In Which There Is A Hole - part deux.
In my last post (see, a few minutes ago), I talked about possible intentional irregularities in 3x08 of TVD. Welcome to part two.
You see this right here? This image was the source of my immense disappointment in the handling of this character. So far, all the 'hype' surrounding some of these characters is as its name suggests: hype. We saw it with the 'Original Witch' (Esther), and now we see it with the demise of her husband, the 'Original BAMF'. To be honest, I'm in denial about Mikael dying. I have been since I saw this image on my tv. He was supposed to be an EPIC character. After all, a brilliant actor was brought into portray him, he finally appears after Katherine wakes him up, and his presence is made known to the Salvatore brothers at the end of 'Ordinary People', but in the very next episode, he's killed off? What? As the remaining minutes of the show passed before me, I sat in stunned silence. I could not fathom how he could just be killed, and in such a ridiculous way. What I also cannot understand is how the bane of his existence survived. See below. (Thanks a lot, Stefan :/).
We might have seen Mikael's body encased in flames, but I refuse to believe that that is where it all ends. At one point, I expected to see Mikael chilling in Katherine's back seat as she spoke to Stefan, but to no avail. After one thousand years of running from his father, Klaus finally sees the end of him. What is frustrating for me as a member of the audience, that although Klaus eliminated his bully, he did it to suppress the truth. The thing is, there are gaps missing in Mikael's story though, and it's a pity the screenwriters don't go for dramatic irony here - granted, they wouldn't have much of a show if they did.
At the end of the episode too, there is a sense of betrayal. In the eyes of Damon and Elena, Stefan saved Klaus. But of course, there is another side to that. The audience is also sensitive to this piece of information, but they, unlike the characters know of one more thing. All of these - the gaps and Stefan's perceived betrayal - stem from one key person. Our old friend, Katerina.
At the end of the episode, Katherine's the one who persuades Stefan to change the plan. She's also the one who tells Stefan to "Get mad." So, my dear readers, the question you should be asking yourself when it comes to Katerina Petrova is 'What does she know?' The answer to that is everything.
We'll start with the gaps and Mikael. By now you should realise that we never went back to that cemetery, leading several to believe that Katherine was dead. But between then and the end of 'Ordinary People', I suppose one could say that Mikael and Katherine had a little chat. He's been entombed for twenty years, while she has a knack for keeping her ears close to the ground. What do we have as a result of this? Oh HAI, Plan C!
As far as I'm concerned, Katherine's dealings with Klaus are done. She was released, so is Stefan. They're free to live their lives as Klaus was never to harm them or darken their doorsteps again. So why would they choose to incite his wrath by taking away the one thing that is important to him? His family. We have four coffins left, I've marked them with little red crosses for you to see. From the 9 existing members of the Original Family, we have Klaus, Rebekah, Elijah and two more siblings. Everyone else is dead (well, you know what I mean) - Esther, Mikael, Henrik (the little one who was mauled by werewolves), and the unknown who died in Europe. One can argue that one of those coffins is empty as Rebekah isn't in hers, but the others are definitely occupied. Other than Elijah, I could mention who are in the other two, but then I'd be spoiling you :p
So these gaps - the reason why Mikael was entombed, what happened to Katherine after her blood was drained, what he and Katherine could have possibly talked about, and the possibility of it being linked to my last image - are still present, but only if you really think about them.
I have a habit of feeling incredibly sorry for some of the antagonists I come across in fiction, and Mikael is no exception. While he wouldn't get the award for Father of the Millennium Year, I think he had the best interests of his children in the front of his mind. While he certainly did not get along with Klaus when they were still human, I highly doubt he would've killed him then. He (or his wife) did not exclude Klaus when it came to protecting his children. Mikael was an immensely proud man, and proud men disliked weaknesses of any kind - even if they happen to be their own children.