Vampire Diaries: some 'what if' games
May. 9th, 2011 08:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
butterflyThere's a moment, in S2, when Elena realizes that she can no longer blame the Salvatores for all the crappy supernatural stuff invading her life - that it was always a part of her life, she just didn't know it yet, and it was always going to rise up and try to get her.
I'm going to explore some theoretical alternate futures starting with the information we know.
a) What if the Gilberts' car hadn't ever gone off the bridge?
Stefan doesn't discover that Elena looks like Katherine; leaves town as he normally would. Damon still arrives in town; Anna still arrives in town - both of them seeking to open the tomb. Damon would likely choose Elena as his person of interest, without Stefan around to give her vervain (since Elena looks like Katherine), on the other hand, with Elena's council-based parents involved in things, would that have made Elena less vulnerable? Of course, Elena-that-was was also more rebellious and liked parties (and was dating Matt, but I'm pretty sure Damon would view that as entirely irrelevant), so she might well have been drawn to the danger that Damon exudes.
Katherine would still come - I'm thinking that Isobel is the likely source for Katherine's information on Elena. It sounds like John and Isobel kept in touch, which probably involved photos of Elena, and thus when Isobel tracked down Katherine, she probably mentioned something about how Katherine looks just like her young daughter. Thus, Katherine - knowing that a doppelgänger is in play - sets out to get herself a werewolf. That's really how to make the most sense of the timeline of Katherine already cultivating Mason before Stefan has even met Elena.
Instead of Stefan, there would be Elena's parents, but things might otherwise have gone rather similarly to how they have done. I can't think of any impact that Stefan has had to the curse plotline. He does save Damon from the burning fires at the end of S1, though. Ah! He saves Bonnie in S1 as well. Not sure how those things would have gone without Stefan around. And both Bonnie and Damon are instrumental players in how everything goes down later on.
b) What if Damon had never turned Isobel? What if he just killed her instead?
No Isobel searching out Katherine - that does change things. No Alaric to 'kill' Elijah the first time, but they might not need him at all. No Alaric to help Damon and Elena save Stefan from... that dude that rebelled from Pearl's gang. Don't remember his name.
Damon would still come to free Katherine from the tomb, as would Anna. Hmm. Would John come back to town at all? I can't remember whether or not he did that on Isobel's information. No Isobel, no Alaric, no John. No vampires in danger at the end of S1, then. The strike by the tomb vamps might have ended a lot more bloodily for the humans.
c) What if Stefan doesn't encourage Damon to complete his transition back in 1864?
Hmm - would Stefan have chosen to live as a vampire without Damon? Let's assume that he does and he still runs into Lexi and is healed of his sins, hallelujah. No Damon means Damon doesn't turn Isobel - but she's a good tracker, so let's assume that she manages to find Katherine, who turns her. So, Alaric comes to town and he would react to Elena as if she were a scary bad guy, until he figures out she's human.
Anna still arrives in town to open the tomb to save her mom. Stefan still saves Elena from the car and becomes infatuated. With no Damon, would he have given her the vervain necklace? Not that it matters, since when she finds out the truth, she flees without it anyway.
No Damon means that she's taken by Anna's friend and Anna has Elena captive in 1x11. Anna's next step would be to take Bonnie captive. Does Anna manage to open the tomb without Damon there? There's a good chance, as she does have hostages. Does Elena get sacrificed to Pearl's hunger?
Let's assume Stefan manages to stop that part from happening.
Without Damon, though, it amazing how much of the show falls apart - in the sense that Damon is so much a part of how events fell out that it's difficult to see what shape things would have been without him.
Would Stefan had died at the hands of the vampire thugs?
If Katherine turned Isobel, we would still get Isobel, John, and Alaric coming to town.
Damon is the one who mistrusts Mason, who is secretly on Katherine's side. It's really hard to figure out what might be the same or different without Damon around. He makes things happen. Hmm.
