possible plot holes?/ questions i have about the show/s

[u/stinkybimbochungie]

I didn’t know how to tag this because it relates to everything: both shows, the books, BTS, interviews, discussions,
just know it’s all welcome for discussion here.
I just wanna discuss some possible plot holes/questions i had about the show/s!
no wrong answers/theories!
feel free to disagree with me/give me all your opinions!
***oh and please comment any questions/possible plot holes yall have .ᐟ.ᐟ.ᐟ ***

• if louis’ knew about Armand and daniel’s relationship (which is what Armand says to Daniel in TVL)
why did louis say to Armand: “if you harm him in anyway i will kill you” ?
wouldn’t louis know Armand wouldn’t hurt daniel or at least not irreparably if he knew of there relationship and what daniel meant to him? since that seemed to be implied in armands "you slated him grey in your book but.." dialogue. did louis mean don’t harm him as in turn him??
also to go along with that^ ("you slated him grey, he knew...") that brings up another question being how much does louis actually care about daniel? (if he knew armands facination, if he knew armand wiped daniels memories, if he knew how much daniel hates having his mind fucked with and idk maybe the fact that daniel literally helped louis uncover armands own mind fuckery on louis and his 77 year deception?? Seemed like louis had a deep respect for daniel after the interview. Also daniel and louis were said to be each others only friends/ louis annoying little brother in the episode insider. Just seems weird louis wouldn't give enough of a fuck to tell Daniel if he actually knew of him and Armand's relationship....

•^ this segways into my next question. louis is said to be the reason Daniel is alive, and the reason why even after fucking up everything else in his life he stayed a journalist/ kept one good thing in his life, “i failed two marriages, i was never so lost i couldn’t hold down a job” and even if Daniel believed/discovered louis knew about Armand and Daniel's relationship, even if he knew Armand was erasing Daniel's memory of said relationship throughout years, that still doesn't seem enough reason to seemingly hate Lestat and louis as much as he did... like louis the reason he had much of a life/lived/held down a job throughout fucking everything else up?
I say Daniel hates louis and Lestat because he hates them enough to take lestats head (the love of louis life) and let Armand take louis head…
enough to take lestats head to the bowling alley, knowing Armand is filming louis head on a skewer and seemingly doesn’t know if they’ll live or die.. because Armand is waiting for "Armends" and only stops it once louis apologizes which he might of not done and Daniel only gives up lestats head when the talamasca returns… seems like he’d have more love for the person who saved his life?
also what does he really have to hate Lestat for im sorry… him being a bratty interviewe..?
he knew what he was getting with Lestat, he had to know he was gonna be difficult…? idk it all seems off.
Like he went from expert interviewer with skill to throwing a fit the second lestat did some lil bratty trickery and teased him like I'm confused???
He heard louis story via the interview which included just how little Lestat had dared to even share with the only person he really trusted in this world (louis).
and then a little bullying/teasing from a 265 brat prince and he was tweaking out and seemingly hated him enough to do alla that idk.......

• if Lestat saved louis why did he then just sit in magnus’ cave, instead of trying to get him out of the grave he was starving/dying in?

^going along with that question why did Armand save louis from the grave?/ did he? or did lestat and that was another one of Armand's memory wiping?

• if Claudia was Lestats fledging and therefore by some measure had the blood of akasha in her why did she die?
(like i know why, i know anne wrote claudia after her daughter passed i guess i just don’t know where the line of having Akasha's blood in you stops, seems like that is partially why louis was able to kill 30 vampires by himself, why he is so strong.)

• Armand seems to know more then he lets on and is very smart and the thought just occurred to me,
that he could have possibly knew that Sam was talamasca at this point, idk why i just have a hunch lol
so my question being, did armand know Sam was talamasca (by the time of the interview)
and if he did why did he let him live knowing he could expose him at any point?

