Spoilers!!

Spoiler via TV Guide:

What’s coming up for the Originals on Vampire Diaries? — Thomas
NATALIE: Very soon we’ll meet Esther, the mother of the Original family, via 1,000-plus-year-old flashbacks. She’s as strong and as fierce as Klaus, but she’s more into protecting her family than packing them away in coffins.

Spoiler via E! Online:

Yessica: When will Stefan be back on The Vampire Diaries?
I’m hearing halfway through the season. That too soon? Too late? Which way y’all shipping now? In other news, make sure you caught our story that Nina Dobrev is OK after suffering what she called a “concussion” on the set.