes a glass a little bit, causing the ice cubes to jingle, telling him that about one and half of these ago. Caroline says him, that she knew that the Klaus thing was gonna come with consequences and that now she just have to deal with it and learn from her mistakes. She tells him about Nadia's been compelling Matt to forget things, and Caroline shows Stefan Matt's text message, calling for help with a K, she takes the phone back and they start talking about the strange behavior of Elena, Stefan tells her that Elena kissed him, they begin to realize all actions that Elena has been doing lately and then between the two realize that Katherine has actually possessed the body of Elena.

In *Gone Girl*, Stefan tells Damon about Katherine is in Elena's body and that was Katherine who broke up with him, not Elena . Stefan assures him to not to worry and that he has a plan. Later, Stefan arrives at the room of his house where is Caroline, Tyler, Matt and on the phone with Jeremy and Bonnie. They're talking about Katherine possessing Elena's body and all the things that she did to hurt them supplanting Elena, he says about Katherine lure him into a hotel room to make out with him. Then they begin to looking for a solution on how to draw her to them and so to stab her with the Traveler knife. Caroline says that Katherine going to see a sneak attack from a mile away and that they've got to get her to come to them, get her guard down, corner her, Caroline also says that they've got to invite her to something that Elena can't say no to.  File:Stefan Salvatore 5x15.jpg   Later, Stefan feeds Damon 4 ounces of his blood, figuring that some every few hours will stave off his hunger. Stefan decides to call Katherine feeling that she won't say no to him like she has shrugged of everyone's attempt to meet her but Katherine instead calls Damon, wanting to talk. He invites her to the house and she agrees. Stefan and Damon come to the same conclusion: Katherine knows that they know about her being inside Elena's body. Later, Caroline is talking to Stefan about that they have lost their hopes of seeing Elena again and that they also blew their only advantage. At that moment, Damon who is in the cell says that the solution can be a locator spell. Caroline reaches the cell where Damon is enclosed to replace Tyler in caring for Damon, she finds that Damon attacked to Tyler, at that moment Stefan arrives and ask what happened, Tyler tell him that Damon went to go find Wes. After they locate Nadia and take her to his house, Stefan calls to Katherine and says to Katherine that Nadia is not at the church and that she's with him at home and that she doesn't have much time left. After she confirming that he knows all, Katherine asks him to prove it, Stefan passes the phone to Nadia and she tells Katherine to run, and Stefan tells her that she can always run or that she can come home and see her daughter one last time before she dies and that it's her choice, he hangs up the phone.
Later, Stefan is with the others in the room of his house Salvatore's and Nadia is dying there, they're hoping that Katherine appears and she does. As Katherine see that her daughter is gone for good, she tries to escape but Damon stops her. Realizing she's been beaten at her own game, Katherine concedes, she starts to guess who is going to kill her and when she has already talked to everyone she looks at Stefan, she says to him that she always wanted to know what it felt like to be loved by him, and that she think that they both agree that for a fleeting moment their feelings were real and that this has truly been the role of a lifetime. She tells him she loves him and that she always will love him, at that moment, Stefan stabs her with the traveler knife. Her last words is "I guess this is how our love story ends", Stefan just look at her and she dies.

Later, Stefan along with Damon is waiting for Elena to wake up. Damon tells Stefan that he plans on to tell Elena everything he did in her absence and is ready to face the consequences. Elena then wakes up looking to them a bit confused, it is then revealed that Katherine injected Elena's body with the enhanced Ripper Compound that Wes had made making Elena a vampire ripper just like Damon.

In *While You Were Sleeping*, Stefan arrives at the college where is Elena, he tells Elena about the seal keeping her inside and what Katherine did. Elena tells him that she doesn't remember anything from his last encounter with Damon, Stefan tells her it's been three weeks since then. Later, Stefan comes back to the campus and gives to Elena his blood so she can remain calm but Elena tells him that is not enough, that need more and that she's fine, Stefan refuses and tells her that she isn't fine, he tests her, biting his wrist and bringing close his blood to her, Elena reacts violently and try to attack him but the protection spell stops her.

Then, Stefan gets a call from Caroline, she tells him that the virus that have Damon and Elena isn't the same virus, Caroline says that Wes was working on the next phase of the virus that when Nadia was sick, he was experimenting on her blood and he figured out a way to extract werewolf venom from her blood and put it in the virus. She also says that has a antidote, that just requires he to come meet with her and that she will send a text to him with the address, Stefan tells her that she could just bring it over there but Caroline tells him she can't, Stefan refuses to go without knowing what is really happening and Caroline finally tells him that the Travelers don't want anyone to know what they're up to referring to the witch, Stefan finally agrees. Stefan is about to leave but Elena asks him why she not run like she normally does and and what was the reason for Katherine to stay , Stefan tells her that for Katherine staying alive wasn't enough and that she wanted it all, she wanted him. Stefan nods, leaving Elena to process what he had just said, she is about to ask but Stefan interrupts her and tells her that they kissed but he stopped her and that did not happen any more, then Stefan leaves.

Stefan finally meets with Caroline, they arrive at some abandoned train station, they're talking about Damon and Elena and as Damon is going to tell her that he killed Aaron, Enzo then arrives and interrupts them. Caroline asks him where is the antidote and Enzo nods and a group of Travelers disperse through the stockyard. One particular woman walks right over to Caroline and Stefan, she is Sloan. Stefan ask to her that she have the antidote to the ripper virus, and she answer that yes thanks to Enzo. Enzo tells them that Wes was experimenting with him and so discovered the antidote, Caroline ask what does that have to do with them, Sloan say that when Wes died, the Travelers took it.

And seeing as Elena is valuable for them, they are in the process of using Wes' resources to find a cure for her virus, she also says that them have to find something, Stefan ask what do they need and Sloan say another one of him. Enzo tells to Stefan and Caroline that they will find another doppelgänger of Stefan and that he don't know the Traveler lore, he also says that the last remaining pair of doppelgängers are special. Caroline asks what he mean by "special" but Sloan interrupts telling her that it is none of their business. Enzo anyway replied her talking about Markos, the leader of Travelers, he says them that Markos wants the blood from the last remaining pair of doppelgängers, Stefan and Elena, they need to use Stefan to find his doppelgänger, Stefan comes to the conclusion that they will do a locator spell until they find his doppelgänger and then they will kill him. Stefan reminds that the last time a witch linked to him to his doppelgänger, she fried his brain and he lost his memory, Sloan replied that they will be careful.

Caroline and Stefan are talking privately as they walk to a separate section, where Sloan and the other Travelers are. Caroline is worried about Stefan because he could lose his memory again, she is willing to join him and Enzo in a fight against the Travelers to protect him, Stefan tells her that he will be fine and that he would do it for she too but Caroline tells him that if they do fry his brain then she will kill them, Stefan smiles and tells her that when she'll spiral out of control about killing them she can do him a favor, that is she remind him that they were friends, Caroline smiles to him.

At that moment appears Sloan and Enzo to do the spell, Stefan asks where is the antidote, but Sloan says him that he will have the antidote when they are done, Stefan is disagree and says he will do what they want but first he need the antidote, Enzo says that will take care of the antidote for Elena and Damon, one of the Travelers comes behind Enzo and hands him the serum, Enzo invite to Caroline to join him but she stays with Stefan while he goes through the process of "mind searching" for the doppelgänger.

With the cure in hand, Enzo leaves, while Stefan moves to sit in the chair, Stefan agrees to helping the Travelers and Caroline see a blade in Sloan's hand and tells her that she said that her weren't going to hurt him, but Sloan say that they need his blood for the spell. Sloan takes the blade and cuts Stefan's hand with it, catching the falling blood in a round bowl. When the bottom is full, she dabs her index fingers into the bowl and puts her finger tips on Stefan's forehead, all the Travelers chant in unison and Stefan screams out in pain. Later, Sloan finds another Silas doppelgänger that is in Atlanta, Caroline tries to make her stop because Stefan is suffering and they have already found the doppelgänger but Sloan ignores her, Caroline is fed up of seeing Stefan suffer and she comes behind Sloan and holds a knife against her throat, Sloan tells her that the if she hurts her, the Travelers are going to kill her but Caroline says that she tell them to stop and that there's a way they can all get what they want. They decide to kill the doppelgänger in Atlanta so Stefan can live, since it's revealed that there can only be two living.

Later, Caroline is with Stefan waiting for him to wake up, when he wake up Stefan teases her calling her "Rebekah" and she cares for him, then he call her "Lexi" and she realizes it's a joke, Stefan asks her if the spell worked and then arrives Enzo, he thanks her for her call and says it's time to go, Stefan ask her what is happening and Caroline says as Sloan was going to fry his brain to kill his doppelgänger and that she wasn't about to let that happen, so she have volunteered to help Enzo deal with it, that mean kill him. Stefan disagree on that but then she tells him but Caroline tells him that they only want one doppelgänger alive, so is Stefan or the other. Stefan then decides to accompany her but Enzo interrupts them telling that he can't because the Travelers still need him, Caroline says him that she will be fine and that he would do the same for her, Stefan tells her that he don't trust in Enzo and Caroline says that don't worry because she don't trust in Enzo too and that she will be safe, she promise that to him, Enzo says goodbye to Stefan with a wave and leaves with Caroline leaving Stefan worried.

In *Rescue Me*, Sloan continues to fry Stefan's brain to keep the link between Stefan and his doppelgänger strong enough to derive additional information about him and his whereabouts, she discovers his name, Tom and where he works. With that, Sloan finally takes her hands off Stefan, breaking the link. While Sloan called Caroline and Enzo to give them the information, the Travelers carried to Stefan unconscious on a stretcher elsewhere.

Caroline calls to Sloan and tells her the info is bad. She asks for Stefan and she tells him that Tom has been gone for months. She asks if he saw anything else and he tells her that he blacked out after the spell. Sloan says they need to go deeper and Caroline says he's seeing old memories but then Sloan starts the spell again, despite Caroline's concerns, Sloan goes back into Stefan's head to get more information Caroline stays on the phone and tries to help him, Enzo listens with interest. Caroline is desperate to hear screaming Stefan and she begs to him to say something to her and finally he gives her Hazel's address and describes her. Stefan tells her that Tom is a good person and that she don't do it.

Later, Stefan is lying in a car and Caroline comes and lies down beside him, she is saddened by Tom's death and tells him that she is a failure because she couldn't do it, Stefan tells her that he knew that she couldn't do it because she is good, then Caroline tells him that Enzo killed him. Stefan tells her that now they have to sleep and close his eyes, Caroline is smiling and watching him resting her head on his shoulder, she close her eyes.

Later, Stefan and Caroline are sleeping cuddled, Stefan taking her hand, they wake up to hear strange voices and they out of the car. They arrive where the Travelers are doing the spell to awaken Markos, their leader, the Travelers drink the blood of Elena and Stefan and begin to burn alive, Stefan takes Caroline's hand and escape with their vampire speed.

In *Resident Evil*, Elena is writing in her diary at a table outside the Grill. a page break off and goes through the air, she tries to reach it but Stefan stopped it before it went too far. After they had flirty banter over the quality of her writing, they say their names at that moment a car almost hit to Stefan and wakes of his vision, all was a dream about an alternative life with Elena.

Later Elena had a vision of Stefan walking her home after a movie. It'd been their first date, and they wanted to see each other again. At the moment they kissed in front of Elena's house, someone interrupted this perfect moment. Elena said that it was her father who'd turned on the porch lights to put an end to their first kiss.

Stefan calls to Caroline, he too tells her about having visions of Elena and thinks he is going crazy, Caroline tells him that he isn't crazy and that something is happening because Elena too is having similar visions.

In another Elena's vision Stefan was cooking her dinner for their anniversary. She was looking for a bottle opener in a drawer when she found the little black box he didn't want her to see. She didn't even open it, she just said yes. Both of them looked very happy, they kissed and confessed love for each other. After that, they started to make out - dream Elena knocked some mail off the counter, and real Elena broke the glass she was holding.

In the last vision, Stefan and Elena had two kids, and they were still in love enough to playfully suggest they'd bite each other. When the vision abruptly ended, the real Stefan was home at Salvatore Mansion with Elena. He'd felt it, too. Such happiness, and then it was ripped away from them. Elena had tears in her eyes. Was it over? It's over, he said.

Stefan and Elena are sitting in front of fireplace, they talk about their visions, but Stefan makes it clear that what they had in the past was real in, it was not only for the prophecy of the doppelgängers. Stefan tells her that he will always love her, Elena tells him the same, she leans on his shoulder and asking him if she may someday have that kind of conversation with Damon, Stefan tells her "I think you can either be friends with someone or in love with them. I don't think you can be both".

In *Man on Fire*, Stefan is with Elena at the Grill, helping her with her ​​studies, they tease each other and in that moment Bonnie arrives, who is worried about what is happening on the other side. They are still talking when Enzo arrives at the bar, Enzo joins them and Stefan behaves hostile to him, Enzo starts talking to them about Maggie but Stefan and Elena are confused by what Enzo is saying, then he produces a picture that Sloan gave to him and is Maggie with her head cut off, he shows it to them because he thinks that it was Stefan who killed her. Stefan doesn't seem to know who she is, and tells Enzo that he wasn't the one who killed her, because he wasn't a Ripper in the 60s, Enzo doesn't believe him, and he makes Liv attack Stefan and Elena with a spell, causing their heads to ache. Then, they are tied to chairs by people compelled by Enzo, who has threatened Liv with killing her brother.

Stefan continues to insist that he wasn't the one who killed Maggie, so Enzo begins to read Maggie's diary, that was found by the police, he begins to read some of the things Maggie wrote, and then Stefan recalls that he met her but he tells Enzo that he only scared her so she would leave, but that he didn't kill her. Enzo doesn't believe him.

Bonnie tries to write a message to Damon but Enzo grabs her phone, Enzo calls Damon and asks him for Stefan's diaries , Damon says that Stefan burned his diaries, and then Enzo says that he will kill Stefan because he was the one who killed his girl in the 60s, Damon tries to tell him that Stefan wasn't a Ripper in that decade but Enzo hangs up the phone. Enzo still insists that Stefan tells him what he believes is the truth, so he decides to threaten Bonnie, Stefan sees that Bonnie is in danger, so he admits that he was the one who killed Maggie. Enzo lets go to Bonnie, and tells Liv to take her to the second floor, he gets a wooden stick and he throws it at Stefan's chest, Stefan screams in pain. Enzo starts to torture Stefan, although Elena begs him to stop, he doesn't. At that time Damon arrives and tries to convince Enzo to let Stefan and Elena free, Enzo reminds him that it was Stefan who killed Maggie and so he has to die, then Damon tells him that Stefan was not the one who killed Maggie, that he was the one who did it, Enzo is surprised and in shock, Damon tries to explain but Enzo is too hurt by it, so he decides to turn off his emotions. Enzo feels good now that he is free of his emotions and decides to attack Liv, Damon gives Stefan a piece of glass so he can cut the ropes that bind him, when Damon tries to stop Enzo, Enzo attacks him with another piece of glass in his throat, Stefan attacks Enzo and punches him but Enzo throws him a container with vervained water and escapes but he takes Elena with him.

