While The Vampire Diaries hasn’t actually killed Tyler off, don’t expect to see much of Michael Trevino this season – it seems he’s gone the way of Katherine.

TV Guide has caught up with EP Julie Plec to talk about Tyler’s departure from Mystic Falls and what it’ll mean for his relationship with Caroline. And it’s bad news. Plec can confirm that Tyler will indeed be absent from the show for quite some time, because like with Katherine, “When Klaus puts his mark on you, you’re pretty f—ed.”

So until that storyline is resolved in some way (either by Klaus agreeing to let him live or leaving for New Orleans, “we do not have any plans to bring him back.” He does return for one more episode in season 4, but Plec emphasises that, “it’s not his return.”

Some fans might be happy with his temporary absence of course, seeing as it frees up Caroline for Klaus without Tyler actually having to be killed off. As for the Carolaus relationship, Plec calls it, “strange and somewhat perverse and beautiful and horrific and amazing and awful,” and promises that, “even if the spin-off does happen and we have two shows, I don’t predict that that would be the end of that relationship.”

Finally, Plec touches on the fandom’s mixed feelings about Bonnie, which she’s very much aware of. But for the writers, “she has always been the one who’s caught in between what’s right and what’s wrong and what her heritage calls for [and] what she wants to do in the name of her friends.”

And her upcoming storyline will see her being manipulated by Shane/Silas and try to find a way to bring Jeremy back to life. “And I don’t even know if Bonnie right now is aware of how insane she is,” Plec says. “Her mind has a very clear drive which is, I can bring Jeremy back.”