James Lafferty's life may not be safe in One Tree Hill's ninth season.At this point, this doesn’t necessarily mean death, but you have to admit if they were going to kill off Lafferty’s character (Nathan), the show’s final season would be the time to do it.And it was revealed that Lafferty would appear in “multiple episodes.” That means he won’t be in every episode, or even most. There could be a very good explanation for his lack of presence. Maybe he’s just out of town a good portion of the season?

Lafferty isn’t the only cast member disappearing for a good chunk of the season dvd boxset. Jana Kramer will be away, but that’s because of scheduling conflicts, so perhaps it’s a similar situation with Lafferty, or perhaps it’s budget related? If they were to kill off Nathan, his funeral could be a useful plot device to bring back older characters for one last bit of screen time.

Speaking of people coming back; Paul Johansson returns as an actor and director. Tyler Hilton returns as a main cast member. Chad Murray and Hilarie Burton haven't return, but if they were told it was for the death of Nathan I’m sure they could be persuaded.