Stefan finds Enzo who is about to stake Elena, they start fighting and moving away from the place. After a long fight, Stefan falls rendered next to a car, Enzo continues attacking and beating him. Then Enzo lets some gasoline from a car spill on the floor, because he plans to set Stefan on fire, Stefan tells to him that Damon saw something good in him, Enzo asks if he also sees that but Stefan tells him he doesn't now that Enzo has his emotions off. Then Stefan attacks Enzo by clutching his heart but without taking it out. After talking, Enzo takes the decision of not setting Stefan on fire, he tells him that his best revenge will be when Stefan have to tell Damon that he was the one who killed Enzo, Stefan is confused and then Enzo decides push himself backwards, making Stefan take his heart unintentionally. Stefan is surprised by this. Stefan sees Enzo dead lying on the ground, and takes his phone, he sees that Damon had sent a message to Enzo before.

Later, Stefan arrives at the college where Elena is in her room, Elena hugs him and he tells her that Enzo is dead, she asks him if Damon knows about it but Stefan tells her Damon must not know it because that would destroy him even more, he tells her that he told Damon that Enzo made the decision to leave the town and not return. He calls Bonnie and tells her what just happened and he asks her to not say nothing about it either, Bonnie agrees and tells him that she won't say anything about the Enzo's death.

Stefan arrives to his home, where Damon is alone, they talk about the Damon's time with Enzo when they were in the cell, Damon tells him that he will find a way to help Enzo, Stefan says that it is not worth doing it, but Damon tells him that when they were both in the lab, it was Enzo who convinced him to not hate Stefan, Damon tells Stefan that he also has to be thankful to Enzo for that, unaware that Enzo at the moment is already dead. Later, Enzo appears as a ghost listening their conversation, he says he will not miss a good revenge, which means he still plans to take revenge on Stefan and Damon.

In *What Lies Beneath*, Stefan is still trying to convince Damon to give up on finding Enzo. He finds him with Liv's twin brother Luke who is performing a locator spell to find Enzo but is unable to find anything. Stefan suggests Enzo has a witch performing a cloaking spell on him and doesn't want to be found. Tyler comes in to announce the problem of the week. After some conferring, they expect the Travelers will be coming for Stefan and Elena today to break the witches' curse so they can settle in Mystic Falls. Damon orders Tyler to commune with the Traveler inside him to find Markos and tells Stefan that they're going to take their ex-girlfriend on a secret trip to keep her and Stefan safe from the Travelers. Stefan, Damon, Elena and Caroline decide to hide in Caroline's father's remote cabin from the Travelers. They take Luke along with them so that he is able to perform an anti-locator spell which will hide them from the Travelers. At the cabin, Stefan talks with Elena about their secret regarding Enzo's death. Elena is still not sure but Stefan convinces her by saying that Damon won't be able to handle it. Caroline, who sees them joking says "For a couple of Doppel targets, you two seem to be taking this all in stride," Stefan replies "Yea, well, a tribe of ancient wannabe witches wants to drain us of our blood and eliminate supernatural beings -- I've had worse."

Later, Elena and Stefan are collecting firewood and discussing about their secret situation unaware that Enzo is planning his revenge from the other side. In the evening, the gang is playing charade and team Stefan and Elena are beating team Damon and Caroline. Damon decides that it's time to play "never have I ever", Elena does not agree but Caroline is enthusiastic about the idea and they begin to play. After many drinks Caroline says that she has never ever kissed a Salvatore brother today, making an indirect to Stefan and Elena, they all are in an awkward silence, she asks if she is going to drink or not, Elena asks her if she is implying something but Stefan interrupts saying he wants to do another round, Damon say that never have he ever lied about where Enzo is, they all look around at each other in silence. Caroline ask what is going on and Stefan says that nothing. Damon and Stefan start arguing and Elena says that she is drunk and wants to go to sleep, she leaves.

Stefan and Bonnie are talking on the phone about the death of Enzo and Caroline hears the conversation, she walks to Stefan and he hangs up on Bonnie. She is surprised that Enzo is dead and Stefan tells her that he killed him, Caroline realizes that she was wrong about her suspicions on Stefan and Elena, she asks why didn't he say anything to her and Stefan tells her because it's complicated. Damon arrives telling that Elena just told to him the truth. Stefan tells that they could talk about that some other time but Damon is upset about it. Stefan tells that the other side is falling apart and he think it's allowing Enzo to mess with them. Damon begins to speak loudly waiting for Enzo's reply, Enzo is looking at them as a ghost, Caroline says that it doesn't make any sense because if Enzo wanted to kill Elena, drowning her wouldn't have worked, Enzo tells that she is smart and he see why they like her so much. Damon realizes that Enzo was just trying to distract them and that he figured out a way to kill them all in one fell swoop. Damon, Stefan and Caroline walk out onto the front porch and realize that Luke is gone.

While searching for Luke, Damon asks Stefan what he thought he'd do when he found out Enzo was dead. "Hate me," Stefan says. They come upon another cabin and find Luke barely alive inside. Damon spells the gas just before Enzo yanks down a light to ignite it. The cabin is quickly engulfed in flames. Then Enzo slams the door shut and stakes Stefan from behind with a pole. He pins Damon to the wall with a log as Damon makes an appeal to Enzo to stop, promising he'll help him come back if he does. Damon urges Stefan to get Luke out of the burning building. Enzo relents and unpins Damon, who escapes the flames. Back at the Forbes cabin, Stefan starts to apologize to Damon, but Damon punches him. "I had to do that, for Enzo. But it's the last time you'll hear about it from me," Damon says.

Later, Caroline is watching the shed burn and Stefan joins her. They start talking and fiddling, Stefan invites her to the car because they got to get out of there. They're about to leave but Caroline asks him if they are friends, she is still upset because she thinks that Stefan doesn't trust her and if he trusts Elena more. Stefan tells her that he did not tell her the truth not because he distrusts her and to make her feel better tells her that there are things that he tells her that he doesn't tell Elena. Caroline asks like what and Stefan tells like she has dirt on her cheek, he cleans her cheek and they smile. Stefan tells her that he didn't tell her the truth about Enzo because he know that they had a weird little chemistry thing, Caroline laughs telling him that he's delusional and Stefan then admits that he didn't want her to think any less of him. He tells that he will meet with her in the car and leaves. In the woods, Stefan senses something and looks around. It is assumed that the Travelers have found him.

In *Promised Land*, Stefan is still kidnapped with Elena, he is on other room and he is being held, light streams into the sealed room when a door opens. An unseen person removes the chains and the lock that bind Stefan to the table. He ask who is there and somebody say to he that he can leave. Stefan finally stands up, but he soon crumples back to the floor. In Elena's room, the door opens once again. She sees a figure, who she assumes to be Markos, and she starts trembling in fear. Finally, she sees Stefan standing in front of her, they escape.

After escaping the Travelers' camp, Stefan and Elena have holed up at some small store to use the payphone, Stefan is talking with Damon, he ask to Damon how long Stefan is surprising and that Damon didn't noticed that but Damon tells him that he has been looking for them. Suddenly, something barrels against the wall, shattering a window in the house Stefan is leaning on while making his phone call, Stefan tells to Damon that the Travelers drained their blood, so they are having to do a little hunting. They start to talk about Elena and Damon relationship, and what they have to do with Markos, Stefan tell Damon that he will get Elena home safely but Damon want them both safe. Damon and Stefan disconnect from their phone-call.

Stefan and Elena are walking along a desolate road, trying to make their way back to Mystic Falls. They see an eighteen wheeler pass by. They try to get the driver to pick them up, but they fail. They are fiddling while walking, Stefan tries to speed off using his vampire abilities, but he hardly gets a few feet before his ability stops working, Elena say that it was funnier the first time. They start to talk about Damon being a hero and about Elena relationship with him, she says that their relationship is toxic but Stefan is disagrees, he interrupts her train of thought, trying to reassure her. He says to her that their blood don't hog the blame, they are vampires so they are toxic species that it's just who they are. When a human gets ravenously hungry, they eat a double cheeseburger but they kill people and that's just who they are. Stefan and Elena resume walking along the road.

Stefan and Elena continue their track back to Mystic Falls, Elena say that she think that she just hallucinated a unicorn and Stefan joking saying that maybe Caroline's nearby. They start talking and joking about Caroline, and her delusional positivity and Control-freakiness , Stefan says that her Control-freakiness never really bugged him, Stefan say that if Caroline Forbes were there right now, they would both be laughing. Stefan sees a car approaching them from behind Elena, she turns around and sees the car, Stefan raises his thumb to hitchhike, but Elena makes him put his hand down. She turns around, adjusts her shirt to show more cleavage, flips her hair, before she turns back around, throwing her jacket over her shoulder They she sticks her thumb up. The car pulls up. The car stops and Elena approaches the car, she sees a women in the driver's seat, Stefan catches her gaze and tries to compel her to give them a ride, but that woman is Maria a Traveler who helped them, she says them that the travelers and Markos are coming for them.

After being picked up by the Traveler that freed them, the trio head back to Mystic Falls in her car, Maria tells them that It was too risky to haul them out of there for herself, so she had to circle back. Stefan ask if won't they kill her for helping them out, but Maria is doing that for Julian, her husband, she ask for him, Elena says that he's permanently passengered into one of their best friends so yes, they know about him. Maria thinks that Elena y Stefan are boyfriends but both talking at the same time telling that they aren't together, she assumed that for the doppelgänger prophecy. Then they start talking about Markos and his travelers, Stefan says that they're not just going to let her take Tyler but Maria say that Tyler is gone for good and that Julian in Tyler's body he belongs with her.

They arrive to Mystic Falls and on that moment the Travelers are doing their spell, suddenly, Liv is standing in the middle of the road, with her hand held out, Stefan scream to stop, Maria gasps and stomps down on the brake. The car comes to a screeching halt. She says to them that Liv is trying to kill them. She flips the car in reverse and hits the petal. The car lunges backward a few feet, but Luke stands behind the car, with his hand outstretched as well. Stefan says to her to unlock the doors, but they can't do it, suddenly, the pedal pushes itself down and the vehicle moves forward. Maria tries hitting the brakes, but it nothing happens. The car continues moving until it almost hits Liv. Instead of striking her, the front end of the car completely smashes in on itself, just as it would in a car crash, Maria dies on the act.

Liv and Luke have Elena and Stefan cornered, Luke tells to Liv to kill Elena, all of a sudden, Stefan manages to break free, but Luke is unable to pin him back down. His magic seems to have stopped working. Elena gets up on her feet and twists Liv's arm, they say that the spell started, dozens of Travelers have gathered and are chanting in unison, suddenly, Stefan and Elena's daylight rings stop working. Their skin starts to burn, both of them run speed off to the Grill where is Matt, Stefan tells to him that they've got to get out of here.

They go to the tunnels, the Travelers are still gathered around, chanting. Many of them have blood falling from their nose, ear or mouth. Stefan, Elena and Matt try escaping through the tunnels. As they run, Elena suddenly starts choking on water. She flashes back to the day she became a vampire, when Matt's truck fell into the river under Wickery Bridge, Stefan suddenly cowers in pain. He touches his abdomen and his hands become covered in his own blood. He flashes back to the day he became a vampire, when he was shot in the gut and left for dead. Matt ask what's going on and Stefan says The spell unravels the witch magic and that it's spreading and without the magic, that he is just someone who was shot by his dad, Matt tells them to lets keep running.

Later, Stefan, Elena and Matt are preparing all to leaves Mystic Falls, Stefan says that they've just got to outrun the spell, regroup in about a thousand miles and figure out a game-plan. Then Damon and Jeremy arrives, Stefan tells Jeremy, head back with Matt, that they need eyes and ears in Mystic Falls, and then says to Damon and Elena to take Jeremy's car and that he will going to wait there for Caroline and Bonnie.

Later, Stefan and Caroline are waiting on Bonnie near their car, they are concerned that Bonnie hasn't arrived, at that moment Julian approaches them. He is looking for Maria, his wife. He ask to Stefan about her but Stefan looks down at his feet. Julian ask what's the problem and Stefan tells to him that he are not going to see Maria again. Julian ask what he is talking about and Stefan tells him that Maria is dead, Stefan tries to comfort Julian, but he recoils angry, Caroline tells him that It wasn't Stefan's fault, Stefan say that he wasn't the one that killed her. The witches did. Julian is angry and says them that someone's going to pay for her. he pushes Stefan, they begin to discuss and Caroline sneaks behind him and attempts to snap his neck, but he catches her in the act.

Stefan lunges toward him to protect Caroline and tries to pin him to the car, but Julian has the upper hand. He reaches into Stefan's chest cavity and pulls out his heart. Caroline gasps as his skin starts to desiccate, before Stefan falls to the pavement; dead. Julian leaves and Caroline hysterically rushes over to him and holds his body in her arms, screaming for help. Bonnie is talking with Enzo about their last hope lost, Bonnie looks behind Enzo and sees Stefan standing there, Enzo also turns around, but sees nothing, she says his name and Enzo is surprised by that, Bonnie can't believe what is happening and she approaches to Stefan's ghost, Stefan begs her to tell him that she has figured out a way to bring them all back but Bonnie tells him that she lost it, Stefan is sad for this and then he touches her shoulders and passes through her to the other side.

In *Home*, Stefan watches as Damon, Elena, and Caroline mourn his death until he is nearly sucked up on the Other Side and saved by Lexi. Stefan and Lexi head to the Grill to find Alaric, but still see no sign of him. Lexi starts teasing Stefan about Caroline, until they watch Sheriff Forbes talking to Markos about an open bar and gathering everyone there and realize there's a plan. They then go to check the school next to see if Alaric decided he missed teaching.

Later, Stefan finds that Elena and Damon have come over to the Other Side by destroying the Travelers. Stefan still refuses to leave without his brother, same goes for Elena when she joins them, but Bonnie grabs her, forcing her through. Bonnie then begins coughing up blood and stumbles back into Stefan on the Other Side, forcing him through as well. Stefan also not wanted to come back to life still because Damon and Lexi continue on the other side, as Damon makes it to Bonnie, its too late as Liv and Luke have stopped the spell and left.

Later, Stefan is sitting on a picnic table all alone, until Caroline comes to talk to him, he is very sad and tells to her that he lost them both, the two people he has known longest in this world, she ask to him if he is talking about Lexi and Stefan tell her that she never came out and that neither did Markos and that he know that's not a coincidence. He start talking about Damon and says that he finally had everything he wanted, that he was happy and that he should be there, he is sad because Damon and Lexi are gone for good, Stefan puts his head in between his legs and starts to cry, Caroline wraps her arms around him without saying a word.

Stefan is seen for the last time with Caroline, Tyler, Elena, Jeremy and Alaric watching to Bonnie who is preparing to disappear with the other side.

In *I'll Remember*, Elena reveals that after four months, Stefan left everything behind to find a witch that can contact the dead, however the lead came up empty and he has now moved on and is now living in Savannah, Georgia, works as a mechanic and also has a new girlfriend named Ivy. He talks to Alaric and tells him that he is still trying to find someone to resurrect Damon and Bonnie. He is later joined in bed with Ivy and she asks for him to tell a secret to him and he admits that he is a vampire, but she doesn't believe him and hugs with him. He then gets a phone call from Elena who asks him if there's hope, but he tells her, he can't find anything and that she should move on. He later receives a phone call from Caroline, but he ignores the voicemail and purposely breaks his phone, showing that he is still grieving.

