Summary

• The Damon and Elena love story was the highlight of The Vampire Diaries, filled with twists, tension, and tragedy.
• Elena and Damon's relationship was fueled by past encounters and misunderstandings, creating a ionate journey.
• Despite challenges and a bittersweet ending, Damon and Elena ultimately find love, become human, and reunite in the afterlife.

The Vampire Diaries Damon and Elena relationship was the biggest storyline on the show, and it was their will-they-or-won't-they story that drove the plot, even when one of them appeared to die and leave the show. While The Vampire Diaries started with a love story between a human girl (Elena) and a vampire (Stefan), it wasn't until Elena and Damon, Stefan's brother, fell in love that things took off and the show became one of television's best and most beloved supernatural shows. Despite their romance, Damon and Elena often struggled to get on the same page.

Damon was a vampire who had lived for over a century, while Elena was a teenage girl who looked like his former lover, Katherine. Elena wanted to find love with Damon, and she needed him to give up his murderous and vengeful past that was the plight throughout the series. Werewolves, curses, and even traveling witches got in the way of their, at times, tragic love story. Elena even died, and it seemed they would never have a happily ever after. However, she returned in the end and the Damon and Elena love story had a fitting end, although its story included plenty of twists and turns.

What Happened To Damon And Elena Before Season 1

Damon Met Elena Before The Show Began

Damon and Elena's relationship technically began before the premiere of The Vampire Diaries. Later on in the series, Elena often mentioned that if she had met Damon first before Stefan, she might have chosen him. What makes that ironic is that she did meet him first — she just didn't know it.

This was shown in a flashback for Damon in the season 3 finale, "The Departed." Elena was on death's bed at this time and Damon was racing against the clock, trying to find a way to save her. This is when he re how he met her the first time — and it also explains how Damon knew who Elena was when he met her for the first time in the Salvatore Boarding House in the first season.

The night that Elena's parents died, she met Damon in the middle of the road, and he mistook her at the time for Katherine. He let her know he wanted a love that was ionate and a little dangerous, but he wanted her to have what she wanted. He made her forget their meeting happened before he left.

What Happens To Damon And Elena In TVD Season 1

Damon Was The Bad Boy Brother Of Elena's Boyfriend

It's easy to forget that Damon wasn't always desperately in love with Elena, and when they first met on the show, he was willing to let her die on more than one occasion. All he cared about was getting Katherine out of the tomb, but things changed when he realized Katherine had been free all along. Damon and Elena met in the second episode, and he knew who she was immediately.

However, it wasn't until two seasons later that fans saw why he knew she was Elena and not Katherine. However, at this time, she was with Stefan and Damon was mostly off to the side. The 11th episode of season 1 is when things took a turn in the Damon and Elena relationship. This was the episode where Elena found the photo that revealed that she looked like Katherine.

She ended up driving away from Stefan's and ran into a hooded man who ran when Damon showed up. However, this gave Damon and Elena a chance to start to talk and get to know each other better. Damon took her out of Mystic Falls to a witch friend named Bree and that went well until someone kidnapped Elena to get revenge on Damon for a past kill.

This puts Damon and Stefan into action to protect Elena. However, at this time, Damon was still wanting to get Katherine out of the tomb. Meanwhile, Stefan had been lying about not drinking human blood and this came to a head at the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant, where Damon took Stefan's place as Elena's date and the love triangle was set into full motion. It was a case of Damon being there for Elena in a way that nobody else had and was pivotal to their future.

What Happens To Damon And Elena In TVD Season 2

The Damon-Elena-Stefan Love Triangle Begins

Damon's feelings for Elena become clear during The Vampire Diaries season 2, and he its that he has fallen in love with his brother's girlfriend. However, it all started with a mistaken kiss. In the season 1 finale, he thought he was kissing Elena, but it was Katherine. When he asked Elena about the kiss, she had no idea what he was talking about and shot him down.

This led to Damon lashing out and killing Jeremy, which ended their friendship as well. They began to mend a little, but when Caroline was changed, it brought in a new wrinkle as Elena defended her right to live as a vampire. This caused a lot of drama between Damon and Elena, and she mostly wanted nothing to do with him until the episode "Rose."

In this episode, Rose and Trevor kidnap Elena, and Damon s forces with his brother Stefan to save her. When the brothers saved her, Elena thanked them and Damon then said "I love you" to Elena for the first time before he used his powers to erase the memory from her head. This was where Damon began treating Elena differently and their relationship changed forever.

After making his intentions known, and then keeping it to himself, Damon began to operate from the standpoint of protecting Elena at all costs. Elena realized that Damon knew that Bonnie had to die and when she showed anger, he said he would always choose Elena when it comes to who lives and dies. It was a huge moment for him and Elena began to understand the depth of his feelings.

However, this led to Damon making the ultimate choice that changed Elena's life forever. When he learned Klaus would have to kill Elena to complete a ritual, he had Elena drink his blood to ensure she returned to life afterward - as a vampire. However, when Elena does return to life, she is not transitioning and Damon asks for her forgiveness. However, what Elena didn't know was that Damon was dying after a werewolf bite.

She tries to help him, but Damon hallucinates and ends up attacking Elena without realizing what he is doing. However, everything worked out for the best. Elena took Damon back to care for him, and then he itted he loved her again, and she might have liked him better as a human. She itted she liked him now, and Damon and Elena kissed, believing he was about to die. However, Stefan gave himself over to Klaus for a cure and Katherine delivered it just in time.

