‘Vampire Diaries':— Season Finale Recap | TVLine 

Ladies and gentlemen, Elena Gilbert has (pretty much) left the building.

marked Nina Dobrev‘s final episode as a series regular, and even though we’ve known this day was coming for months, nothing could have prepared us for the emotional sucker punch that was her fond farewell.

EP Explains Elena’s Exit, Stefan’s Big Move; Previews ‘Dark’ Damon, Season 7’s Big Bad and More

Here’s how it went down: Kai — who killed himself with Lily’s blood in his system, thus becoming a heretic — put a spell on Elena, linking her to Bonnie; as long as Bonnie lived, Elena would remain in a sleep-like trance. And if Miz Bennett attempted to find a loophole (TV witch buzzword!), they’d 

Team #Bamon managed to defeat Kai, but because waking Elena would mean killing Bonnie, the gang decided to keep her at rest. In a series of heartbreaking — and I mean absolutely rip-your-heart-out-and-stomp-it-into-pieces — sequences, Elena’s friends let her into their thoughts in an attempt to say goodbye… because they won’t be seeing her until Bonnie grows old and dies. (Or whenever the next big bad kills her, whichever comes first.)

game-changing development introduced in the finale. Let’s do a quick rundown of the episode’s other major moments:

* As I feared, based on my less-than-hopeful interview with executive producer Julie Plec, our girl Jo did

survive her encounter with Kai at the altar. (Note to all future guest stars: Don’t. Date. Alaric.)

* Since she was certain to die anyway, Liv convinced Tyler to kill her in order to trigger his werewolf gene, transform and heal himself. To be honest, Luke’s angsty sister was never my absolute favorite, but watching Tyler suffocate his own girlfriend was 

. (Bonus scoop: Find out where Tyler went!

* During a particularly jaw-dropping chat between Caroline and Stefan, he revealed that, in his mind, he and Elena weren’t meant to end up together. (“We loved each other, but she was also the only person I’ve ever met who believed my brother was worth loving,” he told her. “Her faith in him brought me and Damon back together. … I loved her more than I ever thought I could love somebody else, but I think in the end, I needed him more than I needed her.”) But in the end, everything turned out A-OK for #TeamSteroline. In fact, Stefan 

dropped the L-bomb on her! (So for those of you asked

week, our sweeps scorecard will be updated in the morning.)

* With Kai dead, his cloaking spell on the heretics was lifted, reuniting Lily and (Lor)enzo with their “family.”

* Lastly, a time jump: Not only did we see a heartbroken Damon struggling to live without Elena in his life, but we also got our first look at Officer Matt Donovan!

fans, how are you holding up? Weigh in on Elena’s exit — and the finale in general — below.

As a Klaroline fan, I was not happy with that ending scene between Stefan and Caroline. It was a complete rip off from what Klaus told her! It even included the kiss on the cheek and her coy smile.

So much schmaltz. Every relationship and dynamic Elena’s had lost its charm seasons ago, so all the goodbyes were just meh.

Damon saving Bonnie and the levitating feathers scenes though, might have pulled a heartstring or 2.

You forgot to mention that Mystic Falls has died.

I really wish we had a gotten a 2hr finale. We had way too much ground to cover. I wanted to see more Alaric & his reaction to Jo’s death. I’m going to miss Kai & his oneliners.

I enjoyed Nina’s sendoff and I am a fan of Stefan and Damon as brothers most of all. I also enjoy the Stefan and Caroline pairing. “Steroline” make so much sense to me in terms of friends turned lovers that I hope Julie and company allow their obstacles to be more about the external crazy around them, which was not unlike what happened with Stefan and Elena for the first three seasons of the show. I cannot imagine either one of them straying and they get along so well that it’ll be interesting to see what kind of conflict the writers can conjure for them.

Horrible. No wonder Nina Dobrev wanted to leave.

I thought it was pretty perfect on all counts…well the extended Dancing with the Stars moment got a little weird, but loved tonight. It let the entire ensemble shine.

I’m glad I’m not the only one that thought the dance choreography took away from the intended emotion of the moment.

Wasn’t that what they danced when he escorted her to that presentation party?

I agree. I was like, “Why is this dance getting so much air time?”

That was the cheesiest hour of TV I’ve ever seen. The dance was absolutely laugh inducing. It’s been fun but I won’t be coming back next season. I have no interest in seeing angsty Damon and zero chemistry Stefan with Caroline. Speaking of Stefan – did the actor just flat out stop trying? He was so great on this show and now he is so blah. Maybe he thinks the writing is dreadful which it is.

