It just hit me.

Through seasons 1-3, we have never heard any mentions of a cure to begin with. Why, suddenly, do we see an entire season focused on a cure and the repercussions of using it?

First I'm going to discuss the flaws in the theory of a cure actually existing. Just for fun.

> All those witches who go on about the balance of nature. All that 'the dead are supposed to stay dead' stuff. It kind of surprises me that Esther, the Original Witch, had no idea about a cure. And instead of trying to find a cure, she tries to kill her family 1000 years later to maintain the balance of nature. I'm sorry, but if I were a witch, I don't think I'd be in favour of seeing the confused expressions on the humans' faces when they see thousands of people across the world die simultaneously with no explanation. I'd much rather cure every vampire and wait for them to die natural human deaths.

> Klaus and Katherine. The doppelganger is a supernatural occurrence, correct? Nobody said that it was a frequent occurrence. Yet, despite not knowing when he would find the next doppelganger, Klaus sat back and waited over 500 years for Elena to be born instead of looking for a cure to shove down Katherine's throat? And now suddenly, in season four, he seems to have every bit of necessary information about the cure's existence. That's messed up.

> What about everybody else? We've had a ton of deaths on this show, all main characters. When Caroline turned, nobody even *mentioned* a cure. Instead, they threw her on Stefan who trained her to be a future ripper. Clever. When Rose (and later Damon and Caroline) was dying of a werewolf bite, you mean to tell me nobody realized that werewolf bites aren't fatal to humans? Then there's Tyler. He, in his words, transformed 'about a hundred times in the Appalachian mountains' to break the hold that Klaus had on him, then went on to force 12 other hybrids to do the same. Did nobody stop to think that a cure to vampirism might come in handy?

> You always hear people saying things about how much they want to be human again. Stefan, Damon, Caroline, Rebekah, Klaus, even that crazy Original, Finn. I get that they're all suddenly motivated by Elena's new fangs, but if they wanted it that desperately, why didn't they search for it earlier?

Alright. That's done. Moving on. (Finally, right? XD)

Secondly I'd like to find out why in the WORLD, after all that, they'd want to have a cure in the universe...

So let's see...

> There's the fact that there arefans to please. It's like when Delena fans had to sit through the latter half of season two. Stelena fans have now put up with (counting from episode 4x05) 8 or 9 episodes of continuous Delena. Now while the cure exists, the sire bond can be broken. And Stefan has a chance. A small chance, but still a chance. Delena fans on the other hand want to prove that it's been real all along. The only way we'll find out is if the sire bond is broken.

> There's the fact that this is what pretty much every vampire with a bit of humanity wants. It causes conflict, heartbreak, ridiculous amounts of angst and it means decisions and choices have to be made. Honestly, if it weren't for all the evidence against the cure, it would be the perfect plot.

> It could all be a lie (I don't think it is, because of my next point, but it could be) and the cure could actually be part of Shane's creepy Silas resurrection plan. Not a side effect like we thought, but the intended effect. Either that, or the cure comes with serious repercussions, which is why nobody's looked for one before.

> This is the main reason why I believe that the cure actually cures vampirism. The actors on TVD are not vampires. They age. It's a little bit difficult to play the part of a 17 year old Stefan when you're in your 30s. That goes for all the characters. So make them human, let their ages show, time jump and then turn them again. Problem solved. It's the most logical way to explain the ages without having character deaths or cancelling the show.

Okay. That's done too.

To conclude, the cure could be real, or it couldn't be. I personally believe it's real, but that's just me. That brings us back to exactly where we were before you read this article. Sorry, this isn't really a fact filled article, just a compilation of reasons why and why not.