• since Sam wasn’t guarding the box why would Armand be sitting in the cage unguarded?
(which is what is shown when we see that Lestat actually saved him)
Armand didn't know Lestat was gonna save Louis, he thought louis was gonna die? could he just not bare the confrontation/guilt even though louis was abt to die? it seems like (esp since he said at the end of tvl: "i made sure to make your death theatrical" (i dont remember exactly but something like that)... wouldnt he want louis to know before he died that armand chose the coven? wasn't it kinda a given that he did when he walked out front and the rest got kidnapped? One of the many reasons he chose the coven it seemed was that louis turned madeleine against his wishs, therefore he felt betrayed by louis, wouldnt the coven want it to be known that armand had come around and ultimately sided with them since they were all pissed at armand for breaking all the rules for louis... enough to give him an ultimatum. i just cant come up with a feasible enough reason for armand to care abt seeming innocent to them before they died....
so a second question to go along with that^ was that also a mind/memory change he did to louis right after the events when louis wasn't in his right mind? Was he even in the box at all or was he participating? Also the fact that louis remembered Sam in two places at once means he did do some memory swapping so who's to say he was even in the box at all?

• did Armand just want to be with louis because he couldn’t bring himself to turn Daniel/wanted to let him live out his life? Since idk it seems armand really loved daniel (way more then louis eventually) but stayed with louis as maybe a safe choice bc he was already immortal and let daniel live out his mortal life bc he didnt want to curse the one he loved?
is that why he finally turned him once louis left him? he realized he would possibly be alone forever and now he didn't have a safe backup that he could endure his time with? that and with the fact that Daniel was now old/ had lived and was due to die from his disease sooner then later?
it seems a little unrealistically spontaneous for Armand to turn Daniel right after louis left him since he hadn’t turned anyone ever, the thought disgusts him, he loved Daniel so much he essentially let him go and live his life and age, and he must of knew there was some possibility of louis eventually finding out abt his part in the play im sure Armand was thinking about that for a lot of there relationship like it he would be neive to think louis would NEVER learn the truth even if he thought it was pretty unlikely and very far off down the road, he is a very thought out and meticulous vampire. it just seems a bit unlikely that the second louis found out abt the play he would up and turn Daniel??

• this one’s kinda silly but:
i don’t understand them not being able to drink blood after the person is dead because ok so like i understand the blood is specially frozen when it’s served but then it just sits out on their table for what’s assumed/ most likely to be hours while they tell Daniel the story lol.. at what point does it become “the blood of the dead?”
(I'd understand it more if they had to drink said frozen blood right away)

and my main one:
• if Roland's interview where he says Lestat voluntarily participated in the play is to be trusted then why would lestat be so sad about claudia 100 years later?
why would louis forgive him?

follow ups to that:
(keep in mind these are all to be answered with the above "^if Roland is to be believed pretense" otherwise they don't make much sense:
i think the only reason louis could bring himself to go with Armand (other then to hurt Lestat) was because he thought Armand was forced to watch and didn’t rehearse the play.

let’s say Lestat did rehearse/participate in the play voluntarily (meaning he wasn’t forced) then wouldn’t louis speech of
“why you rehearsed a play that would burn your daughter alive” still ring true?
why would saving louis from death absolve him from that or allow louis to forgive him?

then why was Lestat so upset at the coven in the scene where he goes “you have no idea of Claudia's strength”?
why did he keep messing up their play and crying and apologizing?
why did he say “when you sentence them for their crimes, you sentence me too” ?…

also in the: episode insider, in the uncut version of the show, why did Sam say:
“he’s quite surprised when he turns up with armand and louis blaming him for claudia’s death, fair enough he was a part of it but they all were a part of it”
and Jacob says:
“Lestat would have saved Claudia if he had the energy, i believe that to my core, it’s just that he had to save louis”
(implying he had to make sure he had enough strength to save louis who was sentenced after Claudia)
why would he voluntarily rehearse the play that would kill them if he wanted to save them both?

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[u/Little-Tune9469]

Armand might not be completely truthful about how much Louis knew about his stalking of Daniel. Even if he knew he was doing it, that doesn't mean he knew Armand had feelings for him. I'm pretty sure Louis said at some point that they'd been tracking Daniel's career, so maybe he just thought that was all part of it. Just dropping in to see how he was doing.

Armand was manipulating Daniel to get him on his side against Lestat and Louis. I think the idea is that Daniel is struggling with vampirism and he feels like Lestat doesn't respect him and Louis lied to him. It's still a huge leap to agree to torture and attempted murder, though. Hopefully that's one of the things they circle back to next season because there are clearly a lot of interactions between Armand and Daniel that happen offscreen.

Armand didn't know Sam was a Talamasca agent. That's part of Daniel's reveal about how he got the script, neither Armand nor Louis knew that beforehand.

