Recap / Vampires SMP E8

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Data:

• Release date: November 16th, 2025
• Links to episodes:
  • Abolish: The End of Vampires SMP
  • Apo: Hunted For Sport
  • Avid: N/A
  • Cleo: MY SACRIFICES
  • Drift: I'll See You Tomorrow…
  • Legs: One Last Horrible Thing
  • M: Goodbye, My Friends!
  • Martyn: THE ONES LEFT BEHIND..
  • Owen: Repaying the hurt they caused him
  • Pearl: Do What We Must
  • Pyro: Can I Survive Betraying My Friends?
  • Ren: WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN
  • Scott: They Wanted a Monster
  • Shelby: I'LL BECOME SOMETHING WORSE…

Tropes found in this episode include:

• Accidental Murder: Thanks to Apo using her blood to heal Martyn back in Episode 3, when Legs tries to fully convert Martyn as part of the human-vampire ceasefire compromise, his body is unable to handle having two "sires" and he dies during the conversion process. Needless to say, Legs is horrified by this.
• Afterlife Welcome: Subverted. The first thing Owen sees upon reaching the afterlife is Louis… but only for long enough to see he doesn't approve of all that Owen had done in his name before he's Dragged Off to Hell.
  Owen: (narrating) He hadn't come to fetch me… he'd come to see me off.
• Age Cut: Abolish's credits show each player in two shots, one at the start of the SMP and the other at the end, the latter in their vampiric form if they have one.
• Ambiguous Situation: In the Distant Epilogue, Scott mentions Shelby having told him "not to bat in front of people anymore", but it's unclear if this is referring to a specific Noodle Incident or simply general life advice after they left Oakhurst behind.
• And the Adventure Continues: At the end of the series, Drift, Shelby, and Scott decide to move to a new city to live together as the latter learns about the modern world. Their episodes' Distant Epilogue shows the latter two living in a penthouse in New York City in 2006, with Drift living elsewhere in the city. Abolish's POV also shows him continuing to work for the shadow organization and checking on Shelby and Scott from a distance to ensure they aren't threats to humanity — which they aren't.
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: Contrary to what Pyro believed, Scott brushes his death off with his usual indifference and doesn't even chastise Shelby for staking him, saying it was inevitable after everything he had done. The other vampires have similar reactions, with Cleo outright laughing and Drift calling Pyro a "liability" like he did with Avid. Ultimately, nobody grieves or makes a grave for him in the series; invokedWord of God confirms that Shelby would eventually do so once she forgives him enough… which is to say, a few centuries after the events of the SMP.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Despite Scott having been the one who promised to ensure Owen and Pyro would die for their crimes, it's Shelby who kills Pyro after getting him to give a boastful rant about his murder of Avid that makes it clear he's Beyond Redemption.
  Pyro: You don't know what Scott's gonna do to you!
  Shelby: Scott's gonna be glad.
• Beyond Redemption:
  • Thanks to their bloodthirst and active choice to continue perpetuating the cycle of violence, Owen and Pyro are deemed to be too dangerous to be left alive, and that the world is better off with them dead. Interestingly, Owen holds this opinion towards himself as well, thanks to him believing the gods see vampires as Always Chaotic Evil anyway, only to be completely blindsided that they don't and that his own damnation has become a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.
  • Subverted for Scott, who — in spite of his equally callous past — avoids this fate by learning to choose peace and work towards a better future instead.
• Burn Baby Burn: Shelby's episode opens with them burning their fanfiction-diary — and by extension, their private letters with Avid before his demise.
• Convenient Terminal Illness: Kind of. Considering he's already a Death Seeker, Legs is volunteered to act as the sire for the "temporary conversion" plan so that mostly everyone can leave Oakhurst with relatively minimal casualties, which he eventually agrees to as an act of Redemption Equals Death.
• Cooperation Gambit: What ultimately unites both the human and vampiric factions is the desire to leave Oakhurst (or at least having the option to do so). When Pearl expresses exhaustion at the conflict near the end of the episode, many others agree and the two sides negotiate putting the millennia-long war aside so that both sides can leave with as few casualties as they can manage.
• Credits Gag: Martyn's POV ends with each of the cast members being given a joking nickname, quote, or commentary about their role in the story or their characterization.
