The Vampire Diaries: Damon & Elena's Relationship, Season By Season

Damon and Elena's will-they-won't-they relationship in The Vampire Diaries was a driving force of the supernatural romance show, but their dynamic changed from season to season. While The Vampire Diaries started with a love story between a human Elena and a vampire Stefan, it quickly became clear that the undeniable chemistry between Elena and Stefan's brother, Damon, hooked viewers. When the duo fell in love, things really took off, and the show became one of television's best and most beloved supernatural shows.

Despite that fact, Damon and Elena often struggled to get on the same page. Damon was a vampire who had lived for over a century, and his murderous impulses drove a wedge between him and Elena. Meanwhile, a teenage Elena found herself irresistibly drawn to Damon, but she struggled to handle his recklessness and anger. This plight created a push-and-pull throughout their friendship and, later, their romance.

Even when they were happy and trying to be the best versions of themselves as a couple, the story wouldn't let them be comfortable for too long. Werewolves, curses, multiple prison worlds, and even traveling witches got in the way of their, at times, tragic love story. However, Damon and Elena's love transcended all boundaries, no matter the twists and turns. Ultimately, this is how the epic couple went from enemies to soulmates over the course of The Vampire Diaries' eight seasons.

What Happened To Damon And Elena Before Season 1

Damon Met Elena Before The Show Began

Damon and Elena's relationship technically begins before the premiere of The Vampire Diaries. In season 3, Elena mentions a few times that if she had met Damon first before Stefan, she might have chosen him. The tragic part is that she meets Damon first; she just doesn't know it. This is shown in a flashback in Damon's mind in the season 3 finale, "The Departed."

The night that Elena's parents died, she meets Damon in the middle of the road, and he mistakes her at the time for Katherine. She corrects him, and they get to talking. He lets her know he wants a love that is passionate and a little dangerous, and he wants her to have all of that. However, he can't have anyone knowing he's in Mystic Falls, so he makes her forget their meeting happened before he leaves.

In addition to showing their immediate connection, the scene explains how Damon knew who Elena was when he met her in the Salvatore Boarding House in the first season. Ultimately, this The Vampire Diaries scene confirmed they were endgame earlier than expected.

What Happens To Damon And Elena In TVD Season 1

Damon Was The Bad Boy Brother Of Elena's Boyfriend

Damon and Elena meet in the second episode, and he knows who she is 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 is with Stefan, and Damon is mostly off to the side. It's easy to forget that Damon wasn't always desperately in love with Elena, and when they first meet on the show, he is willing to let her die on more than one occasion. All he cares about is getting Katherine out of the tomb. That said, their bond begins to grow halfway through the season.

The 11th episode of season 1 is when things take a turn in the Damon and Elena relationship. This is the episode where Elena finds the photo revealing she looks like Katherine. She ends up driving away from Stefan's and runs into a hooded man. Damon shows up and saves her. This gives Damon and Elena a chance to start talking and getting to know each other better. Damon takes her out of Mystic Falls to a witch friend named Bree, and that goes well until someone kidnaps 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 still wants to get Katherine out of the tomb. Meanwhile, Stefan has been lying about not drinking human blood, which comes to a head at the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant. Damon takes Stefan's place as Elena's date, and the love triangle is set into full motion. It is a case of Damon being there for Elena in a way that nobody else had, and it is pivotal to their future.

What Happens To Damon And Elena In TVD Season 2

The Damon-Elena-Stefan Love Triangle Begins

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Damon's feelings for Elena become clear during The Vampire Diaries season 2, and he admits 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 thinks he's kissing Elena, but it's Katherine.

Katherine and Elena both reject Damon, causing him to lash out and kill Jeremy. This ends Elena and Damon's friendship. They begin to mend a little until Caroline is changed. It creates a new wrinkle as Elena defends her right to live as a vampire. However, things begin healing when Damon takes care of Caroline's mom and helps save Elena from Rose and Trevor.

After Stefan and Damon save Elena, Damon says "I love you" to Elena for the first time. However, he uses his powers to erase the memory from her head. This is where Damon begins treating Elena differently, and their relationship changes forever.

After his confession and compulsion, Damon begins to operate from the standpoint of protecting Elena at all costs. Elena realizes that Damon knew that Bonnie had to die for a spell. When she shows anger, he says he will always choose Elena when it comes to who lives and dies. It is a huge moment for him, and Elena begins to understand the depth of his feelings.

However, this leads Damon to make the ultimate choice that changes Elena's life forever. When he learns Klaus will have to kill Elena to complete a ritual, he forces Elena to drink his blood to ensure she returns to life afterward, as a vampire. However, when Elena does return to life, she is not transitioning, and Damon asks for her forgiveness. However, Elena's unaware that he's dying from a werewolf bite.

When she learns the truth, she tries to help him, but Damon hallucinates and ends up attacking Elena without realizing what he is doing. However, everything works out for the best. Elena takes Damon back to the Salvatore house to care for him. He admits he loves her again and says she might have liked him better as a human. She admits she likes him now. Damon and Elena kiss, believing he is about to die. However, they don't know that Stefan gave himself over to Klaus for a cure. Katherine delivers it just in time to save Damon.

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, Elena wakes up in transition because Meredith gave her vampire blood.

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

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After years of buildup, Damon and Elena are an official couple in The Vampire Diaries Season 5. It is a whole new world for them, and even though it is odd to finally see them together, it also feels natural. When the season opens, Damon and Elena had spent the summer together enjoying their new passionate romance. However, things can't be easy because Elena goes to college while Damon remains 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.

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 Qetsiyah that the universe is working to bring Elena and Stefan back together.

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 prison world 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 forgets her love for Damon and only remembers him as an evil man. When Damon returns, he sets out to find Elena and make her remember 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 becomes more altruistic in this season, as he sets out to save Bonnie, whom 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 each other again. In "I'd Leave My Happy Home For You," Elena finally regains her memories after taking the cure from the 1994 prison world.

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 passionate kiss. Elena finally tells Damon she loves him. Damon and Stefan laid 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, making 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. Kai's curse means Elena can only 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. In The Vampire Diaries series finale, 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. They also have a child together named Stefanie Salvatore in the alternate world during the episode, "There's A World Where Your Dreams Came True." It's unclear whether they have a daughter in the real world.

Release Date

2009 – 2017-00-00

Showrunner

Julie Plec

Directors

Chris Grismer, Joshua Butler, Marcos Siega, Kellie Cyrus, J. Miller Tobin, John Behring, Jeffrey G. Hunt, Rob Hardy, Leslie Libman, Paul Wesley, Lance Anderson, Darren Genet, John Dahl, Wendey Stanzler, Jesse Warn, Garreth Stover, Geoff Shotz, Ian Somerhalder, Liz Friedlander, David Von Ancken, Kevin Bray, Mike Karasick, Brad Turner, Carol Banker

Writers

Brian Young, Michael Narducci, Holly Brix, Elisabeth R. Finch, Andrew Chambliss, Alfredo Septién, Bryan Oh, Jose Molina, Turi Meyer, Gabrielle Stanton, Shukree Hassan Tilghman, Bryan M. Holdman, Céline Geiger, Mike Daniels, Charlie Charbonneau, Alan B. McElroy, John Herrera, Andrew Kreisberg, Elizabeth Craft, Michael J. Cinquemani, Sarah Fain, Sean Reycraft, Nina Fiore

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  Paul Wesley

  Stefan Salvatore

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  Nina Dobrev

  Elena Gilbert / Katherine Pierce