The Originals type TV Show network The CW

Fans of The Vampire Diaries may be mourning the official break-up of Tyler (Michael Trevino) and Caroline (Candice Accola) in the Oct. 31 episode. Trevino confirms to EW what most viewers have guessed: Tyler will be the first TVD character to visit the show’s New Orleans-set spinoff, The Originals. While The CW won’t confirm when — “sometime soon,” Trevino says coyly — or for how long, we do have an idea of why: As Tyler told Caroline, he can’t be at college when all he can focus on is his desire to make Klaus (Joseph Morgan) pay for killing his mother. Caroline begged him to love her more than he hates Klaus, but Tyler said he couldn’t and walked out. “It was actually really tough on both of us,” Trevino tells EW of shooting the teary-eyed goodbye. “In these scenes where Caroline and Tyler are going their separate ways, it’s usually that one of us is emotional and one isn’t. On this one, both of us were emotional. There were a few more takes than how it regularly goes between Candice and I.”

Tyler had just made his first appearance in season 5 one episode before he announced he was headed off again. “A lot of fans are upset that Tyler has made the decision to leave as soon as he shows up. I’m getting a little bit of flack for it on the Twitterverse here,” Trevino says. “I just want to say everything will be explained, and I think Tyler will make it good once he shows up to The Originals…. I think everybody will be happy with Tyler’s reasoning when they see what he’s been up to and what he has planned.”

Whatever that is, it seems like a dangerous mission considering Klaus is unkillable and the center of the new show, right? “Tyler’s been dealing with Klaus for a few seasons now, and it’s always a scary feeling,” Trevino says with a laugh. “But you’ve got to think at this point, because Klaus is so powerful, that he kinda maybe deep down inside likes Tyler and likes messing around with him because it gives him something to do. Klaus is just so powerful, I figure he doesn’t want to be bored all the time. If he had Tyler hunting him every now and then, a part of him might like that a little bit.”