• Cue the Sun:
  • Invoked and justified. Abolish and Owen make the latter's final arrangements during the dawn after the Blood Moon, with Owen wanting to watch the sunrise one last time as a vampire like Louis was. In-universe, it's also because the Turning Back Human tomes don't work during a Blood Moon anyway, and it's only with Owen's death that the Cooperation Gambit to end the human-vampire conflict may proceed, with Pyro having been killed the previous night and the remaining vampires being willing to negotiate.
  • Later, Abolish is cured from his temporary vampirism as the sun rises as well.
• Enemy Civil War: Downplayed, should one see the castle vampires as "evil". Avid's murder in the previous episode effectively split the castle vampires into two sub-factions: Owen and Pyro for going through with the murder; and Scott, Shelby, and Drift, who find it an unforgivable act.^note Cleo works for whatever side that benefits them more, whereas M is more inclined towards the latter due to existing loyalties. Although the two sub-factions initially cooperate to fend off the humans, shortly after they split off from each other, Shelby ends up killing Pyro for his role in Avid's murder, and Owen independently chooses suicide, leaving the latter, more amenable sub-faction to choose peace with humanity instead of continuing the cycle of violence.
• Extra-Long Episode: For almost everybody, their perspective of Episode 8 is their longest video by a mile. Scott and M's POVs in particular are nearly two hours long.
• Face Realization: After Apo starts blaming herself for her unintended role in Martyn's final death, instead of egging her on, Scott remarks that if she feels guilty about it, then she's not a monster — and immediately realizes that by trying to reassure Apo instead of his usual tendency towards Blaming the Victim, he really is working towards the Heel–Face Turn he'd promised Legs.
• Fate Worse than Death: After seeing Legs' past as a poisoner through sampling his blood, Owen decides that death is too good for him and turns him into a vampire, then informs him that vampires are unable to stake themselves, meaning Legs can no longer freely decide when he dies. Legs finds a way around that in the end.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Pyro brings up how should everyone have to get out of Oakhurst alive, they'd all have to bury the hatchet with each other or have someone coming after his throat for the rest of his life. That much is true in that Shelby, holding a grudge against Pyro for killing her fledgling, ends up killing him as revenge.
  • A short one near the end of the episode: Martyn's last words to Ren are that he'll see him in a sec, said just before his intended voluntary conversion. Thanks to unforeseen complications and reactions thereof, they end up dying about a minute apart from each other.
• Got Volunteered: Defied. Since the humans and vampires' Cooperation Gambit requires one human to make and splash Holy Water for Turning Back Human, the gambit would end with them remaining a vampire with no one left to cure them. Martyn, having also obtained the "Blessing" ability to make holy water at the start of Episode 7, refuses to disclose this ability out of self-preservation.
• Heel–Face Turn: Downplayed, at least at first. After spending much of the series as an unrepentant monster, Scott ends up having enough pragmatism and heart in him to work together with the humans for as many to leave Oakhurst as possible. While Legs telling him to turn over a new leaf and stop killing others could have just left him a Retired Monster, Scott deciding to consult Abolish to kill him if he slips back into his old ways — as opposed to just relying on his friends as Morality Chains — shows that he's willing to put in the effort to try to be a better person. invokedWord of God says he'll gradually realize the true extent of the horrors he perpetuated some decades after the events of the SMP, and the Distant Epilogue shows him still alive in 2006 and having enough self-control to function in modern society, at least.
• Heroic Sacrifice: The humans and the vampires end up discussing a ceasefire where the remaining humans would be converted and then turned back human afterwards, so that everyone can go home with minimal casualties. However, since the three-book cure requires a human to throw Holy Water at the vampires wishing to become human again and the vampiric sire to die, Pearl offers to be the one to throw the holy water and thus the only human remaining permanently converted after the scheme, whereas Legs is willing to die as the sire, in part thanks to already being a Death Seeker.
• Hope Spot: After allowing Abolish to cure him and choosing true death, Owen gets to see Louis again waiting at the gates of Heaven… and Louis can only watch with a mix of disappointment and pity as Owen is Dragged Off to Hell.
• I Choose to Stay: Cleo and Pearl decide to settle down in Oakhurst after the ordeals they've undergone, trying to continue renovating and rebuilding the town and the castle and prevent any more massacres from occurring in the future.