In *Yellow Ledbetter*, Stefan is surprised to see his Ivy still at his house in the morning, cooking breakfast. She can see he's surprised and tries to make an awkward exit, thinking they're in different places with the relationship. Stefan then offered her to have dinner with him that night. Stefan is preparing dinner when Ivy arrives. But she is not alone, Enzo and Caroline arrive right behind her.

Over dinner, Caroline and Enzo interrogate Stefan through polite dinner conversation. Enzo mentions that he's a neck person and had to get a witch to do a locator spell to find Stefan. Caroline is infuriated to learn that Stefan has been in Savannah for almost two months, not trying to help Damon and Bonnie. Finally, Enzo has had enough and stabs a fork on Stefan. Caroline compels Ivy and takes her upstairs as Enzo calls Stefan a coward and they throw each other around the kitchen. Finally, Stefan snaps his neck.

When Caroline enters, he asks her to take a subconscious Enzo. He claims he doesn't care to which Caroline replies he was the one who always cared and that was what she liked about him. He tells her he had to move on after two months of searching. He already looked into the Gemini Coven, the one which Enzo found out about. She asks how he could move on without her and he says he had no choice. She realizes he never listened to all the messages she left him. Caroline angrily replies *"Well, let me summarize them for you: You're a dick. If you want him out of your house, you do it yourself."* She then storms out of the house. Stefan is cleaning up the mess when Ivy enters. They talk but are interrupted by Enzo who grabs Ivy and then snaps her neck. He tells Stefan he's no brother to Damon. He remembers Damon promising Stefan a lifetime of misery, and says he'll be the one to deliver it. When Stefan tries to charge him, Enzo snaps his neck easily.

In *Welcome to Paradise*, Stefan pulls up to his garage to inform his boss he needs a few days off. When his boss offers to fire him instead, Stefan compels him to bury Ivy in the woods and forget any of this ever happened and give him a raise when he gets back. Stefan plans to go back to Mystic Falls, the last place he wants to be to take revenge from Enzo for killing Ivy. He stops by Whitmore college to see Elena.

Elena and Stefan catch up with each other in the classroom. Elena tells him how much she's enjoying her volunteer time at the hospital. Caroline told Elena about Ivy, but doesn't know she's dead. When Elena mentions how it has been to get over losing Bonnie, Stefan notices that she doesn't mention Damon. When he says he wants to talk to Caroline, Elena invites Stefan to the party. Stefan agrees to come once he hears Enzo will be there. On the way to the party, Stefan and Elena describe Caroline to Liam.

At the party, Stefan finds Enzo and is ready to attack him but Enzo hears something and deflects a stake thrown by Stefan with a bag of ice in his hand. He uses the other to knock Stefan over when he rushes him. Then Enzo picks up the stake, explaining he doesn't want to kill Stefan. He throws the stake past Stefan and into the throat of Jay, who was aiming a shotgun with wooden darts at them. Stefan picks up Jay's stake gun and turns it on Enzo, but Caroline zips in front of it before he can fire. Caroline looks to Enzo for an explanation of Stefan's rage.

Caroline tracks down Stefan in the woods. He explains to her that even if killing Enzo won't bring Ivy back, he thinks it'll help him get over Damon and he will be able to leave Mystic Falls. Caroline is disappointed and upset when he says that's the only reason he came back to town. She tells him everyone needs him, including her. She hopes a small part of him came back to check on her. She begs him to stay, but he walks away.

In *Black Hole Sun*, Stefan is ready to leave again and return to Savannah when Elena stops him. He claims he has a system for starting over. She tells him to prove that he's ok by showing his moving on system and if it works then she will let him go, otherwise she'll subject him to "Enzo-sized" harassment. After reaching Savannah, Stefan explains to Elena that he tries to live as human a life as possible and tells her the next step to starting over is deciding who you want to be for the next 30 years.

They go to a bar and Stefan asks for Elena's daylight ring then and then gets down on one knee and proposes to Elena Williams (an alternate identity). She goes along with it, asking if Stefan Cooper is only proposing because she's pregnant. He says she's stood by him through his the multiple rehabs, the jail time, the bullfighting injury. She tries to keep from cracking up as she accepts his proposal and hugs him. The bar people claps for the "happy couple".

Later, Elena asks him what made him come back to Mystic Falls after 15 years and he tells her it was her. After believing that his system works and he is okay, Elena says good-bye to Stefan. After she leaves, Stefan goes over and talks to the guy who was eyeing him earlier. The guy reminds Stefan that he put his brother in the hospital. Stefan is aloof and jokes about it, asking which guy it was because he was drunk that night. He goads the man into bashing him over the head with a beer bottle and then takes his beating until he's bloody on the floor. Finally, Elena rushes in and ends it by compelling the man to go home and forget everything.

Elena realizes that Stefan letting himself get beat up was part of his system. He tells her she's the last person who should be giving him advice on coping mechanisms. He scoffs when she says she fought through her grief over Bonnie all by herself. She asks Stefan why he's inflicting so much pain on himself for such a hateful person. "He doesn't deserve your grief" she says. Finally, Stefan can't take it anymore and tells her that she had Alaric compel her to forget loving Damon. Later, we see Stefan at the garage working at Damon's Camaro. However, he can feel that someone is there. He turns around to see Ivy, covered in blood. She says his "friend", Enzo made her drink his blood turning her into a vampire.

In *The World Has Turned and Left Me Here*, Stefan gets a call from Tripp, who updates Stefan on his torture of Enzo. Given the degree to which he's tortured him, he thinks Enzo is telling the truth that Mystic Falls doesn't have much of a vampire problem, and that it's moved down to Savannah. Stefan thanks Tripp for the heads up. Then he goes downstairs and finds his Ivy scavenging for blood. She confesses she killed his boss, Dean, after she woke up when he was burying her in the woods. She's angry at Stefan for not feeding her more. She lays into him for letting her be turned into a killer. When it's clear she's not going to stop, he snaps her neck.

Then he shows up on Caroline's dorm doorstep with Ivy in a trunk. He wants her to show Ivy how to feed properly and control her urges while he gets Luke to make her a daylight ring. He's worried about Ivy making herself a target for Tripp if she doesn't learn how to control herself. Caroline reluctantly agrees. Later, Stefan visits Alaric. Alaric is not happy to see him, reminding him about how he lied about being on the trail of a way to bring back Damon and Bonnie. Stefan wants him to compel Ivy to pull it together and go live a normal life somewhere without him. He reminds Alaric about compelling Elena to forget Damon. However, Alaric angrily tells him how he forgot Damon first as he gave up searching on him and sends him away.

Later, Stefan visits Caroline and she demands to know where he was. He admits he was halfway out of town. He left Ivy's daylight ring at Caroline's dorm. She can't believe he was going to dump Ivy on her and leave. She's so upset she suggests he just leave, and he does. Stefan then visits his family crypt showing that this whole time he wasn't doing any good. He confesses he's not doing well without Damon and can't seem to start over because he's lost. He throws his bottle and to his surprise Damon catches it. Damon says "What, I'm gone a couple months, you think it's ok to waste a perfectly good bottle of bourbon." Damon assures him he's back. Stefan can't believe his eyes and touches Damon to make sure he is real. Both of them hug tightly while crying with joy.

*The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get*, starts from where the previous episode ended. Damon and Stefan are still hugging and Damon says he missed him too. Damon tells him the truth about Bonnie's sacrifice but asks him to lie to others so that they don't have to go through the pain of losing her again. Stefan then tells him about Elena's compulsion which shocks Damon but he still has faith that the moment they will meet, everything will be okay again.

Later, Stefan joins Caroline, Alaric and Matt at Whitmore and confesses to them that he handed over Enzo to Tripp. From the hospital, Elena calls Stefan, worried that her feelings will come back for Damon if she sees him. She says she is happy that she has started over. She also tells Stefan she kissed Liam, which he advises her not to tell Stefan as he would be heartbroken. Out in the woods, Stefan tries to defend turning over Enzo to Tripp, but Caroline isn't feeling forgiving. They hide when two young men walk out of Tripp's vampire torture shed. After the men leave, they go inside the shed to rescue Enzo, but he is not there.

When they all receive the news of Damon being captured by Tripp, they all go at the Mystic Fall entrance. Stefan rips apart Alaric's engine to lure Tripp in to grab him. Alaric tries to reassure Stefan that what's happening isn't his fault. He admits that he was searching as a distraction, but eventually he had given up too. They see Tripp's van pulling up and Alaric tries to stop him but Tripp ends up crashing the car along with Alaric inside the Mystic Falls. Stefan then steps inside the town and manages to save both Damon and Enzo in time. However, Alaric turns human as Jo saves him after his vampirism is stripped off.

Later, over drinks, Damon whines about how Elena is happy without him and Stefan gives him the kick he needs to go see Elena and then find out what happens. Damon leaves and Stefan sees Caroline on the street outside. He goes outside and stops her. He asks her to tell him what she wants to hear so they can go back to being friends again. But Caroline says that after everything, she doesn't want to be friends with him anymore.

In *Do You Remember the First Time?*, Tripp wakes up only to see Enzo and Stefan towering over him. They restrained him and tried to get information from him about the other vampire hunters, and he then tells them that they know about Caroline. Stefan, quickly leaves Tripp with Enzo and goes to Caroline's dorm to warm her, however, she is not there. After receiving a tip that Tripp's men have taken Liz into hostage and ask that they make an exchange. Liz for Tripp. They meet at the border of Mystic Falls to make the exchange. Tripp crosses the border and dies, proving that in Stefan's absence, Enzo turned him into a vampire. Fortunately, Liz crossed the border just in time. Later, At the hospital, Caroline talks to Stefan about their feelings for each other. Stefan apologizes to her about his behavior but Caroline seems to not want to do anything with him anymore.

In *Fade Into You*, Stefan, to his disappointment, isn't invited to "Friendsgiving" dinner, which, given Caroline and Stefan's current situation. Stefan, Damon and Alaric travel to Portland to investigate the Gemini Coven. They come to an empty field which Stefan claims that he has been to before the first time which he investigated the Gemini coven. Damon mocks him with Ms. Cuddles and, annoyed, Stefan grabs and kicks Bonnie's teddy bear across the field uncovering a cloaking spell which was hiding a house. No one seems to be inside. While searching for clues, Alaric finds pictures of Jo when she was younger, and in one of those pictures, Damon recognizes one of the people she was with as Kai. A mysterious man walks around the corner, announcing that he is Kai's father. He shakes hands with Damon, only to make Stefan and Alaric disappear from the house, also making then unable to see the house anymore. Alaric then calls Jo before she collapses. Jo still is able to give directions to uncovering the house's cloaking spell. She tells them that in a tree stump, they should find a dagger. Stefan throws the dagger, again undoing the cloaking spell on the house hitting a piece of wood on the exterior of the house. Stefan, now can enter the house and save Damon just in time. He holds Joshua against the wall before getting struck by his magic making them fall to the floor in pain. He then chants a spell making himself disappear.

In *I Alone*, Damon confesses to Stefan about what he did to Alaric. Stefan tells Damon that Alaric is going to kill him when he finds out that Damon compelled him. Damon turns the table on Stefan by telling him that it is just the same as ruining his relationship with Caroline. Alaric bursts in with the ascendant and Damon compels him to forget it ever happened. Later, Sarah is about to meet Stefan and just then Enzo walks in to ruin things. He tries to convince Sarah that she can do much better and after Matt tells Sarah who he is they get into an argument. Stefan walks in and ends the feud momentarily, however, Sarah bombards him with the fact that she is related to him. Enzo and Matt watch closely as Stefan and Sarah get acquainted. He introduces her to the Salvatore family tradition of a chocolate shake which is really a ploy to call her out about lying about her relation to the family. Matt approaches them about leaving but Sarah covers and the two take off. Sarah and Stefan are driving away and he still doesn't believe that she is Sarah. He realizes that Sarah or the pretend Sarah is fake because he has been keeping tabs on her since the day she left. Pretend Sarah is really Monique. Stefan and Monique are discussing Sarah's life. Stefan tells Monique that he wanted Sarah to have a normal life no matter what. He even threatens Monique, after telling her he won't hurt her. He compels her to leave and never come back. Matt shows up and just when they are going to let Sarah go, Enzo comes back. He grabs Monique and threatens Stefan to tell the truth, however, Enzo ends up killing Monique and Matt is beyond fed up. Stefan apologizes to Matt who doesn't really want to hear it from Stefan. He questions why everyone trusts him and tells him that at the end of the day Stefan is just like Enzo. Matt may have had his last run in with vampires after another innocent life is taken.

In *Christmas Through Your Eyes*, Stefan's hand is forced when he has to be the bearer of devastating news to Caroline. Sheriff Forbes surprises Caroline at Whitmore and brought all of her favorite Christmas things. She also brought along Stefan to help with the dorm decorating and Caroline is surprised but still lets him in. Later, Caroline's mom walks in as Stefan walks out but she faints and Stefan is there to catch her. He takes her to the hospital. Stefan keeps an eye on Sheriff Forbes and he is approached by Elena. Stefan tells Elena that Forbes is suffering from a cancerous tumor and it sends her into shock and concern for her friend. Elena asks Stefan if he is okay and he replies telling her they always have a plan for evil, but there is no plan for telling Caroline that she is losing her mom. Elena tells him that she should be the one to tell her but Stefan refuses and says that he needs to tell her because he hasn't been there for her when she needed him. Caroline is sitting by herself and she seems optimistic until Stefan tells her they need to talk. Stefan broke the news to Caroline and she begins to react in only the way she can. He tells her that all of the scenarios she is coming up with are being shot down. She is taking it very hard and crumbling right before Stefan's eyes. As she falls apart, Stefan is finally there when she needs him the most and she accepts it.

In *Woke Up With a Monster*, Stefan wakes to find the mansion in a strange state. Shirtless Jeremy drank all the coffee. Liv's shirt is smoldering from Jo practicing magic. And Jo broke just about everything in the living room. Alaric enters with breakfast … s'mores, the best reason to incinerate something. At the hospital, Damon disagrees with Caroline's suggestion to use vamp blood to cure her mum. He thinks it won't work because he's never heard of anyone doing it. Sound logic you've got there. Sheriff Forbes returns home just long enough for Caroline to give her the Friends box set and tell her she's going to Duke to see another cancer specialist. Stefan invites himself along because that just so happens to be where the real Sarah Salvatore lives. While Stefan hangs around a student art exhibit, Caroline learns there's really nothing more the doctors can do. Taking charge, Caroline feeds a cancer patient her blood and asks Stefan to join her. He's a little preoccupied with Enzo, who followed him and discovered his secret. Later, Caroline shows Stefan how lively the cancer patient is now. It worked. Caroline and Stefan have a moment on the porch before Caroline tells her mom about her weekend experiment.