Completely agreed .Maybe even Paul Wesley realized the show is doomed now and there is no point of trying.And the storyline is rubbish.it has been since season 4.Julie Plec does know to to ruin a show.

this isn’t ok the vampire diaries was my full absolute life, I am now sitting in tears in my bed balling my eyeballs out of there sockets! Nina please come back you mean everything to us!

Horrible, disappointing, but with putting Elena to sleep, she can always come back… I’m sure the writers of the site has a super duper hard time getting to put an ending together… but season 7 episode 1 will have to be out of this world to bring back alot of us fans…. Elena and Stephan were my reason for watching then you guys switched it up, now he’s in love with Caroline…. crazy, Good luck with episode 7-1

At least they didnt kill her off and she could return for the series finale if Nina wished.

That’s EXACTLY what I was thinking. That in the series finale, maybe it will have a future flash-forward and show her awake. Bonnie will sadly be dead (most likely), but Elena and Damon will be able to live happily ever after!! I’m so excited for next season!!!!!

Lily, that is exactly what I’m hoping the series finale will be.

That is exactly what I was hoping too. The series finale will end with a flash forward 60-70 years and while our human and witch characters are gone, we’ll get to see Elena wake up to Damon, Stefan, and Caroline. And see how her other friends lived out their lives.

Heartbreaking finale. It’s a bit far fetched but at least Elena’s not dead.

Not looking forward to next season, I’m still not sold on Steroline.

The door is open for Nina to come back in the series finale next year and ride off into the sunset with Damon.

I’ll miss Kai, but I’m glad they didn’t overdo it with him. I liked all the goodbyes. I can accept what happened to Elena, and I’m proud of Damon for not going back on Bonnie. I will be loyal to this show. The writers can’t help that Nina is leaving. I want to see where the show is going afterward.

I’m sad about Jo and the babies. That’s just too mean. Poor Alaric. He needed a win.

I agree the writers can’t help that Nina is leaving but at least make her exit a little smarter .because in season 5 when quetsia lured Elena in her hut and would have killed her if Damon did not do as she said which meant going against Silas and not bringing back bonnie.at that point Elena said Damon would never put anyone’s life including his own.Then how come he chooses bonnie now and let’s Elena rot in a sleep .The writers are just drunk and contradicting everything they said in earlier seasons

Well thats just it, she’s sleeping without aging and he’s still a vampire. This wasn’t that tough a choice. He knows he will get Elena back and that they will have the life they planned, just not for a few decades. If he’d let Bonnie die, it would have undone all his character development.

You fangirls and your character development.Kai never said anything about the sleep stopping ageing and if they had to put her to the damn sleep why bother with the cure.The storyline is crap.Selena sorry Dullena sucks and ruined the show

I guess you don’t listen when you watch things, because Kai said she would be young, human, and preserved in that moment indefinitely. That’s what he said to Damon. Keep up.

If he would have killed Bonnie, that would have ruined his relationship with Elena. PLUS, he had a relationship with Bonnie that only the two of them can understand after being trapped together. She sacrificed herself to get him back home. They are friends. Maybe he would have done it one season ago, but not now.

And it’s not like she’s going to die. She’s frozen in time, and he has waited A LOT longer for a woman. He’ll live.

You got the sleep part wrong.Elena will stay young but other than that I totally get you.But don’t waste your time on these 13 year old delena shippers.these girls don’t see the show for it’s story but just for romance.I might watch season 7 if they focus more on the brotherly relationship and story and less on the shippings and romance

I am very disappointed with the season finale I was really hoping that he Lena would not leaveit won’t be much of a show now that she is gone don’t know if I will continue to watch her and Damien I love tuning in every single week but now there’s not much to tune in for

If Elena and bonnie are linked and the spell can kmly be broken if one dies, can’t they just put Jeremy’s ring that brings you back from the dead on bonnie, and kill her, break the curse and she’ll come back?

Bonnie’s a witch. Ring doesn’t work. They could turn her into a vampire, but no one wants that.

After you take the cure, vampire blood doesn’t work.

All that hype and that was it. Please tell me next season won’t be all about Damon crying over Elena.

Really?! Why do they continue to retcon Stefan and Elena’s love story? Such crap! And now Stefan loves Caroline?! Nope, not buying it.

I think there is a loophole that would work. One of Lily’s friends could absorb the curse’s magic and Kai’s anti-loophole spell. It probably won’t happen, but it would probably work.

I am curious what’s in store for the next season.. how I feel about what just happened will also largely depend what happens next.

