Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8 Recap: The Trials

This article contains SPOILERS for Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8.

As the fight for the throne heats up, Rose investigates the enemy.

Catch up here on everything from the last episode!

The episode starts with Victor looking for Sonya. He asks his Guardian if she’s been found.

She hasn’t and they won’t find a Strigoi. Victor then thinks about how he will protect Sonya, that no one needs to know what happened.

He will say she was upset about Mikhail and stayed behind. The trials for Victor and Tatiana begin.

The Queen announces that Tatiana is the winner of the first Trial. Meanwhile, Rose orders another drink at a bar, but the bartender cuts her off.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: Tatiana’s ideology

Rose hallucinates and sees the bartender as a Strigoi, then falls off her stool. Mason appears, helps her up and offers to take her home.

Rose, of course, insists that she’s fine. Dimitri prays in the church and runs into Tatiana.

Tatiana tells him that she’d hoped they’d be friends. Dimitri wonders if there is room for Dhampir friendship in her ideology.

Tatiana explains that her ideology is based on faith, and so is Dimitri’s, making them kindred spirits. She tells Dimitri that before he came to St. Vladimir’s, he lost a charge who was his friend and prayed for three days.

Tatiana says she admires that. Dimitri says he’s been feeling unmoored lately and asks Tatiana if she’s ever doubted her beliefs.

She responds that she does it every day, but if faith were easy, it wouldn’t need to be practiced. Christian and Meredith train with Christian’s fire magic.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: Convenience

Meredith says that he’s improving, but Christian wants to be faster. Meredith jokes that she’ll also need to be fast if she’s caught teaching a Moroi how to fight with their magic.

She asks Christian if he’s seen Mia the last few days. Christian responds that she’s helping Victor with the trials.

Meredith is worried that Mia is spending so much time with Royal Moroi. She expresses that she liked the new Mia and hopes it wasn’t a phase.

It is then that Lissa shows up, asking Christian if he has a minute. Christian does so Meredith leaves.

Lissa asks Christian to marry her, for as it turns out, he has enough Dragomir blood for her to regain her quorum. She insists it is only a marriage of convenience, but Christian finds her reason amusing.

There are other approved options, but she chose him. Rose wakes up and talks to Mason, asking him what he is looking at.

He says it’s a mystery that he wants to show Rose to convince her to tell him what happened in Lisbon. Rose responds that she and Lissa had a fight and that it isn’t a big deal.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: Are the Strigoi after Lissa?

Mason tells Rose that she can tell him since everyone else is asleep. She promises that she’ll let him know if he shows her what he’s looking at.

Mason says that it’s everything that he and Meredith have gathered about the Strigoi. They have gone from being loners to coordinating their attacks.

Christian’s parents led the attack at St. Jude’s, where there was possibly someone on the inside helping them. Someone is leaving Christian presents from his parents.

Rose wonders if it’s some messed up way for Christian’s parents to show their love. Mason says that it isn’t because there were 17 victims.

He shows Rose a picture of the Dragomir victims, who she met on holiday with Lissa and her parents. Rose tells Mason about the Strigoi that followed her, Lissa, Adrian, and Dimitri from the club to the heretic’s house and how Lissa was with her both times the Strigoi was present.

Lissa was also in Meredith’s convoy when it got attacked. Rose theorizes that the Strigoi aren’t after Christian but are coming for Lissa.

Mason asks about St. Jude’s, when Meredith comes in, saying that the Dragomir deaths are what lost Lissa her shot at being Queen. Mason wonders why Strigoi would care who was the Moroi Queen.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: Lissa and Christian’s plan

Rose responds that the Strigoi don’t care or used not to care. Mason asks if she thinks someone in the Royal Court is conspiring with the Strigoi to get rid of Lissa.

Rose gets distracted by Dimitri walking by but tells Mason that anything is possible. She leaves, presumably to catch up with Dimitri, but doesn’t find him.

Christian tells Lissa about his parents reaching out to him and how he and Rose didn’t think it was safe for him to be around her. Lissa wonders why he or Rose didn’t tell her.

He admits that he asked Rose to keep it a secret. Lissa feels this is the first time Rose has kept a secret from her.