In *Prayer For the Dying*, Stefan joins the party to discover Colin's now a vamp. They bring Colin to the hospital for Jo to examine, but she's feeling less than adequate, having just failed to revive a plant. Trying to end the excruciating pain, Colin repeatedly stabs himself with a metal rod. Knowing the blood transfusion didn't work, Damon pulls out Colin's heart, much to his friends' dismay. Stefan finds Caroline debating which flowers to pick for her mum's memorial service. To calm her down, Stefan tells her the story of when his mum got sick. He would travel into town to buy tea and flowers, telling himself it was for her, but it was truly his way to avoid her. He now wants nothing more than to spend another day with her, and Caroline has that chance. The Sheriff goes into cardiac arrest. Neither CPR nor the paddles bring her back. She dreams about packing her suitcase with baby shoes and pictures and telling Caroline she's leaving. Forbes comes back to life. After a moment with Caroline, Forbes sends her to get coffee and asks Stefan to look after Caroline when she's gone.

In *The Day I Tried To Live*, Seeing the 1994 Mrs. Cuddles, Caroline's determined to find the original, which she buried in the forest years ago. Stefan accompanies her, but instead of digging, he drinks and taunts her until she releases her anger on him with punches and a whack over the head with a shovel. After heart-to-heart chat, Stefan sees the bear's ear. Caroline saves Mrs. Cuddles, although it needs repair work.

In *Stay*, Stefan and Caroline bring her mom's favorite things into the cabin. With his hands full, Stefan's phone rings, so Caroline awkwardly fishes it out of his front pocket and answers it to hear her mom on the other end just checking in. Caroline later freaks out about which book to pick for her mom's last literary experience, but Stefan reminds her that it's all of the days that lead up to your last one that matter more. Standing on the porch, they share a kiss. Liz is rushed back to the hospital. Sitting on her mom's hospital bed, Caroline learns from Stefan how to live in someone else's memories. She recalls learning to ride a bike with no training wheels. She didn't think she was ready to go on her own, but her mom knew she was. She then dies.

In *Let Her Go*, Stefan is first seen viewing Damon failing at his attempts at writing Liz's eulogy. But Stefan has other things on his mind. He then interrupts Damon, "I need your advice, and I need you to not be a dick about it because I have no one else to ask," Stefan says. Stefan tells Damon about kissing Caroline. Damon asks Stefan if he's in love, before seeing that Stefan isn't because is he was in love wouldn't need to ask Damon about it, then advises him to bail now before Caroline gets hurt, just not today, "give her today". At the church, Stefan finds Caroline alone before the ceremony begins. She chooses the "horribly awkward present", next to her mom's open casket, to then ask him what everything between them means. He suggest they wait to talk just because she has a lot on today. Caroline leans over her mom's casket and tells her everything will be OK and she's going to be fine. Stefan sits on the end of the bench, beside his brother, Damon and his other friends. Damon gets up to say Liz Forbes' eulogy. Throughout, Stefan repeatedly looks at Caroline, realizing what he has done to her and that he should of just told her what he truly felt about her. Caroline then gets up to say thank you to everyone that came, and then began to sing "Go In Peace". Stefan sits forward, realizing what he feels for her is true. At the Grill, after the funeral, Stefan compliments Damon on his eulogy, stating that he remembers failing Stefan by not doing their mother's eulogy and he didn't want to fail anyone. Stefan tells Damon he thinks he was wrong, he definitely feels something for Caroline. Damon tells him to stop wasting his time with him. "I think she could use a piece of news like that today," Damon says. Later, once Stefan goes to Caroline's house to see if she was alright, he finds Elena's dead body laying on the floor, he quickly runs over to her, realizing what Caroline has done.

In *The Downward Spiral*, Stefan is first seen on the phone to Elena, walking around Caroline's empty house. Later, Stefan is seen at the hospital looking for Liam. Once he finds him, he drags him into a spare room, compels him to tell the truth about his night with Caroline. Liam then starts giving a very graphicly detailed explanation, but Stefan interrupts Liam asking if there was there any biting. Liam responds with yes, however, he says it's not the biting he was thinking of, and Stefan realizes that Caroline had healed Liam and compelled him to forget what really happened. At the rave, Stefan offers Caroline a shot. She responds that if he try's to flip her switch back on they would see a whole other side to her. Stefan ignores her warning and goes straight to saying what he should have said at her mom's funeral in hopes that it'll will her to turn her humanity back on. It almost worked, but then Caroline realized what he was trying to do and told Stefan that he'd crossed the line. After hearing that Caroline has Sarah Salvatore, Stefan and Elena find Caroline at the grill making three margaritas, one for each of them. it turned out Caroline had kidnapped Sarah and compelled Liam to do whatever she said. Stefan tells Caroline to let Sarah go, but instead, she told Liam to cut out Sarah's heart. Stefan pleaded for her to stop him, then reminded Liam about their talk earlier and asked him where he was. Caroline told Liam not to tell him, but he didn't listen and told them anyway. Stefan told Elena to go and find them, leaving Stefan and Caroline alone. Things escalated, and Caroline and Stefan ended up fighting and Caroline stabbed Stefan in the back with the leg of a broken chair as he was in pursuit of the phone. Caroline rang Liam again to see why he was taking so long. Just as Elena was getting there, Stefan asked what he could do to make her stop. She responded that he's her emotional trigger and he's the only one that can bring her back. So she said that to save Sarah's life, he had to turn his humanity off as well. Elena was screaming through the phone telling Stefan not to do it, however, Stefan responded with "bring me back" and closed his eyes, turning off his humanity. Caroline hung up the phone. Later Elena rang Stefan and said "Stefan, don't you dare tell me that you shut it off!" so instead, Stefan handed the phone to Caroline so she could say it. The episode ended with Stefan and Caroline drinking margaritas.

In *A Bird in a Gilded Cage*, Stefan arrives home looking for weapons. After Elena filled him in on the no humanity switch, Damon tries and fails to syringe Stefan. Still a drama major, Caroline auditions for the school musical with a song about how much she hurts. Finishing up, she flashes a smile and wonders why the director has no comments. His head rolls off, revealing a satiated Stefan behind him. Stefan plans to make Caroline's life fall apart when her emotions returns because she's an embarrassment to humanity-free vampires everywhere. Stefan hops on his bike, only for it to fall to pieces. He laughs that Caroline's idea of no humanity was unbolting a few parts, so Caroline retaliates by smashing his gas tank. Inside the dorms, Stefan hurls a Molotov cocktail at Caroline and rushes at her with a stake. Caroline flips the tables and stabs his instead. She's slowly getting better at this. Stefan hears Alaric and Enzo approaching and throws another bomb at them. They're fine. Stefan snacks on a student, tempting Caroline to join. She complies, then they have a make out session that leads to more.

In *I Never Could Love Like That*, Caroline drops a body from the café rafters, trying to scare the employee to death. Literally. It fails. She tries another tactic, compelling him to have a heart attack. It works. As a reward, Caroline gets to sing karaoke. The entire room is mesmerized with her rendition of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," until Matt and Tyler enter. They're completely out of the loop that their friends flipped the vamp switch. Poor humans. Caroline starts a game of Caroline Trivia with her two former lovers and whoever wins gets to live. One point for Matt. One for Tyler. Stefan swoops in and wins the tie-breaker, so Caroline flips a coin to decide who lives. Tyler starts a fight, ending with him accidentally stabbing Matt. Tyler takes Matt to Elena at the hospital, but Matt refuses her blood. His mother comes with Damon to the grill where she says her story and Stefan turns his humanity back on.

In *Because*, Stefan and Caroline check into a bed and breakfast for a little R&R. Damon delivers towels to their room, shooting them both with vervain darts. It's all part of humanity-filled Stefan's plan to help return Caroline's humanity. They'll drain her, make her weak, and bombard her with everything she loved, including a letter Sheriff Forbes mailed to her before she died. Three days of suffering hasn't changed Caroline's mind. On vampire watch duty, Jo and Alaric discuss their upcoming wedding, then Elena interrupts their makeout session to say she vampire-proofed the B&B. It's time to start. Elena gives Caroline the letter, but Caroline orders Stefan to burn it. Caroline discovers that Stefan already flipped his switch, so she snaps his neck, kicks down the door, and escapes. Driving home and wanting a snack, Caroline deliberately gets pulled over, but by none other than Sheriff Forbes. She reminds Caroline how she raised her daughter to be a good person, causing Caroline to realize that Stefan's playing mind games with her. Caroline wakes and stabs him. He continues, showing her a real memory of him and her mom. This affects Caroline, causing her to break down in tears and turn the switch.

In *I'd Leave My Happy Home For You*, Stefan and Damon bring Alaric to his bachelor party at a bar. For parties, there's a lot of talk about life. Alaric wants Damon to tell Stefan about the cure. Stefan wants Caroline to come home. At the Grill, Lily almost loses control. Stefan tries to stage an intervention by showing her how to transfer her hunger into a socially acceptable pastime: drinking. It doesn't work. Lily stabs Stefan in the hand and snacks on the waiter. At least she apologizes about the mess he now has to clean up. The Salvatore brothers find Lily about to stab herself. Stefan begs her to stay alive for her sons, while Damon syringes her and locks her in their dungeon.

In *I'll Wed You in the Golden Summertime*, Stefan takes Damon on a trip to convince him not to take the cure. Their first and only stop is at a house Stefan lived in during an attempt to start over. Welcome to the suburban nightmare. At first, it includes frozen diners and paperwork, then drinking to dull the resentment and unfulfilling marriage, then more misery having to live as a widower. Damon thinks Stefan is the one who won't be able to handle him taking the cure, until Damon learns that this was all Elena's idea. She wants Damon to really consider, or reconsider, his decision. Stefan leaves Damon behind and returns to the wedding preparations. Having avoided him all day, Caroline is finally forced to face him. She made a list of everything she's done since she fell for him last summer and just wishes he felt something as well. Stefan explains that falling for someone is about losing control, and he's losing control. Caroline explains that control is the only thing she has left in her life, so her feeling for him will have to wait until the mourning and self-loathing is over. Damon returns to Elena. Stefan changed his decision about taking the cure, but it changed again upon seeing an old couple in love. He'll take it. Everyone takes their seats and the wedding begins. Jo begins her vows, but she's cut short when she's stabbed repeatedly in the abdomen. Kai appears. He gives everyone a raging migraine and shatters the windows, knocking Elena out cold.

In *I'm Thinking Of You All The While*, everyone wakes up to the barn destroyed. Stefan wakes up next to Caroline. They look around and see Alaric hugging Jo. Elena is in Damon's arms. He rushes her to the hospital. Stefan and Caroline and Enzo find Lily searching for her friends. For them, she gave her blood to Kai. Back at the Salvatore boarding house, Stefan enters Elena's mimd. Elena and Stefan hike along the lake where she told him she never wanted to be a vampire. Now she's human again. Back out of the dream, watching over Elena, Caroline asks Stefan if he'll be okay because she won't. Stefan's grateful for the love he and Elena shared, but he's more grateful that she repaired his relationship with Damon. Later, Stefan tells Caroline he made a list of how loving her changed his life.

In *Day One of Twenty-Two Thousand, Give or Take*, after the aftermath of Elena's 'death', Damon takes Alaric to Europe, where he gets Alaric drunk every night. Bonnie tagged along to keep Damon in check. In Mystic Falls, Caroline sits upon a bench dedicated to her mom while writing. Stefan comes and they have a super awkward conversation, and both admit it's uncomfortable. Ever the perfect manpire, Stefan tells her: "You live your life, you heal, and in the meantime, we're friends." Not long after, two of the Heretics take out two humans and leave their bodies on display hanging upside down. Both Stefan and Matt, with the rest of the police find the bodies. Later, Stefan phones his brother to see how he and Alaric are doing. After his convocation with his brother, he asks him to put Alaric on the phone. Stefan asks him how to make a bomb. After he tells him, Stefan sets the timer on the bomb to 1 minute. Caroline quickly lifts the bomb up with no care in the world. Stefan tells her to be careful with it as it can kill her. Caroline then leaves Stefan to go and blow up the Heretics. Once the bomb detonates, Stefan calls his mother telling her that her family are no more. Lily tells him that he is severely underestimating them and that he should run. She puts the phone down and Stefan looks worried. Not long after, the heretic problem seems to be forgotten as Stefan and Caroline go to Matt's deputy graduation, where the Heretics cause a massacre, killing everyone at the graduation. Matt is the only human survivor. Stefan goes up against Beau and nearly gets staked but is saved as Lily arrives and commands them to stop. Lily gives her 'family' as speech that the bloodshed ends now. Later, Stefan and Lily make a truce to make sure that there won't be any more innocent bloodshed. Stefan agrees to move out all of the residents of Mystic Falls in exchange for the Heretics to live in his home. A flyer is made and news articles are wrote where the deputy slaughter was an accident. The gang then go on a compelling spree, compelling all the residents that their town isn't safe anymore and that they should pack up their stuff and leave immediately. At the boarder, Stefan puts barriers across the road, stopping people from getting in. Stefan then goes and helps Caroline pack up her house and then goes and packs up the grill. He opens a bottle of bear and starts to drink it when his phone goes. It's his brother when he turns around, Damon returns unexpectedly and asks why his house is now occupied by a bunch of Heretics.

Three years later, Stefan enters a storage compartment containing two coffins in the New York harbor. He wakes up Damon from his sleep with a few drops of blood and they are soon dodging wooden arrows and bullets from an unknown assailant. Stefan adjusts his shirts to see a 'X' shaped mark on his chest. Damon ends with an ominous statement to his brother: "She's back, and she's not going to stop until you're dead."

In *Never Let Me Go*, Stefan is driving down the abandoned streets of Mystic Falls while leaving Caroline a voicemail. He steps on the brakes of the car and asks what Beau wants. Beau casts a spell and high frequency noise causes Stefan to fall to his knees. After Beau stops the pain, Lily wonders about the deal that was made and Stefan remains oblivious to Malcolm's death until Lily tells him. She tells him she's not there to blame him, but to understand what they had to do, which leaves him to angrily ask what they did. Stefan and Damon then walk into the Lockwood Mansion and finally asks him if he killed Malcolm. He tells him he and Lily had a deal and that now she has Caroline. He tells Damon that he's going to go over to the house and fix his mess. After some banter with Stefan, Damon tells him he'll run into a problem as the house no longer belongs to them, but to another person. While they wait for Bonnie to tell them she stopped Matt's heart with magic, they talk and after they get word, Stefan takes the tunnels. Stefan then walks through the door and into the room Caroline is being held in. He breaks the chains and when he he touches her arm, his hand sizzles and it's like her skin is vervain. Stefan puts a jacket on her and while they talk, the house starts to rumble and he is then yanked backward by an invisible force and flies out of the house through the nearby window. After arriving back at the Lockwood Mansion, Stefan coldly tells him that he could've gotten her back, and Damon tells him that he has to leave town. He then tells him that Lily has Elena and Stefan angrily says Lily has everything. Damon then tells him that Lily plans to have them fractured and they make a plan about having a fake fight, while Stefan distracts her and Damon can look for the last member of the Heretics.

