Beyoncé closed tonight's VMAs with a 15-minute medley that spanned almost her entire BEYONCÉ album—she performed at least a bit of almost every song, though "Pretty Hurts" was represented only from a snippet of Harvey Keitel's dialogue from the video, "Superpower" played as an instrumental over the snippet from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED talk used in "***Flawless," and "Heaven" was nowhere to be found, except for in our hearts.

Get More: 2014 VMA, Artists.MTV, Beyonce, MTV VMA Video Vanguard (Medley), Music, More Music Videos

It was the sort of show-stopping we've come to expect from Beyoncé, the rare kind of defining awards-show moment that didn't involve shade or clownery.

After the performance, Beyoncé accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for career accomplishment. Her (soon-to-be-ex-?) husband Jay Z presented it to her while holding their daughter Blue Ivy who said, adorably, " Go, Mommy."

In her speech, through tears, Beyoncé thanked her daughter and her husband ("my beloved"). "I have nothing to say, but I'm filled with so much gratitude. I just thank God for this moment. I love y'all so much," she started. She ended a few seconds after, because the VMAs had gone on long enough. Besides, everyone was literally dead by then by then, anyway.