Warning: spoilers for The Vampire Diaries season 1, episode 22, “Founder’s Day”.
It is Katherine Pierce, not Elena Gilbert, who kisses Damon Salvatore at the end of The Vampire Diaries season 1. Exploiting their identical appearance, Katherine impersonates Elena, enters the Gilbert family home and attacks John Gilbert with a knife. The real Elena arrives only afterward, as the episode is about to end.
The conclusion of “Founder’s Day” combines that reveal with a separate chain of events: John’s plan to capture vampires during the town celebration. Keeping the two stories distinct makes the events of episode 22, and its unresolved questions, easier to follow.
Founders’ Day becomes John Gilbert’s trap
Episode 22, “Founder’s Day”, first aired in the United States on May 13, 2010. Mystic Falls is ready to celebrate the town’s anniversary, with the founding families, a parade and fireworks. John Gilbert, however, intends to turn the gathering into a way to identify and kill vampires.
His scheme relies on a device created by Jonathan Gilbert that emits a signal capable of incapacitating vampires. Bonnie had suggested she had rendered it harmless, but she had not disabled it. John plans to activate it during the fireworks, while officers identify those affected, subdue them with vervain and take them to a building where they are to be killed.
The operation unfolds alongside a separate threat from the vampires released from the tomb, who plan to attack the founding families during the celebration. Anna warns Damon about the attack. Sheriff Liz Forbes objects to John’s methods, but he restrains her and proceeds.
What happens when the device is activated
The signal affects Damon, Stefan and Anna. Damon and Anna end up among the captives; John stakes Anna and prepares to set the building’s basement on fire. Elena and Stefan look for Damon, and Bonnie uses magic to hold back the flames so Stefan can rescue his brother. That act does not erase Bonnie’s conflict with the Salvatores: she makes it clear she acted for Elena’s sake.
The trap also affects Richard Lockwood and his son Tyler, even though neither is identified as a vampire. Tyler loses control of the car carrying Matt and Caroline. Caroline is taken to hospital with serious injuries, and Richard dies in the building where the captives were held. The Lockwoods’ reactions raise a supernatural question that the episode itself does not fully answer.
Who does Damon actually kiss at the end?
Earlier, the real Elena had told Damon that she cared about him but wanted to protect their friendship and her relationship with Stefan. Later, Damon meets a young woman who looks like Elena outside the Gilbert house. He talks about how he has changed, thanks her for seeing something good in him and kisses her. Jenna opens the door, interrupts the moment and invites the young woman inside.
The twist is that the woman is Katherine Pierce. She looks like Elena, and Nina Dobrev plays both characters, but the scene is neither a body swap nor Elena deciding to kiss Damon. Katherine is exploiting their resemblance to deceive him. In a TV Guide interview published in July 2010, executive producer Julie Plec also confirmed that Damon had unknowingly kissed Katherine.
Why does Katherine attack John Gilbert in the kitchen?
Inside the house, John talks to the visitor, believing she is Elena. As he tries to justify his relationship with Isobel and his actions against vampires, Katherine picks up a knife, cuts off the finger bearing John’s protective ring and stabs him. John recognizes the woman and says Katherine’s name.
The attack confirms the impostor’s identity and turns Katherine’s arrival into an immediate threat. Removing the finger carrying the ring deprives John of its protection, but the episode ends without definitively confirming his death. It also does not fully explain why Katherine chose to return at that exact moment; laying out a detailed plan would require information from later episodes.
Shortly afterward, the real Elena arrives home and hears a noise from the kitchen. The episode cuts away before showing her reaction to what is happening. It would therefore be inaccurate to say that Elena witnesses the kiss or that the two women confront each other during this closing sequence.
Which storylines remain open for season 2?
Beyond Katherine’s return, the final episode leaves Jeremy in danger. After learning of Anna’s death, he drinks the vampire blood she gave him and takes pills. The episode does not confirm whether he has died or what the outcome will be. Caroline’s condition in hospital also remains serious, while the device’s effect on Tyler raises fresh questions about the Lockwoods.
The finale hinges on two different developments: John’s offensive is a planned operation against vampires at the celebration, whereas the kiss, the disguise and the kitchen attack reveal Katherine’s presence through a narrative surprise. Together they bring Mystic Falls’ public crisis to a close while moving the danger inside Elena’s home. That is the essential connection in “Founder’s Day”, without needing answers from later seasons to explain what this episode actually depicts.