In *Age of Innocence*, three years from now, Stefan calls Tyler Lockwood to ask if he's spoken to Caroline. Stefan says his scar opened up so he doesn't have much time. He asks Tyler to warn Caroline as he douses his with gas. Before he ignites it, he grabs his journal.

In a flashback to 1863, Stefan is writing in his journal at a fair when he meets Valerie Tulle for the first time. The two seem to have an instant connection as she's able to make him laugh and pull him from his dark mood. She tells him she's just passing through town.

Presently, Stefan asks Lily why she sent Valerie to check on him all those years ago. She says she was longing for her children and depressed. Lily tells him that she went to Europe with a gentleman friend; Stefan laughs at this because he doesn't trust her type of man. Lily tells him that Julian is nothing like Stefan's father.

In another flashback to the fair, Valerie is throwing food into air for Stefan to catch with his mouth. They are both laughing when suddenly Julian is there, looking at Valerie and saying "Aren't we ladylike?" Valerie introduces Stefan to Julian and Stefan assumes he is Valerie's father. Valerie clears up that notion quickly. They continue to walk around the fair grounds, getting to know each other. Stefan tells her that his mother was strong and kind. He tells Valerie that she passed away when he was ten. That night, Stefan and Valerie meet secretly and Stefan is sure Julian will kill him for being with Valerie. They kiss and Stefan hints that he is a virgin as they undress.

Now, Stefan is still teaching Lily to drive. They talk about Valerie and the secrets she kept from both of them. Valerie had told Lily that Stefan had moved on from her "death" but Stefan says his mother was ripped from his arms and you don't move on from that.

Flashback again and Stefan is taking Valerie to Lily's grave. He tells her that he comes here with flowers everyday. He feels responsible for her death because he couldn't run fast enough to get the flower for her tea in time. Valerie puts him at ease by telling him that those flowers have no medicinal properties, they are a wives tale. Julian startles them and tells her they must leave. Valerie whispers to Stefan "I will find my way back to you".

Now Stefan is continuing to teach Lily to drive and she asks if there is anything else Stefan would like to know. He says no because it obviously was all a lie: Valerie was using him. He asked Lily if she knew about the telegram Valerie sent him saying she was coming back to him.

In a flashback Stefan sits alone, reading the telegram. Valerie promised to meet him Friday at noon so they could run away together. Stefan sat there all day and into night, feeling like an idiot.

Now Stefan sits on the same bench when Valerie approaches and sits down next to him. She's finally able to tell him the truth. She tells him of her pregnancy and how Julian almost beat her to death but beat her enough to stop the other heartbeat inside her. She tells him she is very sorry. Stefan just gets up and walks away.

Caroline comes into their bedroom and Stefan touches he and gets burned. She says that Lily let her go. Caroline says it was a Valerie-sized day full of surprises. Caroline wants to know since Valerie is out of the prison world, does that change anything for him? Stefan replies "No".

In *I Carry Your Heart With Me*, Damon brings Oscar's desiccated body to Stefan to try to come up with a plan to deal with it, but Stefan tells Damon that he wants no part in it and that it's Damon's problem, not his.

Later, as Stefan and Damon are trying to carry Oscar's body out, Nora and Mary Louise barge in in their quest to find him, since Damon neglected to show up for the hostage exchange with Lily. Nora starts destroying things, trying to look for Oscar. They leave, but then a girl they compelled comes into the apartment with a note telling them that for every hour that Oscar is not returned, a Whitmore student will die.

Stefan brings Caroline coffee and they talk about Valerie, and how she hasn't lifted the spell she put on Caroline. Then, he tells Caroline about Nora and Mary Louise's threat and they come up with a plan to distract them while Damon tries to figure out a way to bring back Oscar.

Stefan is with Nora as she is making her costume for the Whitmore party him and Caroline invited her and Mary Louise to as a distraction. They talk about Valerie and Mary Louise. Mary Louise arrives and tries to kill another Whitmore student.

Stefan and Caroline are at the Whitmore party babysitting Nora and Mary Louise. Stefan talks to Damon over the phone about each other's situations. Caroline and Stefan talk about Oscar. They lose track of Mary Louise and Nora.

Stefan kidnaps Mary Louise and they use her as incentive for Nora to siphon the spell from Caroline. Nora starts to use magic but Caroline claps her hand over Nora's mouth, burning her. Nora successfully siphons it and Caroline snaps her neck. Stefan and Caroline make out in celebration.

Stefan takes Caroline back to her dorm as they continue to make out. Caroline starts overthinking about Valerie, but Stefan tells Caroline he has no feelings for Valerie anymore, only for her.

In *Live Through This*, Stefan is lying in bed with his arm around Caroline. Damon barges in and says he's taking Stefan to interrogate Valerie. Caroline encourages it.

Valerie is driving but is stopped by Damon. She starts to choke Damon with magic but Stefan appears behind her and she stops.

Stefan, Damon, and Valerie are in a car together. Valerie tries to convince them both of how evil Julian is. Damon keeps bothering them about their past together.

Stefan calls Caroline when they stop at a gas station. Stefan says he wants to have dinner with Caroline that night. Valerie tells Damon to fill up a jug of gasoline to make sure they can successfully burn Julian's body, also telling them that he is already dead.

They stop at a warehouse and Stefan and Valerie bicker as Damon moves all the planks away from the door. It turned out that Oscar had stashed Julian's body at a casket emporium. As they are checking each coffin, Valerie informs them that the phoenix stone is full of lost vampire souls, which means that they didn't really bring back Oscar.

While they continue to search for Julian's coffin, Stefan tells Valerie that Nora siphoned her spell from Caroline. He then asks her why she did it. She does not give an answer, and Stefan finds a spelled coffin. Valerie siphons it and they open it, revealing Julian's corpse. Valerie spits on him and tries to light it on fire, but it doesn't work. Nora and Mary Louise appear, along with Lily and Beau. Valerie tries to convince Lily not to bring Julian back. Valerie reveals that Lily was the one that gave Kai the idea to put Elena under the sleeping spell. Damon lunges at Lily and Beau explodes all the coffins.

Stefan wakes up and tries to stop Damon from going after Lily so that they could find Valerie.

Stefan finds Valerie and starts pulling the splinters out. Valerie reveals the truth about how she really was coming back for him because she was pregnant and wanted to tell him in person. She also told him about how Julian had found out, and how "He made sure it wasn't a problem anymore."

Stefan is on the phone with Caroline, telling her that he was still in Mystic Falls, and that he'll make up for missing their date. Stefan talks to Valerie and she asks him about what he wanted to know. Stefan says he's angry, and he wants to kill Julian for hurting Valerie. Valerie tells him that she killed herself and accidentally became the first Heretic. Stefan tells her that he would have wanted a child. He said that if Lily gets the stone, he'll kill Julian himself.

In *Best Served Cold*,

In *Mommie Dearest*,

In *Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me*,

In *Cold as Ice*,

In *Hell Is Other People*, Stefan is seen in many of Damon's hallucinations. In reality, Stefan is the first to get out of the stone and he tells Matt, Bonnie and Caroline that he had to let go to get out. When Damon does get out, he breaks Stefan's arm and then his neck, thinking it's still a hallucination.

In *Things We Lost in the Fire*,

In *Postcards from the Edge*,

In *This Woman's Work*,

In *Moonlight on the Bayou*, Stefan is driving a jeep and is talking to Valerie who gives him directions. He tells her he needs to get a charger and he walks into a store buying some supplies. On the camera screen, he sees Rayna and then runs, while she throws her sword at him. He then arrives at an unknown destination and puts a bandage on his chest where the mark of the sword is currently bleeding. He goes into a bar where supernatural people can stay and no magic can reach inside. He sits at the bar and a drink is then slid over to him. He sees that it is Klaus and is greeted by him. They begin to talk and Stefan lies to him saying that there is family drama that he is getting away from. Klaus congratulates him about the Mystic Falls evacuation and for saving human lives. Stefan smiles and says he did have some help with it. Klaus then asks about Caroline and Stefan says they're going to need more drinks. Stefan tells Klaus about the Heretics, the siphoning twins and Caroline giving birth to the them. Stefan asks Klaus if he could have some of his blood since Damon is in a werewolf predicament and while he talks, the wound starts to bleed through his shirt and Klaus rips it off. He knows that's the mark of the Phoenix Sword and angrily asks if he made an enemy out of Rayna. He asks how to outrun her, and Klaus says he doesn't outrun her by coming to a town full of vampires and tells him to get out. Stefan then calls Valerie and he tells her what road he is on. Matt comes in and says that they tracked Rayna and that it is a little late to turn back. While arriving in a part of the woods, one of the jeep's tires blows out and he notices that it is an arrow. He is then shot in the leg with another arrow and Rayna then pulls out her sword. She tries to thrust it in his heart while Stefan is trying to use his strength to keep it from piercing him. Klaus then backhands her with a crowbar so hard that she is sent flying and he gives Stefan his hand. Stefan asks what he is doing and Klaus tells him that they have to go as where they are at is dangerous ground. While driving back to New Orleans, Stefan says he can drop him off a nearby train station and Klaus hands his phone back to him. Klaus asks if he loves Caroline and Stefan asks "Why? Do you still have feelings for her?" and Klaus tells him to let her go as he will sacrifice everything good with her for his brother. Klaus tells him he's not going to the train station and that he has a witch who might help him with his Rayna Cruz problem.

In *I Would for You*, Stefan and Valerie are on the run as Stefan wipes the last bit of herbal ointment that Freya made for him onto his wound. They are on their way to get more herbs to make more ointment.

They find the place where all the herbs and plants are supposed to be growing. They wander around as Valerie is well schooled in this area. Stefan finds the place where all the herbs are supposed to be but they have all been dug up. A miss comes out of the sprinkling system as a woman with scabs and sores all over her face says "night, night" to them. Stefan and Valerie drop, sound asleep.

Stefan wakes to find that Valerie has already been up and talking with the woman. The woman says that she never gets visitors and then, all of a sudden, two in a matter of days! She had told Valerie that someone came and took all the herbs. Stefan insists that they need more but, unfortunately, there is no more. The witches eradicated it from the world a century before for its anti-magic/anti-witch properties.

Stefan calls Caroline to let her know that the herbs are more rare than they thought. Stefan asks Caroline to meet them and tag in while they run. Stefan tries to make it sound fun by suggesting they see the world, just the two of them. He says that he just wants to see her. But Caroline tells him that Ric just really needs her there. They agree to figure it out once the Huntress thing is over. Caroline asks Stefan how he feels about living in Dallas but has to get off the phone to deal with the babies.

Just then Stefan grabs his chest and seems to find it difficult to breathe. He falls to his knees. Valerie is trying to help him as he tells her his chest hurts. Valerie opens his shirt; the wound has red streaks going out from it. Stefan has lost consciousness. She tries to siphon the wound but it doesn't help. All of a sudden Stefan takes a deep breath and opens his eyes.

Later on, Stefan goes home to find Damon as he got Damon's text. Damon tells him that he killed Rayna several times but she only has eight lives. When she dies the final time, everyone with that mark will die too. The Armory has her now. Stefan is really upset because as long as Rayna is alive and Stefan has that scar, he can't be with his girlfriend because there are kids involved. Stefan tells him they have to find a way to kill Rayna or get rid of his scar.

Damon hands Stefan two envelopes saying that he's not a good brother without Elena so he's going to go desiccate right beside her. Stefan begs him not to by saying that if there is the tiniest part of him that cares for him at all, then he will not walk out that door.

Stefan sits alone in front of the fire when Matt walks into the house. Stefan tells him that it's not a good time. Matt tells him it won't take long. Stefan tells him that he doesn't want to kick him out but he will. Matt knows this and reminds Stefan that there is nothing he can do to stop him because Stefan is a vampire and Matt is just human. As long as vampires are in town, humans will always be at their mercy. Humans don't stand a chance against a vampire. Then Matt states "That stops today". He tells Stefan that vampires have to leave Mystic Falls: all of them. Stefan explains that this is his home and he's not going anywhere.

Matt pulls a thumb drive out of his pocket and tells Stefan that it is footage from the Grill today of Damon doing some nonhuman things to Rayna. He tell Stefan that he has footage of Stefan as well. Matt says he doesn't want to expose Damon and him- Stefan asks Matt if he is threatening him. Matt replies that yes, he is, and he hate that he has to threaten his friend. He hates that he's friends with vampires at all. He gives Stefan until the end of the day to be gone from town.

Stefan spies on Caroline and Ric through their window and sees how happy Caroline is. He texts Valerie: "Let's keep moving".

Three years later Stefan is frantically trying to wake Damon up. He spins Damon's coffin around just in time as arrows hit the lid. Stefan's scar had reopened that morning. Stefan had called Tyler and told him to call Caroline and warn her. Tyler tells him to run as Stefan pours gas all over his Porsche.

Stefan kisses Valerie goodbye then goes to Caroline's news studio where Matt injects him in the neck with vervain. When Stefan wakes, Rayne has him tied to the news anchor's chair. Rayna's sword is on the table in front of him. Rayna is in the chair across from him, telling him that she is exhausted. She tells him that there should be champagne for finally catching him. Rayna had Damon and Caroline taken and wants to know which person brought him out of hiding. Stefan keeps quiet.

Rayna tells him that there is a plan B. She knows Stefan doesn't really deserve that mark but somebody else does. She says there is a way to transfer the mark to Damon since it was meant for him all along. Stefan gives her props for trying to pit the against each other. Damon appears behind Rayna and tells Stefan that it wasn't her idea, it was his.

In *Days of Future Past*,

In *I Went to the Woods*, Stefan is in the body of Marty Hammond who is human and an alcoholic. Stefan wakes up in the middle of the road by a crashed car and a dead body inside of the car. He looks up and there is a school bus on fire and screams of help can be heard from inside. Quickly, he runs to the school bus and tries to get the door open. It takes him three tries of running into the door to open it. He managed to pull two people off of the bus when responsive cars drive towards him.

He is then on a stretcher by the back of an ambulance and is getting checked out by a paramedic. He says he is Stefan Salvatore and they have a small chat until he becomes convinced that he is still inside of the Phoenix Stone. He makes remarks to the paramedic and a police officer walks towards him. He calls him Marty and shows him the driving licence from Marty's wallet. Believing he is drunk, the police officer has Marty (Stefan) perform a sobriety test. Again, believing that he is drunk, the police officer arrests him and handcuffs him. As he is pressed up against the police car, Stefan looks in the mirror and sees Marty's reflection.

Stefan run (still handcuffed) through the forest to escape the capture of the police and comes across a cabin. Desperately, Stefan tries to open the door, but fails, so he takes the board from off of the window and smashes it to get in. Once inside, he opens all of the drawers and cupboards looking for food. Realizing that there is no food or electricity, he goes and starts up the generator. He goes into the shed behind he cabin and breaks his hand to get out of the handcuffs. The television switches and he changes the channel. The news is on. The news of the accident is on and is says that Marty is an alcoholic. Stefan then looks down to realize his hand shaking.

