I became insane,

Ok, so I rewatched the episode and allowed myself to stop and think about everything. And the more I think about it, the less I hate it. Maybe this is just my brain going into defense mode and trying to find some type of solace.

I still believe that there were things that could have prevented Klaus from dying but for the purpose of this narrative, there wasn’t. Ok, I can come to terms with the fact that Klaus gives his life so that his daughter can live even if I think Hope would be a lot better of with Klaus in the picture. Seems unfair for her to be orphaned but then again, life isn’t always fair. Happy endings are not always black and white. Elijah taking Klaus’ place would have been a good ending but at the same time it would have been to similar to TVD so in that aspect I understand why they didn’t go that route. I’m not all for this co-dependency that Klaus and Elijah have but it is something that has been going on for 1000 years. It would have been difficult to break. I don’t think Elijah would have been able to live with himself knowing that his little brother is dead because like it or not, Elijah’s life had been consumed with Klaus. He has been feeling responsible for Klaus ever since Mikael died, being his better half this entire time so leaving him die alone was out of the question to him. This was his way of showing him that he was in it to the end with him. Find peace with his brother or face the darkness with him. In that way its kind of beautiful. 

The choice of leaving this open ended is something that has angered many, including myself. Part of me gets it. When Klaus asks Elijah what happens after. What if there is no peace but darkness. Elijah tells him that they will face that together. So that’s the point of this. That it doesn’t matter what happens or where they go. What matters is that they are together, facing whatever comes at them. Elijah the one pushing for Klaus’ redemption wants to be there to make sure it pays off in the afterlife. And there is also something comforting in knowing that they went down by their own terms. They were not killed by hatred or revenge, but by unconditional love. 

Again, I still think their deaths were unnecessary and I’m seriously done with the whole “killing the main character” trope because its a cheap way of ending a story. I think Klaus’ redemption should have been beside Hope, teaching her how to be a werewolf and watching her grow up. However, if death was the only answer then I’m glad that it went this way. That he was not alone and had his big brother, his best friend and his “soulmate” by his side. 

 Now, with all that I’m still bitter about the ambiguous ending. I understand the reason behind it as a storyteller but as a viewer I’m still annoyed by it. I still wished we had an extra scene of Klaus visiting Hope at the boarding school and smiling at her just as he smiled at Elijah when he visited him in France. That they would’ve made that smile, that happy redeemed smile, the last thing we see. I do believe that even in death, Klaus would have done whatever it took to be around Hope.

Some suggested using Aurora as a vessel for the Hollow since she is sleeping. That wouldn’t have worked because by possessing Hope in the first place, the only other vessels that could contain the Hollow would be those related to Hope by blood. Frankly, they were better off sharing the Hollow between the four of them. 

The sire line dying off. The only Original with a sire line is Rebekah. Davina unliked Klaus’ line and Elijah’s died off after he was killed by the Hollow in s4. 

Rebekah taking the cure from Damon and killing him. Damon is human right now and would start to rapidly die if the cure is taken from him. This is why its not happening now. I think the plan is to wait until Damon is ready to die of old age for Rebekah to take the cure. Or Caroline will get her the cure somehow after Damon’s death? 

Finally mustered the courage to watch the last few episodes of this show and to say that I’m disappointed is an understatement. Disappointed not only for the finale but for the season as a whole. Sometimes the show as a whole. This show had such a great potential that was just wasted on pointless storylines. I for one will forever be bitter over the fact that they focused more on Hayley than Rebekah. Nothing against Hayley because I do like her character. However, the whole baby plot shifted the focus of a show that should have been based on the Original Vampires and them finding redemption together as a family. I always thought that turning Klaus into a father was a cheap way of giving him a redemption arc but I rolled with it. I found some satisfaction watching the parallels between Klaus’ approach to fatherhood and Mikael’s. How the cycle of abuse was broken by a creature everyone believed to be the devil. I did enjoy all of the scenes with Klaus and Hope and how this baby ended up transforming him. I wished it had been the love he had for his siblings without the addition of a baby but I digress.

So in season 3 Klaus sacrifices himself for his siblings and for Hope and misses most of her childhood. Then, the Hollow happens and he is unable to be around Hope without causing the apocalypse. He decides to completely ignore his daughter for years because he didn’t want to destroy her. However, after Hayley’s death he decides to step up and be the father he always wanted to be but was too afraid to try. Awesome. I could have accepted Hayley’s death if it meant that it would give Klaus the push he needed to be Hope’s dad. He decides to die instead. We also spent all this time hearing about Elijah’s sickening co-dependency with Klaus. How much he suffered because of the crimes he committed as a vampire. The whole Elijah losing his memories storyline forced Klaus to stand on his own. To believe that he could be a good father and a good man on his own. Elijah had served his purpose so him taking Klaus’ place would have been the perfect ending for him. He would have died with the knowledge that Klaus was redeemed and he would’ve found his peace in the afterlife. Julie Plec mentioned that their happy ending was them being released from the burden of immortality but lets remember that Klaus actually liked being a hybrid. He liked his strength and his power. The things he hated were his feeling of not being good enough and his fears of abandonment. His cruelty over the years was a defense mechanism because he never wanted to feel weak and powerless again. It wasn’t vampirism. He has stated plenty of times that he enjoys being the immortal hybrid. So this is not the ending he wanted. He wanted to live and watch Hope grow into a beautiful woman. 

I don’t ship Klaroline. I’ve been very up front regarding my feelings towards this ship, but even that was a waste. Why bring Caroline to the show in the first place? Why drag her towards another heartache? It just further shows that it was just last minute fan service. Seriously I could have jumped on the ship if Julie had written them and treated the characters with the respect they deserved. Treated her audience and her fans with the respect they deserved. 

 Her lack of imagination is outstanding. Why not put Klaus into a magical coma like they did Aurora or a chambre de chasse like they have done before until they found out a way to rid the hollow from him? Because he is immortal he could sleep for as long as necessary. Desiccate him like they once did before? Turn him to stone like they did with Sylas? Or curse him into werewolf form forever and have him visit Hope at school in his werewolf form. Which by the way, YOU NEVER SHOWED! 

But okay, let’s say for arguments sake that THIS was the only possible solution because the Hollow is just too powerful to contain. Why the ambiguity? I get the allure of open endings because it gives us the opportunity to come up with our own ending but in this case its just wrong. Why not showing the audience the peace that they both wanted?  I accepted the fact Stefan died because we saw him finding peace with Lexi. We know he missed Damon but he got to spend the afterlife with his best friend who he missed dearly. We saw it. Right after Elijah and Klaus killing one another and their ashes are taken away by the wind, the screen turns to black and we are left empty. 

Instead, they should have shown Hope Mikaelson getting ready to leave for the Salvatore Boarding School, putting books and the picture of herself as a baby with her parents. Then you see Klaus standing by the door, watching her, smiling and saying “I’m so proud of you, my littlelest wolf.” At least we would know that he is happy in the afterlife and watching over the daughter he fought so hard to protect.