<P> Esther was murdered by Klaus in the early 11th century, because she used her powers, and those of some other fellow witches, to suppress his werewolf abilities and bind them to the moonstone through the use of a curse, and for making him the target of Mikael's hatred through her affair . Esther comes back to life in the 21st century, when she was awakened by Bonnie and Abby Bennett . Esther tries to kill all of her vampire children, whom she now believes to be abominations after seeing the violence that they embody . She obtains the help of her son Finn, who becomes willing to be sacrificed in order to end the pain that his siblings bring to the world . Esther also seeks the help of Bonnie Bennett and her mother Abby (descendants of the powerful ancient witch Ayanna) by channeling them and their bloodline, in order to gain more power to perform the spell that will kill her children . However, Esther's son Elijah finds out about the plan, and teams up with his siblings to force the Salvatore brothers to prevent his mother from killing the family by kidnapping Elena and threatening to kill her if the Salvatores do not stop Esther's endeavors . Damon ends up turning Bonnie's mother into a vampire, which ends her witch abilities and thus destroys the spell . Esther then flees from Mystic Falls to avoid her family . </P> <P> In the season three episode, "Heart of Darkness", Esther returns to Mystic Falls . She tells Rebekah that she was dying, and wanted to see her daughter one last time; however, she had ulterior motives for returning . She grabs Rebekah's hands, and performs a spell in order to switch bodies with Rebekah, using her as a cover for safety . Esther was desperate to stay safe from Klaus and her other Original Vampire children who want her dead after learning of her plans to kill them all and ending the vampire race . After she returns to her own body, she was killed by Alaric's normal self, but not before she successfully performs the ritual on his dark side, and her body was put back into its coffin by Klaus . </P> <P> Esther's remains are consecrated in New Orleans and as a result, she becomes a New Orleans witch, a witch that has or can use the collective power of all the dead New Orleans witches . She eventually becomes the leader of the Ancestors, the spirits of the dead witches who give their power to the living witches . </P> <P> She is portrayed by an American - Canadian actress Riley Voelkel . </P>

What happens to the originals in vampire diaries