It’s hard to believe that 12 whole years have passed since one of TV’s biggest horror-drama series released the episode that changed the series’ trajectory. The show had established a complicated lore that allowed some actors to play multiple roles; for the 100th episode, a major character was seemingly getting killed off, only for the show to pull one of its trademark soap opera twists, which set up a new story arc that would carry the show through the final seasons.

On January 23, 2014, The Vampire Diaries aired its 100th episode, “500 Years of Solitude” (Season 5, Episode 11), on The CW. To commemorate the milestone of 100 episodes, The Vampire Diaries brought out a lineup of former cast members and guest stars for return cameos, making it a must-see event for diehard fans. The final cliffhanger twist may not have been the major cast shake-up some predicted, but in terms of the show’s storyline, it was a major shift.

The Vampire Diaries 100th Episode Story & Meaning, Explained

Nina Dobrev in The Vampire Diaries / The CW

In “500 Years of Solitude” Katherine Petrova (Nina Dobrev) is dying of heart failure, due to rapid aging caused by “The Cure” being removed from her body. The episode is supposed to serve as a eulogy for Katherine, with many people from her past either showing up at her deathbed, or appearing in flashbacks or hallucination sequences, as the former immortal’s life literally flashes across her mind. In the end, Katherine’s daughter Nadia (Olga Fonda) helps her cast a “Passenger” spell that allows her to possess a different body. The big cliffhanger twist is revealed when Katherine ends up hijacking the body of Elena Gilbert (also played by Dobrev), the Petrova Doppleganger who is every bit the good soul that Katherine is not.

The list of returning guest stars was impressive, and included David Anders as John Gilbert, Sara Canning as Jenna Sommers, Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman, Kayla Ewell as Vicki Donovan, Daniel Gillies as Elijah Mikaelson, Claire Holt as Rebekah Mikaelson, Bianca Lawson as Emily Bennett, and Joseph Morgan as Niklaus Mikaelson. In addition to series leads Paul Wesley (Stefan Salvatore) and Ian Somerhalder (Damon Salvatore Hansen), the 100th episode also featured recurring favorites like Jeremy Gilbert (Steven R. McQueen), Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig), Caroline Forbes (Candice Accola), and Bonnie Bennett (Kat Graham).

The CW

The cliffhanger ending, where Katherine possesses Elena, was also a major shift in The Vampire Diaries’ story arc. As the main lead, Elena was the good girl who got dragged into a larger destiny with vampire immortals, witches, hunters, and the rest of the lore Vampire Diaries established. The end of Season 3 saw one big shift when Elena was turned into a vampire; this Season 5 midpoint was another big shift, as Dobrev got to drop the two role acting and instead do a small Nutty Professor arc with Elena and Katherine warring for control of the body, before Katherine ultimately prevails, and Dobrev gets to do an entire Face/Off arc, with the bad girl pretending to be the good one.

The Vampire Diaries‘ 100th episode was ultimately a major ratings success, bumping viewership by over 25% with nearly 3 million viewers tuning in (strong numbers for The CW). Fans and critics also praised it, citing how the milestone episode cut a lot of the extraneous bits (like Elena’s high school and college subplots, or scattered focus on local mysteries and supporting characters) and instead made its main antagonist (Katherine) the sole focus, in a revelatory story that fleshed out her character in some key ways. The cameos were appreciated, and in general people rated it as a commendable example of how you do a 100th episode: tell a story, nostalgically celebrate the journey to get there, and open a door to a new era of the story. Done, done, and done.

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