The return of The Vampire Diaries left plenty of new questions for fans to ponder. What are Matt and Sheriff Forbes going to do now that they know the truth? Will Bonnie sacrifice herself? And most importantly, how much longer will Alaric last now that he’s possessed by Klaus?

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But there’s one big question that is still open: What happened to Tyler? The teen wolf left town with Jules at the end of episode 14 and we haven’t heard from him since. Well, now we know exactly when Michael Trevino will return.

The official network synopsis for episode 20, “The Last Day” (airing April 28) brings news of Tyler’s return to Mystic Falls, but what brings him back? Check out the official episode description:

“Damon is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to prevent Elena from being a victim of Klaus’ plan to break the curse. Damon’s actions put him at terrible odds with Stefan and the tension that started brewing between the brothers over their differing opinions of how to help save Elena’s life blows up into full-scale conflict. Tyler returns to Mystic Falls after receiving a disturbing phone call. With the full moon marking the arrival of the sacrifice ritual, Stefan and Elena spend a romantic day together — afraid it might be their last.”

Obviously the Damon vs. Stefan story will be at the center. But what is this “disturbing phone call” Tyler receives? If it makes it cut his werewolf sabbatical short, my guess would be that Tyler could be coming back for a funeral.

If that’s true, whose funeral could make Tyler return to Mystic Falls? Realistically, there are only three characters whose deaths could have that kind of effect on Tyler.

Carol Lockwood: If Tyler’s mom died, he’d certainly have to return, but would The Vampire Diaries really kill another Mayor Lockwood? Also, he’s already lost a father and an uncle, so killing Tyler’s mom would seem excessively cruel at this point.

Matt: Tyler’s best friend is the last person he spoke to before leaving Mystic Falls with Jules, and if he died, it could easily bring the werewolf back. Plus, now that Matt is secretly working with Sheriff Forbes and knows all about vampires, his life is most likely in more danger than it ever has been before.

Caroline: Killing off the girl Tyler was starting to fall in love with could certainly bring him back, and it would have the added bonus of making him so mad that he could do some real damage, especially since the episode description also reveals that it’s full moon time. And since Sheriff Forbes is already convinced her daughter is dead, it could mean that she might actually face off against Caroline.

Or maybe the “disturbing phone call” has nothing to do with death, but since we know that at least two more characters (including one series regular) will join Isobel in death before the season ends, I doubt that anything short of someone close to Tyler dying would bring him back.

(Image courtesy of the CW)

John Kubicek

Senior Writer, BuddyTV

John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire DiariesSupernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.