• I Love You, Vampire Son: Inverted. As part of the humans and vampires' ceasefire and compromise for everyone to leave Oakhurst at the end of the episode, Pearl chooses to be the last of the townfolk to be converted to vampirism, and is allowed to choose her own sire. When Shelby asks who she trusts the most to complete this process, she chooses Cleo with zero hesitation.
• Implied Death Threat: An indirect one. While alone and discussing his willingness to kill, Pyro brings up how he hopes Shelby, his own fledgling, "doesn't try anything" because "it would be unfortunate" should she choose to defy him. It's implied that this all but cements Scott's belief that Pyro is too much of a liability to be left alive. And then Shelby kills him later in the episode.
• Implied Infernal Destination: When Owen chooses death over Turning Back Human, he comments that nothing holy would accept something like him into their everlasting kingdom, and he would be willing to endure eternal punishment if he was with Louis. Owen's ultimate fate is also all but outright stated to be getting Dragged Off to Hell, but the word "hell" is never spoken.
• Ironic Echo: Shortly before killing Pyro as revenge for murdering Avid, Shelby tells him that he's the real liability and weakness of the faction, echoing how Pyro had called Avid a liability after murdering him. Likewise, upon finding out about Pyro's death at Shelby's hands, Drift also immediately remarks how Pyro was a liability.
• Killed Off for Real: As with the previous episode, several characters meet their final fates in this episode:
  • Pyro is staked by Shelby as revenge for killing Avid.
  • Abolish uses "The Retribution" spell on Owen, who is given the choice of forced "redemption", i.e. Turning Back Human, or death. He chooses death in an attempt to reunite with Louis.
  • After being converted, Legs chooses to join the Cooperation Gambit between the humans and the vampires to minimize further casualties while allowing most of the population to leave Oakhurst, and is voluntarily staked by Cleo.
  • Martyn is accidentally killed during said Cooperation Gambit, thanks to Apo's Heal It with Blood plan to save his life from Episode 3 finally backfiring as his body is unable to handle having more than one vampiric sire.
  • Ren's Roaring Rampage of Revenge in Martyn's name, believing the vampires to be lying about the Cooperation Gambit after watching him die, is swiftly aborted when he joins Martyn in death for his refusal to cooperate.
• Last Request: As part of the Cooperation Gambit to leave Oakhurst, Legs effectively forces Scott into working towards a Heel–Face Turn by adding the condition that he wouldn't go around murdering people after leaving, as a promise to a dying man. Scott agrees to it and even makes safeguards to make sure he wouldn't slip back into evil; his and Shelby's Distant Epilogue shows that he's still keeping this promise.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: Owen ends his series believing himself triumphant, only for all of his plans to be undone. Legs escapes Owen's attempt at forcing him to be immortal by performing a Heroic Sacrifice, saving the rest of Oakhurst in the process. Louis, rather than being satisfied with his vengeance, is disappointed with Owen's fall to evil, and rather than spending eternity with his loved one, Owen only sees him for a few moments before being dragged to Hell.
• Medium Blending: Martyn and Ren's episodes depict the former's death as an animatic. The same goes for what happens to Owen after his death.
• Missed Him by That Much: Legs' newfound desperation from being converted and line of thinking all point towards a final showdown with Scott, but as luck would have it, he couldn't find him anywhere. From their POVs, Scott wasn't in the crypt where Legs had last seen him by the time he prepared the armor and stakes, then Legs just so happened to teleport to the castle moments after Scott stepped outside, before making a back entrance to continue his search instead of using the front door since Scott was standing on the bridge talking to Cleo and Pearl at that moment. Had Legs managed to confront Scott at any of those points, then the finale's Bittersweet Ending would likely taken a darker turn.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • Shelby's episode uses sad background music from after she kills Pyro, especially since Scott is the one to find her at the castle and ask who died… then the music stops when Scott barely even bats an eye at her confession, saying he's surprised she hadn't killed Pyro sooner while they were being attacked by mobs.
  • Martyn's unexpected death is tragic in the sense that no one predicted that it could have happened, with the audience of his episode left hanging on how it even happened or if this was a case of Truce Trickery, but is quickly followed by a Credits Gag.
  • Pearl's conversion is initially a somber moment as she didn't necessarily want to be turned if not for The Needs of the Many, and Cleo didn't necessarily want to turn her either if she hadn't trusted them with the task, but just after being converted, Pearl is immediately surprised and overjoyed by how well vampirism lets her see.
