‘The Vampire Diaries’: 8 Reasons Why Elena Had to Turn

 

Several jaws unhinged at the whopper surprise and cliffhanger at the end of TVD’s Season 3 finale.  Elena died and awoke as a vampire.  Didn’t see that one coming.  Seriously, I didn’t. (Maybe later in the series, but so soon?) The pretty girl with an innocent face and a magical smile, fiercely protected by the Salvatore brothers and her other supernatural/human friends.  A vampire.  Elena.  Really?

In processing this new development, I realized just how brilliant the writers of TVD are to have brought in this shocker of a twist.  We all know how they love to shock their fans.  Turning Elena into a vampire definitely achieved that, and although it’ll mean many changes to the plot in Season 4, Elena’s death needed to happen.

This is why:

Age Is Inevitable

For Stefan and Damon, the significance of a birthday means little.  They don’t age.  Sure, for them a birthday means another year older as a vampire and we all know that older vampires are stronger vampires.  So bring on the birthdays.  For human Elena, growing older is inevitable.  With TVD’s popularity, we can expect several more seasons in the series and realistically, Elena would have to have several more birthdays, adding several more years to her already 18 years of age.  We can’t have Elena getting too “old” for the Salvatore brothers now can we?

 

X Marks Elena

Mamma Original tied evil Alaric’s life to Elena’s, instantly splashing a bright red X on her back and making her a hot target to the remaining four original vampires.  Alaric’s determination to eliminate the vamp clan left the original vampires with little choice – kill Elena in order to kill Alaric.  Self-preservation at its best.  Being Klaus’s blood supply, Elena was always under his protection – a factor that irked Rebekah on the best of days – but with Klaus’s “death”, Barbie Klaus would have a free pass.  Had Elena stayed human, crazy Rebekah (and many others) would be on a warpath to kill Elena.  Now that Elena’s a vampire, Rebekah might have met her match and this cat fight will be on more even ground.

 

The Return of Elena’s Memories

When a human transitions into a vampire, they start to remember everything that happened when they were human.  For Elena, this will include the fact that she met Damon first but he compelled her to forget meeting him.  She’ll also remember the moment when he told her how much he loves her but doesn’t deserve her before compelling her to forget that.  Despite the fact that the finale ended with Elena choosing Stefan, the return of Elena’s memories could spice up the love triangle between her and the Salvatore brothers.

 

 

Salvatores’ Bro Bond

A great development throughout the last three seasons of TVD has been the growth of the brotherly bond between Stefan and Damon.  From brothers filled with hatred and resentment for each other to brothers who would die in order to protect each other.  Despite loving the same woman, their relationship and bond has strengthened.  With Elena’s death and Stefan to blame for not saving her in time, (a new debate for another post!) the bond between these two brothers will be rattled.

 

 

Plot Changer

TVD is known for being fast-paced and we know how the writers love to take risks with their plot lines.  They shy away from staleness at all costs and are quick to introduce a fresh twist on an existing plotline in order to keep the show moving at its usual edgy pace.   It’s not surprising that they decided to turn Elena into a vampire after three seasons.  Risky, but exciting.

 

 

Save Elena

A common thread we’ve seen repeatedly throughout all three seasons of TVD is Elena in some sort of trouble and needing protection from some or other Big Bad.  It’s always fun to watch a damsel in distress saved by her white knight, but there’s a limit to the number of sticky situations a damsel can find herself in before the whole routine becomes stale.  As a vampire, Elena would possess many attributes that she lacked as a human.  It will be fun to see the new vampire Elena kick some ass.

 

 

Stefan and Damon love and protect the human Elena fiercely and without hesitation – and she loves them back in her own way and for different reasons.  Both brothers have their own unique relationship with her. With Elena’s transition into a vampire, the chances are good that there’ll be a shift in the dynamics of the relationship between Elena and the Salvatore brothers.

Doppelganger Blood Bank

Klaus needed Elena’s doppelganger blood to build himself an army of hybrids – a plotline that could become stale.  Now that she’s technically dead, her blood is useless to him, which puts a slightly different spin on the whole doppelganger/hybrid theory.  And yes, Klaus is supposed to be dead so why should this matter?  Considering we never saw Klaus’s body burn to ashes in the finale, there’s a slight chance that he’ll take back his body once he’s done with Tyler’s and return as Klaus.  Whatever the fate of this hybrid, Elena’s death means no more little hybrid followers.

 

Elena’s transition into a vampire has left many fans with unanswered questions as we realize that the TVD series is about to change.  It’s exciting, different, new, and we wait in anticipation to see how this new development will affect the plot in Season 4.  And as each season seems to get more creative, twisted, and tense than the one before, we can only assume that Season 4 is going to be spectacular.