You know what I really do hope that the rumoured spoiler about Stefan going off to find a cure for Damon is true & it is a 'farewell' that takes place between himself & Elena. Because Delena do NEED time alone together, it is important for Elena to become more comfortable with her feelings for Damon & to discover more about one-another. And this way there is no '3rd Wheel' there in the background aka STEFAN interfering. DE just can't seem to get to that stage that they need to get to with Stefan around. It would also make alot of sense for Stefan to go off in search of something & a cure sounds like the perfect solution to get rid of him LOL. It sounds possible that the writer's may have the idea on DE that they don't want to & perhaps can't develop them fully & properly as a real couple whilst Stefan is around all the time & in the picture. To me it makes sense that if S3 is to be DE season then I can't see how Stefan would fit into all of that, I mean I guess he would at some-point. Obviously he would be back & probably wouldn't be gone for a long period of time, but they can't really kick-start DE getting together with Stefan there because there is just no way that he would be okay with it & the writer's are well aware of that, they'd need something to get him out of the way for a few episodes, so DE can properly develop & fully express themselves & their feelings with one-another. Elena definitely needs to be free of Stefan for a while so she can concentrate on what she really wants including her growing feelings for Damon, with Stefan there it would make it very hard because she would only end up spending almost all of her time with him & at the same time Stefan isn't big on being nice about Damon so i'd imagine he would be filling her with negative thoughts about 'why Damon's eternally bad & how he isn't capable of doing good' which even if she doesn't believe what he says to be true it's the last thing that she needs to be hearing.

I agree, ^ I think Stefan being away for a while is necessary to the development of the triangle, DE, and to be honest, SE. SE need to be challenged, Stefan needs time away from Elena so he can be a more interesting character. He's in such danger of being a completely bland and unexciting character this season. His relationship with Elena doesn't help at all. In fact, she's the reason why he's become so boring in the first place. I'm very encouraged with all the spoilers and stills. Stefan has to leave town for a few episodes - not the whole season - but a few episodes at least, otherwise his presence and his relationship with Elena will prevent the triangle from moving any further. The writers must know what a hindrance Stefan is to the triangle and DE. Having Damon bitten by a vampwolf is the perfect reason for Stefan to leave town for a bit. It's the perfect situation for DE to get closer without Stefan around. It's been hard this season, but I really think the writers have a plan and know what they're doing.

If you've read the books, they might be using his delirium instead of being possessed by a demon (Nightfall). He ends up doing some bad things, but he is eventually cured by Elena, who uses her powers to destroy the creature inside of him. Stefan is gone for the majority of the book.

Yeah, I also think that picture of Stefan and Elena is a sort of farwell picture before he sets off.

@Delenasalvatore, I completely agree with you.

It's necessary for Stefan to leave for himself because lets face it, he has become incredibly dull and even Matt is more interesting than him these days! Even Jenna has more of a story line now she knows about vampires. Stefan has appeared to be just there, doing the same old thing as he did in season one - loving Elena and being the "good brother." Stefan leaving would give him purpose; to look after his brother, to save him, to go deeper into their relationship than ever before.

And you're so, SO right when it comes to Stefan being a hinderance. He's never away long enough for Delena to really develop. That's why I was completely devastated when he wasn't trapped in that tomb longer than he was - it was a golden opportunity and it was snatched away. The show is beginning to follow the books a little more than I expected, in particular with Klaus, so for Stefan to leave and find a cure would be plausible, realistic and a perfect opportunity for Delena to develop. It needs to happen, and Stefan hanging around will not let it.

However there are a couple of niggling thoughts about this :-( firstly Stefan, Elena and Damon have NEVER been absent for a whole episode. I hope the writers are brave enough to bring that forward with Stefan leaving to save Damon. But considering DE have had a very rocky season, with more negative scenes than good, Stefan's leaving would not be a horrible thing to do for the SE fanbase... considering we have pretty much been through it all, and they've barely had a kink in their ship