the inventor of all things everywhere

so. jonathan gilbert. inventor of the internet. what is your deal? and what could possibly be so great about your second pocket-watch-sized invention? (did he make anything bigger than a pocket watch? what is he, a gnome)?

so far here are my theories on what the invention does:

    1. created the gilbert rings (would explain where the rings came from)
    2. turns vampires back into humans (that'd be weird)
    3. allows one to travel through time (because the plot of this show doesn't have enough twists. obviously.)
    4. detects witches (jonathan gilbert surely knew that was a problem as well)
    5. detects werewolves (you never know)
    6. allows humans to compel the same way vampires do (jonathan gilbert, you are so entrepreneurial!)
    7. makes those candy hearts with little sayings on them (delicious)
    8. makes humans immortal (vampires without the negative side effects)
    9. kills vampires in some new and easier way than sunlight and stabbing with a stake (frankly, that would be convenient)
    10. nothing (as in the invention doesn't actually do anything. pearl was a lousy thief)

i guess most of my hypotheses have to do with what i think jonathan gilbert might have wanted. clearly he loved pearl, even though he foolishly turned her in! so i'm trying to think what he might have wanted as a consequence of that. then again, he apparently made this invention before he knew that she was a vampire (since pearl mistook it for the compass). in which case i'm voting for candy hearts.

i'm also presuming that dear ole uncle john learned about this invention from the gilbert journals. (or his other, mysterious source of knowledge, which surely stems from his natural-born douchebag powers. the douchebag powers are strong in this one).

however, he also said that he and isobel share a mutual interest (episode 20, "miss mystic falls"), and one can only infer that interest is the invention since uncle john has less than zero interest in elena. and elena is isobel's child. which reminds me:

WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ANYTHING ON THIS SHOW.

it really is shocking.