Putting Elena on pause.. makes me wonder if we will see her in in a time jump? That would be kinda cool if it happens! But they’d have to take a sci-fi turn, not sure they’d do that. Hope

Absolutely loved it! I tried to fight back tears, but couldn’t. Heartwrenching and I loved the dance scene in the end. Did not expect to love the episode this much as I did not want Nina to leave, but I’m just hoping she promised Julie that she’d come back for the series finale someday. I really hope so because this can’t be the last time we see Elena Gilbert.

Oh my, I just can’t believe how much I loved it!!

So basically they witch daggered her a la The Originals. How original.

Personally I loved it. I have always been team Delena so I was worried what Nina leaving would mean for them, but now Damon gets to stay a vampire and he has to wait for the love of his life again. At least this time she loves him back. I also think the time jump will be interesting, it has to be at least a year if not more like 5 or 6 not sure how long it takes to become a police officer, but who else thinks this will bleed over to The Originals? This could solve the problem of baby Hope having to be a baby. Also Go #TeamSteroline!

Excellent point about the bleed (love that pun) into the Originals. I hadn’t thought of that. I loved the episode too..surprisingly & esp Alaric. …Elena telling him to let the pain drown him because there is no way out of it…only through it.

One HUGE ques that’s really bothering me, though, is if a witch’s spell is broken w/their death how come Kai ‘ s binding of Bonnie and Elena didn’t break as well?? Oh yeah right Nina ‘ s leaving. Good timing for the writers to throw all their established rules out the window.

the spell was sealed with his death, also this has been established that some spells if not tied to something else are tied to a witches life…this was sealed with his death.

I feel like the show should end now. Just adding another season is just prolonging it. After season 3 tvd lost its spark. Now without Elena it’s too much it’s just not the same. The show was basically about her and now that she’s gone I feel like tvd lost its ground. Finale made me it’s the last episode I am going to watch nice send off!

i know that sometimes i can hurt to see your favourite show be ended by hurting stuff like people dieing i have been through that i feel so sorry for you

This, I can honestly say, was their best episode since season 4 (excluding everything with Katherine, of course), and definitely the best episode this season. Finally, finally, the writers managed to pace themselves evenly between the action, the bloodshed, the tragic deaths, and the (somewhat redundant) shipping scenes, which for a change weren’t frustrating to watch. Also, Caroline and Stefan finally, finally showed some actual chemistry, romance-wise… Now, as long as next season is action-packed and the teenage romance and melodrama is put to the back, we’ll be five by five. Or, those of us who don’t watch the show for “who-dates-who”, will… P.S. Alaric’s worse than a black widow at this point… he’s a death sentence for unsuspecting ladies!

Lol @ last comment. Totally agree….looks like there is change and some real character development that could come about.

… how are they going to keep Elena alive? Don’t they need to feed her or something? I’m assuming Bonnie did some witchy woo to keep her in stasis but… still…

Anyway, all the way through I was going, “What the heck?!? This is messed up.” But it was a great episode. I actually will miss that psychopathic, murdering Gemini… I am sensing a Joker mentality, and I think it’s fun to see it play out.

Elena and Damon broke my heart. I will miss Tyler… and poor Jo :( poor Alaric!!!!

Wish they’d ended with a vision of Damon and Elena with their daughter who they name after Bonnie but maybe thats better reserved for a series finale rather than a season finale. But I think I actually enjoyed tonights episode, I wasn’t always sure though. Now we basically know that DE are endgame, so I hope Bamon never become romantic because that would be kind of sleazy of them. I doubt I’ll watch the next season when it airs but I’ll probably netflix it after. The cliffhanger has potential for an epic ending season with the heretics. Hated Tyler killing Liv after telling her he loved her, kind of made it difficult to beileve he actually loved her. Stefans speech to Caroline about Elena not being his soulmate and that he always loved Damon more made perfect sense to me, thats the way I saw things from the very beginning. It was’t what I wanted but with Elena, we got the best we were going to get so I’m okay with it.

Honestly, I didn’t even watch. The worst thing a fan can feel towards their show is indifference. I don’t love the show or hate it, I just don’t care to see it anymore. I feel sad for what it used to be. Vampire Diaries, going out with a whisper.

You know, Elena is one of the big 3 and her exit would be a big thing, but Tyler gets a 15 second word from Elena that he needs to get out of Mystic Falls and that is all the goodbye he gets? I hope one day Michael Trevino gets loose lipped about how this show has treated him over 6 seasons as a series regular. I will be watching next season. If I don’t have to endure episode after episode of Damon and Elena and their over the top love story, the Heretic storyline may be palatable. Long live Bonnie, never during the series run shall Elena rise again.