  • The moment Abolish is out of earshot from everyone else as he leaves Oakhurst, the first thing he says is to sigh with relief about not having to deal with "those lunatics" anymore and that he doesn't have to do any paperwork due to Turning Back Human before he left.
• Morality Chain: At the end of the episode, Scott takes note that the other vampires that he's grown to care for are the ones he trusts to hold him accountable towards a redemption arc, and likewise trusts Abolish to eliminate him should he return to his old ways again, as he'd promised Legs that he wouldn't.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Closer examination of the episode shows that since Shelby was at Stage 1 when they killed Pyro, they didn't even have the Absurdly Sharp Claws characteristic of higher-level vampires at the time, meaning they were practically beating him to death with their bare hands before delivering the killing blow by staking him. cc!Shelby reportedly didn't even notice this until well after the episode's release.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Drift observes that Avid and Owen were actually far more similar than they'd care to admit, and suggests that the real reason Owen hated Avid to the point of murder is because he was too insecure to face himself head-on, which Owen denies.
  Drift: You two are so, so similar, and it's just so funny that you'll never see it. I mean, I guess it makes sense that vampires can't see their own reflections.
• Posthumous Character: Avid, having been Killed Off for Real the previous episode, remains a major source of contention among the castle vampire faction, with Shelby taking it upon themself to avenge Avid by killing Pyro, and Scott's torch for him keeping him on track to learn empathy and choose peace.
• Redemption Earns Life: Implied for Scott. The series ends with all of the vampires who are hostile to humanity dead in one way or another, and given Abolish's goal of eliminating any "bad vampires" — most notably seen with his use of "The Retribution" spell to force Owen to choose between Turning Back Human and dying — it's very likely that Scott would have undergone the same fate had he not chosen to at least make peace, and it's his willingness to cooperate, even if for pragmatic and selfish reasons, that marks his first step in turning over a new leaf. Likewise, the fact that Abolish hasn't felt the need to act on Scott's request to eliminate him should he slip back into evil by the Distant Epilogue is a good indicator of Scott's progress in at least trying to be a better person.
• Redemption Rejection: When Abolish offers Owen the option of Turning Back Human and starting over by using "The Retribution" spell on him, he declines and chooses to die as a vampire instead.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: An attempted instance, at least. While already holding strong reservations about the Cooperation Gambit, after Martyn dies during the conversion process, Ren is horrified and concludes that the vampires' ceasefire was a lie, immediately declaring all of them "fanged demons" and attacking them in a misguided panic and fit of fury. Considering how badly he's outnumbered, he doesn't get very far before being Killed Off for Real by the vampires.
• Skewed Priorities: After checking on the ruins of Oakhurst, Ren finds that his tavern is still intact and asks if anyone is up for a cup of tea… while the humans are rushing to check on the other beacons to see if they have been desecrated.
  Pearl: Not right now, Renhardt!
• The Sleepless: At the start of the episode, Scott notes how it's unnecessary for vampires to sleep, though he'd still lie down to rest sometimes — not counting his 600-year Forced Sleep.
• Sole Survivor:
  • A temporary instance; if one were to consider vampires dead, then Pearl is briefly the last unconverted human standing.
  • In spite of his brief stint as a vampire at the end of the episode, Abolish is the only person in Oakhurst to end the series as a (nominal) human, as opposed to as a vampire or dead.
• So Proud of You: Subverted. While they're alone, Scott finally does admit that he's proud of Pyro after the latter "proved" himself to have some guts in the previous episode; unfortunately, since the method of "proving himself" in question was killing Avid, just because Scott is impressed by Pyro's audacity doesn't mean he approves of the murder in any way. Pyro lampshades that it doesn't sound like Scott's happy with what he did either.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: After recounting how they (and Owen) murdered Avid by luring him into a private, enclosed space, slashing his chest and armour open, and staking him in the heart, Shelby proceeds to do the exact same to them.
• Tempting Fate: While persuading the rest of Oakhurst to join the Cooperation Gambit, Pearl raises the point that "mostly everybody" will be able to leave unscathed, making it the best plan in accordance to The Needs of the Many. She could not have anticipated that Martyn's unexpected health complications would leave two more dead than expected and only one human walking out of Oakhurst a human.
