The Vampire Diaries: How Elena Got Her Memories Of Damon Back

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A heartbreaking development in The Vampire Diaries once saw Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) choose to have her memories of Damon (Ian Somerhalder) erased. Here's how she was, fortunately, able to regain them. Based on L.J. Smith's popular series of books, the supernatural drama was developed for TV by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec. Debuting in 2009 on The CW, The Vampire Diaries debuted to impressive numbers and ultimately ran for eight seasons and spawned two direct Vampire Diaries spin-offs, The Originals and Legacies.

Set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, The Vampire Diaries followed a group of friends as they dealt with frequent supernatural threats, age-old mystical secrets, and complicated love lives. The bulk of the latter was focused on Elena Gilbert's tangled relationships with the 162-year-old vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley) and his unpredictable older brother and fellow vampire Damon. Despite initially choosing to be with the former, Elena ultimately fell in love with the latter when she herself became a vampire. Their path to a happily-ever-after was not a smooth one, however. That was especially true when it appeared that Damon and Bonnie had been killed in an apocalyptic event at the end of The Vampire Diaries season 5. Unable to cope with the grief, Elena turned to the newly turned original vampire, Alaric (Matt Davis), and asked that she be purged of knowing she ever loved Damon.

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In The Vampire Diaries season 6, episode 2, «Yellow Ledbetter,» he was able to facilitate her request. After a number of failed attempts, Elena confessed the truth: that she had fallen in love with Damon while technically still with Stefan. Erasing this