I think the episode would of been better if Elena died, Damon losing it and ripping Kai limp from limp and then leaving Mystic Falls

And I’m done with the Vampire Diaries. This show was Elena’s story and should not continue without her.

I don’t understand how when Kye died his magic died as well so then y didnt it unlink Elena and Bonnie? I’m confused by that. I was waiting for her to wake in a sealed coffin but no one knows it because damon had bonnie spell it. So confused

I just posted that query above before I saw yours–it’s a HUGH error on the part of the writers. I want to hear Plec explain that next season. Also how did Kai get out of the prison world w/o the Ascendant–even if he was able to siphon all the magic in the universe? And I also don’t remember establishing that the Gemini coven being linked to Kai. All these continuity conundrums.

you dont listen because its been said over and over again…reason why tyler was soo pissed liz went after kai because either way she dies…the coven became tied to him upon his merge with luke.

the spell was sealed with kai’s death, reason why even he couldnt break it. He told bonnie this

I didn’t like the end. I am sad Elena left. This is not a good love story. I hope Elena comesback in season 7 and marry Damon like the way it suppose to be.

Of all the things that annoyed me in TVD’s past three seasons, Bonnie not getting to kill Kai will rank as number 1. Yes, even more so than Stefan acting like Elena’s only real purpose in his life was to make him love his brother more, ok. Anyway, Bonnie and Kai have basically been rivals all season. And though I loved Kai all season, I knew he would die tonight. And he was actually annoying this ep, a bit too extra and whiny (reason I disliked Klaus and Damon), instead of his usual lovable insane socio-self. Bonnie has been harmed the most by him, she’s the one who built a whole season rivalry with him, she’s the one who made him look like a fool countless times. She deserved to be the one to kill him. It would have been a great poetic moment, they were constantly intertwined in a way (history btw themselves and their coven history). Only Harry should kill Voldemort, not freaking Ron (only relevant reference I could think of right now. lol) She deserved that moment. It’s like Liz’s final moments w/ Damon all over again. I don’t know why the writers keep deciding to give Damon all the moments. I was actually okay w/ Damon for most of the season. But it’s seriously starting to get annoying that the writers want him to be the moon, the stars and the sun on this show. I’ll give TVD a try next season to see how it works without Nina, but if it’s too much of the Damon show, I’m going to have to finally cut the cord.

The dead twin babies was a bit much. Truly unnecessary to the plot of the show.

I’m confused, if kys cloaking spell was lifted after his death then y wouldn’t his spell linking Bonnie and Elena be broken as well? The writing is a contradiction. Makes no sense to me

This is the first time that I’ve ever commented on this site, although I’m on here constantly and always reading everyone’s comments. I thought that the finale was phenomenal. I’ll be the first to admit that I am a Delena and Steroline fan so I’m sure I’m biased, but I felt like Stefan’s speech about him and Elena felt genuine. I shipped Stelena at the beginning of the series, but they never felt like the “it” couple to me. As soon as the idea of Delena was introduced I was sunk. I don’t think that the writers were making less of the Stelena relationship as I’ve read some people commenting. Stefan said he loved her more than he ever thought he could love someone, but the most important thing that he got from their relationship was his relationship with his brother. How does this not make sense? Reading some of the comments have me shaking my head, because there are always going to be things that we don’t like happening on our shows. But if it’s a good story, shouldn’t we see how it all plays out? I understand some people don’t like Steroline and that’s okay, because there are always going to be shipping wars. But for the people who are saying it’s unbelievable for Stefan to be in love with Caroline, how is it unbelievable? Best friends fall in love all the time. It’s not like it happened overnight. He’s had time to get over Elena so I think that it’s 100% plausible.

Now as for how they handled Nina’s departure, I think that it was a great way to end Elena’s run on the show (at least until the series finale). They didn’t kill her so we don’t have to watch Damon go off the deep end and there’s hope for their future together. Plus I think that it showed just how far Damon has come from season 1 as a character. He wasn’t selfish. He didn’t kill Bonnie, which we all know would’ve happened earlier in the series if this had happened. I think it’ll let us see more friendships blossom including Bamon. And since most of their friends are immortal, she’ll get to see them again. I know that someone mentioned that it was like a witch’s dagger from The Originals so it’s not an “original” idea, but who cares? It leaves things open for a happy ending one day. I cry at anything even remotely sad so although I enjoyed the goodbyes, they definitely had me in tears. But I felt like it was a nice way to wrap things up for Elena AND Nina. And it was great to see Jeremy get to say goodbye too.

