Previously, on The Vampire Diaries

So it turns out that Silas is that guy. You know, the guy at the bus stop who insists on talking your ear off? He bores some nice young couple with his tale of woe, possibly more upset at being in Philadelphia than one might expect, until he decides to liquefy the guy's insides just for funsies. The woman runs off in terror as Silas boards the just-arrived bus for Virginia. Title card!

A fitful Stefan dreams of being stabbed and drowned. He starts awake at the sound of Elena's voice calling his name. She's brought coffee. Stefan wonders to what he owes this caffeinated offering and she says she misses him and their friendship. With his memories gone she thinks it's a good time for them to start over so she introduces herself. "Hi, I'm Elena." Stefan launches into a stumbling story about how he was going to drive to Portland after dumping Silas in the quarry, which is his way of telling Elena that Tessa undid his mind-wipe.

This leads to the living room where Damon administers a pop quiz before wondering at Tessa's apparent benevolence. Stefan notes that the flood of memories all at once was not easy to handle, everything from his first birthday cake to drowning. He momentarily flashes to the safe being opened and a man staring down at him. I have no idea if this is the same man we saw dead in the safe several episodes ago but the memory of it causes Stefan to shatter his coffee cup.

Sorry, do we know you?

He shrugs it off and then a convenient noise from the cellar distracts everyone. The Salvatores and Elena visit Amara down in the family cell, where she's screaming at all of the supernatural ghosts who are apparently thick on the ground. Damon exposits that she's mortal now so they have to keep her alive long enough to retrieve Bonnie from The Other Side. Amara starts gnawing at her own flesh in an attempt to end her life, forcing Damon to intervene.

Jeremy finds Bonnie staring out a window. She wonders what it'll be like when The Other Side goes away. Will there be a bright light? Will it hurt? Jeremy's tired of that noise and sits her down to tell her three things. One, he knows that one way or another she'll always be with him. Two, he thanks her for giving up her life to restore his. And third...Bonnie cuts him off. If he waits until later to tell her, that means there will be a later. It's sweet and all but I feel like we've seen this scene like a half a dozen times already.

Over at the Frankenstein place Doctor Evil concludes his examination of Katherine. There's nothing wrong with her other than accelerated aging. Her 500 years of unlife are catching up with her. Doctor Evil estimates she has a few months to live.

Silas calls Damon from the bus, which gets pretty amazing reception. Silas gushes about the love for humanity he's discovered while interacting with his fellow passengers, which has somehow led him to conclude that Amara needs to die, like, yesterday. Pinkie swear to resurrect Bonnie be damned. For bonus points, leaving Bonnie stranded means Damon can't keep his promise to Elena, something that brings Silas "a perverse amount of joy".

Caroline leaves what must be about her 47th voice mail for Jesse, who can't come to the phone on account of vampirism. Nadia calls her pathetic, which is pretty big talk coming from someone who stuck her boyfriend inside another dude. Nadia refuses to identify herself, instead asking after Katherine. Who shows up just then, in time to keep Nadia from spilling that she's Katherine's daughter. Caroline's all whatever, I'm out, and Nadia forces Katherine into a chair.

Murder has entered Stefan's heart; if Silas is refusing to restore Bonnie then Stefan needs to kill him. Elena clings to the hope that Silas will still keep his word and Stefan pretty much calls her an idiot to her face for trusting the wrong people.

Jeremy drops by the Salvatore cells with dinner for Amara; Bonnie's there as well. As Jeremy sets down the sandwich, Amara recognizes him as a Hunter. She remembers that Silas killed him but I don't get how she's supposed to know that. She asks how he came back and, spotting Bonnie next to him, surmises that Bonnie's the witch who restored him. They realize Amara can see Bonnie and Amara explains that as the Anchor to The Other Side she sees dead people. This gives Bonnie an idea.

Reconvening in the living room, Bonnie and Jeremy lay out that idea. Amara has a foot in both worlds as the Anchor. If they could somehow make Bonnie the Anchor in her place, then Bonnie would be (partly) restored, both Silas and Amara can die and everyone would be happy. Now if only they knew a witch powerful enough to cast such a spell...

Cut to Damon visiting Tessa at her purloined cabin. He fills Tessa in on the idea and looks to cut a deal.

Back at Casa Salvatore Elena tries to dissuade Stefan from his plan to kill Silas but he can't be swayed. He tells her about moments while he was locked in the safe, when he was just about to revive, when he would think of things from his past that made him happy. They kept him from pulling his emotion chip but eventually those happy moments went away as well. He can't close his eyes without seeing Silas stab him and lock him in the safe. If he doesn't kill Silas, he'll lose his mind, pull his emotion chip or possibly both.

Damon expands on his pitch to Tessa. She's down for it but she needs a huge power source to make the switch. The Moon is right out and there won't be a suitable comet for a billion or two years. She lights upon the idea of tying it to the Doppelgangers. Fortunately Damon has Doppelgangers in abundance.