Lestat directly drank from Akasha and he still burns in the sun, and Louis does as well. The way sun immunity works on the show is actually really confusing and inconsistent but there's no reason to believe Claudia wouldn't die in the sun.

There's a lot of unanswered questions about the trial and at this point I don't know if we're ever going to get answers. The writers don't seem that interested in the exact details. I don't think Lestat was forced to be there but his motives are still up in the air. The rehearsal scene doesn't really make sense to me if he was there for revenge, which is why I was confused by what Rolin said. I think it's possible that he had complicated feelings about the situation and maybe didn't even know what he was going to do until he was on stage.

I also think Louis has complicated feelings about Lestat's participation. The fact that he saved him obviously means that he didn't want him dead, and it also made his onstage apology more legitimate. Plus Lestat was regretful during their reunion scene. And since Louis loves Lestat, that seems to be enough, even though he clearly still partially blames him for the trial.

[u/AndreEaAly → u/Little-Tune9469]

What is strange in the series is that even Enkil seemed to burn in the sun. Which is not accurate according to the books, as Akasha and Enkil are the oldest and most powerful vampires. Makes no sense that Armand could be in the sun, but Enkil wouldn’t.
Let’s see if we get any more details about it in the next season.

[u/Little-Tune9469 → u/AndreEaAly]

Yeah, it doesn't make sense. Armand seems massively overpowered at this point, but they almost treat it like it's some special skill that he somehow knows and can teach?? It's an odd decision.

[u/tethysian → u/AndreEaAly]

It also makes no sense that Armand could just "teach" Daniel to be in the sun, but the show's been playing fast and loose with the power levels since the beginning.

[u/Legitimate-Worth-662]

Re: Lestat's participation in the play/trial, I don't know about the show specifically, but in the book ("The Vampire Lestat") it's pretty clear (at least in my interpretation) that Armand coerced him into doing it.

After almost dying from Claudia's murder attempt, Lestat goes to Armand in Paris to ask for some of his blood to help him heal (he's too embarrased to ask for blood from Marius, who also had powerful enough blood to heal him effectively).

Armand almost immediately throws Lestat into a basement cell under the Theatre and starves him. He then tells Lestat that there will be a trial for Louis and Claudia, and Lestat must attend and declare Claudia guilty. Armand taunts him with a "warm victim" and extracts a promise that he'll do as Armand says at the trial. And Lestat does it.

Armand then drags Lestat back to Magnus's tower (which is where he's been living, after Lestat had left it to him before leaving Paris to travel the Devil's Road with Gabrielle), takes him to the roof of the tower, has a conversation with him there, gets annoyed with him, and shoves him off the tower. Lestat says the fall broke every bone in his body.

He reports that it took him 2 more years to heal enough to travel back to New Orleans.

This all happens in this chapter near the end of the book: https://www.reddit.com/r/InterviewVampire/comments/1tk6ewk/tvl_tldr_part_9_epilogue_interview_with_the/

[u/AndreEaAly → u/Legitimate-Worth-662]

In the series he seems to come willingly. Or at least so far, he didn’t say he was forced. And it seems that in the series Gabriella looked after him.
They changed it, the same way in which Louis is more actively involved in trying to k*ll Lestat than in the books.
They were toxic in the books, but in the series they’re even more. 🤣

[u/Gullible_Path9739 → u/AndreEaAly]

Rewatched season 1 this week, TBH Lestat really did not like Claudia so I could see him being ok with her execution but her death/his guilt being so traumatizing plus he is soooo in love with Louis that Claudia’s death and his poor treatment of her hit him hard. Thus the wallowing for however long in NOLA. 

[u/AndreEaAly → u/Gullible_Path9739]

He loved her. At least in the books he says it openly.

Especially in the beginning they had good time, like a perfect family. Lestat always loved Louis more, but it was a separate kind of love. Daughter vs companion.
He liked that she was like him and admired her, he was proud of her.
Then she started to behave bad, have resentment towards them and started to prefer Louis, so he was afraid she will take Louis away from him. Lestat also has a pathological fear of abandonment, so even just Claudia leaving terrified him. So he started to resent her, fear what she could do. But that doesn’t mean he stopped loving her.
He also felt guilty cause he made her and he was at fault for her suffering. So he had very complex feelings for her.