In *One Way or Another*,

In *Somebody That I Used to Know*,

In *Kill 'Em All*,

In *Requiem for a Dream*,

In *Gods and Monsters*,

In *Hello, Brother*,

In *Today Will Be Different*,

In *You Decided That I Was Worth Saving*,

In *An Eternity of Misery*,

In *Coming Home Was a Mistake*,

In *Detoured On Some Random Backwoods Path to Hell*,

In *The Next Time I Hurt Somebody, It Could Be You*,

In *We Have History Together*,

In *The Simple Intimacy of the Near Touch*,

In *Nostalgia's a Bitch*,

In *You Made a Choice to Be Good*,

In *What Are You?*,

In *The Lies Will Catch Up To You*,

In *It's Been a Hell of a Ride*,

In *We're Planning a June Wedding*,

In *I Was Feeling Epic*,
## Throughout The Originals Series

* Season Three

In *A Streetcar Named Desire*, Stefan goes with Klaus to the compound so he can ask Freya to help him hide from Rayna. While Elijah and Klaus discuss the events that are going on, Stefan tells Freya he dated Rebekah for a little bit and she puts a herb paste on that will keep Rayna from tracking him. He asks what is going on and Freya tells him about the white oak bullets and the sireline situation. Afterwards, Stefan appears when Marcel, Hayley and Lucien are talking about their lives being tied to Klaus and that his is in danger as well. He and Lucien plan an attack, but they end up throwing banter at each other and Freya tells them she has a way to get them and she wants to use Lucien. After Freya magically snaps Lucien's neck, Stefan thanks her and they begin their plan. Stefan and Hayley are in the trunk of the car Marcel is driving and they talk. She tells him about her daughter and he shows her a picture of Caroline, who Hayley remembers and they arrive at their destination. While talking, Stefan peels off the paste and Rayna instantly comes after the beacon. Before the others can save Klaus from the spell, Davina finishes it and Lucien, Marcel and Stefan began to feel a burning and the sireline is broken. Afterwards, Stefan is seen sitting outside near the tomb Klaus put Aurora in and he asks if this will be the last they will see of each other. Klaus says it depends if he can do right by Caroline and he tells him he will. He tells Klaus he needs to do right by Hayley and that she cares for him, as she went out of her way to help. They then bid farewell to each other and Stefan leaves.

## Personality

* Human/Doppelgänger
* Vampire
* Without Memory

1850s (1st Time)
As a human, Stefan was compassionate, kind, noble, honorable, intelligent, athletic, responsible, academic, dutiful, and a gentleman. He was definitely seen as the 'Golden Boy' and he had the admiration and respect of the entire town of Mystic Falls and most of all, of his father Giuseppe. Stefan was also seen to be ambitious and studious and he desired to become a doctor during his human life and this was his profession or career of choice before he was turned into a vampire against his will. In his human years, when it came to love and romance, Stefan was liked, admired by and popular with women. He was seen to be chivalrous, gallant, romantic, well-mannered, courteous and polite, traits which made Katherine Pierce fall deeply for the younger Salvatore.

In regards to Katherine, Stefan was much harder to get and challenging unlike Damon, who persistently chased and pursued Katherine as much as possible. Unlike Damon, Stefan had a very close relationship with his father Giuseppe and Stefan was Giuseppe's favorite son. Stefan was also close with his mother, before she had died when he was 10 years old. Before turning into a vampire in 1864, Stefan was seen to be happy, optimistic, light-hearted, playful, mischievous and naive. He was also seen as athletic, dutiful, respectful, intelligent, scholarly, noble, chivalrous and even-tempered. Stefan was very close to his older brother Damon growing up. Although Stefan was very popular and had many male friends during his human life, Stefan always considered Damon to be his best friend and companion. Stefan was also a bit idealistic when it came to love and romance, even naive at times. This is evident in Stefan when he very quickly and easily became infatuated and fell in love with Katherine Pierce, which is evidence of his youthfulness, naivety and simplicity as a regular teenage human. Although Stefan was only 17 years old, he displayed maturity, responsibility and had a wisdom beyond his years. Because of this, Stefan always seemed to be much older than his actual age.

As a vampire, Stefan's personality became increasingly complex. Much of Stefan's personality as a human transcended into his vampire personality, although his basic human traits became significantly more heightened. Although Stefan became increasingly darker by nature due to his vampire nature, he still retained the same basic personality traits that he had as a human. As a vampire, Stefan was described as mysterious, brooding, inscrutable, intense, kind, caring, empathetic, compassionate, loving, affectionate, heroic, noble, selfless, brave, intelligent, protective, and loyal. On the dark side, Stefan can be incredibly self loathing, self-destructive, addictive, guilt ridden, martyring, unpredictable, melancholic, self-righteous, naive, secretive and judgmental. Since he turned in 1864, Stefan had always had trouble controlling his blood lust, that has often become a major problem for him throughout the course of his immortal life.

Because of his blood addiction, Stefan was a certified "blood-a-holic" (which is a term coined from alcoholic by Caroline). When Stefan consumes copious amounts of human blood, his entire attitude seems to change. When Stefan gives into his blood lust, Stefan was unstable, volatile, unpredictable, rash, reckless, careless and can become highly destructive. The "ripper" side of him usually causes him to push people away and become emotionally cold, withdrawn and distant. When Stefan lets his blood lust take over, (this was because unlike his older brother Damon, Stefan never learned how to control, his thirst for human blood), he often shuts off his humanity and his emotions to block out his suffering, guilt and pain. After he was newly transformed into a vampire, Stefan was seen to be extremely dependent towards Damon. This was not the case when Stefan was a human. When Stefan was a human, although he and Damon were very close, Stefan always had an independent personality. Stefan's dependence on Damon due to his newborn vampire-ism and heightened emotions was example by a time right after he transitioned and then persuaded an unwilling Damon to complete his own transformation into a vampire.

Although Stefan was initially optimistic and happy that he and Damon were going to spend eternity together, Damon had shattered Stefan's optimism and hopes when Damon told Stefan he promised him a lifetime of misery. Over a century later, in the episode *Rose*, Stefan apologizes to Damon for betraying him and admits that he was selfish by getting Damon to complete his transition. That he did not want to be alone because he just wanted his brother by his side forever. There was a large part of Stefan and who he is deep down in his core that cares deeply and strongly for his own humanity as well as humankind. Stefan had a strong respect for humans and a strong regard for human life. Because of this, Stefan often feels immense guilt and remorse if he hurts, harms or kills a human. As the powerful witch Emily Bennett had once told him after Stefan had transitioned into a vampire, Stefan's heart was pure and good. This was what had caused most the self-loathing and brooding which had become deeply associated with Stefan's personality.

When Stefan was at his best, he was extremely caring, loving, helpful, understanding, selfless, empathetic, and compassionate. He did not like to see others suffering or in any kind of pain, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual or mental. Stefan can be very wise and comforting to others and people can always depend on Stefan. Stefan likes to give advice, help people, and comfort others who need comforting and support. Stefan was always willing to lend a helping hand when it is needed most and he will put the needs of others before his own. He was always willing to save people, especially those who need saving the most at a particular time. He was the kind of person who tries to protect and save everyone at the same time. Stefan was also highly honorable, noble, brave, courageous, altruistic, and selfless, especially when it comes to the people he loves and cares about.

One of the most heroic, selfless acts Stefan has ever committed is to give up his entire life in Mystic Falls, including his values, morals, and his devotion to his own humanity in order to save the life of his beloved brother (Damon) when he was dying from a fatal werewolf bite. When it seems appropriate, Stefan can be very fun-loving, upbeat and humorous. He was particularly practical, charming, playful, mischievous and humorous around his close friends (such as Lexi or Caroline, for example) or people who he knows. He can sometimes be somewhat sarcastic or display a dry, sarcastic wit. His best friend Lexi often brought out the more fun, light-hearted, playful side of Stefan's personality. Stefan was usually one to shy away from dancing, because he thinks that he was a bad dancer, but admits that he was much more enthusiastic about it when he was drunk or under the influence of alcohol.

Stefan was charismatic, charming, passionate and deeply romantic and because of this, he is highly magnetic to and popular with the opposite sex. He had a very selfless, idealistic approach to love. Stefan was known to be respectful, polite, courteous, and chivalrous towards women. Because of this, Stefan had always been popular, admired and loved by the opposite sex or women since his human life. He almost always respects women's (namely Elena) choices and decisions, even if he doesn't agree with them. This is especially shown with Elena, but also with Caroline and Bonnie in particular. His deep, strong love for Elena Gilbert has highlighted how his values and outlook on life have significantly changed since he was human and how deep, affectionate, understanding and loving he can truly be. Elena's own compassion and kindness are very important to Stefan. He was often very tender, loving and gentle towards Elena but he was also extremely passionate about her. Stefan had also proven many times, that values such as respect, honesty and trust are very important to him when it comes to romance, love and relationships. Stefan often emphasizes the importance of free will, freedom, liberty, choice and respecting one's decisions.

After Tessa strips away Stefan's memories in order to take away Silas' own mental powers, his personality developed obvious changes for a brief period of time. Stefan's naturally serious and broody demeanor lessened considerably, becoming more gregarious and even easygoing. He was also more inclined to bold bluntness and his sense of humor was slightly more sarcastic as well as almost taunting, particularly to Damon and Tessa. He also showed little reluctance to dancing in public with others, a sharp contrast to his old self who felt extremely uncomfortable with dancing. Stefan's personality was able to emerge more fully into itself without all of his guilt weighing him down, prompting to show sides of himself he would have had if he had never killed so many people as the Ripper or turned Damon into a vampire.

One of Stefan's most marked differences without memory was his opinion on being a vampire and giving in to the bloodlust. Upon the discovery of what he was, Stefan expressed confusion over not feeding on people and failed to see what was wrong with it, as going as far to say since he was a vampire he should *act* like one. This was a drastic change from Stefan with his memories who had both moral and practical reservations, and consistently refrained from feeding because he feared he would lose control and kill. Without memory Stefan *wanted* to feed on people, and theorized that the reason he had lost control was an attempt to escape the constant feelings of guilt and responsibility he bore after turning Damon but that would no longer be a problem since he didn't have those terrible memories; interestingly enough, Memories Stefan had once confirmed this. Ironically, Stefan's initial naivety and desire to feed paralleled his behavior after being turned into a vampire in 1864. In both cases he had been in awe of being a vampire and sought to embrace it.

Stefan had also briefly displayed much more dismissive and almost callous behavior towards the victims he had supposedly murdered in the past since he was unable to feel sorry for things he couldn't remember. He had reacted calmly to being told he killed his own father, and showed no reaction being informed he had murdered Honoria Fell while walking past her gravestone. Stefan had also asked half-jokingly once entering the Salvatore tomb if there was anyone he *didn't* kill in their family. However, not too long afterwards he began to display remorse for the horrible person he at some point seemed to be, openly calling himself a monster and admitting that he even scared *himself* once he nearly killed a innocent girl while thinking he could handle it. This stuck true to Memories' Stefan's pattern soon after he became a vampire.

However, Stefan was not entirely different from the person he had been before the memory loss. He retained his intelligence and logical nature, shown when he figured on his own he had once dated Elena and had come back to Mystic Falls because of her as well as pointing re-enacting their first meeting would not make him remember her. Stefan still carried his caring and kind interior as well, though on the outside he was somewhat more rude and less polite than before. Another trait he kept was his attraction to Elena. In only after seeing her a few times, Stefan started to flirt with her and began having jokey and teasing conversations. When Elena reminisced about their relationship to jog his memories, he even declared she made his bloodlust fade and he could understand why he felt different around her.

After Elena rejected Stefan's attempt to kiss her and informed him she was dating his brother, he was thoroughly confused and hurt to know she had not told him beforehand. This caused him to display clear differences from who he was with memories albeit briefly. Feeling betrayed by this realization despite having no memories, Stefan impulsively attempted to attack Jesse and stated he saw no point in being good if he had nothing to show for it and that his brother had "stole" his girlfriend. This was a sharp difference from the Stefan who had his memories since he maintained his morals despite Elena choosing Damon and did not want to stop being good for even a moment.

Stung by this event, Stefan was cold towards Elena and Damon. He had insisted he wanted nothing to do with either of them, and he rather wanted to forge his own path away from them. Stefan had even gone as far to say the only one he truly trusted was his best friend, Caroline. Despite this, he would later clarify he did not hate Elena and still cared for her, shown when he had stood up against Tessa so she wouldn't be killed. Stefan would justify this by telling Elena he had simply followed his instincts, and would not let someone good get killed if he could help it, proving he still maintained his heroic and chivalrous disposition somewhere inside him. Elena had recognized this, and responded by noting he was still him in some ways since his first instinct had always been to protect her.
## Physical Appearance

Physically, Stefan was described to be classically handsome and athletic, with a brooding, mysterious and intense aura. Stefan had a pale complexion, broad forehead, strong bone structure (angular jawline), deep-set, forest green eyes, a straight nose and a well-formed mouth. He had straight, short, dark blonde hair which is often gelled or spiked. Stefan also had straight teeth with a heartwarming smile. Stefan is of slightly above average height, about 5'11", and he has a lean, flat-muscled and athletic physique. In regards to his clothing and fashion sense, Stefan was generally trendy and casual.

He was often seen wearing darker colors such as black, grey and dark blue, although sometimes he wears lighter colors. Stefan had also been seen wearing plaid shirts in lighter tones from time to time. He was often seen wearing t-shirts, shirts or sweaters of darker colors and in various styles (such as short-sleeved, round-necked and v-necked shirts). Stefan was a casual, yet trendy dresser and he always looks neat, clean and well put together. He often wears dark or black jeans with a belt with black, leather boots with a buckle. On occasion, Stefan will sometimes wear black leather jackets and dark sunglasses, which give him a mysterious and rebellious aura. Stefan will wear more formal clothing, such as suits and tuxedos, if he was either attending a formal gathering/event or a special occasion.

Stefan had a tattoo of a rose on his right shoulder. However, the origin of the tattoo, its significance and when Stefan got the tattoo was all unknown. He also wears a large, silver lapis lazuli daylight ring on the middle finger of his right hand in order for him to walk around in the sunlight. On his lapis lazuli stone bears the Salvatore family crest with the letter "S" for the first letter of his first name. During his human years in the 1860s, Stefan's sense of style was "Victorian" and old-fashioned. In the 1864 flashbacks, Stefan was often seen wearing long pants, overalls made of denim with suspenders with a shirt underneath, dress shirts (often white in color), dress coats, vests (of various colors), trousers (normally in beige), waistcoats, and cravats with laced-leather boots (often beige in color). Stefan's hair was styled much differently; flatter and much longer in length with a part in the side.

Although Stefan was only a 17 year old teenager, Stefan appeared to look much older than his actual age because of the fashion at the time. It was assumed that Stefan's sense of fashion changed with the times. Damon mentions to Stefan in the *Pilot* after 15 years of not seeing each other, that the 90s "grunge" look did not suit Stefan, implying that Stefan went through a grunge phase in terms of his personality, attitude and his sense of style.

## Powers and Abilities

Stefan possessed all the standard powers and abilities of a non-Original vampire. Stefan has shown himself to be an experienced fighter, able to subdue his enemies easily. As a vampire over 170 years old, this makes Stefan one of the oldest vampires shown throughout the series. Although his age allows him to best younger vampires, Stefan is highly inferior to vampires such as Katherine and Anna.

