Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Episode 8 Recap With Spoilers: “And That’s the End of It. There’s Nothing Else”

Last week on Interview With the Vampire, Louis, Claudia, and Madeleine were put on trial for the attempted murder of Lestat and it had devastating results. Claudia and Madeleine were both put to death, but at the last moment, Louis was spared, only to be essentially buried alive in the bowels of the theater. This week, the aftermath of the trial is revealed and the truth about who saved Louis comes to life. Here’s everything that happened in the season finale of Interview With the Vampire. Warning: spoilers for “And That’s the End of It. There is Nothing Left” beyond this point!

The episode picks up in the wet room of the Theatre where Louis is screaming and moaning inside his crypt. Daniel asks Armand what the consequences of saving Louis were. Armand says he was demoted. Louis said he played “what if” while trapped in his deathbed, trying to figure out if there was a choice he could have made in his life that would have changed his own fate but nothing changes it.

Armand says that Santiago takes over as leader of the coven, but Armand played up his own subjugation. When no one was looking, he swapped out a sacrifice for Louis to help him escape. Louis says that he was dead, but his rage and madness rose. He escapes to the cemetery where he kills the groundskeeper and takes shelter in a crypt. There he begins to plan his revenge like a madman. Telepathically, Armand tells Louis to leave Paris. Armand tells him that he saved him at the trial and helped him escape. Louis warns him to not be at the theater.

While the coven went to sleep, Louis douses the theater in gasoline — pausing briefly to collection Claudia’s things after he sets everyone on fire. Nine die at the theater and four escape, the two who escaped out the front die when their motorcycles explode. Santiago, trying to escape through the sewer, is hunted by Louis.

The two vampires taunt one another with Louis calling Santiago by his real name — Francis — and goading him about his mortal life and how underwhelming he was as a mortal man, how embarrassed his maker had been of him. Ultimately, Louis beheads Santiago. He later meets up with Armand when he started lying to him. Armand tells him it was the night of Madeleine’s transformation and that he was presented with the play, that he was not part of it but he had chosen his coven and therefore did not tell Louis. Armand tells Louis Lestat is still in Paris.

They find Lestat in Magnus’s lair. Lestat says he came there to think about his origins and why he does what he does. Louis confronts him about Claudia’s death and says that he has come to kill him, but Lestat says he has not only the blood of Magnus but the blood of Akasha in him which would make burning him impossible. So, instead, Louis kisses Armand in front of him, emotionally wounding him instead. Lestat says to enjoy and tells Armand to see how long it holds. In the present, Louis and Armand give a quick recap of the last several decades of their relationship and how they ended up in Dubai.

With the story told, Daniel says he has some follow up questions and it turns out that tucked into the newspaper Rashid brought him is a document from Raglan. Daniel asks some specific questions, particularly about Lestat’s mind control abilities and then points out that Lestat also could have saved Louis that night at the theater. Armand tries to shut it down but Daniel has a script with director’s notes and those notes are Armand’s, exposing him. He was fully involved with the trial and Claudia’s murder. He helped orchestrate it. He also didn’t save Louis. It was Lestat. Armand just took credit for it.

Armand and Louis fight. Rashid has already left; Daniel doesn’t quite get the chance to before the fight happens. Louis tells Armand he is not to touch Daniel and then prepares to leave. He thanks Daniel and then destroys his laptop before departing. Louis goes back to New Orleans just ahead of a hurricane. He does a walking tour of his old neighborhood and listens to the story of the party that went down at his old townhome. Louis witnesses a vampire collecting vermin and follows him to a rundown home. There he finds a disheveled Lestat “playing” a plank carved to be like a piano keyboard.

Louis asks Lestat if he saved him in Paris and when Lestat confirms and says he knew he’d figure it out. Louis tells Lestat he didn’t realize being a vampire was a gift and admits to having been awful but he came to thank him now. Lestat asks about Louis’ suicide attempt and reveals he can’t stop thinking about Claudia. Louis takes responsibility for Claudia’s tragic life and fate. Lestat says she looked at him at the end like a child looking to her father and tries to say he was never a father but Louis just moves to hold him. The two embrace as the storm rages around them.

Daniel appears on a news program to promote his book, Interview With the Vampire. The host treats Daniel like he’s a kook, but Daniel pushes back. There’s something different about Daniel and it’s soon revealed that Daniel is a vampire now, having been turned by Armand who has since vanished. He reaches out to Louis. The Talamasca published Daniel’s book. The other vampires want to kill Louis. Daniel wants to write another book with Louis, but Louis still hasn’t read the first one. After Daniel goes off to hunt his dinner, Louis telepathically confronts those who want to destroy. He challenges them to come at him telling them that he owns the night.