A season’s worth of muddled plot threads come to something of a climax with this episode, which is really just the first part of the season finale.  The title promises a lot of action and bloodletting, and I can’t say that it was at all disappointing in that regard.  And a big twist in the middle changes the entire course of the struggle, and even fits the crazy progression of the season’s various alliances in its own way.

 

The outcome of the battle is largely predicated on Klaus’ plan to get Genevieve to create “moonlight rings”, which will allow the Crescent werewolves to control their natures to a much larger extent.  Of course, Genevieve’s entire goal is to fulfill the plans of the witches’ ancestors, which is elimination of threats to the witch faction and acquisition of Hayley’s baby.

 

Genevieve turns the tables on Klaus (big shocker), and places a spell on the rings that will amplify the powers of the werewolves wearing them.  Which, overall, wouldn’t necessarily be an issue, if those rings were still going to the Crescents, who are more or less allies of the Mikaelsons.  Instead, Genevieve gives them to the leader of the human faction, Francesca, who turns out to be the head of the Correa werewolf clan, long thought to be killed off by Marcel decades earlier. Oh, and also the clan that Hayley is supposed to be the heir to, which is a nice touch.

 

Setting aside what that means for the humans, since they basically have little to no representation in the city now, it changes the course of the battle entirely, since neither Marcel’s vampire faction nor the Mikaelsons have the slightest clue that the Correas are making their move.  They let Klaus play out his war against Marcel, thus weakening the vampires and the Mikaelsons, and came rushing in on the attack when both sides were compromised.  Werewolf bites are fatal to vampires, so this dramatically weakens the vampire faction overall.

 

Werewolf bites don’t mean much to Klaus, of course, since he is immune.  But he’s not immune to magic, and Genevieve saps him of his power (thanks to a Correa gift) and uses that opportunity to abduct Hayley and induce birth.  I have no idea if the writers (or network) would be willing to see the sacrifice through, since that would be very controversial, but they sell the peril for Hayley in that final act.  Perhaps the baby will be sent away for its own protection?  Whatever it takes to avoid the dreaded “baby plot” issues!

 

Even if all these issues are resolved, there is the growing problem of Davina’s decision to help Mikael cross back over and take down his children.  I have a feeling that this is setting up the scenario for the second season’s arc, but Mikael has largely been used as a shock and awe villain, hitting quickly before getting shoved back into the background.  On the other hand, with control of New Orleans so precarious at this point, it would be interesting if Mikael were to stick around for a while.