Episode 7 Season 8 of "Vampire Diaries" was about a murderous Christmas holiday dinner and about the point where Stefan decided he will return to his old self: a ripper. Meanwhile, Ric's little girls' memories of Seline were wiped out.
The "Vampire Diaries'" "The next time I hurt somebody, it could be you" episode opened with an incident in 1917 in Monterey, where Ripper Stefan killed almost everybody. Back to the present day, Stefan and Caroline were about to enjoy the holiday when Alaric appeared with his little girls. They were followed by Damon and Sybil.
Of course, Matt and Ric thought they have murdered Damon, but none of them knew about Damon's "deal with the devil." Damon asked Stefan went to have private conversation where the latter was stabbed to sleep. Caroline, while preparing drinks for everybody, added eggnog for Sybil, to confess where she has been staying.
While asleep (at least, because Stefan saw Cade in another realm), Stefan met Cade who brought him back to 1917 in Monterey to remind him of his massacre during Christmas. Stefan was not convinced that he was capable of taking out so many innocent lives, until she saw Seline, whom he followed.
Stefan saw himself writing on a wall inside a cabin and Seline went inside the Ripper Stefan's head. He begged for her to kill him. Well, on this winter finale episode of "Vampire Diaries," we saw a remorseful Ripper Stefan and Seline showed us that Stefan became a ripper only to survive.
Cade convinced Stefan he is the former's perfect servant and he brought him back to Mystic Falls High School to remind Stefan of a good chapter of his life: Elena. Back to the present time, Peter and Matt appeared with gifts and a game. Damon egged on Peter on his reason for staying away for 20 years from his family. Of course he won.
Sybil was trying to pry on Peter's head, but before she can get what she wanted, she was snatched by Damon. While they were strolling, Damon stopped to give Sybil a gift: Elena's necklace. But as soon it was worn, her heart was ripped out by Damon.
Cade blackmailed Stefan into knowing who would come to "pearly gates by an inch" and to turn them into who would miss the pearly gates by a mile. Cade preferred to feed on those people. If Stefan would refuse, Cade would wait until the little girls would reach the right age.
So for winter finale, Stefan decided he would turn again into a ripper to accomplish his mission. He woke up to see Caroline. They kissed deliberately under a mistletoe. He hit on the road and Damon caught up on him in a car. "Vampire Diaries" will return for Episode 8 on January 13, 2017.