• Truce Trickery: Subverted. Martyn and Ren's perspectives end with the former dying suddenly in the middle of the ceasefire and compromise made with the vampires, causing the latter to conclude that the vampires were lying about the ceasefire and attempting a swiftly-put-down Roaring Rampage of Revenge. In reality, the ceasefire is genuine and not even the vampires figured out how Martyn even died until after it happened.
• Turning Back Human: The two means of curing vampirism are finally put to the test in this episode:
  • Subverted when Abolish uses "The Retribution" on Owen and offers him the chance of becoming human again and joining him in the organization, but he declines and chooses death instead.
  • Played more successfully with the Trinity of Restoration, which forms the crux of the Cooperation Gambit for everyone to leave Oakhurst by temporarily turning the remaining humans into vampires and then back again. Or at least, that would have been the case had unforeseen complications not ensued, resulting in Martyn and Ren's deaths and Abolish being the only person who is successfully cured.
    The holy water burns through your veins…
    The corrupted blood boils away in divine light…
    You feel your humanity returning…
    You are cured! you are human once more.
    But the holy site has been permanently corrupted by your dark presence…
• Voluntary Vampire Victim: Zig-zagged.
  • After much miscommunication in the past episodes, Martyn allows himself to act as a temporary blood bank to help Apo recover from a fight. Likewise, Pearl lets M try her blood to satiate his curiosity at what it tastes like.
  • At the end of the episode, as part of the ceasefire and compromise between the vampires and the humans, all remaining townsfolk will be (in all but one case) temporarily converted before Turning Back Human so that everyone can leave Oakhurst. Unfortunately, out of the four remaining townsfolk, only Abolish (temporarily) and Pearl (permanently) are voluntarily converted; Martyn is willing to go through with the plan, but unforeseen health complications result in his Accidental Murder, whereas Ren refuses in a fit of vengefulness as a result and is Killed Off for Real without being converted at all.
• What Is This Feeling?: Early in the episode, Scott admits to not feeling particularly happy throughout his unlife. After centuries of hedonistic apathy, what brings about him feeling much of anything for once is negotiating the Cooperation Gambit for mostly everyone to leave Oakhurst and watching the remaining castle vampires thrive.
  Scott: You know, for the first time in… a long time… I'm feeling… hope? Is that what this is?
• What the Hell, Hero?: For a given definition of 'hero'. Abolish justifies his kill on Shelby in the previous episode because that's how he's used to dealing with vampires around him, even if she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time because she knew too much. Cleo calls him out on it.
• Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?: In-universe. Cleo is disgusted by Apo supposedly only being in it for herself and just as disgusted by why the townsfolk of Oakhurst were willing to take her back, even on an Enemy Mine basis.
• With Catlike Tread: During the Blood Moon, Drift and Shelby try to eavesdrop on Cleo and Pearl's conversion plans, but are visible throughout the whole ordeal. Drift even vocally calls for Scott… who is also eavesdropping while invisible and completely frustrated by their lack of subtlety.
• Would You Like to Hear How They Died?: While the two are alone in the castle, Shelby demands that Pyro explain how they killed Avid the previous episode. Pyro proceeds to calmly brag about how the murder in question was accomplished. Shelby doesn't take it well.
  Shelby: I need you to tell me something, Pyro.
  Pyro: Yeah?
  Shelby: How did you do it? How did you kill Avid? Explain it to me. You owe me at least that.
  Pyro: Unknowingly, at the time, it started right here [in the dining hall of the castle]. Owen and I planted the seeds of our deception, lying that we wouldn't harm a hair on his little head. But then, Scott tried to drag me away with you to the Obelisk, so I flew with you, only to break away and lose you, circling right back to his room, where we found him: a mess. Then, we lured him away, reassuring him that it was gonna be fine, until we made it to the crypt. For some reason, the poor fool fell in the Pit Trap — clumsy Avid. We covered up the roof, so nobody could slip away and no noise would escape. Then, I shredded his chest open. In a second, Owen and I were on him. The fabric tore and we drove our stakes in. Is that clear enough to you now, Shelby?
  Shelby: Oh, it's very clear. The only liability here, the only weakness, is you. (starts attacking Pyro)
• You Remind Me of X: While the two are alone, Scott tells Pyro that they remind him of a younger version of himself in his desperation for attention and success.