Let's assume that we got all the way to 2x21 - no Damon means that Caroline and Tyler are sacrificed instead of Jenna and Jules (though Jenna would probably still have been kidnapped & put into transition, since Klaus was putting his back-up plan into place before his A plan fell apart, so we would have a vampire!Jenna), Elena would have taken the elixir instead of vampire blood, so possibly John doesn't sacrifice himself (but Elena might have died, since the elixir was not a sure thing). Elijah would still betray them and run off with Klaus. No Damon means Greta lives to fight Bonnie & possibly escape - perhaps Bonnie takes Alaric with her, but he can't do the quick vampire-neck snap thing. Since Matt was trying to figure out/possibly save Caroline, he might have died in 2x21 as well.
Anyone else have any 'what if's that they ponder?
I'm going to explore some theoretical alternate futures starting with the information we know.
a) What if the Gilberts' car hadn't ever gone off the bridge?
Stefan doesn't discover that Elena looks like Katherine; leaves town as he normally would. Damon still arrives in town; Anna still arrives in town - both of them seeking to open the tomb. Damon would likely choose Elena as his person of interest, without Stefan around to give her vervain (since Elena looks like Katherine), on the other hand, with Elena's council-based parents involved in things, would that have made Elena less vulnerable? Of course, Elena-that-was was also more rebellious and liked parties (and was dating Matt, but I'm pretty sure Damon would view that as entirely irrelevant), so she might well have been drawn to the danger that Damon exudes.
Katherine would still come - I'm thinking that Isobel is the likely source for Katherine's information on Elena. It sounds like John and Isobel kept in touch, which probably involved photos of Elena, and thus when Isobel tracked down Katherine, she probably mentioned something about how Katherine looks just like her young daughter. Thus, Katherine - knowing that a doppelgänger is in play - sets out to get herself a werewolf. That's really how to make the most sense of the timeline of Katherine already cultivating Mason before Stefan has even met Elena.
Instead of Stefan, there would be Elena's parents, but things might otherwise have gone rather similarly to how they have done. I can't think of any impact that Stefan has had to the curse plotline. He does save Damon from the burning fires at the end of S1, though. Ah! He saves Bonnie in S1 as well. Not sure how those things would have gone without Stefan around. And both Bonnie and Damon are instrumental players in how everything goes down later on.
b) What if Damon had never turned Isobel? What if he just killed her instead?
No Isobel searching out Katherine - that does change things. No Alaric to 'kill' Elijah the first time, but they might not need him at all. No Alaric to help Damon and Elena save Stefan from... that dude that rebelled from Pearl's gang. Don't remember his name.
Damon would still come to free Katherine from the tomb, as would Anna. Hmm. Would John come back to town at all? I can't remember whether or not he did that on Isobel's information. No Isobel, no Alaric, no John. No vampires in danger at the end of S1, then. The strike by the tomb vamps might have ended a lot more bloodily for the humans.
c) What if Stefan doesn't encourage Damon to complete his transition back in 1864?
Hmm - would Stefan have chosen to live as a vampire without Damon? Let's assume that he does and he still runs into Lexi and is healed of his sins, hallelujah. No Damon means Damon doesn't turn Isobel - but she's a good tracker, so let's assume that she manages to find Katherine, who turns her. So, Alaric comes to town and he would react to Elena as if she were a scary bad guy, until he figures out she's human.
Anna still arrives in town to open the tomb to save her mom. Stefan still saves Elena from the car and becomes infatuated. With no Damon, would he have given her the vervain necklace? Not that it matters, since when she finds out the truth, she flees without it anyway.
No Damon means that she's taken by Anna's friend and Anna has Elena captive in 1x11. Anna's next step would be to take Bonnie captive. Does Anna manage to open the tomb without Damon there? There's a good chance, as she does have hostages. Does Elena get sacrificed to Pearl's hunger?
