Lorena
“We are together, William, forever. You. Are. Mine.”
With those words, Bill Compton’s human life ended, and his vampiric life with Lorena began. In mere moments on screen in Season 1′s “Sparks Fly Out,” Mariana Klaveno breathed life into the complex, unbeating heart of the character most True Blood fans love to hate. Lorena makes only the briefest of cameos in the Southern Vampire Mysteries, but she’s stolen scenes on the show with her fabulous wardrobe, scorn for all things Sookie, and her twisted and obsessive love of her William. And now, her reign of terror has come to an end the only way it could, as Lorena was never going to go quietly into the night. It’s simply not her style, and for that, I’ve always loved her, and I will miss her. It seems only fitting for such a magnificent character to be properly eulogized.
Lorena is a tragic figure, and Bill is not the only one who’s curious to see this woman when she was mortal. The Blue-Ray features tell us that Lorena was raised in a convent outside Vienna during the time of Empress Maria Theresa, and that she was turned by a Gypsy vampire the night before she was to take her vows and become a nun. I, too, wish Alan Ball and the writers had given us a glimpse of the quiet, intelligent girl who felt closest to God in nature and wanted to devote her life to the church.
What we do know, what we did see, is that Lorena was brutally self-destructive in her immortal life. She designed a carefully constructed trap and laid in wait for her William, desiring a man of honor who would not take advantage of a woman on her own. But it was that very quality she killed others for not possessing, the traits that saved Bill from death, that prevented him from ever returning her love as she wanted him to, and thus Lorena and William’s dance along the razor’s edge of love and hate began.
Lorena Dreams of Her William
Bill and Lorena stayed together from his turning in 1865 until his release in the late 1930s. In the end, to force her into allowing him to go, Bill had to threaten the one thing Lorena could not bear: his own death. It was with a stake at his heart that Lorena, with blood tears in her eyes, set him free, choosing to live without him, rather than in a world where he didn’t exist.
Other than that, we know little about the decades they spent together, but we can extrapolate from the scenes we did see, and I speculate it was a contrast between a blood bath of human death and hedonistic pleasure (Lorena and Bill made love while their victim bled out on the bed next to them, the blood wasted as they smeared it on each other and gloried in their own powers), and moments of genuine tenderness (Lorena prevents Bill from hurting Caroline when he returned to help bury his son). Given their murderous life-style, Bill and Lorena would’ve sought anonymity in large populations, probably sticking to the big cities, traveling as needed to evade discovery. They would’ve been nomads, which explains Bill’s deep desire to return to Bon Temps and make home for himself, and Lorena clinging to the necklace Bill gave her, probably one of the few possessions she kept through the years.
A Stunning and Tragic Figure
But for all her centuries walking the earth, I believe few people knew Lorena. Her sadistic ways of killing would’ve prohibited humans from being close to her, and her obsession with Bill would’ve limited vampire “friends.” For all her power and ironic cruelty, Lorena was a wounded soul. Like an any addict, she sought to drown her misery, and she did that with blood and with Bill.
In the end, she did not fight her final death. I believe she actually welcomed it. She proved, once again, that she was incapable of killing Bill (and Russell would’ve kill him for her, and she would’ve been helpless to prevent it). Rather than fight him, she opened her arms to the stake, reveled in William’s arms around her one last time, and greeted her final death with the words, “William, I love you.” Of that, I never had any doubt …
May you finally rest in peace, Lorena.
LOVE this! I, for one, will miss her dearly. She was a terrific character and Mariana played her so beautifully.
Her backstory makes her sound suspiciously like Maria from The Sound of Music!
I can see the fact that she was going to be a nun. She was turned and “ruined” for her vocation. She would be able to rationalize that now that she was the “devil”, she should act the part. But the years and decades made her tired and look for someone gentle and honorable to be with, to maybe bring that honorable part back to her. But she couldn’t and so brought debauchery to William until he was so disgusted he could not stand it.
that was just beautiful latbfan, thank you.
What a fantastic role that was for Mariana. Such style, such elegance – also crazy as a bedbug, but no matter. RIP Lorena. You will be missed.