Katherine's back to cramming her face full of potato chips, which is kind of awesome. Nadia's upset because Katherine's been avoiding her, activating all of Nadia's abandonment issues. Katherine's all, it's been 500 years, get over it. Before Nadia can respond Caroline arrives to bring Katherine and her Doppelganger blood back to Mystic Falls.

Tessa arrives at Casa Salvatore and makes her way down to the cells and Amara. She demands an apology from Amara, who freely offers it, and begs Tessa to kill her. Tessa's all, no worries girl, just as soon as I switch Anchors I'll happily kill you and then do a little jig that you and Silas will be separated for eternity.

Katherine breezes into the house and tells Tessa in no uncertain terms that she has no interest in Bonnie, Anchors or anything else. All she wants is for Tessa to find a way to stop her unnatural aging. Tessa agrees and the Doppelgangers gather.

Tessa and the Three Faces of Elena circle around a table upon which Tessa has placed Bonnie's grimoire.

Tessa slices open each of their palms with a dagger and they each bleed onto the book. As Tessa chants, the blood pools and reshapes itself into a triquetra on the page. She continues to chant but a wind kicks up and the electrical fixtures in the room explode. Silas has arrived and is interfering with the spell.

Damon arrives with a flashlight and realizes that Amara is missing. Tessa has also taken off, locating Silas in the library. They hiss and spit and magically hurl decanters and such at each other until Silas impales Tessa through the shoulder with a fireplace poker. His gloating is interrupted by a call from Stefan, who gives Silas ten minutes to locate Amara, whom he's spirited away. Silas is indifferent until Stefan clarifies that his plan is to keep Amara hidden and alive by any means necessary.

Katherine dabs at her slashed palm which won't stop bleeding. Caroline bites herself to allow Katherine to heal from her blood but, as another side effect of the Cure, vampire blood no longer heals Katherine.

Elena locates Tessa and yanks out the poker.

Silas finds Amara gagged and lashed to a tree. He removes her gag and she begs him to understand that while she still loves him, she can't stand to continue to live. He claims to understand and pulls his knife to slit her throat. The point pierces her skin but he can't bring himself to finish the job. Before he can mount his courage for another try Stefan takes him from behind and slams him up against another tree. "Do you remember me? I remember you."

Stefan taunts Silas while the latter browns out. Silas Mystic Migraines Stefan and starts mocking him back, pretty much calling him a pussy for not being able to handle three months in the safe when Silas did 2,000 years alone in his tomb. Stefan spots Silas's knife and hurls it into Silas's chest, killing him. Amara seems to react as if she's also been gutted.

Elena sends Damon out in search of Stefan. As he departs Tessa resumes chanting.

Amara frees herself from the rest of her bonds and pulls the knife out of Silas's chest. Declaring "Our eternity starts now," Amara plunges the knife into herself. Damon arrives just then and tries to feed Amara his blood to heal her. As with Katherine, the blood does not work.

Tessa continues her spellcasting as Amara's life slips away. Bonnie finds Jeremy to say goodbye. She asks him to tell her the third thing and he tells her he loves her. Bonnie replies that she loves him too. Bonnie's grimoire bursts into flame. Amara dies. Jeremy, not ready to let Bonnie go, reaches for her. He can feel her, and she can feel him as well. Elena and Caroline enter and they can see Bonnie. They have a joyous reunion.

Bonnie and Jeremy stand before a fireplace and Bonnie luxuriates in the warmth. Jeremy luxuriates in her.

Katherine finds Tessa to cash in her "stop the aging" chit.

Tessa declares that extending a natural lifespan is what caused all of her problems and refuses to help Katherine. Tessa has slashed her wrists so she can join Silas on The Other Side.

Tessa appears to Bonnie and explains that she's dying and that as she dies Bonnie will feel her death. Bonnie will feel the death of every supernatural being from now on. "Sorry, that's gonna hurt like a bitch." Tessa passes through Bonnie and she doubles over in agony.

Back at the Improbably Large Dorm Room Caroline kicks Katherine to the curb. But she gets a little goopy about it so Katherine reminds her that she killed her and they hate each other. Katherine looks around for her bag. Nadia has it. She asks Katherine to come with her to Prague. They can check out Bulgaria, see the sites of home, like that. Katherine turns her down, rather brutally, saying that Nadia will never see her again.

Stefan buries Silas but the memories of the stabbing and the drowning threaten to overwhelm him. He crumples to the ground.

Thank. GOD. I am so glad that Silas is over. It's been a hoot and a half watching Paul Wesley ham things up as Silas this season and I'll miss seeing him play it but the whole Cure/Silas plot had become a millstone around the show's neck that it was past time to shed. Love that they've saddled Bonnie with yet another terrible thing to endure. Girl is attaining Meg Griffin levels of getting dumped on. If Nadia is in fact leaving for good I wonder if any of the writers will remember that Matt still has Gregor hitching a ride inside? Matt's disappearance for the last three episodes, when we were led to believe that something major was tied to his possession, has been a real disappointment. Teasing us with the possibility of a major Matt story and then pulling away for almost a month is just mean.