The Vampire Diaries type TV Show network The CW

We’ve heard a lot about Stefan’s past as a ruthless ripper, but this Thursday’s installment of The Vampire Diaries plunges neck-first into his bloodiest years ever — the roaring ’20s! Last week’s violence left Elena confused and completely heartbroken, but this week’s episode, The End of the Affair, should clear a few things up for viewers and our favorite damsel in distress.

EW got to screen the time-jumping episode with exec producer Julie Plec, who shed some light on tonight’s pivotal installment and gave us the scoop on things to come! SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP!

If Stefan is as clueless as we are as to why Klaus has taken such an interest in him, then tonight will help ease his troubled mind. “One of the big questions we left last year with was, ‘Why did Klaus take such an interest in Stefan specifically, of all people?'” Plec said. Stefan learns tonight that some of the answers to that question lie in Klaus’ past. “What we really wanted to do was show the roots of Klaus’ character as it relates to his family, the people that he has known for 1,000 years, that we know he’s daggered one by one and carted around in coffins. This big, bad evil hybrid, like everybody else on our show, is in his own way trying to fill a hole that’s been left inside of him as a result of loss of family, or desire for family.”

Well, some of that family will soon be revealed — get ready to meet another Original! Plec said there will be more to come, but not nearly as many as she would have originally liked. “To be perfectly frank, I think that that was our intention until we did the realistic math and realized we’ve said there’s seven children. That’s a lot of new people to bring into the story… the mother is going to be someone that we meet in the past, as will other siblings. We have already said that we will see Elijah again.”

So we’ll definitely be meeting some loved ones from Klaus’ past, but we also get a taste of Stefan’s past tonight via the bloodthirsty Rebekah (Claire Holt). She’s sexy, reckless, blonde — and wicked fun! It’s nice to know that Stefan doesn’t only date Petrova Doppelgängers. How will Rebekah affect our favorite love triangle? Plec was mum on details on Damon, but did say the steamy drama will occur when Stefan finally comes back home. “First we have to get him back to Mystic Falls,” she teased. “Then there’s going to be all kinds of crazy s— that hits the fan before anybody even has a minute to think about how these revelations impact their relationships.”

As for Tyler and Caroline’s relationship, expect to see some real growth tonight from both of them. Candice Accola gives one of her finest performances in tonight’s episode, as she’s tortured by her big bad vampire-hating daddy (Jack Coleman). Some of her scenes literally had me twitching! But don’t worry, her pain is going to lead to some major payoff. “I think the beauty of Caroline is she’s a ‘pull myself up by my bootstraps’ kind of girl,” Plec said. “The irony of that is she learned that, she thought, from her dad. All her strength and all her confidence came from her relationship with her father. Now we’ve seen her realize that, when the chips fell when they did, her mom was there. The surprising person who she thought never got her was there to get her now. Caroline gets a few good moments next episode where we get to see just exactly how she’s going to channel the experience into action.”

But where will that leave things with Tyler? “We’ll get to live in that for a little while, and then of course as often happens in our relationships, something will go terribly wrong.”

That’s all for now! What are you hoping to see in tonight’s Roaring ’20s spectacular?

Vampire Diaries airs tonight at 8 p.m. E.T.

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