3. RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEMISE OF HIS LOVERS
While one could argue that Elijah Mikaelson cannot be held responsible for his actions as he wasn’t himself during the demise of Hayley and the vampirism took over when he killed Tatia. But due to being a man of honor and respect, he has to take the responsibility of his actions. Both Klaus and Elijah fell in love with Tatia, but she ultimately chose Elijah. When Elijah became a vampire, he didn’t fully understand his vampire nature, and ended up draining Tatia.
When Hayley needed his help and called his name, he stood here because he didn’t recognize her. But he himself should be blamed as he was the one who chose to have his memories erased and freed himself of the promise of ‘Always and Forever’. When he regained his memories, he was overwhelmed with guilt because he knew he could have acted and prevented the demise of his one true love.
2. FAMILY OVER MARCEL & DAVINA
In order to take down Lucien, Freya suggests that she uses Davina as a conduit to steal powers from the Ancestors, but it will Davina. Elijah would refuse the idea at first, but would eventually go along with the plan, he snapped Marcel’s neck to prevent him from saving Davina.
Elijah Mikaelson became so obsessed with the prophecy and the thought of protecting his family at all costs, he didn’t realize that his actions would ultimately make the prophecy come true. While Klaus had the situation under control, he could have convinced Marcel to not go against them. But Elijah seeing Marcel as a threat, ripped out his heart in an instant. Marcel considered the Mikaelsons as their family, forgave all the mistakes and wrongs they did to him. He was so heartbroken when he expresses his disappointment in Season 4 when he says that the Mikaelsons were his family too, and Elijah ripped out his heart and threw him off the bridge.
1. A MILLENNIUM OF FAILURE
As Finn Mikaelson once said that Elijah coveted the duties of the eldest brother in which he had nearly a millennium to fix the problems of the family and instead he produced nine centuries of failure. He has been loyal to Klaus far more than any other sibling and always stood by his side. And by doing so, he allowed Klaus to do all sort of wrong things such as daggering Finn and Kol who are also part of the family. He didn’t restrain Klaus who slaughtered numerous innocents and caused only chaos. He kept believing in his redemption, while others paid price. Elijah always believed his actions were out of the best intentions for his family, like when he ruined Aurora, Lucien, and Tristan by compelling them to run for a century from Mikael, all to protect him and his siblings from Mikael.