Christian responds that Rose was protecting her. Lissa says that Rose keeps giving and taking, and she wants to do something about it.

She asks Christian again if he’s up for marrying her to get her quorum back. Christian agrees to do it, and they kiss.

Rose looks for Christian with Mason and Meredith and sees Lissa for the first time since their fight. Lissa stands up, but Rose walks away.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: Is Jesse helping the Strigoi?

The Queen announces the Trial by Proxy. Each candidate for the throne will choose someone to represent them in battle.

Lissa is upset because Rose won’t be at her wedding to Christian, even though she insists it won’t be a real marriage. She feels lonely so Christian comforts her, saying that he’ll be there for her, and that the marriage is real to him.

Lissa tells Christian what they have to do to make their marriage official by following three steps. First, they have to do a blood-marking ceremony under the eyes of the Monks.

Then an exchanging of gifts, and finally a ceremonial announcement of their betrothal to the entire Court. Christian agrees to do all three.

During their blood-marking ceremony, Meredith comes in looking for Christian. He tells Rose, Mason, and Meredith that his parents can’t be after Lissa because they wouldn’t even know about her.

Meredith suggests that Jesse smuggled the gifts from Christian’s parents in. Mason deduces that since Jesse made them leave early in Lisbon, he could’ve been luring Lissa to the Strigoi.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: What if the big accident wasn’t an accident?

Rose mentions that Jesse’s dad could have put him up to it. She says that whoever is behind this is trying to prevent Lissa’s bloodline from having a vote on the Council.

Christian asks if they think one of the Elementalist bloodlines is responsible, and Meredith says they do. She adds that Dane Zeklos, Jesse’s father, wanted the crown before the Queen even chose Lissa’s brother Andre as her successor.

She also suggests that the accident that killed Lissa’s family wasn’t an accident. Rose runs up to Dimitri, telling him she trusts him and wants to talk to him.

She mentions that a lot is going on, including possible treason. She says she knows that he thinks they shouldn’t be talking right now.

Dimitri responds that it’s not about what he thinks; it’s what has to be. He adds that he put Rose and Lissa at risk.

Rose replies that she was there and made her own choices. Dimitri counters that Rose only thinks she has a choice because she was raised by Lissa’s family, who pretended that her being a Dhampir didn’t matter.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: Change?

Dimitri says that if he had that life, he might think he could do anything too, but he doesn’t. He only has the life of a Guardian and the faith that makes him able to endure it.

Rose responds that the faith he’s holding on to supports an unfair system that won’t change. Maybe Dimitri himself should change.

Tatiana then apologizes if she’s interrupting, but she wants to watch Dimitri training. According to her, he has agreed to be her champion in the Trial by Proxy.

Victor tells Robert and Mia that they just missed Sonya’s call. Robert asks if he can call her back, but Victor says she is off to the spa.

Rose bursts in, asking Victor who his champion is. It’s his Guardian, James, but Rose asks him to pick her because she knows Dimitri better than anyone and, therefore, can beat him.

As Rose is getting ready with Mason, he mentions that she has a crowd full of suspects. She says she wishes she could remember the accident.

Mason suggests that she asks Lissa, but she refuses. He asks her when she will tell him what Lissa did to hurt her so much.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: Trial by Proxy

Rose says that she has a fight to prepare for. Christian confronts Jesse about the smuggled gifts from his parents and Lissa’s family’s accident.

Jesse insists that neither one of them was his doing. He tells Christian to look closer at those he spends time with.

Mia apologizes to Meredith for not seeing her for a while. Meredith says she hasn’t been hard to find and that Mia doesn’t have to apologize because she understands.

If Victor wins, Mia gets what she’s always wanted and with that Meredith walks away. Christian arrives late, telling Lissa that his parents might’ve done something that would make her hate him.

Their marriage, however, is announced to the Court, it’s too late to turn back now. The Trial by Proxy begins, and Dimitri asks Rose what she’s doing there.

She says she’s there to beat some sense into him.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: A dramatic fight

Rose tells Dimitri that Tatiana is everything that she hates about the Dominion. Dimitri insists that he’s just doing as he’s told.

He asks her why she’s doing this. Rose explains that it’s the only way he’ll listen.