As a ripper Stefan is prone to losing control when drinking human blood, making him stronger and emotionally unstable — even to the point where Damon, an older vampire, feared him. As a ripper, Stefan once wiped out a whole village in Monterey, earning himself the title 'The Ripper of Monterey' to which even Klaus was impressed.

Stefan, unlike many other vampires, has shown the ability to resist the effects of compulsion when it comes to matters regarding Elena Gilbert, much like his brother. Much to others dismay, Stefan can become dangerous when emotionally unstable as seen in *Best Served Cold*, Stefan was able to fight on par, and best Julian a vampire over 475 years old, to the point where it was likely Stefan would of killed him if it weren't for the intervention of Lily.

Due to his lack of human blood consumption over the centuries, Stefan had become inferior to his brother Damon. In *Pilot*, Stefan and Damon engaged in a spar upon Damon's return to Mystic Falls. Damon stated himself that Stefan gave up the fight against him when he stopped drinking human blood. Despite this, Stefan has engaged in fights with Damon numerous times since, sometimes besting him easily.

Unlike other vampires, Stefan had also shown the ability to enhance his use of dream manipulation. While most vampires are only able to cast a dream upon someone, Stefan has shown the ability to go beneath 'the surface' and interact with the subconscious manipulation of Sybil.

Furthermore, during his time working for Arcadius, he was temporarily granted the ability to return from death, even matters regarding a stake to the heart. This was an ability he shared with Damon, and was thought to be achieved through Cade's intervention post-death. Following Cade's death and Stefan being cured of his vampirism, he lost this ability along with his vampiric abilities and enhancements.

## Weaknesses

* **Animal Blood:** Animal blood, while somewhat satisfying a vampire's hunger and sustaining their undead life, will make the vampire considerably weaker than they would be if they had drank human blood, causing their physical abilities to be inferior to a human-blood-consuming vampire, making them heal much more slowly, and making their compulsion less effective.
* **Broken Neck:** Breaking a vampire's neck will not kill them, but it will render in a death-like state for varying amounts of time, depending on the diet and age of the person in question. The Enhanced Original vampire Alaric once snapped Damon's neck, though he recovered quickly due to the fact that he is an older vampire.

* **The Cure:** If a vampire takes the cure, they will revert back to being mortal again. Once taken, the cure prevents vampire blood from having any effect on them, as it will not heal their wounds, and, if the vampire dies with vampire blood in their system, they will remain dead and not awaken as a vampire in transition. Additionally, their blood becomes the Cure once they've ingested it, making them a target to any vampire who wants to cure themselves. If the Cure-laced blood should be drained from a cured vampire, that vampire would begin to rapidly age to compensate for the years they spent as an undead, un-aging vampire. In the case of older vampires, this can cause them to age so quickly that they die in weeks or months if the Cure has been drained from their body. This was demonstrated when Silas drank the cure-laced blood of Katerina Petrova, causing her body to begin to rapidly age to compensate for her 538 years of life, 521 of which were spent as a vampire. This was proven to be because of losing the cure in her blood, as she had spent four months as a newly-returned human before Silas consumed her blood, after which point she began developing gray hair and losing teeth within a day. She then began to develop wrinkles, bad eyesight, exercise intolerance, and other symptoms of aging that worsened over the course of several weeks until she finally had a heart attack and her body died a day later.
* **Decapitation:** Dismembering or manually removing the head of a vampire will result in an instant and permanent death.
* **Desiccation:** Vampires who abstain from blood for extended amounts of time will eventually desiccate and mummify. Witches can use magic to desiccate a vampire, and Wes Maxfield also developed a serum that would cause desiccation in a vampire if they were not given an antidote within a short matter of time.
* **Fire:** Vampires are highly flammable and sensitive to fire, and will quickly burn and die from it if the flames are not extinguished in time. This quality has been proven to be useful in disposing of the remains of a dead vampire without any physical evidence. However, in some cases, vampires have used this vulnerability to their advantage, such as when Elijah and Elena removed their daylight rings and exposed their hands to sunlight near an open gas leak, causing explosions and fireballs to incapacitate or kill their enemies and dampening the flames before they can do harm to themselves.
* **Heart Extraction:** Removing the heart of a vampire will result in permanent death.
* **Invitation:** Vampires cannot enter a home without an invitation by the owner. An invitation can be granted long-distance and even by someone who hasn't lived in the house in years. For example, Josette Laughlin invited Stefan into her parents' home despite the fact that she had not been there in nearly twenty years.
* **Magic:** Vampires are susceptible to the powers of witchcraft. This is inclusive of mystical objects such as the Gilbert Device and dark objects. A Siphoner can also siphon the magic from a vampire to fuel their spells. Witches have been seen to use magic to cause agonizing pain by inducing aneurysms in their brain or muscle spasms, telekinetically ripping out their hearts or snapping their necks, magically increasing their hunger for blood to unbearable levels, setting them ablaze with a single thought, and desiccating them to the point of mummification.
* **Physical Trauma:** Minor physical injuries such as gunshots, stab wounds, and broken bones will cause pain and also slow them down. However, this is momentary as they will heal completely so long as they haven't been weakened by other means such as vervain or werewolf bites.
* **Poison:** There are various poisons invented by people, such as Dr. Wes Maxfield and Aya, that are capable of incapacitating or desiccating a vampire when administered. Klaus also used a poison to kill Tim that not even vampire blood could cure.

* **Sunlight:** Sunlight and UV rays burn vampires on contact, and prolonged exposure will cause them to burst into flames and die. However, this weakness can be mitigated by the use of a lapis lazuli stone enchanted with a specific protection spell by a witch for a particular vampire, which is usually affixed to jewelry, though it requires the vampire to wear the stone at all times.
* **Vampire Bloodline:** If an Original vampire dies, all vampires descended from their bloodline will slowly perish as well. Members of Klaus' bloodline were unlinked from him; thus they were spared upon his death unlike Finn, Kol, and Elijah's sirelines.

* **Vervain:** Exposure to or ingestion of vervain causes a vampire to become severely feverish and weak to the point that it can even hinder their healing abilities as well. Also, physical contact with vervain will burn a vampire's skin. Vampires cannot compel anyone who has ingested vervain or has it on their person. Many vampires drink small amounts of diluted vervain to protect themselves from Original vampires' compulsion and to reduce its effects when used against them by enemies.

* **Werewolf Venom:** The bite of a werewolf, which involves injecting toxic venom into the wound, is extremely lethal to vampires. It will cause them to hallucinate, grow severely weak, and go rabid until it kills them. Klaus' or Hope's blood is the only surefire way to cure the bite, though one of the doctors allied with the Travelers managed to come up with a cure for the enhanced Ripper compound, which contained small amounts of werewolf venom. Lucien Castle also possessed a scientifically-created serum that, when injected into a werewolf bite wound, would cure the vampire of the venom's effects and allow them to heal the wound. Vampires suffering from the bite seem to always hallucinate either significant moments from their past, significant people in their lives, or specific actions of the vampire that they feel guilty or ashamed about.
	+ **Advanced Werewolf Venom:** Lucien Castle invented an advanced strain of venom derived from the seven werewolf bloodlines with no known cure. The venom is infused in the bite of an Upgraded Original vampire. Similarly, it is fatal to that of a werewolf or hybrid bite, although working twice as fast and more painfully. It is so potent that not even the blood of Klaus or Hope Mikaelson can cure it, nor will the blood of the Upgraded Original vampire.
* **Wood:** Wounding a vampire with a wooden weapon, such as wooden bullets, will incapacitate them and it will take longer for them to heal their injuries than if the wounds were caused by any other substance. Stabbing a vampire through the heart with a wooden stake or shooting them with wooden bullets will result in instantaneous and permanent death.
* **White Oak Ash Daggers:** It is said that if a vampire daggers an Original vampire, they will die while the Original vampire is neutralized. This, however, has never been proven.
* **Cancer:** A unique weakness that rarely occurs under specific circumstances. Although vampires cannot develop diseases and illnesses, such as cancer, if a human has active cancer and is turned into a vampire, the effects of the cancer will increase. The regenerative properties of vampire blood will cause cancer cells to sporadically replicate, and exceed normal stages of the condition. This was first proven when Caroline fed a terminal cancer patient vampire blood to test if it could cure cancer. When Jo ran tests on the patient after he was turned into a vampire, she referred to his tumors as "stage 10."

## Relationships

### Damon Salvatore

Damon is Stefan's older brother. As humans, they were very close- best friends up until the arrival of the beautiful Katherine Pierce. After Katherine's "death", Damon swore to make Stefan's life miserable and ultimately succeeded in 1912 by making him lose control of himself fifty years later. Before season one, the brothers had not seen each other since the early 1990s; their relationship having taken a steep turn for the worse- their relationship was described as "violent and bitter". Through the seasons, both fell in love with Elena and whilst she was the factor bringing them together, she has also been the biggest strain in the brothers' complex relationship. In the season four finale, Stefan was heartbroken at Elena's choice, but he also admitted that he was happy for Damon. Through this, they have proven just how far their relationship has grown from their violent past. Whilst their relationship will continue to be tested through highs and lows, it is clear that the two share a strong brotherly bond. They became separated due to Damon's death in *Home*, and reunited in *The World Has Turned and Left Me Here*.

### Elena Gilbert

Elena is the ex-girlfriend and close friend of Stefan. When Stefan returned home to Mystic Falls after many years, he unexpectedly "met" Elena on May 23, 2009, after he heard Elena and her parents' car accident while he was out at Wickery Bridge. The Gilberts' car had submerged deep into the water under the bridge, where Elena and her parents were facing death by drowning. It was then that Stefan miraculously saved Elena's life, but was unable to save Elena's parents, Grayson and Miranda, who did not survive the tragedy. Elena fatefully meets Stefan for the first time at the beginning of the new school year outside of the men's washroom. Elena is undeniably drawn to Stefan and the two have an instant, deep and indescribable connection. Stefan and Elena begin to bond and slowly start to develop a romantic relationship. They both realize that they share many qualities, hobbies, traits, values and beliefs in common. As Elena and Stefan start falling deeper in love with each other, Elena discovers Stefan's deep, dark secret: Stefan is a century old vampire with a mysterious past. Although Elena is initially afraid of Stefan and what he is, she gradually accepts Stefan's vampirism. Stefan ended their relationship in Season 4 when she revealed that she was in love with Damon. Despite everything that's happened, they still care about each other deeply and are supportive of one another. Stefan sacrificed himself before Bonnie was able to break the sleeping spell bound to their lives, though before he found peace, he was able to briefly see her and pass a message along to Caroline through her. They exchanged their final, heartfelt goodbyes to one another.

### Katherine Pierce

Katherine fell in love with Stefan when she met him in Mystic Falls in 1864. Although she was also seeing Damon, she had a clear preference for Stefan. Stefan, in return, was thoroughly infatuated with her and believed he had fallen in love with Katherine. As their relationship progressed, he discovered her vampiric nature and became frightened of her. Katherine had then compelled him to not be afraid of her and after she faked her death. Over the century, Stefan came to believe his love for Katherine was never real and she had simply compelled him to love her. Katherine disputed this and insisted both of their feelings were genuine, she had only compelled him to not be scared of her. Stefan remained in denial of her claims, and stated that even if Katherine was right, all of his love had turned to hate. After Katherine returned to Mystic Falls in the 21st century, Stefan and Katherine became one-sided bitter enemies for some time, mainly due to their conflicting actions regarding Elena. Stefan viewed Katherine in disdain and rejected any attempt she gave for him to see her positively. Throughout Season Five, their relationship progresses after a desperate Katherine, trying to escape death attempted to throw herself off the clock tower and Stefan saved her. Katherine tried to return the favor by helping Stefan through his PTSD in the next episode, where sparks flew while locked in the safe. Stefan revealed he desired to move on from Elena, then ended up sleeping with Katherine. Although he appears to care for her, he still cannot forget her past deeds. In the end, he was the one to kill her. They briefly reunite when Katherine comes back to try and destroy Mystic Falls, which classified them as enemies once again. Stefan is able to stop Katherine by sacrificing his life to make sure she dies (along with himself) in hellfire from hell.

### Caroline Forbes

Caroline and Stefan at first had no close relationship. After she became a vampire, Stefan saved her from Damon and promised her that he would never let anything happen to her. Since then, Stefan has been taking care of Caroline like her mentor, helping her to be a good vampire. He has saved her several times and cares about her. Caroline told him that every time he feels he's about to lose control she will be there for him. Their relationship has intensified to the point of being best friends. Caroline has given Stefan pivotal emotional support to the point where they now have a great friendship. Caroline has always supported his relationship with Elena and she was the person who revealed to Stefan that Elena was sired to Damon. By Caroline, Stefan also learned that Elena had had sex with Damon. When Stefan lost his memories for a spell, Caroline was the only person that he trusts immediately, upon learning about Bonnie's death, Stefan told Caroline that he would always be for her as she has always been for him, Caroline helped to Stefan with all his problems lately. After Lexi's, she is his best friend. But after Damon's death he decides to break all his connections with his old friends, including Caroline, and start over, breaking her heart in the process. When Damon returns, he tries to make it up to her by apologizing to her and they grow close again. After much heartbreak, between Caroline losing her mom and Stefan trying to prove himself worthy of their friendship, which blossomed into romance, they become romantically involved and are currently in love. Their first relationship during Season Seven is strained a bit until Stefan and Caroline are forced to breakup for three years. This limits their communication with each other. However, shortly after Stefan's breakup with Valerie, Stefan goes to Alaric and Caroline's home and sees that she is happy raising children with Alaric. After allying together to kill Rayna Cruz and by saving Bonnie's life, Caroline realizes that she only truly loves Stefan and the two get back together again, three years after ending their first relationship. In Season Eight Stefan proposed to Caroline and she said yes but they are briefly separated when Stefan agreed to turn off his humanity and work for Cade to protect Caroline's daughters Lizzie and Josie. It was also during this time that Stefan became human again when Bonnie gave him the cure after he killed Enzo as he struggled with his guilt he planned to leave Caroline until he realized he wanted to spend what years he had left as a human with her. They later marry hoping to lure Katherine out, at their wedding who had become the Queen of Hell following Cade's death. It was after their wedding that Stefan sacrificed his life to save Mystic Falls from hellfire and when Caroline learned of this called Stefan leaving him a message telling him, she understood his decision and would love him forever hoping he would get her message before he died which he did. He later asked Elena to pass on a message to Caroline to tell her he heard her and would love her forever too before he went into the afterlife.

### Lexi Branson

In 1864, Lexi met young and new vampire Stefan Salvatore when he tried to feed on her, as he was unable to distinguish his kind from human. Discovering that Stefan was a ripper- meaning he only fed and hunted and has lost his humanity, Lexi took it upon herself to help Stefan regain his humanity by not turning his feelings off, where she succeeded eventually. Lexi found Stefan, now back to his ripper ways in April 1922 before getting him off human blood around 1935. They would spend every birthday of his together, once attending a Bon Jovi concert. Lexi returns to Mystic Falls for Stefan's 162nd birthday, trying to renew her relationship with Stefan. On that night, Damon frames Lexi for the death of a local boy and the police apprehend Lexi. She is later staked by Damon and dies before she can attack the sheriff and/or reveal his secret. When Lexi returns from The Other Side, she enjoys her time with Stefan and talks to him about moving on from Elena and how he will find someone else. When the Veil is restored, Lexi disappears, leaving Stefan alone. Seasons later, after Stefan sacrificed his life to help save Mystic Falls from hellfire, they are reunited in peace, in death.