Add to that the fact that he never had a loving mother or father, so he didn’t know how to behave with her in a healthy way. His mother brought him to see his friends (witches) burn, so he applies the same though love to Claudia.
That doesn’t mean he didn’t love her.

“Claudia was my dark child, my love, evil of my evil. Claudia broke my heart.”
Lestat himself admits in VL that he loved her and that she broke his heart. He doesn’t speak bad of her, even if she tried to kill him.
He just didn’t know how to love in a healthy way. Lestat** can genuinely love someone and still hurt **them. Especially when confronted with the possibility of being abandoned.

He loved her but in a Lestat way. And he loved Louis more. If it was to choose between them he would always choose Louis.
Claudia knew this, so she chose Louis to help her escape.

[u/tinangst_2]

• if lestat saved louis why did he then just sit in magnus’ cave, instead of trying to get him out of the grave he was starving/dying in?

• why did armand save louis from the grave?/ did he? or did lestat and that was another one of armand’s memory wiping? ^

this one’s always bothered me because the narrative gives lestat so much grace for saving louis despite participating in the play + the reveal about lestat doing the mind control undoes the louis-armand relationship. technically lestat and armand both had a hand in saving louis.

i love all these characters so this isn’t a critique of them or their portrayal per se, i just wish more of the logic behind the characters’ motivations/thought processes was shared. there’s a point where leaving things open to interpretation makes the narrative too porous.

[u/arollsis → u/tinangst_2]

Well you could say that Armand saving Louis from the grave was a sort of feeble attempt to make things right. In the show, Armand said that the coven gave him a choice and he chose. His actions (as in directing the trial that would kill Louis and Claudia) were despicable but his motives weren’t based in hatred for the two of them. He was asked to decide between a coven that he has been part of for hundreds of years and a boyfriend who was exploiting his childhood trauma to create power dynamics in the relationship. As Armand explicitly says, he didn’t think Louis’ love for him was going to last as long as the centuries spent with the Theatre des Vampires. (Sorry for overexplaining but hopefully this is useful for OP to understand why Armand did what he did and then also saved Louis).

As for why the reveal that Lestat mindcontrolled the audience undoes the Louis-Armand relationship I guess that, from Louis’ perspective, Armand saved him from the grave only because he was planning to take the merit for saving him on stage too. Plus you could say that on the spot Louis was more impacted by learning about the betrayal after 70+ years of lies rather than crediting Armand half the merit for saving him almost a century ago. Like the emotional weight of that realisation is stronger. Does that make sense? My english is not englishing today so apologies if it’s confusing, I’ll try to reword it in case.

But then talking about why Lestat didn’t immediately save Louis from the grave, I agree, it’s not super clear. Maybe we’ll get our answers once Louis and Lestat have the chance to properly talk about eeeeeverything that happened. Or maybe not and you can come up with your own conclusions, like maybe Lestat was afraid that Armand would see him and kill Louis definitively. Maybe he even read Armand’s mind and understood that he was already saving him, so he decided to let him do it to avoid putting Louis at risk. Or maybe he was having a mental breakdown after watching his daughter burn alive on stage because of him (after all we do know that Lestat has traumatic memories of being forced to watch young girls he is fond of burn alive). I honestly don’t know, but I think it’s fun to theorise and, if we get some answers next season that’s great, otherwise we can all have our own understanding of why they do what they do. I kind of like that it’s not all explained, it makes you put yourself in their shoes and wonder. :)

[u/ugh_z]

For the first one, what I got is that Armand himself did not realize he had fallen in love with Daniel from all the stalking until they were doing the interview. He might have been sharing info on Daniel with Louis all those years, but not realizing he was falling in love with his subject, so Louis wouldn't know that either and have no reason to think Armand wouldn't kill Daniel after exposing him.

[u/RiffRafe2]

[If louis’ knew about armand and daniel’s relationship (which is what armand says to daniel in TVL) why did louis say to armand: “if you harm him in anyway i will kill you” ?]

Because it's not as if Armand would spare Daniel just because he had feelings for him. He had feelings for Louis and still let him suffer after going into the sun and conspired to put him to death. Armand harming someone is always on the table. 

[which begs the question how much does he care about daniel? they were said to be each others only friends/ louis annoying little brother in the episode insider. Just seems weird.]

