“In the beginning I was a very old vampire who was going to live like two episodes,” Daniel Gillies explains to TVGuide.com. “They didn’t know I was going to be a brother, I [just] was a henchman.” But Elijah has transformed from being terrifyingly powerful in his knowledge and skills, to a still powerful vampire, but one with a distinct moral compass and compassion for Elena who Gillies calls a warrior.

“Elena came quite close to peril and closer to peril than he ever thought she would and there’s a disgrace in that,” Gillies says. “He can be vicious and can be strategic, but he’s never reckless and this was one of the few times on the show we’ve seen him be absolutely reckless in order to get what he needed. Sure, it was his life and the life of his brothers and sister, but placing Elena in the position of being a hostage was probably something he would change if he could go back or at least make certain she wasn’t in true danger.”

Source: TV Guide