Vampire Academy Episode 8 The Trials Recap And Review- Strange Bedfellows Make For Valuable Allies

Vampire Academy Episode 8 is in full trial-by-fire mode, and things aren’t looking good for the good guys. It’s hard to say at this point who exactly is good, though. Some, like Tatiana, are obvious nightmares, while others, like Victor, have made choices that bring them closer to the dark side than we would like. But, by the end of the episode, there is a clear loser, and no one is winning.

Tatiana is committed to her plan. Say what you will about the woman, but she is shameless and relentless regarding the crown. She will use faith, lies about Dhampir’s deaths, and vulnerabilities to accomplish her goals. If she weren’t such a terrible person, I would admire her. In any case, Anita-Joy Uwajeh(Tatiana) is a joy to watch. Her icy focus makes her a captivating villain.

Tatiana has zero quit in her. She wins the elemental trial but loses the trial by proxy when Dimitri refuses to fight Rose. The poor, conflicted man has been guided by faith his whole life. It is the thing that made sense of the worst tragedies for him. Tatiana used that devotion to place him in the ring to fight for her. She didn’t count on his devotion to Rose outweighing his devotion to St. Vladimir. The brutal beatdown in the ring was hard to watch and set up an uncomfortable alliance later with Tatiana.

After losing the second trial, that leaves just one. The trial by revelry allows each candidate to revisit a critical memory that informs a simple question. What should all good rulers possess? While we don’t see Tatiana’s, and her words to Dimitri later make me desperate to know who she wanted to see, we know Victor’s. He saw his girls. His answer makes the final moment of Vampire Academy Episode 8 all the more devastating. He says a good ruler understands sacrifice. He is declared the official winner and the next King of the realm. Like almost everyone else’s, his happiness doesn’t last long, though. In the closing moments of Vampire Academy Episode 8, Tatiana reveals a fully Strigoied Sonya in a glass cage to the masses. Now they will all know he has been lying.

Victor didn’t realize he wasn’t in a fair fight. He thought it would all be worth it if he could keep dancing long enough and prevent his family from knowing about Sonya. He should have known Tatiana is a snake; they always strike hardest when cornered. We suspect she killed Lissa’s family for her right to the crown. What’s one more life ruined?

Lissa is having her own troubles while all of this is happening. What starts with such promises ends in devastation. Conveniently she discovered Christian had a tiny portion of undiscovered Dragomir blood. I’m not sure why he wasn’t checked earlier but just go with it. Finally, something looks like it is going our group’s way. Lissa can marry the guy she loves, who will also secure her place on the council. It’s a win-win. The soulful Moroi is a confidant, a protector, and a valuable ally. André Dae Kim’s Christian doesn’t always get enough screentime. His associations with the traitor among them, Lissa, Mia, and the Strigoi, make him uniquely connected. He also brings warmth to his interactions with everyone that don’t just feel like fiery lust. As a result, he is our audience stand-in. His heartbreak is ours.

Lissa proposes to Christian, and they make things official, but this relationship is doomed. Rose is Lissa’s family, and she can’t get married until everything is sorted out with her. Even a marriage of convenience feels wrong without her best friend. With Rose spinning out and leaving town, another wedding is on hold. It’s unclear whether these two will find their way back to each other, but Lissa seems resolute, and Christian is miserable. Like so many things in Vampire Academy Episode 8, happiness is fleeting.

Mason, the sweetest boy on the planet, is still standing by Rose. Regardless of her treatment of him and their past, he never wavers. She learns that he has been researching things with Meredith, Mia, and Christian and is more than a handy hook-up. The group believes that someone(probably Tatiana or her family) has been working with the Strigoi to take out the Dragomir bloodline. They were behind the car crash and all of the attacks. With the help of a memory walk with Lissa, Rose also knows that Lissa resurrected her and Christian’s parents were at the crash.

This reveal shapes the remainder of the episode. Rose leaves with Mason to get answers and see what life could be without responsibility to the Moroi. This leaves Lissa alone for the first time in her life. These two thought they would be together forever, but Rose is right. They have individual things they must work out. Until the political climate changes as well, their relationship can’t continue as it has. As with most things in this series, though, I suspect this wedge won’t last long.

Many things were short-lived in Vampire Academy Episode 8. Victor’s would-be rule, Lissa and Christian’s betrothal, and Rose’s certainty in her friendship. I have whiplash from all the side flipping this week. I’m still confused by all the shifting alliances and need some time to process it all. I don’t downshift that fast. As icky as it was to see Dimitri and Tatiana kiss, that exchange gave us an intriguing insight into our favorite villain. She has loved and lost, and that has jaded her. Who did she lose, and how did it happen? Was it a sacrifice she was forced to make? After Tatiana’s shocking reveal, will Dimitri think differently about hooking up with the hateful politician? Only time will tell, but as far as betrayals go, this was a doozy.

One final secret comes out. There is a traitor in their midst. The entirely too unassuming Diane is not the wise listener she seemed. The person who has been passing the information all this time isn’t sniveling Jesse, although that one seemed like a stretch anyway. So that leaves only Diane, who had access to all kinds of information thanks to her link to Christian. As predicted, she is too good to be true and not to be trusted. Who she is working for and why we can only speculate. It has to be Tatiana, though, right?

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