She tells him that he has to win if he wants her to stop. Dimitri admits he doesn’t want to hurt her, but it’s too late.

Rose tells Dimitri that his honor as a champion is on the line and that if their duty doesn’t let them be together, he should do his duty.

He finally hits Rose and knocks her down for a bit, but she gets back up. She then knocks Dimitri down and says that’s what she thought.

Victor is declared the winner of the Trial by Proxy. Rose yells at Dimitri to fight, but he refuses.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: Trial by Reverie

The Queen announces the third Trial, Trial by Reverie. Mason asks Rose if she’s okay, and she insists she is.

He mentions that the fight was fraught. They see an expert who might know what happened the night of the accident.

The “expert” turns out to be Lissa. Rose wants to leave, but Mason insists she stay and talk it out with her best friend.

Eventually, Rose goes to talk to Lissa. She congratulates her friend on her engagement, where Lissa says it’s complicated.

She tells Rose that Christian told her about her theory and that she can show her friend her memories of the night of the accident. They begin a memory walk.

Meanwhile, Victor and Tatiana compete in the Trial by Reverie, where they have to answer a single question: what must a good ruler possess to rule their subjects? They must answer this question after a period of reflection where they will experience their reveries, with St. Vladimir’s dehydrated blood, infused with elemental magic, on their tongue.

Whoever gets the correct answer is the winner.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: Memories

On Rose and Lissa’s memory walk, they see the night of the accident as Lissa is bringing Rose back to life. They also see Strigoi arriving at the scene of the accident.

Victor sees a memory of his two daughters, Sonya and Mia, at a young age. Mia hurt Sonya’s feelings and insisted that her sister was being a baby.

Victor tells Mia that Sonya is sensitive, and she has to be protected. She hurt her sister’s feelings, and that how you treat your family shows who you are.

Victor asks if Mia wanted to hurt Sonya. Mia responds she didn’t and apologizes to her sister.

The Queen asks Victor if he has the answer to her question. Victor gives a speech about how a Moroi must put their family first.

He explains that love is a gift from the Saints and will keep the Dominion whole, but it is not enough to protect the citizens of the Dominion. According to Victor, the answer is that a good ruler must possess nothing at all and be willing to give everything they have for the sake of the Dominion.

He wins the Trial, which infuriates Tatiana. Dimitri tells Tatiana that he shouldn’t have begun the fight since he knew he couldn’t do what was necessary to win.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: Rose and Lissa apart again?

Dimitri says he will ask to be reassigned to another province since his value there has been compromised. Tatiana guesses that he is in love with Rose but can’t be with her without forsaking his duty.

Dimitri, therefore, decided not to be with Rose at all. Tatiana says she hoped to see someone she lost in the Reverie but didn’t.

She tells Dimitri that it’s hard wanting something you can’t have, and they kiss. Rose and Lissa discuss their memory walk, with Lissa saying that having a seat on the Council won’t be enough.

She says that she and Rose need to fight.

Rose tells Lissa that she thought that if they were together, they could preserve some of their life before the crash, but they can’t. They have to find their way without each other.

Lissa asks Rose what that means, but she walks away. Christian goes to see the Feeder he likes talking to and theorizes that she is somehow involved in getting the gifts from his parents to him.

Vampire Academy season 1 episode 8: A new Strigoi?

Lissa tells Christian that she and Rose remembered everything, and they saw his parents at the scene of the accident. Christian apologizes, but Lissa reassures him that his parents’ actions don’t define him.

He is a good person. However, when she marries him, she wants to have music and laughter, and friends.

She wants to be able to look forward, not back. Lissa wants it to feel right in every way possible, but at the moment, she can only feel pain and rage.

Christian says they never stood a chance and gives Lissa a book on Old Moroi in case he can’t translate for her. She turns to leave, then goes back and kisses Christian before leaving.

Rose tells Mason she has to get out of there and asks him to come with her. He agrees to go, and they kiss.

Victor is about to reach his goal of becoming king when Tatiana is supposed to give him a gift. However, she refuses, saying they’ve shamed the Elements by choosing him, and reveals Sonya as a Strigoi.

Will Rose leave St. Vladimir’s? Will Victor lose his chance at becoming king?

Let us know your answers and opinions in the comments below!

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