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TVD: Who will live to see the new year?

In a season that saw heroine Elena Gilbert become a vampire – not to mention dumping long-time love Stefan Salvatore for his bad-boy brother Damon — tonight is huge for “TVD” fans.

The mid-season finale, “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” will reportedly be the end for someone who’s been around Mystic Falls since the beginning.

Fans like to say that just because someone dies, doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the character (Alaric anyone?). But the speculation is about who will “bite” it.

If you assume that the main triangle (Elena, Stefan and Damon) are safe, one (or more) of the others — Bonnie Bennett, Caroline Forbes, Jeremy Gilbert, Matt Donovan, Carol Lockwood and Sheriff Liz Forbes — may not be so lucky.

“There will be mass casualties in the midseason finale, including someone you’ve known since Season 1,” TVGuide.com reported.

Tonight’s ep is set around a Winter Wonderland-themed party where Stefan and Caroline are fighting with Tyler over his plans for Klaus (Tyler has broken all 12 sire bonds between Klaus and his hybrids and Tyler is now the pack alpha). Klaus will make a key discovery (does he realize he no longer has his hybrid army?) that will end in violence.

Is this the mass causalities tip off? Does it mean the end to our favorite hero hybrid? But a recent tweet may reveal that he survives past tonight.

Meanwhile, Jeremy retreats to the family’s lake house with the vamp-sired Elena and Damon to conquer demons brought on by the Hunter’s mark. (Jeremy plunged a stake into his sister after Stefan forced the mark to spread.) Bonnie and the mysterious Professor Shane come along for the ride but while there, Shane drops a bombshell.

In preview photos, Damon is seen wielding a heavy-duty ax. Does Jeremy take his hunter’s legacy one step too far? We’ve already seen that Damon will do anything to protect Elena, even if it means killing someone she loves (and since he’s already killed Jeremy once, it’s easy to see how he could do it again.)

Tonight (8 p.m. on the CW) will tell who survives to see the New Year.