This amazing night of crossover awesome continues with The Originals Season 3 Episode 14! (Guys. This two-hour event was...epic.)

In a tit-for-tat measure, Stefan Salvatore pitched in to save his sort-of friend after having his own life saved during The Vampire Diaries Season 7 Episode 14. 

And now these dudes are totally even. For now. (But maybe not in three years...)

Writing tonight's reviews has been a very delicate balancing act because as much as the separate stories aren't connected, they're inextricably woven together, proving that Julie Plec & Co. have no intentions of separating these two timelines any time soon.

If you haven't seen The Vampire Diaries' "Moonlight On the Bayou" yet, you may want to avert your gaze from the next couple of paragraphs or so because there's just about no way for me to discuss what happened on tonight's The Originals without first discussing what was revealed in the opening scenes of The Vampire Diaries Season 7 Episode 14. 

Got that?

Okay. 

Seriously. There's your warning. It's going...going...gone.

Klaus Mikaelson is missing in three years' time. 

When Caroline Forbes shows up in New Orleans with her darling daughters in tow looking for a safe haven to hide from the still not dead Rayna Cruz, it's been a full three years since anyone has seen or heard from Klaus. 

Interesting, indeed, considering that after the events of tonight, Klaus was left physically weakened by his sire line being broken. At first, I thought he'd been stabbed by the Phoenix sword in the midst of the melee and that it was somehow reacting differently on him since he's an original vampire, but nope.

Davina sucked the magical mojo right out of him and used it to bring Kol back to life (in the buff!) like she promised she would.

So from that we get: the return of an Original, albeit in human/witch form and the disappearance of an Original. Or at least the "goes into hiding" of an Original.

How are these two things related? Are they at all? I need to know, you guys! 

Now that I've gotten completely ahead of myself by discussing the bookends of the episode, let's dial it back and discuss how we got there.

In short, Aya and the Strix and a little double-crossing done by none other than Marcel Gerard.

Aya wanted the sire links broken and to do that, she needed a place to send Klaus and Elijah in order to distract them. Where else than inside Tristan's mind? A place of representational magic designed so that he wouldn't have to feel the pain of repeatedly drowning.

How thoughtful of her. 

What was beautiful about that sequence, about most of tonight's episode actually, were the ways in which the women of the series were shown as strong, even when broken.

Except Aurora who was shown to be, as Elijah put it, "a ridiculous child who cannot be left unsupervised."

Tell me something, Aurora. Have you met your brother Tristan? Between deception and rampant abuse, he frequently, repeatedly isolates and abandons you. Of course, he’s painfully aware of something we’ve known all along. You are a deranged and ridiculous child who cannot be left unsupervised.

Elijah

• Permalink: Tell me something, Aurora. Have you met your brother Tristan? Between deception and rampant...

But that's all the guys have been for the past couple of weeks now is talk. They haven't been able to take action against those they loved and tonight was almost heartbreaking watching as Elijah was unable to pull the trigger to kill Aya.

He truly felt betrayed by her actions, but more than that I think he finally understood why she was doing what she felt like she had to do in protecting herself through her desire to break her own sire line. 

It wasn't that she wanted to be physically free of the connection to Elijah; she wanted to be emotionally free as well. Elijah couldn't give her that. 

That's okay though because Hayley was there to do it for him, and if anyone deserved to kill Aya, it was probably her for that stunt she pulled with first trying to kill Hayley and second stealing Jackson's heart to make her spell work.

The "Cask of Amontillado" ending to Aurora was also pretty fitting, even if I'd preferred she were killed so we wouldn't have to risk having her return in the future even crazier than she is now thanks to desiccating in isolation for however long she's behind that brick wall.

Because let's face it. Isolation like that? It's bound to make a person (even more) crazy.

At least Klaus was able to pull the trowel? 

I don't know. I don't like that she's still alive. She deserves to die first for turning Cami into a vampire and second for continuing to taunt Klaus about it in Tristan's dream world. 

Stefan's inclusion into the events in New Orleans was perfectly executed. Use the hunter's mark to lure her to a house full of vampires where she can decimate their enemies and then Freya can make more of that magic paste so Stefan can hide from her so long as he never showers, swims, or sweats. 

That should be absolutely no problem at all, right?

The balanced "do right by her" lines from Klaus to Stefan about Caroline and from Stefan to Klaus about Hayley provided some excellent symmetry. 

Klaus and Hayley don't have to be together in order to be part of the same team, though I know the contingent out there pulling for Klayley is strong. Klaus can still respect her for her strength and the value she brings to his family even if he isn't in love with her.

She's the mother of his child, for crying out loud. 

A potential pairing I didn't expect to dig was Lucien and Freya. Was it me or were there some sparks between them?

Of the three members of the trinity or triad or whatever they were called when they appeared, Lucien is the one I love the most. His timing and lines are perfect and he's just...perfect.

He's a great foil for Klaus. He's easy on the eyes. He's fun. Can we keep him?

And can we keep Kol, too?

Let's not make the price Davina has to pay for bringing him back be him. Or herself. Kol Mikaelson might prove a formidable ally to his sister Freya now that he can practice magic again, and with the second part of Alexis' prophecy looming on the horizon, they're going to need all the help they can get.

Maybe Stefan Salvatore can become a permanent resident.

What did you think of part two of the crossover event? Are you glad Aya and Aurora are gone (for now)? How do you feel about Kol's return? Let's chat in the comments below, and don't forget you can watch The Originals online if you missed any of the magic!

Miranda Wicker was a Staff Writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in 2017. Follow her on Twitter.