See what The Vampire Diaries exec Julie Plec has to say about the events of “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” and what she can tease about the show’s return in January!

The winter finale of The Vampire Diaries was extremely dramatic and saw big developments on both the mythology and shipping fronts. Klaus killed all the Hybrids and Tyler’s mother, while Damon finally told Elena to let him go.

Speaking to TV Line and TV Guide, Julie Plec helps fans make sense of it all, and previews the fallout.

Tyler, Hayley and the Hybrids

Most significantly is Tyler’s reaction to losing all of his pack and his mother, and Plec warns that he’s, “Not handling it altogether too well. He’s keeping to himself, refusing to show his emotions and stewing in his own grief and anger, which is making it difficult to help him. It’s sad for Caroline, who just wants to be there for him.”

The death of Carol will also have other repercussions. Mystic Falls will be in want of a mayor, and when the show returns, we’ll be introduced to the character Rudy Hopkins, a new mayor candidate – who also happens to be Bonnie’s father, played by Rick Worthy! “He’s been caught up to speed and filling in the blanks of information that he knew or didn’t know over the years,” Plec explains, “so now he’s playing both the role of concerned mayor for the town and concerned father for his daughter.”

Hayley, after setting the events in motion, will have “skedaddled,” and just as Rebekah returns, “we won’t be seeing her for a while.”

Klaus and his general evilness

In this last episode we got some new insight into Klaus’ character when he told Stefan that he essentially kills because he’s lonely. Still, he just offed a dozen Hybrids in a truly horrible fashion, so what’s the deal? Are fans supposed to sympathise?

Plec doesn’t have an answer, but she does say that Klaus is, “a survivalist; when you betray him, you get beat down.” He is also defined by his past, as “a guy who frankly was not loved by his parents and hates himself for still wanting the life where he can trust people and love people.” This affects how he treats Caroline and his siblings, “but as we’ve also seen when he feels backed up against a wall or mistreated or abused he lashes out in the most dramatic way possible.”

April and Rebekah

Now that April finally knows the truth, Plec says that, “she’s angry. She feels manipulated. She feels lied to. And she’s not going to take it lightly. So she’s going to be a little bit of a problem in the next episode.”

Rebekah, meanwhile, will be exacting some beautiful revenge now that she’s undaggered. “She’s saving Klaus for another time, another day,” Plec says. “First thing first, she’s trying to get back at Stefan.”

The Sire Bond

Stefan, meanwhile, has “got a lot to deal with emotionally and he has a lot of decisions to make about how he’s going to deal with what he feels is a terrible, terrible betrayal from his brother, a profound disappointment and the loss of his girl,” Plec says.

Plec also talks about Elena’s feelings for Damon, and to what extent they’re real. “Until the sire bond fundamentally doesn’t exist – which as long as Elena’s a vampire, it seems to be that’s going to be in play – we’ll have to ask ourselves those questions,” Plec says, not quelling our poor shipper woes one bit! Elena, “in fact, really believes what she feels is 100 percent genuine and real,” Plec explains, and “she feels like there wouldn’t be a sire bond to begin with if there wasn’t some kind of love there.”

The Silas chapter

So what’s next? When the show returns, “that is our Silas chapter,” Plec reveals. “And it brings everything to a head as far as those things are concerned.” As far as whether he’s the big bad of the season (we’re saying probably!), Plec only says that he’s, “definitely someone who is going to be representing a lot of fear and tension for the rest of the season.”

Finally we’ve got a bit more info via Julie Plec’s Twitter; she reveals there that contrary to the Vampire Hype podcast’s brilliant theory, Damon is not sired to Katherine. Oh well.

The Vampire Diaries 4×10 “After School Special” will air January 17 at 8/7c on The CW.