Will Elena Move on From Damon in Season 5?

The Vampire Diaries Burning Question: Will Elena Move on From Damon in Season 5?

With the time jump occurring during The Vampire Diaries summer hiatus, anything could happen in Season 6, especially when it comes to the romance between Elena and Damon . Executive producer Julie Plec told The Hollywood Reporter regarding the upcoming season: “A good amount of time would have passed. Our characters fundamentally will have had to come to terms with the fact that Damon and Bonnie are gone forever. There are those who refuse to give up. There are those who have given up. There are those who are living in denial. All of them have found ways to move forward and get on with their lives in really unique and distinct ways.” Our question: where will Elena fall on this spectrum of reaction?

She has given up and moved on. Elena is no stranger to heartbreak. She has lost people in the past, and she has learned to move past those tragedies. No, she has never endured a loss quite like Damon’s, but she is also not someone to dwell on the past. We think there’s a good chance that Elena will have given up hope on Damon and have moved on — not because she wants to, but because the world has made her a cynical person. That’s not to say losing Damon hasn’t changed her. How could it not? We just don’t think Elena will be waiting around for a miracle after many months. She has too many other people in her life who she cares about to do that.

She is living in denial. Then again, Elena can be a pretty self-indulgent character. And losing the love of one’s life isn’t exactly an easy thing to get past. Another possible reaction we could see Elena embodying in Season 6 is a more extreme and prolonged state of denial than the one she had following Jeremy’s death. Perhaps she is even passively holding out hope that Damon will come back. After all, she did ask him to find his way back to her in that heartbreaking farewell scene in the Season 5 finale. When has Damon ever denied Elena anything she’s asked (unless it comes to her own safety)? 

She actively seeking out a solution. A third, more interesting option that the previous, is that Elena is not only holding out hope that there is a chance Damon could come back, but she is actively trying to find him. We’re talking witch-befriending, life-risking, doppelganger blood-touting moves in an attempt to bring Damon (oh yeah, and Bonnie) back from whatever reality they ended up in. We’re kind of digging this idea because it would make Elena a more active character than she has been in recent seasons. Though, we can’t exactly fault Elena if she is not looking for the Grams loophole she isn’t aware exists.