Will Tyler Die?

The Vampire Diaries Burning Question: Will Tyler Die?

Ever since we heard that not all of our beloved Vampire Diaries characters would make it out of Season 5, we’ve been on edge, desperate to figure out who it is while at the same time afraid to. Well, folks, we have a shiny new candidate for character death in the form of hunky hybrid Tyler (Michael Trevino). Why do we think Tyler might be the one to figuratively bite it? Read on to find out!

He will be part of a dangerous ritual. Clue no. 1 Tyler may be doomed: According to the synopsis for Season 5, Episode 19 (“Man on Fire”), “Markos enlists Sloan’s help in a ritual designed to break an ancient curse against the Travelers. Tyler is forced to play a dangerous part in the ritual, while witnessing the incredible power the Travelers now possess.” From what we know about Traveler rituals so far, they seem to involve a lot of chanting and setting people on fire. And this episode happens to be called “Man on Fire.” Doesn’t bode well.

His death wouldn’t devastate the show. Don’t get us wrong, Tyler’s death would devastate us, but it wouldn’t cripple the show because Tyler isn’t a main main character. He’s a minor main character. He is important; we love him. But he rarely carries storylines all on his lonesome. And, unfortunately, he seems to be doing less and less of that as of late. It’s almost as if the writers don’t know what to do with his character. They sent him to The Originals, and that didn’t really help. The Originals writers didn’t seem to know what to do with him, either. And you know what happens to characters on this show that writers don’t know what to do with? They get killed off. TVD 101.

There are too many hunky sidekicks on this show. We’re becoming more and more aware of the way in which Matt Donovan and Tyler Lockwood are serving the same purpose on this show — and Matty Blue Eyes does it better. Sure, they’re both great characters, unique in their own right. But, as of late, they just spend a lot of time listening to other people’s problems at the Mystic Grill and getting called in for group meetings. The fact that these two characters are serving similar purposes became even more apparent when Jeremy insisted that they both be allowed to join in on his alliance with Liv and Luke. They seem to be lumped into every storyline together: Matt and Tyler are throwing a party. Matt and Tyler are listening to Damon whine. Matt and Tyler are worried about Jeremy. Matt and Tyler are joining a fun, new alliance. Sorry, Tyler, but as Katherine outlined, everyone likes Matt way too much to kill him. Plus, he’s the only non-supernatural left on the show. Tyler may be the only hybrid, but the show has never really succeeded in convincing us that this is a big deal. The way we see it: TVD currently has one too many hunky sidekicks. One of them has to go, and we doubt it will be Matt.

He’s no ones romantic interest. It’s sad that we feel that characters not having a romantic interest on this show makes them a more likely target for death, but we’ve seen enough seasons of TVD to know what it prioritizes. There was a time when Tyler was one half of an epic, star-crossed romance. Not so much anymore. R.I.P., Tyler. We’ll always have Season 2.