4. Human Katherine
One of the biggest – because there were many – shockers that fans were delivered during The Vampire Diaries season four finale last May was watching Elena (Nina Dobrev) shove the cure for vampirism down Katherine’s (also Dobrev) throat. Since both actresses are played by the same actress, we first have to applause the amazing choreography and editing that went into pulling that off. Second, we need to acknowledge that going into season five, Katherine is now a fragile, compulsion-lacking, human being.
What does this mean for Katherine? Well, clearly she will be going through an adjustment period – which lucky for us, we will get to witness first hand. Since she’s the only vampire to ever be “cured,” it’s hard to tell how long/hard that will be. At least she can look forward to enjoying pizza for probably the first time ever when she comes around to accepting her new bloodless diet.
Even before she became a vampire, Katherine had a tenacity for putting herself before others – and unfortunately, that probably won’t change. However, she has spent the last 500 years building a growing list of enemies that she was able to conveniently elude with the help of her supernatural talents. Now that she’s lacking any special abilities, she will have to rely on the generosity of others – none of whom are card-carrying members of her fan club – to keep her safe. Either that, or live under a very secure rock.
3. No More Originals
The threat that was Klaus (Joseph Morgan) started forming in season 1 and evolved to an entire, often unstable, Original family taking up residence – in varying degrees – in Mystic Falls. As we head into season 5, all the Originals are either dust or have recently relocated to New Orleans. This will be the first time that Mystic Falls, and are favorite semi-destructible vampires, will be free of the constant pressure that having several vampires who are impervious to death (er, unless you have a white oak stake handy) as your neighbors produces.
This means a few things for our remaining characters. The most obvious character affected by this is Caroline (Candice Accola). Klaus has tormented, well, pretty much everyone, during his time in Mystic Falls – and Caroline is no exception. Nonetheless, she was the only soft spot that Klaus developed during his stay. He already had a sort of love/hate relationship with Stefan (Paul Wesley) from their days in Chicago during the 20s, and although he had several impromptu truces with other characters, there was no one that struck him the same way as Caroline. The Klaroline/Tyler love triangle dominated in season 4, and many fans are still crossing their fingers that Klaroline will make it happen despite Tyler’s (Michael Trevino) return.
Another resident of Mystic Falls that might not be completely thrilled by The Vampire Diaries becoming an Original-free zone is Matt (Zach Roerig). You might remember that the last time we saw him, he was getting ready to spend his summer being pampered around the world by Rebekah (Claire Holt). Matt usually holds the crown for living in reality, but after everything he’s been through this was definitely something that he can file as well-deserved. Even though he knew from the beginning that it was just a ‘summer fling,’ it can’t be easy to go back to being his regular self after that adventure.
Everyone else was pretty hit-or-miss when it came to any positive emotions regarding the Originals. They need Klaus alive to stay alive themselves, but other than that, they would probably prefer him to hibernate somewhere far off in the distance – out of sight, out of mind. With the minor exception of Katherine, who now not only has to adapt to being human, also has the added bonus of a broken heart courtesy of Elijah (Daniel Gillies) to whine over.
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