What’s Next for Caroline Forbes?

After the heartbreaking mid-season finale of The Vampire Diaries I found myself asking the question – what’s next for our favorite vampire Barbie?

Obviously Caroline’s future is a bit bleak, with her best friend still trapped in the prison world, being (some-what) on the outs with Stefan, and now her mother’s fatal illness. Caroline has been through so much, it’s shocking that she’s even still alive and kicking. And yet, despite it all, here she is a strong, independent young woman.

Since the first season Caroline’s relationship with her mother was strained, though somewhere in the second season we started to see their relationship strengthen. Looking at where the two are now – her mother is her rock. How will she cope with watching her mother slowly die in front of her eyes? Is there any way to save her? Will she have to live on without her mother?

We all hope our favorite Sheriff will make it out alive (or as the living dead, at least), however, due to hints from the show’s writers, I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

The season six promotional poster showed Caroline lying on the ground while the rest of the gang remained standing – thus suggesting some despair coming up in Caroline’s future. The show’s executive, Caroline Dries said it would be a change of pace for the viewers and writers to have a dark Caroline, but followed up with, “It’d be interesting to see a darker Caroline but we would only go down that road if it felt 100% earned.” Though she’s had to deal with missing Bonnie and Stefan’s doucebaggery, that’s not enough to bring down Caroline. Her mother’s (potential) death, on the other hand…

So here’s my prediction for Caroline in the second half of season six: Caroline turns off her humanity. Losing her mother would completely destroy her, and I think it will finally be the straw to break the camal’s back. Now, there’s a few different ways the writers will handle Caroline’s lack of humanity and potential ripper status. . .

1. Stefan attempts to coach her back to turning on her humanity. Who better to understand how to get inside the mind of an emotionless ripper than the amp who created the word in the first place?
2. Enzo has a new murder buddy… Though this isn’t likely, as it seems that Enzo is, like Klaus, appreciative of Caroline’s connection to her humanity. Another potential outcome would be Enzo playing dirty in order to get Caroline to flip the switch back on. You know, torture and what not.
3. Klaus Mikaelson. We all know of his intense love for Caroline, and I highly doubt he would simply move to New Orleans and not keep tabs on what’s what with his favorite blonde vampire. Let’s say he gets wind that Caroline’s flipped the switch, I imagine he’d be quite frustrated with her. Of course, he would somehow make the time to take a little trip to go visit his beloved Caroline. Klaus and Caroline connect on a deep emotional level, and maybe an encounter with him will be enough to push her emotions to the surface. Okay, so maybe it’s unrealistic, but that sounds like a pretty great crossover if you ask me (or any other Klaroline shipper). And plus, that would be a great way to move Candice Accola to The Originals – permanently.

4.  They kill Caroline. Don’t hate me for putting this out there! She’s my favorite character on TVD, and believe me I do not want her to die, but we all know how strong-willed and determined she is; throw in some bloodlust and take away her humanity and she’s practically an unstoppable force. Plus, how awesome would it be to see Caroline as a villain for a few episodes? They can’t get the real Caroline back, so they kill her… But worry not Caroline lovers! Not everyone stays dead on The Vampire Diaries.

And there you have it! A few predictions on what’s next for Caroline in season 6. Share your comments me know what you guys think we’ll see when TVD returns!