What Happens To Damon And Elena In TVD Season 3

Damon & Elena Struggle To Understand Their Feelings Once Stefan Leaves

Season 3 is when Damon and Elena are given a chance to shine. After Stefan is forced to leave Mystic Falls and help Klaus create his hybrids, Damon and Elena do everything they can to save him. But it reaches a point when all hope seems lost, and the two of them start to take comfort in the newfound bond they've formed in his absence. This increases the sexual tension between Elena and Damon when they share one of the best kisses in Vampire Diaries' history in the episode, "Heart of Darkness."

Their developing relationship felt like a betrayal to Stefan, and Elena kept trying to repress her feelings for Damon. They eventually come out in full, right around the time Stefan starts to revert to his true self. Despite everything that happened between Damon and Elena, Elena chooses to be with Stefan just moments before she drowns under Wickery Bridge in the season finale, "The Departed." However, unlike the last time she died, this time Meredith saved her with vampire blood and Elena woke up in transition.

What Happens To Damon And Elena In TVD Season 4

Damon Helps Elena When She Starts To Turn Into A Vampire

During the first minute of The Vampire Diaries Season 4, Elena discovers that she had Damon's blood in her system when she died. Not only was this plot refreshing, but it was vital to showcase Damon's unconditional love for Elena. Elena becomes drastically different as a vampire, and she leaves Stefan for his brother. But the show was never going to give fans exactly what they wanted, and after they sleep together, viewers discover that Elena is sired to Damon.

Damon begins to doubt Elena's love for him, which wasn't hard given that he already thought it was too good to be true. Elena's emotions are turned off following Jeremy's death, and what's real and what isn't becomes even blurrier than before. It's not until the very end of the season that all is finally revealed. In a fan-favorite scene, Elena confesses her love for Damon after breaking the sire bond. Their kiss in front of the fireplace is still one of the best moments of the entire show, and The Vampire Diaries love triangle comes to a permanent end.

What Happens To Damon And Elena In TVD Season 5

Damon And Elena Are Finally An Official Couple

After years of buildup, Damon and Elena were an official couple in The Vampire Diaries Season 5. It was a whole new world for them, and even though it was odd to finally see them together, it also felt natural. When the season opened, Damon and Elena had spent the summer together enjoying their new ionate romance. However, things can't be easy because Elena went to college while Damon remained in Mystic Falls. That is when Stefan returns as Silas and has Elena try to kill Damon at least once, showing that neither will be safe for long apart.

But no matter how much they love each other, it's never smooth sailing for Damon and Elena. When Damon finally saves Silas/Stefan, he learns from the powerful Traveler witch Qutsiyah that the universe is working to bring Elena and Stefan back together to keep her from Damon.

Things come to a head in "While You Were Sleeping" and "Rescue Me," where Elena finally loses control and Damon begins to kill to save her. This leads to the two breaking up, but that won't last. In the season finale, Damon dies after Elena tells him she loves him, and he goes to the other side while she remains alive, alone.

What Happens To Damon And Elena In TVD Season 6

Elena Forgets Her Love For Damon After His Death

Elena is so distraught over losing Damon at the start of The Vampire Diaries season 6 that she convinces Lucas to give her special herbs to hallucinate him. There comes a point when it isn't enough, and Elena asks Alaric to compel away her love for Damon. Little does anyone know that neither Damon nor Bonnie is dead, and they are trapped in a prison world. This also comes with problems, because Elena only forgets her love for Damon, and only re him as an evil man. When Damon returns, he sets out to find Elena and make her him again.

The rest of season 6 sees Damon and Elena try to fall in love again. It is all about Elena not regaining her memories, but wanting to, and Damon giving her the time she needs. Damon also starts to become more altruistic in this season, as he sets out to save Bonnie, who he says believes he could be a better person. Elena decides she will just create new memories of Damon, and they start fighting and loving together once again. In "I'd Leave My Happy Home For You," Elena finally regains her memories, but it is almost too late.

In the penultimate episode, "I'll Wed You In The Golden Summertime," Alaric and Jo are getting married and Elena and Bonnie are there to help them. Stefan and Damon had started to get on the same page again. It looks like Damon, Elena, and the rest of the characters are finally getting to a good place in their lives. Damon is even planning on turning human again, making a huge decision. However, someone stabs Jo as she is saying her vows, Kai attacks the entire hall, and Elena falls. This leads to the most depressing moment for fans of Damon and Elena, as she slips into a sleeping death.

The two have one more moment together, though, as in her subconscious, she says goodbye to the people she loves, and it is very emotional for her and Damon. The two share one last dance and a ionate kiss. Elena finally tells Damon she loves him, and then she departs and goes to the other side. Damon and Stefan lay Elena to rest in a coffin in the crypt and that seemingly ends the Vampire Diaries Damon and Elena love story, especially since Nina Dobrev left the show here.

What Happens To Damon And Elena In TVD Season 8

Damon Takes The Cure And Lives On With Elena

The Vampire Diaries Damon and Elena relationship is not over yet. She plays a huge role throughout the final season, without ever appearing. Sybil manipulates Damon's memories and makes him forget all about Elena. But Damon's love for her is one thing that can never be erased, as it proves to be too powerful to tamper with. Elena could return when Bonnie dies, but when Bonnie breaks the spell, Elena wakes up and reunites with Damon.

They get the cure and both become human together, which is what Elena has always wanted. A flash-forward shows Damon and Elena holding hands in the afterlife, Elena with a wedding ring on her finger. Although the two never appear again in any spin-off, they are mentioned in Legacies as living together, and it's where Josie goes to stay for a while on the show.