the Vampire Diaries had one of the most engaging universes, so much so that it spawned two spin-offs. Full of twists, the Vampire Diaries upped the ante when he introduced The Cure in season 4. Up until that point, the norm was that when a human died with vampire blood in their system, they would turn into a vampire themselves, which was a permanent change. However, this was turned on its head with the introduction of The Cure.
In hindsight, it was obvious that something like The Cure would be introduced once Elena turned into a vampire, which she did in Season 3, Episode 22, “The Departed.” This legendary object turned out to be real, and offered a way back to humanity for vampires who never wanted to become immortal. While vampirism was sold as an ideal to most the Vampire DiariesHumanity became the most coveted thing once The Cure was introduced. Its existence impacted the plot and character motivations of almost everyone, from Damon to Stefan to Rebekah.
What is the cure in The Vampire Diaries?
The Cure was an ancient elixir created by Qetsiyah, who was part of the Bennett witch lineage. Anyone who drank the cure would be cured of their immortality, thus becoming human again. In the 1st century BC, Qetsiyah was in love with her fellow witch, Silas. She wanted to live happily ever after with Silas, so she created the elixir to become immortal. However, when Silas betrayed Qetsiyah and drank the immortality elixir with her handmaiden Amara, Qetsiyah had to take revenge. In her rage, she created the Other Side and made Amara the Anchor for it. For Silas, she faked Amara's death and created The Cure, offering her to him as redemption. She would take him back if he took The Cure and became mortal again. However, Silas did not accept it, and Qetsiyah dried him up and buried him, leaving him with the Cure, so that one day he could take it and be trapped with her on the Other Side forever.
When the Salvatores and the Originals who spawned them realized that the Cure wasn't just a mythical object, the race to get to Silas's tomb began. Bonnie was the one who opened his tomb, but Katherine ran off with the Cure. The Cure was meant to be ingested orally, and would instantly transform the vampire's (or any mortal's) blood into a living Cure. They would revert to their human form as they were before they were turned, and begin aging normally again. The Cure would then flow into the human Cured's veins, and if it were extracted from anyone else, their aging would be accelerated to match the actual number of years since they became immortal, thus ensuring a quick death. Nearly every vampire wanted the Cure for different reasons, but it had a curious journey in the Vampire Diaries.
Katherine Pierce did not intend to be the first recipient of the cure
After Bonnie unsealed Silas' tomb, Katherine threw Jeremy to the immortal as bait and ran off with the Cure. She kept it in her possession as a bargaining chip for a long time before giving it to Elijah, who mistakenly gave it to Silas, who appeared in the form of Rebekah. Before Silas ingested the Cure, Alaric's ghost took it from him for Elena, as she had always wanted to be human and not a vampire. Therefore, the Cure was in Elena's pocket when she was at Mystic Falls High School in Season 4, Episode 23, “Graduation”.
Katherine, who had always been envious of Elena's elevated place in the Salvatores' hearts, couldn't help but follow Elena and pick a fight with her. Considering that Katherine was a significantly older vampire than Elena, there was no doubt who would win this fight.
Katherine was a Traveler witch before she turned into a vampire. She returned to being a Traveler after being cured and regaining those abilities.
Katherine entered with the intention of killing Elena, but when she plunged her hand into her chest to rip out her heart, Elena used her wits and shoved the Cure into her mouth. Katherine immediately passed out and when she awoke, she was human. Katherine then had to deal with human illnesses like the flu, vulnerability, and no vampiric powers. She went on the run to save herself from the countless people she had betrayed in her life. However, Damon handed Katherine over to Silas, who was eager to be cured himself. He sucked Katherine almost completely without the Cure coursing through her veins, causing her to rapidly age to over 500 years old, thus putting her on her deathbed.
Elena Gilbert took the cure in season 6
Most everyone had given up hope of getting The Cure for Elena once Katherine, Silas, and Amara had ingested it. However, Bonnie, in the Prison World of 1994, managed to do the impossible. Alone, she went to Silas's intact grave in the Prison World, where, as she had suspected, she found another unused copy of The Cure. She took it for her mother, Abby, whom Stefan and Damon had turned, but Abby Bennett had begun to enjoy her life as a vampire. This was a shocking revelation for Bonnie, but she accepted her mother's decision.
Elena Gilbert was 18 when she became a vampire.
So, Bonnie eventually gave it to Damon and Elena to use. Elena took the Cure willingly in Season 6, Episode 20, “I'd Leave My Home Happy for You”, wanting to live her life as a human again. She successfully returned to her human form, and since she had only been a vampire from Season 4 to Season 6, Damon could easily take the Cure from her body for himself without harming her or causing rapid aging. In a touching moment, Damon made the decision to be a human with Elena, but before he could take the Cure, she was subjected to the Sleeping Beauty Curse by Kai. Destined to sleep until his best friend Bonnie was alive, Damon decided to keep Elena safe until she awoke and chose to remain a vampire until then.
Stefan Salvatore did a lot of damage before he healed
Season 8 of the Vampire Diaries changed some of the laws of The Cure, which led to some shocking twists. Initially, it was set that The Cure would be drained from the current recipient by the next, but season eight changed that. The Cure, now coursing through Elena's veins, could be extracted with syringes one at a time and administered to people. Bonnie, who had been keeping Elena safe in her home, planned to use The Cure on Enzo so they could live a happy life together.
Stefan was 171 years old when he was healed.
Tragedy struck when the couple reached the mansion. While Enzo waited outside the house, Bonnie went in to extract the Cure from her friend. When she returned, she saw that Enzo's heart had been ripped out by Stefan, who no longer had his humanity. With no remorse for his actions, Stefan was ready to kill Bonnie as well, but she had other plans. Just like Elena in season 4, Bonnie injected Stefan with the elixir to save her life. Stefan instantly became human, but another interesting phenomenon occurred. Everyone he had ever forced into his vampire lifestyle began to regain their memories, leading to Stefan's arrest.
Damon Salvatore received the cure from Stefan
While Damon made the decision to be human to be with Elena in season six, that decision was pushed back and mostly forgotten by the time the final season rolled around. The goal was to save Mystic Falls, but while Damon and Stefan were in the tombs beneath the town with Katherine, Damon didn't know what his brother had planned for him. Stefan, who had to bear the weight of his humanity and his returned emotions, decided that he would be the one to sacrifice himself for the greater good. While Damon tried to force his now-human brother to leave, Stefan was one step ahead.
Damon Salvatore was born on June 18, 1839, in Mystic Falls. He was converted by Joseph and Katherine on September 25, 1864.
He had taken vervain, which prevented him from being forced. Stefan had also already extracted the Cure from his own blood into a syringe, which he injected into Damon when he wasn't looking. Stefan made sure that Damon, who had collapsed, was out of danger when he found himself with Katherine in the tunnels and burned her (and sacrificed himself) in Hell. Stefan wanted Damon to have the opportunity to live the human life he had dreamed of with Elena. A flashforward in season eight showed that Damon and Elena did get married and actually had a happy life. They achieved their dreams, had children, and then found peace in their old age. Damon met Stefan again in the peaceful afterlife.