Last week on The Vampire Diaries, we finally met the elusive huntress, Rayna Cruz (played by Leslie-Anne Huff), in present day, but we still have so many questions! Here are a few that we’re hoping will be answered in The Vampire Diaries, season 7, episode 13, “This Woman’s Work.”
1) What is with the phoenix symbolism?
We know that the phoenix sword was created by shamans for Rayna Cruz so she could trap vampire souls within the phoenix stone, but why? If her goal is to make them live through hell for eternity, that makes sense, but it appears that the phoenix stone is more complex than we once thought.
If we are to believe Damon’s old war buddy Henry when he said that the stone is meant to “free you to be reborn as your true self” then is it possible that Rayna has a more altruistic motive? What Damon and Stefan are going through doesn’t seem very freeing so probably not, but the question behind her intentions with the stone is intriguing.
The phoenix symbolism doesn’t stop with the stone. Last week we saw that Rayna herself doesn’t stray too far from the myth when she was reborn out of fire. Is this the reason why she has been able to live for so long?
2) Who receives her mark?
We know that the phoenix sword can leave a mark and once you receive it, Rayna will never stop hunting you. We also know that the mark isn’t always visible. Julian’s mark disappeared when he was resurrected and Stefan mentioned in a flash forward that his mark had recently reappeared. The question is, does everybody receive the mark or does she mark selectively? The main reason for asking this question is that we don’t yet know if Damon has or has ever had a mark, but we know that he has been stabbed with the phoenix sword.
3) Why would she recruit Matt?
From the most recent flash forward we know that Matt Donovan has teamed up with Rayna and is currently helping her to hunt Stefan. This is not necessarily surprising from the perspective of Matt’s choice as he has been struggling with the vampire issue for quite some time now and it has been pretty obvious that he would end up turning against them, but what would Rayna need with Matt of all people? The only reason would be to get insider information since Matt is close to Stefan, but that would only be effective for a short time so this is a mystery.
4) How close is she to hunters like Jeremy
While they seem to be similar in terms of skills from what we know so far, the main differentiator between Rayna and the hunters we have known in the past is her selectiveness. When Jeremy became a hunter, he was more than ready to stake his own sister yet Rayna somehow left both Caroline and Damon unharmed in order to get to Stefan specifically. This comes back to the fact that she may be hunting for some different reason other than just to rid the world of vampires.
5) Why does she send a calling card?
Nora received a card with a red X, similar to the scar the phoenix sword leaves. She recognized the symbol and took it to mean that Rayna was coming. I’m no hunter but I feel like it would be advantageous for your prey to not know you’re coming! Is she that good that she’s able to warn her victims and still come out victorious? Or is there some other meaning behind her warning?
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