Delena May Not Make It After All

I love the Vampire Diaries but never before has a show delivered so much drama along with such crushing disappointment. If you're a Delena shipper, you already know what I'm talking about. After finally getting our ultimate endgame couple, Damon and Elena together in Season 5 (pipe down, Stelena shippers, you KNOW that I'm right about this one) the show ripped the rug out from under us all and sent Damon packing to 1994. When Damon finally returned to present day Virginia, it was only to find that the love of his life had wiped out all of the sweet (and, on occasion, hella sexy) memories of their relationship from her mind. So, thanks, Julie Plec. Thanks a bunch.

Naturally, Delena fans were crushed beyond crushed at this plot development — but, like any good fan base, we didn't give up hope. As far as we thought, our prayers were answered. Elena started to fall for Damon all over again (because that's true love, people) and the couple was thisssss close to kissing under the mistletoe in Thursday's episode "Christmas Through Your Eyes." Unfortunately, that's not how things went down for my favorite TVD couple, and I'm starting to think that the writers may be making the path to a reunited Delena even more challenging than ever before. That's right, folks — there's a good chance that Delena will stay broken up this season.

It's an unfortunate possibility — like, really, really unfortunate. But it's exactly what could go down on The Vampire Diaries now that psycho witch Kai has Elena in his clutches. Instead of macking on Damon under the mistletoe, Elena was taken prisoner by this season's big bad, and fans are speculating just what Kai will do with the brunette vampire now that he has her. My theory? That Kai has Elena to punish Damon — and there's one very easy way he could do that.

We know that Elena has all of these terrible memories of Damon, but she seems willing to overcome them given their obvious connection. I mean, their pull is so strong that she can forgive Damon for attempting to kill her brother and for murdering a whole boatload of other people whenever he felt rejected. Whatever that intangible thing is between Damon and Elena, it's stopping Elena from ever truly hating Damon — and it's also the exact thing that Kai could take away to punish the Salvatore brother.

As Christine DiStasio at Bustle has stated before, Kai isn't stupid — he'll probably want to use Elena as a bargaining chip in his quest to become the most powerful Gemini witch. But what if it doesn't work? After all, Kai as the leader of the Gemini coven means destruction, and as much as Damon (and the rest of the Mystic Falls gang) loves Elena, they can't just allow Kai to wreck havoc. There's a chance that saving Elena will go hand in hand with a plot to take Kai down, and, because Kai is unusually savvy, he might find out — and punish Damon as a result.

Murdering Elena would be easiest, but the show won't go on without the main vamp. A better way to punish Damon? Have his relationship with his one true love destroyed forever — something that a powerful witch like Kai could totally do. Removing any good will Elena has towards Damon would crush him, and quite possibly make him lash out on the people who do care about him. Damon without Elena is a force of destruction — and that might be exactly what Kai wants the Salvatore brother to be.

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