action;
I think -- when we find out something has happened to someone we care about, especially family, it's hard to think straight. It often leads us to doing things we may not be totally proud of.
[Like standing on the bridge that night, when she thought the only way she could protect her other brothers. Except Niklaus wasn't really dead. And Kol ended up dying anyways, at the hands of Elena and Jeremy.]
Or that Elena loses her humanity and tries to kill her. Or that Silas will try to make her kill herself -- I doubt any of them realize just how much better they are off not knowing.