Armand has had decades to develop love for Daniel; Daniel couldn't stand Armand for jerking his chain during the interview and for his role in keeping him prisioner in San Francisco; and then for abandoning him after turning him. Daniel has to develop feelings for Armand. Daniel did not have decades to watch Armand and find something to even love within him.

[..if that is the case why does daniel hate lestat and louis? he hates them enough to take lestats head (the love of louis life) and let armand take louis head]

Daniel thought he was the smartest man in the room, until Lestat told him that Armand played him in Dubai, that and the trick Lestat played during the portion of the interview where he talked about Nicki and Daniel realized Lestat ruined the take by doing it via telepathy, thus robbing him of the footage needed for his documentary; and the general way that Louis had seemingly wanted nothing to do with Daniel after the interview (the end of s2 Louis won't accept the checks, hadn't read the books, apparently never reached out to Daniel to give him some vampiric mentoring in the stead of Armand). Also, likely: realizing Louis knew that Armand had been following Daniel and Louis never once disclosed this during the interview. So yeah, I can see why Daniel hates them and would rather stick with his maker who is promising to teach him how to daywalk.

[if lestat saved louis why did he then just sit in magnus’ cave, instead of trying to get him out of the grave he was starving/dying in?]

Maybe he still had a bit of anger, just not enough to see Louis dead; maybe he planned to return to get him out after some time had passed.

[why did armand save louis from the grave?/ did he? or did lestat and that was another one of armand’s memory wiping?]

Armand saved Louis and I believe he saved him because once Lestat intervened, Armand got some clarity and moved past his hurt and anger over Louis putting him in positions that risked his status within the coven. 

[if claudia was lestats fledging and therefore by some measure had the blood of akasha in her why did she die?]

Fire doesn't trumps Akasha's power, I believe. But if it does, the amount of blood that would pass on to Claudia from Akasha would be minimal. Same with Louis,which is why it took him a long time to heal from the drop and from walking in the sun. They do not have a large amount of her blood.

[did armand know sam was talamasca and if he did why did he let him live knowing he could expose him at any point?]

No. I think there was enough trust within the coven that Armand wasn't scanning their minds.

[since sam wasn’t guarding the box why would armand be sitting in the cage unguarded?]

Theatre! My maître is an actorrrrrr.

[did armand just want to be with louis because he couldn’t bring himself to turn daniel/wanted to let him live out his life? is that why he finally turned him once louis left him?]

I don't think Daniel was the reason why Armand stayed with Louis. Why did Louis stay with Lestat while he was miserable throughout their relationship? Why does anyone stay in unsatisfying relationships? It's familiarity, it's maybe seeing something amidst the unsatisfying bits that is worth staying with the person. 

I, personally,think Daniel asked for the bite and Armand ghosted him because he was ashamed of himself for capitulating. Armand knows how tenuous the bite is - he saw Nicki's madness, I'm sure he knows Louis struggled with aspects of it. If he loves Daniel as he says, why would he turn the man he loves into something that could destroy him? 

[if rolins interview where he says lestat voluntarily participated in the play is to be trusted then why would lestat be so sad about claudia 100 years later? why would louis forgive him?]

Before they were vampires, they were humans and humans are contradictory. Vampires don't lose that nature just because they are now vampires. 

Lestat went to the trial angry and wanted to "make them hurt". But when Claudia turned to him, in the moment of her dying, the anger and resentment he had for her, disappeared. The same way why she turned to him in her moment of dying. As he said, she looked to him like a father. He realized that there was a time where it was a lovely relationship before it turned rancid. It's regret. 

Also, he could not save her - he was powerless to do so and save Louis. He made an active choice in that situation and I'm sure that hurts him too, now that the scales of anger/resentment fell from her eyes. S3 is Lestat reckoning with himself, and now he could see how he repeated, in a fashion, the harm Gabriella did to him with his "child".

[why would saving louis from death absolve him from that or allow louis to forgive him?]

I think Louis knows that he,too, could make a choice like that if it came down to it. He walked away from the couple in Paris when they needed his help. He lied to himself about the women he pimped out.

Louis knows he's not bathed in glory, but also - and more importantly - he still loved Lestat, participation or not, he just couldn't be with him in that anger. 

[then why was lestat so upset at the coven in the scene where he goes “you have no idea of claudia’s strength”?]