### Valerie Tulle

Valerie and Stefan's relationship started out complicated. Decades ago, Stefan's mother, asked Valerie to see how Stefan was doing after the mother's death, as a human. Stefan and Valerie meet at a fair and immediately take a liking to each other. Julian however tried to stop their growing friendship and even romance, but they eventually have sex for the first time. Later on, they plan to run away together, but Julian wouldn't allow her leave with Stefan. Julian beat her up until she miscarried Stefan and Valerie's conceived-child and forced her to come back with him to London, England. Stefan was left behind to believe that Valerie just used him and eventually moved on from her. However, they reunite in modern day and things become complicated between them due to their history and Stefan's romantic relationship with Caroline. Valerie becomes Stefan's friend and closest ally, which irritates Caroline. Stefan and Valerie eventually get back together again once Stefan is forced to go on the run with her, from Rayna Cruz. Stefan breaks up with Caroline some time before Valerie and Stefan begin a romantic relationship. Stefan has been with Valerie romantically for three years, and it is stated that they have been happy together. However, Valerie realizes that she will never be first to him and she breaks up with Stefan because he cannot get over his love for Caroline.

### Other Relationships

Salvatore Family, Forbes Family, Mystic Falls Gang, Mystic Falls High School

* Silas and Stefan (Enemies/Ancestor)
* Stefan and Lily (Mother and Son/Frenemies)
* Stefan, Katherine, and Damon (Former Love Triangle/Enemies/Frenemies)
* Stefan, Elena, and Damon (Former Love Triangle/Former Allies)
* Stefan and Bonnie (Former Close Friends/Former Allies)
* Matt and Stefan (Former Friends/Enemies)
* Tyler and Stefan (Friends/Former Allies)
* Alaric and Stefan (Friends/Frenemies/Former Allies)
* Stefan and Elijah (Frenemies/Former Allies)
* Stefan and Klaus (Friends/Frenemies/Former Allies/Were Partners in Crime)
* Stefan and Rebekah (Ex-Girlfriend/Friends/Frenemies/Former Allies)
* Stefan and Meredith (Friends/Former Allies)
* Qetsiyah and Stefan (Former Friends/Enemies)
* Enzo and Stefan (Enemies/Frenemies/Former Rivals)
* Stefan and Ivy (Ex-Girlfriend/Frenemies)
* Stefan and Julian (Frenemies/Enemies)
* Stefan, Caroline and Valerie (Former Love Triangle/Former Allies)
* Stefan, Caroline and Alaric (Former Love Triangle/Friends/Former Allies)

## Trivia

* Stefan was the very first main character heard and introduced in the series.
	+ Though if counting *A Darker Truth*, Vicki is really the first character to be introduced.
* Stefan is the narrator of the series. It is Stefan who is telling the story and the story is from his point of view; *"For over a century, I have lived in secret; hiding in the shadows, alone in the world. Until now. I am a vampire. And this is my story..."*
* Stefan is the main male lead of the series and the deuteragonist of the series. Elena is the main protagonist and Damon is the tritagonist.
* Stefan became a vampire before Damon.
* Stefan was born on Veritas Estate in Mystic Falls, Virginia.
* Stefan's birthday is November 1.
* Stefan's astrological sign is Scorpio.
* Stefan is right handed.
* Stefan is an introvert. Damon, on the other hand, is more of an extrovert.
* Stefan describes himself as a loner and doesn't feel that he always fits in.
* Stefan is seven years younger than his brother Damon.
* Stefan was blonde as a child.
* Stefan's mother Lillian Salvatore died when he was a child; he was about 10 years old.
	+ This is later found to be false. Instead, she was turned into a vampire.
* Movies: Stefan's likes F. Scott Fitzgerald, especially his masterpiece The Great Gatsby; Seinfeld; I Love Lucy is his all time favorite, Loving cup episodes are the best; Scorsese, Taxi Driver.
* Stefan enjoys listening to music by: Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Kanye West and he even likes one of Miley Cyrus' songs.
* Stefan loves literature and loves to write, especially in his journal.
	+ As it appeared in *Pilot*, Stefan seems to have a journal or diary for every year, recording all of the events and memories from each year in a journal. Stefan had even written in a journal during his Ripper phase during the 1920s.
* Stefan is very quick, intelligent and has an excellent memory. He absorbs information very easily and is able to memorize events and dates at the top of his head as seen in *The Night of the Comet*.
* Stefan enjoys reading, studying and literature. He is a big time bookworm.
* Stefan enjoys doing crossword puzzles.
* Stefan's car is a red 1963 Porsche 356B Karmann Coupe.
* Stefan owns a Harley motorcycle.
* Stefan was engaged to a girl named Rosalyn Cartwright before he met Katherine.
* Stefan was in love with a girl named Callie Gallagher.
* Stefan has been engaged twice, once to Rosalyn Cartwright and another time to Bridget Sutherland.
* Stefan was an aspiring doctor during his human life. Interestingly enough, Elena is also an aspiring doctor as well.
* Stefan's favorite color is blue.
* Stefan plays and owns a guitar.
* Stefan is highly sentimental and likes to keep objects and souvenirs from his past as memories. Because of this, Damon has referred to Stefan as a "pack rat".
* Stefan wears his lapis lazuli daylight ring on the middle finger of his right hand. Damon wears his daylight ring on the middle finger of his left hand.
* Stefan loves football and is very good at it. He played the position of wide receiver on the high school football team.
* Stefan is an excellent cook.
* Stefan owns his own iMac desktop computer.
* Stefan also owns his own typewriter.
* Stefan speaks four languages fluently: English, Italian, Spanish and French.
* Stefan has a tattoo of a rose on his right shoulder.
* Stefan was his father Giuseppe's favorite son.
* Stefan was supposed to be the one to take over the Salvatore family business from Giuseppe when he turned 18. Hence why his father wanted him to get married to Rosalyn.
* Stefan is a very ancient descendant of the world's first immortal being and man, Silas.
* Stefan is assumed to be the 4th doppelgänger of Silas, although it is possible that there have been many more of Silas' doppelgängers that preceded him, according to Qetsiyah who said that Stefan had other shadow selves of Silas that were born before him.
* According to Damon, Stefan got straight A's and had attended many ivy league schools. He attended Harvard during the 1970's.
* Stefan had a horse during his human years named Mezzanotte, which means "midnight" in Italian.
* In the *Pilot*, Caroline says that she found out that Stefan is a Gemini, but this must be false information since his real birthday is in early November, which makes his sign a Scorpio.
* In the earlier seasons, Stefan had an Samsung Galaxy SIII.
* Stefan's cell phone number is 404-358-4345.
* Stefan often drinks alcohol to help curb his blood cravings.
* Stefan's aliases and nicknames include Stefan Pine, Shady Stefan, Silent Stefan, Stef, Ripper of Monterrey, Scholarly Stefan, Savior Stefan and Saint Stefan.
* In the novels, Stefan was named after the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen.
* Stefan's name is a variation of the masculine name Stephen.
* Stefan's name means "crowned" or "crown of martyrdom". Stefan is known to be the heroic character on the series who is a martyr and is constantly willing to sacrifice himself for those he loves.
* Stefan died when he was 17 years old in human years, he transitioned into a vampire between 7 October and 27 October 1864, just a few weeks shy of his 18th birthday.
	+ Although *Stefan's Diaries: Origins* seems to suggest that Stefan was turned or transitioned into a vampire on September 25, 1864, slightly over month shy of his 18th birthday. However, the events in Stefan's Diaries are not canonical and do not apply to the show's timeline.
* Stefan's childhood and best friends during his human life were named Ethan Giffin, Brian Walsh and Matthew Harnett.
* Other than Lexi, Stefan's best friend was a girl named Cora, who was a human girl.
* Stefan seems to love literature by William Shakespeare.
* Stefan helped both Damon and Elena's transition into vampires. In regards to Damon, Stefan got Damon to feed on the blood of a barmaid by biting her neck and tempting Damon to drink. In regards to Elena, Stefan brutally killed a guard by bashing his head against the bars so that Elena could gain access to blood to complete her transition.
* In both the show and the novels, almost all of the main female characters have displayed a romantic interest in Stefan.
* In the novels, Stefan loved Katherine for many centuries and was horribly saddened and grief-stricken over her "death". However, on the show, Stefan only loved Katherine before finding out that she was a vampire and before she had betrayed himself and Damon. He later shares an antagonistic relationship with her.
* Stefan on the show has had many love interests throughout the course of his life (both human and vampire). However, in the novels, Stefan has only claimed to have been in love twice in his 500 years of existence; first with Katherine and then with Elena.
* Katherine and Elena have both claimed to love Stefan first.
* Katherine chose Stefan over Damon, while Elena has chosen Damon over Stefan.
* Stefan is the only known vampire that seems to be able to live completely off of an animal blood diet. He has most likely chosen this lifestyle due to his past issues with blood addiction.
* Canonically, Stefan has been shown to be a Ripper four times: once after he was newly turned in 1864, another time during 1912 to the 1920s, recently in 2010 and again on Christmas Day, 2017.
	+ Stefan has been forced or was willing to become the Ripper the last three times:
		- by Klaus in the last episode of season 2, *As I Lay Dying* (forced).
		- by Caroline Forbes in season 6, *The Downward Spiral* (willing).
		- by Cade in season 8, *The Next Time I Hurt Somebody, It Could Be You* (willing).
* Stefan and Damon's brotherhood and relationship is often compared to and mirrors Klaus and Elijah's relationship. In this scenario, Stefan is often compared to Elijah and Damon is compared to Klaus.
* In *The Last Day*, Stefan confesses that he has climbed Mount Everest.
* In *1912,* it is revealed that Damon and Stefan had a half-brother.
* Stefan is the first vampire to be bitten by an unsuccessful hybrid.
* In 1912, Stefan was living on a strict animal blood diet, controlling his urges for human blood. That was until Damon had asked him to drink human blood with him and feed on Marianna Lockwood, an distant ancestor of Tyler Lockwood. During his feed, Stefan was so overcome with severe bloodlust, that he fed to much and her head fell off. Afterwards, Stefan was shocked, appalled and disgusted with what he had just done, felt extreme guilt and remorse and tried to put her head back on. After that experience, Stefan had relapsed into his Ripper phase again and became the well-known "Ripper of Monterrey".
* Stefan's last name in the show was originally going to be "Whitmore" because it sounded American. Although, it was kept as "Salvatore" instead, which is Stefan's surname in the novels and Italian for "Savior".
* In the novels, Stefan is born in during the Renaissance period in the fifteenth century in Florence, Italy. On the show, Stefan is born in the nineteenth century period during the Civil War era in Mystic Falls, Virginia. He is roughly 350 years younger than his novels counterpart.
* Stefan's ethnic background on the show is half-French (from his mother) and half-Italian (from his father). However, in the novels, Stefan is of full Italian descent.
* Stefan in the novels speaks fluent Italian but is also fluent in English. He is able to learn new languages at an increased speed and adjust to the American customs rather quickly, so much so that his Italian accent becomes less strong.
* In the novels, Stefan is born in Italy and is foreign with an Italian accent at the beginning of the series. On the show, Stefan is born in America and is therefore, Italian-American and has no Italian accent.
* In the novels, Stefan is an aristocrat and comes from a wealthy, noble family.
* In the novels, Stefan is Catholic and has a strong sense of faith, morals and values. On the show, Stefan is shown to be particularly non-religious.
* In the novels, Stefan's best friend is Matt Honeycutt, who is the novel counterpart of Matt Donovan. In the show Stefan's long time best friends is Lexi Branson and after she dies, his new best friend is Caroline Forbes.
* In the novels, Stefan and Damon have never had a close relationship since their childhood. However, on the show, Stefan and Damon were best friends since their human lives and became rivals later on.
* In the books, Stefan's mother died a few years after Stefan was born, but on the show, Stefan's mother died when he was about 9 or 10.
* In the novels, when Stefan was a child, his mother always used to sing him a French lullaby.
* Stefan played the position of wide receiver on the high school football team, both on the show and in the novels.
* In the novels, Stefan dates Caroline but then eventually dislikes her. On the show, Stefan and Caroline were best friends. She had promised to stop him going over the rails and supports his relationship with Elena. She was considered his "new Lexi". However did they date from 2013-2014.
* In the novels, as humans, Stefan and Damon fight to the death with a sword. But on the show, their father Giuseppe is the one who kills them by a gunshot wound.
* In terms of his characterization, Stefan is often compared to other mysterious, brooding vampires such as, Edward Cullen from *Twilight*, Angel (Angelus) from *Buffy The Vampire Slayer*, Louis de Pointe du Lac from *Interview With The Vampire*.
* Stefan has jet black, wavy hair and emerald green eyes in the book series.
* He, Damon, Katherine and Caroline were all bitten by a Werewolf or a Hybrid and were all cured by Klaus' blood.
* It has never been revealed or shown if he ever turned someone into a vampire before the series.
* Stefan is the only character amongst the main trio that has never killed Alaric.
* Stefan and Damon are the only main characters who have appeared in all episodes.
* Even though she chose Damon in Season 4, Stefan was still in love with Elena.
* Stefan, a vampire, ironically completed the Brotherhood of the Five's mission by killing Silas.
* In *No Exit*, Katherine breaks Stefan's car in effort to get him in a hotel and seduce him.
* Stefan's first human Doppelgänger, Tom Avery was seen in *While You Were Sleeping*.
* Both Stefan and Elena have been impersonated by their doppelgängers at least once or more times. Stefan by Silas and Elena by Katherine.
* Julian killed Stefan in *Promised Land*.
* Stefan was resurrected near the end of *Home.*
* Damon revealed that Stefan has only ever been in love twice in his whole entire life, and they both wore the same face; Katherine and Elena.
* Stefan's mother visited him in his sleep after her "death".
* Stefan was 10 years old when his mother died, he was told by his father not to cry at her funeral. However, Damon told him he was allowed to cry.
* In *Age of Innocence*, it is revealed that in 1863 he met Valerie Tulle. She also carried his child which died when she transitioned into a Vampire. Stefan has no idea about his unborn child.
* All of Stefan's girlfriends who were main or recurring characters on the show were administered vampire blood to heal them.
	+ Katherine was healed of a knife wound by Rose and hung herself.
	+ Valerie was healed of her injuries from Julian's beating by Lilian and drowned herself.
	+ Caroline was healed of her injuries from a car crash by Damon and suffocated by Katherine.
	+ Elena was healed of a cerebral hemorrhage by Meredith with Damon's blood and died of drowning.
	+ Ivy's neck was snapped by Enzo after he feed her his blood.
* All of Stefan's girlfriends on the show were turned into vampires.
* In the first episode of *Legacies*, it is revealed that the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted's library was named in memoriam after him.