On The Vampire Diaries Season 7 Episode 9, Stefan, Damon, Valerie, and Nora say goodbye to Lily and bury her. Damon refuses to acknowledge the fact that Lily died to spare his life. After the funeral, Damon and Stefan go off in search of Julian while Caroline and Bonnie hold down the fort at Whitmore.

Caroline prepares for childbirth classes, and it’s clear she’s having trouble resisting the urge to feed. While Damon and Stefan hunt for Julian, they also discuss the situation in which Stefan has found himself, and Damon points out that there’s no way Caroline will not help raise the twins even though they aren’t biologically hers.

When Valerie returns to the boarding house to collect a few things she left behind, she encounters Mary Louise who blames Valerie for the dissolution of her relationship with Nora. She accuses Valerie of lying about her pregnancy in order to gain sympathy from Lily, Stefan, and the rest of the heretics.

Nora shows up at the Toys for Tots drive Bonnie’s running out of Skull Bar and tells her fellow witch that she recently enrolled in classes and wants to be involved. Bonnie puts her to work collecting toys, albeit reluctantly.

Damon and Stefan continue their pub crawl for Julian and stumble into a bar full of dead Santas. Damon calls Bonnie for backup and she turns to Nora for help.

At the childbirth class, Caroline overhears a couple talking about the fact that she’s a student and Alaric is a teacher. She begins to vamp out and doesn’t even realize it, but Alaric manages to stop her before she attacks.

The boys encounter a radically unstable Julian, drunk on bourbon and grief. He has the sword Enzo found which works in tandem with the Phoenix Stone, and he’s clearly out of his mind. Just as Damon gets a text from Bonnie, Julian’s friends walk in and suddenly the fight is very uneven. Damon sets the bar on fire and whooshes Stefan away.

While Bonnie and Nora are passing out presents at the hospital, Mary Louise shows up and asks if they can talk. 

Caroline and Alaric debrief after the childbirth class and she attacks him when he tries to calm her down. She storms out.

Damon and Stefan argue over their next course of action with Julian. Damon wants to leave town and Stefan wants to stay and fight. Their argument turns to Damon’s refusal to forgive Lily and Damon decides to leave Stefan behind. 

After bonding with Bonnie, Nora gets a text from Julian stating Mary Louise has been taken hostage. She believes Bonnie is in on the kidnapping and siphons Bonnie’s magic until Bonnie hits the floor.

Julian finds Damon burning Lily’s clothes in his bedroom at the boarding house. Julian believes he lost Lily because she couldn’t let Damon go and tries to stab Damon with the sword which will trap his soul inside the Phoenix Stone. Stefan flies in and interrupts the brawl. They find Julian downstairs and continue the battle. 

Julian stabs Damon with the Phoenix sword trapping his soul inside the stone.

After stealing Mary Louise’s body out from under Valerie’s watchful gaze, Nora shows up and stabs Stefan, too.