Let's assume Stefan manages to stop that part from happening.
Without Damon, though, it amazing how much of the show falls apart - in the sense that Damon is so much a part of how events fell out that it's difficult to see what shape things would have been without him.
Would Stefan had died at the hands of the vampire thugs?
If Katherine turned Isobel, we would still get Isobel, John, and Alaric coming to town.
Damon is the one who mistrusts Mason, who is secretly on Katherine's side. It's really hard to figure out what might be the same or different without Damon around. He makes things happen. Hmm.
Let's assume that we got all the way to 2x21 - no Damon means that Caroline and Tyler are sacrificed instead of Jenna and Jules (though Jenna would probably still have been kidnapped & put into transition, since Klaus was putting his back-up plan into place before his A plan fell apart, so we would have a vampire!Jenna), Elena would have taken the elixir instead of vampire blood, so possibly John doesn't sacrifice himself (but Elena might have died, since the elixir was not a sure thing). Elijah would still betray them and run off with Klaus. No Damon means Greta lives to fight Bonnie & possibly escape - perhaps Bonnie takes Alaric with her, but he can't do the quick vampire-neck snap thing. Since Matt was trying to figure out/possibly save Caroline, he might have died in 2x21 as well.
Anyone else have any 'what if's that they ponder?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-09 05:12 pm (UTC)I think that Damon is so much a part of things happening because he acts - when things are happening he chooses to be engaged instead of waiting for a threat to come knocking. *cough*Stefan*cough*.
What if Katherine and Damon had a)met up later on or b)not separated.
Damon turned off his emotions for years and lived a life that Katherine would approve of, but had they been together and then come to Mystic Falls?
*shivers*
What if Jeremy had turned into a vampire? (I wrote a little story about that because it would be so fascinating) who would look after him? Who would get blamed? I bet you anything he would have been pissed off and looking for meaning - and that always leads to Damon Salvatore.
I want to know at what point the Gilberts were going to share with their children? If there were animal attacks in town, and they had survived, they would be involved with the Council. And, had Damon returned to town and Anna as well and he fixated on Elena - that would have been interesting.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-09 09:41 pm (UTC)Heh, yes. Damon acts and doesn't just react.
Damon turned off his emotions for years and lived a life that Katherine would approve of, but had they been together and then come to Mystic Falls?
*shivers*
Interesting thought! I wonder if it would have gone to a 'two creepy vampires together' place... or if Damon would have gotten over her years ago because of it.
What if Jeremy had turned into a vampire? (I wrote a little story about that because it would be so fascinating) who would look after him? Who would get blamed? I bet you anything he would have been pissed off and looking for meaning - and that always leads to Damon Salvatore.
Vampire!Jeremy would have been all over Damon. For sure.
I want to know at what point the Gilberts were going to share with their children? If there were animal attacks in town, and they had survived, they would be involved with the Council. And, had Damon returned to town and Anna as well and he fixated on Elena - that would have been interesting.
Very good question. We know that Papa Salvatore didn't tell his kids anything until it was all too late.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-10 01:00 am (UTC)IDK, Damon LOVED Katherine, and it would have depended on how she treated him - if they were partners, if they worked together or stayed close, then yes, I can see him staying in love with her. But if she flipped things around and showed that she hadn't loved him, then yes, he would have had a different course to his life.
I mean, Jeremy in general is all over Damon - and funnily enough, Damon pulls the vampire! dominance thing with him a lot - young member of the pack, needs to know his place, and he doesn't BLINK at grabbing Jeremy by the throat and telling him what's going on.
Stefan does it a bit too, but he's also a younger brother, and so it comes off differently. Damon is most definitely alpha, and he is also the one that Jeremy has realized will come up with something batshit and follow THROUGH.
Papa Salvatore failed on so many levels, and that tradition has been passed down through the generations, which seems a very poor way to raise your kids. And, liable to get them killed.