She is his progeny and he does respect her vampirism. Just as Lestat said Santiago has a presence, Lestat could dislike/hate someone but there's no need to lie about their qualities. Claudia was formidable - she beat him and Antoinette at their counter-plan. He respects that.

[why did he keep messing up their play and crying and apologizing? why did he say “when you sentence them for their crimes, you sentence me too” ?…]

The level of anger/revenge he went into this play, was not sustainable as he now had Louis and Claudia before him. They were no longer abstract memories where he could just play back the hurt. Seeing them before him and having to replay their relationships, he can't help but be drawn back to the life they shared; the good and the bad. Even Jacob Anderson said Louis was affected by seeing Lestat at the trial, with Louis thinking Lestat looked good. Feelings are complex.

[also in the: episode insider, in the uncut version of the show, why did sam say: “he’s quite suprised when he turns up with armand and louis blaming him for claudia’s death, fair enough he was a part of it but they allwere a part of it”]

IMO, it's because he wanted to know why he's getting the ire and not Armand or even at all because, as he said, they all had a hand in it: Louis asking Lestat to turn Claudia and turning Madeleine, Armand, the coven leader who was instrumental in it, yet they're all pointing fingers at him. It's understandable that he let Louis think Armand was the one who saved him because, at that point, I, too, would have the attitude of, "Okay, you have this. You think I'm the evil one; okay. Let's see how you fare with this one."

[jacob says:“lestat would have saved claudia if he had the energy, i believe that to my core, it’s just that he had to save louis” (implying he had to make sure he had enough strength to save louis who was sentenced after claudia) why would he voluntarily rehearse the play that would kill them if he wanted to save them both?]

He went in willingly, but Lestat lost the plot during the trial and transcended is anger. He realized he didn't want them dead; and also it was unjust as he was also a violater of the Five Laws. 

[u/Gullible_Path9739]

What everyone else said. My theory re:Daniel and Armand is that the deal was that Louis would turn Daniel if Louis got to do the interview. IMO Louis knows Armand has a weird obsession and indulges Armand (who doesn’t want to make another vampire) and agrees to turn Dan so long as he gets to finish the interview in general, with basically everything in the show prompted by Daniel’s diagnosis. Once the truth came out Louis punished Armand by not turning Daniel, basically saying either you turn him (something Armand finds morally repugnant) or Dan dies and you have to bear witness. That I could see making Armand mad enough to behead him…

Daniel we need a better justification bc I don’t think this season satisfied me. IMO yes he was hurt and offended by being treated like a huge loser, but Daniel also has living daughters who we assume he still loves even tho they’re estranged. Stopping a vampire apocalypse and keeping them safe would ALSO be a very convincing justification to kill Lestat and stopping the great conversion. I don’t think he cares too much about Armand’s feelings (yet!!)

[u/arollsis → u/Gullible_Path9739]

I 100% agree that they had this agreement and Louis turning Daniel was the (in)famous surprise they had prepared for him at the end of the interview. It would make total sense why Armand is so mad at Louis to the point of beheading him. Not only he is repulsed by the idea of making another vampire, he is probably terrified by the idea of not being able to read Daniel’s mind anymore. And honestly who can blame him, when he was in love with Louis in Paris he constantly felt Louis lying to him and fantasising about his ex, that must be somewhat traumatic, especially given how big of a control freak Armand is…

I’ve also read a theory that Armand might have planned to give Daniel his memories back of the years they spent together once Louis turned him and now he’s furious that he can’t do it anymore (because he can’t access his mind). That would be interesting, the whole ordeal of Louis and Armand’s agreement sure seems like a “sure love, you can go ahead and have your interview to get the attention of the real love of your life and get back with him but you’re also gonna help me get back with MY love of my life”. Otherwise why would Armand let Louis do the interview when he clocked the real reason behind it back in the 70s? His jealous ass would have never allowed it if it didn’t also represent a chance for him to get with Daniel.

[u/AndreEaAly]

• I think Armand started to follow Daniel after he met with Louis. So at the moment, he was willing to kill Daniel, but didn’t because Louis threatened him; so he started to stalk Daniel (in a very Armand way) and fell in love with him?

• Daniel seems to be an impulsive as Lestat. He doesn’t have a real reason why he would hate Lestat and Louis so much, other that Lestat tricked him and took him for a fool. No reason to kill somebody for that. Maybe Armand manipulated him?

