So I just finished watching the first three seasons of MTV’s Teen Wolf, and the first thing that my friend asked me about was – What did I think about Stiles and Malia, and do I still believe that Stiles/Lydia will happen. I had a long think, and here’s my answer.

In season 3 of Teen Wolf we are introduced to Malia Tate, a ‘werecoyote’ who Stiles and Scott ‘save’ by turning her back into a human. We first meet her in Episode 13 of season 3, Anchors, which is the first episode of 3b, and we first see her as a human in episode 14, More Bad Than Good. She is reintroduced in episode 20, Echo House, where she is shown to be a patient at Eichen House, the mental health facility that Stiles has committed himself into in the midst of the Nogitsune drama. After Malia expresses her resentment of Stiles for restoring her to a human and making her face her guilt she agrees to help him get into the basement to find any information on the Nogitsune. In the basement, Stiles and Malia get very comfortable on an old sofa and, after Stiles gives Malia her first kiss, Malia says she wants more and they lose their virginity to each other.

I believe that next season they will push for Malia/Stiles, but it won’t last and regress into friendship.

Let’s look at Malia first for why I believe this. Malia was nine years old when she turned into a coyote,she is now seventeen, and therefore hasn’t had any significant human comfort for eight years. Ignoring the fact that she should still have the mental capacity of a nine year old, she has been institutionalized and is trying to adjust to being human as well as suffering from crippling guilt. Stiles was one of the first people she interacted with when she became human and is therefore a source of familiarity to her, which can be seen clearer at the end of the finale when her first reaction to being able to produce claws is to turn to Stiles. This familiarity was born out of a lack of adjustment, and could lead to her becoming more dependent on him next season.

Now, at the time of Malia and Stiles’ encounter, Stiles wasn’t in the best mental place either, he was fighting a malicious demon inside of him that led to him having two personalities and had willingly committed himself into Eichen House. He was terrified and, like Malia, in need of comfort. Their encounter occurred as a spur of the moment event which is not a sound basis for a relationship.

It looks like the writers are planning on making Malia/Stiles an official couple next season. There have been plenty of hints, the main one being the fact that Malia’s name was the catalyst that finally split Stiles and Void!Stiles and their little scene at the end of the finale. We also know that the two of them will be around each other a lot next season, with Scott teaching her to harness her inner coyote and her enrollment into Beacon Hills High.

However, I also believe that Stiles/Lydia is the larger goal, and that Malia is going to be used as a vessel to get the characters to that place.

A major part of the Stiles/Lydia relationship is his unrequited feelings for her, however this dynamic has seemed to shift as the series has developed. We’ve gone from Lydia barely noticing Stiles to her kissing him and holding onto him in the midst of battle. She looked terrified whenever the possibility of him being hurt or dying was mentioned, and when Aidan, her romantic interest of the season dies she instinctively turns to Stiles for comfort, which has been a recurring theme through out the season. Whenever there is a group scene, those two are always close to each other and protective of each other, with Lydia completely trusting Stiles.

They have also removed Lydia’s love interests, leaving her very single for next season.

The growth of Lydia’s feelings for Stiles might come to a head next season, when she see’s him with Malia and realises he’s moving on and she’s missing her chance, and it will probably cause some conflict between her and Malia next season. This conflict could also be enhanced by Lydia being the only person (bar Peter Hale) aware of Malia’s true parentage, information that could easily be used against her.

Those are my opinions on the matter anyway

XOXO