Exactly, it would have been a hollow victory but still better than the alternative.
Side note but I just read the most ridiculous thing about Julie Plec on Twitter.
Apparently she became a "woke feminist" after the election and decided to end an abusive relationship on one of her shows as a result of that. I think she was referring to Elijah/Hayley.
But what I find ridiculous is that she still sees no problem with teasing Klaroline, a ship that is uniquely abusive even for this show. Because the fact is that Klaus attacked Caroline when he was in love with her while being fully aware of what he was doing and he did it just to hurt her/kill her. I know people like to use the excuse that every relationship on this show is abusive which I don't even think is true but whatever, it's still the only ship where the guy has willingly tried to kill the girl he was in love with.