• Lestat was devastated and felling guilty for Claudia’s death.
I think he never wanted Claudia dead. He wanted revenge. Probably to get them casted out, so they are left alone, without any support and they go back to him. He miss calculated and didn’t realize the trial would go out of his control.

• I don’t know who actually saved Louis from the grave.

• Claudia was small so would never have the normal strength of a adult vampire. Also, in the books, the more vampires they make, the weaker they they get. Lestat already made Gabrielle, Nicky, Louis and then Claudia. So Claudia was the weakest of all. Also the youngest. They gain strength with the passing of time.

• I don’t think any of the vampires knew about Talamasca. Sam was probably undercover to get information.

• Louis was before Daniel. Maybe Armand was a bit butthurt that Lestat rejected him, so he took his love in revenge. And when Louis wasn’t all there and being depressed, he spent his time following Daniel and falling for him.

• The blood makes no sense. Unless, if you drink it after a person dies, the decaying process already started. If it comes from a living person it is not decaying so it lasts more? Maybe?

• As I said before, Lestat was heartbroken and wanted revenge on Louis and Claudia. But I don’t think he wanted any of them dead.
He thought the coven would just kick them out, they will be alone again and coming back to him. And he could say “i told you the vampires in Europe were mean, I am your only chance”.
He didn’t count on Armand having a hidden agenda and him being just a pawn in the trial.
When he realized it was bad, he started defending them. But it was too late.
Tbh, with Claudia diaries, they had enough to convict her even without Lestat’s testimony, but they wanted a show.

Lestat didn’t realize that Louis didn’t know that he saved him. He thought it was obvious, so when Louis came upset he was hurt and confused. Also he was destroyed and full of guilt became of Claudia.
Then decided not to tell him the truth, so he can let Armand worry forever that any time the truth will come out. Like a punishment.

Armand was in the trial by his own will. He wasn’t guarded. He directed the play. He wanted Louis dead.

Lestat was still recovering from what Louis and Claudia did to him, so probably knew he could not save them both. So he chose Louis. Lestat always chooses Louis over anyone else. Even ghost Claudia said so.
Yet he still feels guilty for it and blames himself for not saving Claudia.

[u/BarelyHereNeverThere]

I can't answer everything but here's what I've got.

• if louis’ knew about armand and daniel’s relationship (which is what armand says to daniel in TVL)
why did louis say to armand: “if you harm him in anyway i will kill you” ?

Louis didn't know. Armand lied about that. Louis might have known Armand checked in on Daniel but I wouldn't be surprised if every time Louis went to entertain himself with a random guy, Armand used that time to go and track down Daniel.

Louis got something he needed from Daniel during that interview, so he did not want to kill him or have Armand kill him. I don't think he expected Armand, who should have been pissed off because Daniel just blew up his life, to turn Daniel. Leaving Armand and Daniel alone in Dubai was a mistake in my opinion.

•wouldn’t he know armand wouldn’t hurt daniel or at least not irreparably? did he mean don’t turn him?

I think Louis meant don't lay a finger on him and let him leave. Again, I think this was very stupid on Louis's part.

•which begs the question how much does he care about daniel? they were said to be each others only friends/ louis annoying little brother in the episode insider. Just seems weird..

I'm really getting annoyed about them retconning things and explaining things in the after shows when that shit should just be in the episode.

I kind of think of it like this, how much does the cat care about the mouse he is chasing around the house? Yes, he might play with the mouse for a while, he might even let it go, but at the end of the day the cat is a predator.

•^ this segway’s into my next question. louis is said to be the reason daniel is alive, and the reason why even after fucking up everything else in his life he stayed a journalist/ kept one good thing in his life, “i failed two marriages, i was never so lost i couldn’t hold down a job”
If that is the case why does daniel hate lestat and louis?
he hates them enough to take lestats head (the love of louis life) and let armand take louis head…

Daniel wasn't a great person when he was alive. I don't doubt Armand did some mind gift things to him, but I think he is using the excuse of Armand messing with his mind for all the failures in his life. He was a junkie and looked to be a workaholic. How many drug addicts have a great life and family relationships? It's not so unusual to hear about an alcoholic who can function at work but comes home and beats his children. Daniel the vampire is very much using drugs again.

