The Vampire Diaries -- Season Three

[XPac]

Or they can bail. If we're looking at them as real people, then they have options and at some point they may decide this isn't worth it to them. Interestingly enough, Alaric seems to be taking a more pro-human stance. This may put him at odds with Damon in the future. Imagine if Damon had killed Caroline's dad, would he still have the support of Caroline, the sheriff, the mayor or even Elena? It's likely they would've asked him to leave thus weakening Elena's circle of protectors. So it ultimately goes back to Damon's behavior being a liability to the group.

Yeah, they decide it's not their their time to protect Elena and prevent Klaus from creating an unkillable vampire/werewolf hybrid army which could potentially threaten all of mankind.

How that does them or anyone else any favors is beyond me... I think it's easier and more practical to just put up with Damon.

I don't dispute that Damons behavior isn't a potential problem... merely arguing that they're far far far better off putting up with it than not having him at all. If fact, worse case scenario the world might be better off with them putting up with it than not having him at all.

[Surtur]

Damon has shown that if he gets hurt or upset enough he will start killing random innocent people. That draws unnecessary attention and puts everyone in danger. For instance, him and Elena seemed to be getting closer. Can you imagine what he'd of done if she really put her foot down and put a stop to that? That is the whole problem: we don't know when/if he's going to flip that switch.

Admittedly in a fight he's more useful there then not there. He needs to go away with Katherine for a bit and develop feelings for someone who isn't in love with his brother..or just plain realize that he needs to get over Elena. If he can get control of his emotions he becomes a much greater asset to them.

I'd prefer if they took the Damon/Elena relationship more into brother/sister territory then anything romantic.

[XPac]

Damon has shown that if he gets hurt or upset enough he will start killing random innocent people. That draws unnecessary attention and puts everyone in danger. For instance, him and Elena seemed to be getting closer. Can you imagine what he'd of done if she really put her foot down and put a stop to that? That is the whole problem: we don't know when/if he's going to flip that switch.

Admittedly in a fight he's more useful there then not there. He needs to go away with Katherine for a bit and develop feelings for someone who isn't in love with his brother, then come back with a cooler head.

Truthfully, his feelings for Elena are probably the thing which not only keeps him in line but keeps him around in the first place.

As long as he's in love with Elena, he's basically spend nearly 24/7 watching over her... which is frankly what they need. Bonnie and Caroline are obviously her friends... but they're not going to commit the same amount of time and effort that Damon does.

Even taking into account all the emotional garbage that comes with him being in love with Elena, that's still their best way of keeping Damon under control and keeping him around at all.

[maczero]

Yeah, they decide it's not their their time to protect Elena and prevent Klaus from creating an unkillable vampire/werewolf hybrid army which could potentially threaten all of mankind.

How that does them or anyone else any favors is beyond me... I think it's easier and more practical to just put up with Damon.

I don't dispute that Damons behavior isn't a potential problem... merely arguing that they're far far far better off putting up with it than not having him at all. If fact, worse case scenario the world might be better off with them putting up with it than not having him at all.

It's not a potential problem. It's a problem as evidenced in this episode. Again, if you're looking at them as real people then their reactions to Damon are justified. And as I've pointed out everyone has a breaking point and expecting the group to feel they should accommodate Damon no matter what he does isn't realistic.

Ultimately, this is becoming a "Do the ends justify the means" argument and that's based too much on personal values to argue.

[Surtur]

Truthfully, his feelings for Elena are probably the thing which not only keeps him in line but keeps him around in the first place.

As long as he's in love with Elena, he's basically spend nearly 24/7 watching over her... which is frankly what they need. Bonnie and Caroline are obviously her friends... but they're not going to commit the same amount of time and effort that Damon does.

Even taking into account all the emotional garbage that comes with him being in love with Elena, that's still their best way of keeping Damon under control and keeping him around at all.

His feelings for Elena didn't stop him from murdering that girl last season. Or snapping Jeremy's neck. Or from mind raping the news reporter into being his girlfriend.

[XPac]

His feelings for Elena didn't stop him from murdering that girl last season. Or snapping Jeremy's neck.

True. Though if he had no feelings for Elena at all, odds are Damon would have probably killed far more people than that at this point.

He DOES care what Elena thinks. It's not a perfect means of controlling him by any means... but I'd still argue it's a strong factor in keeping Damon in line.

[Surtur]

If the best they can do is cause Damon to only kill a few people a year then is it really worth keeping him around?

[Captain Smith]

Damon's thing for Elena is still a bit of transference from Katherine. She's nasty and he rejects her but sees Elena as a nicer version of Katherine.

Also, Elena is really stupid - I'd ditch all of them and move to Vermont under a new name. Head Chopping BF and Monster fixated on me Brother - nope. Adios, hermanos!

But it's a plot line.

[Surtur]

At this point if Elena decided to run away she'd have to pretty much be on the run for the rest of her life. Chances are even then they would find her sooner or later once Klaus figures out why he can't make hybrids.

[maczero]

Also, Elena is really stupid - I'd ditch all of them and move to Vermont under a new name. Head Chopping BF and Monster fixated on me Brother - nope. Adios, hermanos!

In total agreement. If Klaus thinks she's dead. Stage a fake funeral and get the heck out of Mystic Falls. If she needs protection, then Damon watches her. Even if Klaus will eventually figure out that she's still alive, don't make it easy for him by staying in the same town.

[Kalen O.]

Actually that's the worst thing she could do. It was just last episode that Klaus' witch found her via the locket, although she didn't quite know yet what she'd found. In a world of witches, many of whom Klaus is acquainted with, it was only a matter of time before he discovered the truth and tracked her down magically...and without Bonnie, Caroline, and Damon, Elena's a sitting duck no matter where she is or what name she's using.

Klaus is over a thousand years old. He's got all the time in the world.

[Surtur]

Also, I'm pretty sure we've seen witches use a picture of the person they are looking for in order to locate said person. There really is nowhere to run. Not only that, but Klaus would most likely do what he did to Katherine: kill everyone Elena loves just for running from him.

[XPac]

If the best they can do is cause Damon to only kill a few people a year then is it really worth keeping him around?

Absolutely. Of Klaus gets his hands on killing Elena a whole lot more people than that will die. And if Damon increases the odds of that not happening, then it's certainly worth it. Again, you can make a pretty strong arguement that most if not all of them don't owe their lives to Damon directly or indirectly at one point or another.

[XPac]

Damon's thing for Elena is still a bit of transference from Katherine. She's nasty and he rejects her but sees Elena as a nicer version of Katherine.

Also, Elena is really stupid - I'd ditch all of them and move to Vermont under a new name. Head Chopping BF and Monster fixated on me Brother - nope. Adios, hermanos!

But it's a plot line.

There are pro's and cons to that.

She is somewhat of a sitting duck where she is now. The fact that Klaus thinks she's dead is the only real protection she has now.

But the flip side is that she's got a witch, a werewolf, and two vampires helping her right now. And even possibly the town council.

If she were to go on the run, Damon might be the only one who would literally drop everything and go with her. The rest have lives of their own.

[maczero]

Okay, so maybe Elena staying in town isn't a bad idea. However with no real way to stop Klaus, how much good are any of friends right now?

But the flip side is that she's got a witch, a werewolf, and two vampires helping her right now. And even possibly the town council

.
Speaking of the Council, I wonder if it's worth it to try to get more humans in the fight. I don't expect them to put up much of a fight but maybe more people looking for ways to stop Klaus might be beneficial.