The Vampire Diariesintroduced a storyline that was unfair to Damon and everyone who wanted him to succeed. The Sire Bond storyline kicked off inThe Vampire Diariesin season 3’s episode, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” when Damon discovered that Tyler was sired to Klaus. Essentially, all the hybrids that were created by Klaus were sired to him, meaning that they had to obey his every command. When Elena turned into a vampire, Damon became her sire because it was his blood that turned her.Elena and Damon’s Sire Bondwas extremely rare because they were both vampires.

Damon and Elena’s relationship inThe Vampire Diarieswas one of the highlights of the show. Their will-they-won’t-they dynamic carried the series for several seasons. Unfortunately, their love story was unnecessarily complicated by the introduction of the Sire Bond plot. While the Sire Bond storyline was unnecessary to their romance, it was essential because it showed that Damon had evolved as a character.

Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore and Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert in The Vampire Diaries

The Vampire Diaries' Sire Bond Storyline Was A Slap In The Face To Damon Salvatore

Damon Salvatore Deserved Better

Damon and Elena’s Sire Bond storyline received criticism from the moment it was introduced to the show. Since total obedience is the core of the Sire Bond,this meant that Elena had to do anything that Damon asked of her. Their Sire Bond not only raised questions about consent and the power imbalance between them, but it also painted Damon in a bad light. The insertion of the Sire Bond into Damon and Elena’s storyline implies that he took advantage of Elena, even though that really wasn’t the case.

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While he hasn’t always been a good guy,Damon has done some heroic things inThe Vampire Diaries. He loved Elena and his endgame was never to control her. Further, Elena being sired to him nullified his character growth because it made him seem like he hadn’t changed.The Sire Bond storyline dragged him back to being the selfish character he was in the show’s first season, thus making him unredeemable. To his credit, Damon went to look for a way to break the Sire Bond because he didn’t want Elena to indulge his every whim.

Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert and Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries season 1, episode 11.

Why The Sire Bond Was A Terrible Way To Get Damon & Elena Together After 4 Seasons

The Sire Bond Storyline Was Pointless

Since the first season ofThe Vampire Diariesaired, it was pretty obvious that Damon and Elena were meant to be together. The previous seasons of the show had been building up to whenElena would finally choose Damon over Stefan, but unfortunately, that moment was overshadowed by the Sire Bond arc.Elena and Damon had a passionate love story that should have been handled with careinstead of raising questions about whether their feelings for each other were genuine.

Instead, their relationship was cheapened by an unnecessary storyline that didn’t end up going anywhere.

A closeup of Elena and Damon dancing together during the Miss Mystic Falls competition in The Vampire Diaries

Their love story deserved to begin naturally, especially because of all theDamon and Elena moments featured inThe Vampire Diariesthat were leading up to it. Instead, their relationship was cheapened by an unnecessary storyline that didn’t end up going anywhere. However, there is one thing that saved the Sire Bond storyline and that was the fact that Elena had feelings for Damon before she became a vampire.The Sire Bond might have meant that she couldn’t disobey Damon, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t love him.

The Vampire Diaries Barely Addresses This Storyline After Elena Turns Her Humanity Off

The Sire Bond Storyline Was Introduced To Make Things Interesting

There are two ways to break a Sire Bond between vampires. The first one is for the Sire to free the one bonded to them. The other one is for the bonded vampire to turn off their feelings. After Jeremy dies, Damon orders Elena to turn off her humanity, essentially breaking the Sire Bond. The Sire Bond is barely mentioned after Elena turns off her humanity,which makes the whole storyline pointless because it’s not really used for anything.

At the end ofThe Vampire Diaries, Damon and Elena had the happily ever, after they always wanted, thus proving that the Sire Bond storyline was unnecessary.

The Vampire Diaries New Poster

The Vampire Diariesusually has 22 episodes in a season, so the writers had to find a way to introduce a storyline that would keep audiences entertained. When speaking toEntertainment Weeklyabout the controversial Sire Bond storyline,The Vampire Diarieswriter Caroline Dries said, “I don’t remember exactly why we did it, but when you have 22, 23 episodes of something, you just have to complicate it.“At the end ofThe Vampire Diaries, Damon and Elena had the “happily ever after” ending they always wanted, thus proving that the Sire Bond storyline was unnecessary in the first place.

The Vampire Diaries

Cast

Based on the novels by L.J. Smith, The Vampire Diaries is a story about the developing love triangle between Elena Gilbert and two vampiric brothers, Stefan and Damon Salvatore. Set in the town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, the show follows the trio from high school through college as they battle for one another’s affection.