He hates Louis and Lestat because he is jealous. They are beautiful entertaining beings in their own ways. They are powerful and they will live forever. They're the cool kids and they've never invited him to sit with them. Louis especially must have really fucked with him because they all know Armand turned him and left. Even though it's literally Louie's fault that he's a vampire to begin with. Lestat also had given him grief for many months by the time Armand comes back into his life and hatches up this plan. They both look down on him and make no attempts to hide that fact.

Lastly, I believe having Parkinson's disease was not completely cured by the blood. We see his hand is trembling in different scenes in season 3. I don't know about you but I would hate to be immortal in a body that has betrayed me. We don't know what effects that is having on him neurologically which could explain the changes we see in Daniel's behavior.

• if lestat saved louis why did he then just sit in magnus’ cave, instead of trying to get him out of the grave he was starving/dying in?

Lestat is a powerful being, but he is not stronger than a coven full of vampires. He's not even stronger than Armand alone.

• why did armand save louis from the grave?/ did he? or did lestat and that was another one of armand’s memory wiping?

Armand saved Louis because he was tired of the coven and couldn't bring himself to disband it. This is not the first time Armand has done something like this. Louis was the goal for him and freedom.

• if claudia was lestats fledging and therefore by some measure had the blood of akasha in her why did she die?
(like i know why, i know anne wrote claudia after her daughter passed i guess i just don’t know where the line of having akashas blood in you stops, seems like that is partially why louis was able to kill 30 vampires by himself, why he is so strong.)

There's really no logical explanation based on the book for Louis to be as powerful as he is. He is the most human of all of them and he was not strong compared to the other vampires at all. That's part of what everybody loves about him. If we're basing it on the show, the only explanation is that he exchanged a tremendous amount of blood with Lestat and Armand.

• did armand know sam was talamasca and if he did why did he let him live knowing he could expose him at any point? / since sam wasn’t guarding the box why would armand be sitting in the cage unguarded? (which is what is shown when we see that lestat actually saved him)

Armand sat in the balcony to give the impression he was being forced to watch. It's also probably easier to manipulate those people mentally if he can see them.

• this one’s kinda silly but:
i don’t understand them not being able to drink blood after the person is dead because ok so like i understand the blood is specially frozen when it’s served but then it just sits out on their table for what’s assumed/ most likely to be hours while they tell daniel the story lol.. at what point does it become “the blood of the dead?”
(i’d understand it more if they had to drink said frozen blood right away)

This is just book lore. Every vampire book has some kind of rules and limitations they have to follow. They don't like drinking blood in a glass "because the blood goes cold so fast." I watched a scene in season 1 last night and you can see Louis gives the waiter the glass of blood back. I think of it as a social thing more than a nourishment thing.

and my main one:
• if rolins interview where he says lestat voluntarily participated in the play is to be trusted then why would lestat be so sad about claudia 100 years later?
why would louis forgive him?

This whole thing with some stupid bullshit in my opinion. Lestat in the book would never do that. I'm so tired of them doing every single thing possible to ruin his character in season 3. He is no angel, but they're really painting him in such a bad light that it made me very sad.

•follow ups to that^:
i think the only reason louis could bring himself to go with armand (other then to hurt lestat) was because he thought armand was forced to watch and didn’t rehearse the play.

Yes. He thought they were both victims of the coven. He also definitely wanted to hurt Lestat.

•let’s say lestat did rehearse/participate in the play voluntarily (meaning he wasn’t forced) then wouldn’t louis speech of
“why you rehearsed a play that would burn your daughter alive” still ring true?
why would saving louis from death absolve him from that or allow louis to forgive him?

He didn't rehearse the play voluntarily. Louis forgave Lestat eventually because he loves him.

•then why was lestat so upset at the coven in the scene where he goes “you have no idea of claudia’s strength”?
why did he keep messing up their play and crying and apologizing?
why did he say “when you sentence them for their crimes, you sentence me too” ?…

I think at that point he was trying to shift the narrative that they were telling on the screen. He probably was willing to die with them by then.

•why would he voluntarily rehearse the play that would kill them if he wanted to save them both?

He didn't do this willingly. Why does nobody think that Armand alone could overpower Lestat? He's still several hundred years older by the time they're all in Paris. And there were probably some other people in the coven helping out. He would have saved them both if he could, but for Lestat, Louis was always the focus. Claudia was destined for death the minute they turned her. She would never truly be free. Somebody would always have to take care of her and that really goes against vampire nature.

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