Sorry with the late reply but yeah….awesome message is awesome.  I couldn’t agree more Anon.  Tyler does have the best character development on the show. From the Tyler we saw in the pilot to the Tyler we see in 3x22 is proof of how far he has grown as a character.  Even towards the people, specifically the women, in his life.  He treats them ALL respectfully, from his mother to even Liz. Like in 3x02, when his mom calls Caroline a prostitute; Tyler was able to apologize to his mother respectfully for bringing a girl home and stand up for Caroline’s respect as well.  Where someone like Matt would not.  He never really stood up to his mom for Caroline and openly belittled her in public.  Like when he kissed Elena (whom he compares everyone too and puts up above all others) at her bday party, but completely ignored Caroline.  When it was he who ended things with her because he couldn’t handle her supernatural life (after he plotted with her mother to kill her) and still had the audacity to be mad at her.  Huh? How does that make any kind of sense?  

But I digress, Tyler is my favorite character on the show, and it breaks my heart because he’s completely underrated.  I love everything about him and the people in his life.  I loved Uncle Mason for wanting to protect Tyler even in death.  Liz, for accepting him in Caroline’s life.  Caroline for standing by him so he wouldn’t face the unknown alone.  His mother for accepting him instantly and unconditionally.  Despite how I feel about Matt, he over the entire time has stayed loyal to Tyler.  To caring for him after the accident, standing up to Klaus for him and breaking down at the news of Tyler’s “death.”  All these people show how much Tyler is cared for and how important he is to them.  

Yet every time Tyler is screwed over.  He gets manipulated (by the doings and compellings of Katherine) into triggering his werewolf curse; a curse that he felt was ruining his life.  He is lied to by Caroline (whom he’s come to trust) and company to protect THEIR lives (not Tyler’s) and when he reacts justifiably to truth he is chastised by the fandom for it (yes, Caroline genuinely wanted to help him, but she lied to him nonetheless); and because of those lies Tyler is left conflicted and hesitates in a life and death moment.  So after he loses the person he’s trusted most, the friend who’s becoming the girl he’s falling in love with, Tyler then has to leave town (his home, his family and his friends)  because he doesn’t want to hurt the people he loves and cares about.  He comes to finally accept his supernatural side, gets with the girl he’s been in love with, and then he’s getting killed, turned and sired.  Returns to an old side of him, gets manipulated into committing acts he normally wouldn’t, loses the girls he’s in love with and has to literally break every bone in his body to finally get not only her back but his free will.  

Which is another thing I love so much about Tyler.  Despite all of that, he’s never really complained about any of it.  He expressed how much he hated it, made some mistakes, but never let them hold him back.  In a show where almost every single male character has some amount of man-pain, Tyler is the only one who doesn’t cry and complain about it, when all the others do is whine and blame others for their troubles and misdeeds.  Tyler is a strong and capable person; even if he didn’t start off that way, that’s called growth.  He relied so much on Caroline to deal with his supernatural side, but over the season we see how Tyler is able to take control of his life.  When faced with conflict the Tyler from season one would have solved it with aggression and violence, but now we see a more controlled and calm Tyler.  One who doesn’t blame others for his mistakes, but accepts responsibility and learns from those mistakes.  If something needed fixing, he went out and fixed it.  He doesn’t wait around for help that probably wouldn’t come, he just went out and took care of it himself.  Even when it was painfully obvious to his friends that sired Tyler wasn’t really being Tyler-Tyler, they didn’t sit back and say, “Hey Tyler’s being weird, somethings really off about him we should try and figure this out since he’s just been hybridinized and shit.”  No, they dismissed it and forgot about him until he was relevant enough for them to care about again.  So then after it’s all said and done, he’s about to leave town (because The Council has put targets on his and Caroline’s backs) and run away with the girl he loves, but ends up getting hijacked and possessed by the man he hates.  Hurray. 

I whole-heartily agree with you anon.  If anyone deserves to be happy it’s Tyler.  After EVERYTHING that he’s been through, and having to do some of it all alone, he was finally able to gain back his free will only to have it ripped away from him; along with any happiness he and Caroline were going to have running away together.  Can’t have Tyler happy for too long apparently.   

Wow, I kinda rambled…a lot.  I regret nothing.  I love Tyler Lockwood and I have a lot of feelings lol.