'The Vampire Diaries' Recap: 'I'll Wed You in the Golden Summertime' Season 6 Episode 21, Alaric's Wedding

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A human Elena emerged on last week's episode of "The Vampire Diaries." In "I'll Wed You in the Golden Summertime," episode 21 of season 6, Damon must contemplate whether or not he wants to joining his love relinquishing immortality.

Alaric and Jo are ready to tie the knot but there are plenty of underlying conflicts before the wedding. Stefan and Damon take a road trip so that Stefan can get into Damon's head. Stefan shows him a pretty intense reality of human life with Elena.

Caroline thinks about the aftermath of having her humanity switch turned off and realizes that she must get past it.

Bonnie calls on Matt when she realizes that Lily may be threatening her life. Bonnie destroyed the ascendant and while Lily is still dealing with withdrawals from her family she isn't Bonnie's biggest fan.

"I'll Wed You in the Golden Summer" began with Bonnie suffering from a nightmare. She wakes up and calls for Elena but there is no one else in sight. When she makes her way over to the fireplace, Lily is standing right behind her.

Lily tells her that she escaped the basement and she wants Bonnie to find a loop-hole to get her heretics back.

Bonnie tries to use magic on Lily however, it doesn't work and she has to stab her.

Bonnie opens the door to continue to run but Kai is waiting and asks her if she really thought she could keep screwing people over.

Elena wakes her up just in time to help Jo get ready for her wedding. Jo is freaking out about every single detail of her wedding and it gets worst when the wedding coordinator gets sick. Caroline steps in just in the knick of time to save the day as a wedding planner.

Bonnie, Elena and Caroline are reunited and it's up to them to fix the wedding. Meanwhile, Matt, Tyler and Alaric are sitting down for a sarcastic drink where they mock him on his special day.

Caroline is extra cautious with Elena who is a human again. During a discussion about how she's handling it, Caroline apologizes for the things she said to her when she had her humanity switch off. Her road of amends are beginning and she's trying to avoid Stefan.

Elena drops the bomb that Damon is thinking about taking the cure and Caroline is dumbfounded. Stefan and Damon are on a road trip and they arrive at house that Stefan stayed in when he wanted to start over.

Now, he's making Damon aware of all the things he'll have to deal with when he takes the cure.

Enzo tries to pay Lily a visit but Bonnie denies him. When she walks down to the basement to give Lily something he left for her she hears her speaking to someone. There is no one in sight and no one when she looks into the cell.

She turns and is briefly attacked by Lily but manages to escape. Tonight's episode starts out by setting the tone for some pretty interesting dialogues and challenges. How is Lily able to haunt Bonnie in her dreams?

Bonnie relives her attack from Lily and Elena tells her that it may be a side effect of drying out. She is concerned that Stefan's plan involves letting Lily out and immediately volunteers to leave with Matt.

Caroline begins apologizing with Tyler and everything goes back to normal but she's still not considering Stefan as her boyfriend.

Live returns and has an awkward exchange with Tyler that turns into an emotional and hostile situation, but leaves before it gets worst.

Stefan outlines everything that humans have to deal with to Damon, including paperwork. He tells Damon that he can't be in contact with Damon because people will hunt him down for the cure killing him and Elena in the process.

Damon plans on moving to the Northwest with Elena and Stefan realizes that he's ready to be human.

Elena is part of the entire plan to push Damon to see that he needs to give up hope on a normal relationship. Jo collapses after telling Elena to pace herself and she hits her head on the way down.

Jo is up and both she and the babies are okay. She asks Elena to keep the episode to herself so that Alaric doesn't worry. Elena says that she won't say a word but imagines telling him anyway.

She was worried that she couldn't do enough for Jo but after handling things the human way, she feels alive. Caroline returns with drinks for Liv and Tyler but she only finds Tyler.

She does a bit of damage control and tells Tyler that when Liv was in his life he tried harder to be a better person. He ends up snapping on her and tells her to worry about her own life.

