Vampire Diaries Season 4, Episode 7, “My Brother’s Keeper” – Death, Inevitable or Tragedy

Death in the real world is either naturally occurring, manually brought about, expected or unexpected. No matter how it presents itself this stage in life is at best inevitable. In this episode of Vampire Diaries death is the theme. In the following examples of this compelling theme will be illustrated.

To be alive is to have a heartbeat with red blood pulsating through ones veins. Being alive is to be coherent of one’s surroundings to interact to tire to rest. Elena is no longer human. She became a vampire after dying with vampire blood in her system-- blood that was harvested and administered to her by a doctor trying to heal her.

Jeremy, Elena’s brother, wears a ring that allows him to cheat death—identical to the one his friend and mentor, Alaric, wore. Alaric was driven mad after overcoming death once too often and eventually died. Jeremy is now a hunter, a shell of his former self. With this new identity comes a reward and curse. The reward is greater intensity, reflexes, strength, and cunning. The curse is the slow loss of his humanity. Understand that the duty of a hunter is to kill vampires. Each death reveals a growing tattoo on his body-- a map that will lead to the ultimate weapon and possible cure for all vampires. This is the cure that could save his sister and return her to her former self--a choice she has already denied once before.

Elena has killed to save her loved ones as a human. As a vampire, she has killed to satisfy her hunger for human blood. The string that binds her to her humanity has been stretched to near capacity; yet, she continues to love and care. When a human is turned into a vampire, the feelings they harbored are intensified. At this point she can only feed from humans to live. That could be due to a rare occurrence when she was turned. For all the good she does as a vampire by definition she is still dead.

Jeremy has dreamt of killing his sister and preys upon others like her. His ruthlessness is ever growing and will consume him eventually; yet, he is still alive. Ironically, the questioned must be asked. What will his friends and family do with him after they find the weapon? In order to turn him into a hunter a freed hybrid had to be killed by Jeremy. This hybrid was an innocent bystander but already dead on the inside. Even after that chased day dawns, Jeremy will still be a hunter with a non-negotiable duty to eradicate Mystic Falls of all vampires.

In conclusion this episode has branched off into many micro storylines that will eventually merge into an unbelievable finale. Elena may be eventually cured, but to be cured means to cheat death in a new fashion. Death does not forget; it merely comes back when one least expects it. Even if Jeremy is instrumental in finding the cure and is released from his hunter duties, the consideration of the effect of the ring must be revisited. One must also consider what he may do if ever in the presence this weapon. Will his stifled humanity shine through, or will his new found aggression bring about the death of his sister and others like her? Stay tuned!