TVD: Is Damon Back?

   Damon & Stefan are taking their Devil Show on the road! Before they went Damon received a gift from Caroline: Elena's necklace. The minute Damon saw that necklace it sparked memories of his one true love prompting him to kill Sibyl. Does that mean Damon is... back?

Sibyl's like that mosquito you want to swat.

     It's hard to say. You can definitely say that Damon is in possession of his free will again. However, Damon still believes in hell which is still a problem. He's no longer under Sibyl's influence and he's burned so many bridges Damon has nothing holding him back from his new mission. Say he does his job for Cade the Devil for 60-70 years, Bonnie dies then Elena wakes up. What's Damon going to do? Just... leave her hanging after waiting for so long?

You were supposed to carve the turkey, Damon, not the
dinner guests.

     Damon has been brain washed to believe in hell and given all of the horrible things he's done it's a definite yes that he's got a one way ticket to eternal damnation for all of his sins. Before his plan was to just wait for Elena to wake up then consume her blood to cure his vampirism so they can live happily ever after. Yet since Damon believes he's going to hell he may not want a fragile mortal life. Cade is giving Damon a "Stay Out of Hell Free" Card. Fear seems to outweigh true love in this scenario but that doesn't mean there's no hope for Damon and Elena.

Damon, stop whispering evil thoughts to Stefan to
make him go Dark Side!

      So I wouldn't say Damon is entirely back. Nina Dobrev is supposed to come back this final season. My theory is that something happens to Bonnie that wakes Elena up. Hopefully Bonnie becomes a vampire which is a loophole technically so she can still be with Enzo. If seeing a necklace his great love wore is enough to wake Damon up then maybe seeing her in the flesh will help shake Cade's hold over Damon. At least I'm hoping.