Vampire Academy Season 1 Episode 9 Review: Darkness

Vampire Academy Season 1 Episode 9, “Darkness,” sets things up for one hell of a finale, and the wait for it is going to be brutal.

I’m expecting it to be an all-out battle between Strigoi and the Dhampirs and Moroi, which will be thrilling to watch. My only concern is that with stakes that high, someone’s going to have to die.

The one person who we could stand to lose and who could also, potentially, be a heartbreaking death is Victor. This is assuming he redeems himself from the events of this episode, but more on that in a bit. Do you think someone will die in the finale? If so, who?

“Darkness” does an excellent job of bringing back loose threads from earlier in the season. We’ve got Mia owning up to the fact that she did see Lissa heal back on Vampire Academy Season 1 Episode 5, “Near Guard, Far Guard,” and Sasha was found, causing Dimitri to be tried (and convicted) of treason.

All of these loose ends coming back into play is satisfying for a couple of reasons. For one, it lets us know that the show isn’t going to have something happen and not deliver on the payoff. Secondly, they serve to raise the stakes on multiple storylines, which raises the intensity of the episode overall.

This is exactly what we need in a penultimate episode because it gets us absolutely hyped for the finale.

Throughout this quest to determine who will rule next, it’s been extremely obvious that Victor is a far better choice than Tatiana. She’s been the villain whereas he’s been the choice for people who have a conscious.

He’s stood up for the Dhampirs, especially when the training exercise on “Near Guard, Far Guard” was going on, and he came across as the perfect person to lead the dominion once Lissa was disqualified. If she couldn’t rule, we would’ve at least had him on the throne.

“Darkness” shows us the darker side of him, making us question everything, especially whether or not he should rule. It’s marvelously well done. A character we all loved has turned into a monster — the kind that believes he’s still in the right, which is typically a mark of the worst of them all.

The detail of Sonya being removed from all the photographs is curious. I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. This could be his subconscious trying to suppress the guilt of what he’s done by not having Sonya’s face around him as a reminder.

Ok, back to my death prediction for the finale.

The reason I think Victor might die is that he has served his purpose. I can’t see any further value that he would add to the story going forward.

And, now that he’s gone down a dark path, death could serve as his redemption.

If the guilt hits him and he potentially sacrifices himself to save someone else, like Mia or Lissa, then that could help repair the damage he’s done. It’s unclear at this moment if he deserves redemption, but it is a path his character could take.

Stray Thoughts

• Tatiana apparently has been absolutely out of her mind this entire time.
• The Andre twist is unexpected and so well done.
• Christian and Mia’s friendship is back on display, which I love.
• Good for Christian for torching his father.
• I’m glad we are treated to a Romitri tension-filled scene.
• Lissa’s new theory on spirit users is interesting.
• Meredith is an excellent friend, and Mason really needed to hear all of that.
• Now I want to know where Meredith has been sneaking off to though.
• Lissa is extremely badass for going to the Queen and hatching this plan.
• Rose and Lissa have such a sweet goodbye.
• I’m surprised Rose’s Strigoi sense doesn’t go off at the end.

What did you think of this episode of Vampire Academy? Share your thoughts and theories on what’s to come in the finale in the comments below!

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New episodes of Vampire Academy premiere Thursdays on Peacock.

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