The Trials

The Trials is a stub. You can help out the Vampire Academy Series Wiki by adding more information to the article.

"Insert text"
-To be added

The Trials

Episode Information

Season:

1

Episode:

8

Rating:

TV-MA

Genre(s):

Drama
Fantasy

Running Time:

53 minutes

Air Date:

October 13, 2022

Crew

Director(s):

Julie Plec

Producer(s):

Writer(s):

Episode guide
Previous	Next
"Beyond the Wards"	"Darkness"

The Trials is the eighth episode of the Peacock American fantasy horror television series based on the novels series of the same name by Richelle Mead. It aired on October 13, 2022.

Premise[]

The fight for the throne comes to a head; Victor hides his secret; Rose investigates the enemy.

Plot summary[]

In the endurance competition of the trials, the competitors must brave the four elements, and both Tatiana and Victor stand on the edge of a watchtower while the wind blows in their faces.

However, Victor continues to be under a lot of stress, since in an effort to save his political career and spare his family any pain, he is covering up the fact that Sonya drained a human of all their blood and turned Strigoi. Thus, Victor is trying to pretend that she left town but is still well and in contact with him.

Meanwhile, Rose continues to drink her sorrows away. When she wakes up, after presumably being taken care of by Mason, the two of them discuss the current Strigoi situation. They come to two major conclusions: 1) someone within the Dominion must be working with Strigoi, and likely someone with a power like a Royal; and 2) there’s a chance that Strigoi are specifically targeting Lissa .

Their investigation is cut short when Rose sees Dimitri through a window and goes to speak to him. Eventually, Rose learns that Dimitri is Tatiana's champion. Rose, believing that she’s the only one with a chance to beat him, marches to Victor’s home and demands that she be his champion. When the fight comes around, it becomes quite clear that Dimitri could win but ultimately can’t bring himself to hurt Rose. In the end, he allows Rose to beat him and sulks about the fact that he wasn’t willing to live up to his duty.

When the fight ends, Mason forces Rose to speak to Lissa. Lissa reveals that the others have filled her in on their theory and suggests that they take magical drugs so they can revisit their memory of the car crash to see if they can learn anything. While combing through the memory, they see the Strigoi Ozeras at the scene of the crash. Once it's all over, though, Rose decides that Lissa was right and that they should go their separate ways. Rose also gets shut down by Dimitri again, who ultimately seeks comfort in Tatiana. In the end, Rose discusses with Mason the possibility of leaving St. Vladimir's Academy and turning away from a guardian life. Mason agrees, and the two kiss, seemingly suggesting that the plan is locked in.

Elsewhere, Lissa proposes to Christian after she decides that it's not worth it to just marry whoever, and she also finds out that he has enough Dragomir blood to earn herself a quorum. The two agree to go ahead with it, but Christian begins to get cold feet after Rose and Mason let him in on their theory that his parents may be trying to get to Lissa.

During the second trial, a physical battle, but not between the contestants but instead between Dhampir champions of their choosing, takes place. Tatiana chooses Dimitri, and Victor chooses Rose. In the end, Rose (and, by extension, Victor) comes out victorious.

The third trial is mental. Both contestants ingest a drop of St. Vladimir's dried blood, which will allow them to visit a memory-like dream. Through this hallucination of sorts, they must figure out what a leader truly needs. Whichever contestant can emerge from their dream with the correct answer first will win the challenge and, by extension, the throne. Ultimately, it's Victor who emerges first and gives some speech about how a leader needs to have nothing; they must be willing to give up everything in order to be a good ruler. This is enough to win him the trial and the throne. Unfortunately, his rule might be cut short as Tatiana reveals during her concession speech a massive glass case containing a Strigoi Sonya.

The Trials

Contents

Premise[]

Plot summary[]

Cast and Characters[]

Starring[]

Guest-starring[]

Co-starring[]

Other Characters[]

Shown[]

Mentioned[]

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

External Links[]

Gallery[]

References[]