Damon wants to leave but Stefan asks him to think about what would it be like if he and Elena broke up. He gets inside of Damon's head and puts a scenario that shows Elena walking in from a long night at work. Damon wants her to sit a take a drink but she's just too tired from work which causes him to have a bit more of a drinking problem.

Seven years into the relationship, Damon comes home drunk and has some harsh words for Elena.

Damon regrets taking the cure because he can't live the life he wants. When he breaks out of Stefan's hold he head butts him and tells him he's just scared to not have anyone.

The second step is to show Damon what his life would be like without Elena. It's lonely, sad and he's still a drunk. He spends his nights alone on a couch with a bottle in his hand and no one to talk to.

After the vision Stefan tells Damon that Elena was in on this too. Damon asks Stefan what he should do and his brother tells him he has to want to be human for himself.

The simple sequence was one of the most powerful ones all season because it puts a realistic thought into the fantasy world they live in filled with immortal and supernatural beings.

It also teaches you that decisions like those must be made on your own needs no one else.

Everyone begins filing in for the wedding and Caroline is making last minute preparations. Elena meets her but Stefan is walking up and Caroline heads for the hills.

Stefan tells Elena that Damon needed some time to think.

He also tells Elena that he doesn't want his brother to take the cure because he can't bare the thought of losing him.

Damon spends a troubling amount of time alone and deep down inside it looks like he doesn't want be human.

Matt and Bonnie's plan to take down Lily takes a turn when they succumb to a spell that causes them both to pass out. They thin maybe Enzo let Lily out, however, Enzo is very surprised to see Lily when she walks into the bar. Lily tells Enzo that she's getting her family back today.

As Jo gets ready for her wedding she gets a call from her future husband. Their chat is innocent and as it ends, her father comes to visit her to walk her down the isle.

Stefan confronts Caroline about avoiding him and she tells him he has every right to feel how he feels about Damon. She somewhat apologizes to Stefan and he tells her he doesn't hate her. She made a list of all of the things that she did when she fell for him. She says all she needed was for him to tell her how he felt.

Stefan forgives her but she doesn't like the person she is with the feelings for Stefan. He tells her that she needs to give up control and give in but she tells him she doesn't think she can and walks away.

Oh come on Julie Plec. You're still making us wait?

Damon finally shows up to the wedding and is face to face with Elena. He tells her that he'd made up his mind then he saw an old couple arguing which quickly turned into a loving moment. Damon agrees to take the cure because he's been a vampire for so long.

He's not taking it just for her, he's taking it for both of them.

A chance of a life with her is worth more than anything in the world. Damon vows to love her until he takes his last breath and they kiss passionately.

Caroline makes a frantic call to Elena and tells her they are going to start without her. Jo is laughing at the entire situation but Caroline tells her it's not funny and orders Stefan to tell them to cue the music. Elena and Damon wake up and frantically rush to get ready.

They end up making it but Bonnie and Matt are still missing. Matt wakes up to Bonnie who was attacked and she says "it was..." she's going to say Kai.

Meanwhile, Jo is being led down the isle by her father as Alaric beams in adornment. They look into each others eyes as the ceremony begins. The vows are first but elsewhere Lily leads Enzo to a place where her heretics told her they would be. They weren't the only ones who gave her instructions.

Alaric and Jo's wedding vows are very beautiful but before she can say hers, it looks like she's being magically stabbed. Kai has returned and he is unleashing hell at the wedding. He's destroying everything as Jo is seriously hurt.

At the end of the episode the teaser shows Elena laying unresponsive in Damon's hand foreshadowing the exit of Nina Dobrev's character.

"I'll Wed You in the Golden Summertime" showed both happiness and misery. It was the contrast between a happy union and a life that would be spent in regret.

Overall, the struggle that Damon faces is one that is being clouded by his feelings for Elena.

Stefan has to play the bad guy in order to make sure his brother is aware of all the possibilities. Fans who can't get enough will have to tune next week to see what The CW hit has in store.