Excellent work latbfan!
I’m going to miss the intensity of Bill and Lorena’s relationship! In her presence, Bill could not hide the dark side of his personality: deep hatred and violence.
i`ll miss lorena! even she was … like she was i did like her character.. ;)
Ah, very nicely done latbfan. T’is only fitting that you write Lorena’s eulogy, you knew her best.
I really enjoyed Lorena as a character. I am going to miss her a lot. RIP
I will miss the incredibly powerful scenes between Lorena and Bill/ Mariana and Stephen ……yes she deserved staking but they could have kept that part back until the end of the season . Maybe we will get more flashbacks ? Well written latbfan ….
Oh latbfan, how movingly and sensitively you have captured this difficult and not always predictable character. You’ve clothed her in a eulogy as beautiful as any dress she ever wore. Bravissima! It was a strangely love-transfiguring end for Lorena,as you have suggested. The writers were merciful. But not merciful to Sookie: you really can’t take this bingo blonde to rooftops or slave quarters or anywhere that requires profundity or at least finesse.
Latbfan, thank you so much for this moving and eloquent tribute to Lorena. She truly was, as you said so beautifully, a tragic figure and a wounded soul. Almost from the beginning, I felt a strange sympathy for her and could never quite bring myself to hate her. I knew her true death would certainly come this season but I was shocked when it happened so early in the episode. I’m hoping that she will make at least one more appearance in a flashback.
I’m also hopeful that TB will be the beginning of a long, successful career for Mariana. She can be funny, tender and terrifying and looks great in clothes!
Lorena thank you ever so much for the joy you brought to us all, I for one will miss you very much, you gave good spice! RIP from a True Blood Fan.
I’m going to miss the Fatal Attraction on steroids. Mariana Klaveno is an outstanding actress and I’d love to see her in other projects.
Lat … excellent work! What a way to cap off an incredible character that was tragically captivating.
I’ll admit that I could Not Stand Lorena She was a character you’d love to hate. Yet, Mariana Klaveno played her wondefully! She really did inhabit the character and made it her own! I’ll miss many of their heated exchanges! They had such a volatile chemistry! Mariana’s performance was Truly one of the Most memorable in the show! Here’s hoping that they bring her back in at least Some flashbacks!!
I already miss Lorena. Lot of people loved to hate her but we all have to admit, this woman had some class ! She was just so deeply in love. I’m sure several people can get that.
Lorena was a character i truly loved to watch. Every scene with her was captivating. Her style was elegant, and even with no soul to speak of her love for Bill was indestructible. I wish she had not had to have been killed off, her character was one i would have loved to continue watching. She was a powerful, breathtaking woman. What woman would not want to be her…. before she died.
I loved Lorena she was a deep character underneath the chaos and distraction. In her own way she loved bill and I think bill in a way loved lorena. This character possessed depth, genuine strength and mind even when her mind she laid in darkness. A side note. This character resembles Drusilla from the buffyverse… RIP Lorena. I toast to you a nice glass of V.
I miss Lorena. She was so elegant and had the perfect manners a classy belle. I would have loved to see more of her background or history… She embraced her vampiric Nature… and having come from the times of Empress Maria Theresa.. that’s an old culture. Early and mid 1700s. She didn’t have much choice but embrace her vampiric life. Could you imagine the internal conflicts having come from a time when God and Church were everything? Specially for a young girl. I love Lorena. I think she was beautiful and classy. Mariana was brilliant in the role!! bringing both power and vulnerability to the character.
I am so devastated they let Lorena go. She was so exciting to watch. Lorena was the most powerful character on True Blood. She can never be replaced. Please bring her back in flashbacks. :(
I loved Lorena! It’s interesting that, despite seemingly being a villain, so many people felt sympathy for her. She is a very sympathetic character. Many of us are rejected by the one we love but keep coming back for more. That made her really human, in the end. I also love the idea of her being a nun and then, when she became a vampire, all her repressed darkness just overwhelms her and she never looks back.