Sure it's one of True Blood's more gruesome, twisted scenes (the image of Eric literally stabbing Talbot through the back mid-coitus stayed long after the episode ended) – but this moment also reinforces the longstanding and intricate relationships centuries-old vampires create. Talbot, the King's lover and progeny, was merely a pawn in Eric's plot for revenge; the King had killed Eric's family 2,000 years ago. It's easy to exact the perfect revenge when you're immortal, but karma's a bitch: we would come to learn Eric's move to bring the feud to present day didn't exactly tie things up with a bow, since Russell's back with a vengeance.