Poor Alaric. He just can’t win in love can he? Maybe he’ll get a happy ending one day. The Tyler and Liv scene killed me. Michael Trevino was amazing in this scene. I’m glad that they chose not to kill him off. Kinda sucks that he didn’t get a better send off though. I’m looking forward to next season. That time jump has me super curious, because Mystic Falls is trashed. But yay for Officer Matt! I can’t wait to see what the writers do with this next season.

I didn’t understand very well what the hell happens to Mystic Falls, please someone explain it to me, it was Lily and her “friends” or who? And I’m curious ’cause I want to know how many time have passed, Matt is an officer, at least 4 or 5 years…?

Have not enjoyed this season but that was a pretty perfect send off for Nina.

Ripoff. Either kill her or let her go off and live somewhere else.

Did anyone notice there are no police squad at all at the mass murder crime scene?

It’s Mystic Falls, I figure they’re smart enough to wait til daylight if they show at all.

It was a good episode and a good sendoff for Elena, but I really don’t think they should have focused on Stefan and Caroline in the same episode that Elena leaves. Cannot stand them. I hope Elena leaving doesn’t make Caroline the main character. Even though I like most of the characters, I could not stand this. Her character is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I honestly have zero clue why she is so popular. She’s even more obnoxious with the Stefan pairing and her awesome mother gone. I literally hate “Steroline” because it feels like a shipping thing rather than organic storytelling. In a show based on books about a triangle between vampire brothers and a human girl, the episode should have ended Elena’s story with what the show was originally about. Not Caroline and her next boyfriend. On a side note, I enjoyed almost everything else in the episode.

If they can touch Elena and connect with her through their thoughts, why couldn’t she have a weekly chat session with her friends to catch up on their lives? Why couldn’t they theoretically have some sort of relationship with her while she’s sleeping? Also, since Elena is now human, doesn’t she need some sort of nourishment? My questions are ridiculous, I know.

No they’re not actually. Chat sessions…lol. But Elena is kind of in suspended animation…you know, like sleeping cosmonauts traveling through space. Metabolism slows. Plus it’s just magic…Sleeping Beauty Spell.

I’m a bit confused. Won’t Elena age in her sleep since she’s human? o.O

they could magically perserve the body, it was done for ester and she was dead for that time

It was a surprisingly satisfying & clever way to write Dobrev out of the show without killing Elena or inventing some ridiculous reason to leave town. I’m much more upset about the loss of Kai. He was the best baddie in TVD history; his unapologetic joy in causing havoc & his outstanding snark were always a hoot and will be greatly missed on a show that often takes itself too seriously. I’ll miss Liv & Jo too. The Gemini coven arc was the most interesting storyline in years.

I wish Nina dobrev didn’t have to leave they could of done a better job at the finale im a stelena fan but the way the finale looked was as if stafan and elena love never existed I wish they can rewrite season 4-6 all over again I saw a lot of chemistry between Bonnie and damon which i hope to see more of it in season 7 and for Stafen and Caroline please don’t let them be togather I feel like that going to messup the entire show but I’m positive that rattings will drop now that Nina dobrev has abanded her fans as for Tyler im glad he’s nothing returning and Alaric and lilly should have a romace I think that would be a litte interesting what shocked me was when Jeremy returned he didn’t even talk to Bonnie they didn’t even have a scene togather and come on the dance between damon and Elena killed it what is this save the last dance I feel like the show could of been better and come on putting elena to sleep why didn’t they just kill her off like they did to katherine she did say season 6 is her last but the fact they didn’t kill her that she’s tied to Bonnie made me belive she will be back mayb not for good but mayb in some episodes or one

Honestly, the last few episodes leading up to the finale had me in twists & tears, to the point I literally stayed up to catch the episode tonight. What a disappointing finale. For a while there I couldn’t figure out what was going on, if she was having flashbacks on human Elena turning into vamp Elena or something. It was a weird episode, all muddled up. Poor Alaric, but hey, if there’s one thing we know by now is that everyone who gets mixed up with him dies. Sad, but true. In a way i’m glad that they got rid of Elena for a while, her emotional love dramas and way of being lost it’s sizzle a while back. I was always on Team Stefan, that might be why! I look forward to seeing TVD post Elena, I miss Damon the bad boy, & I think Stefan was forgotten the past couple of seasons so I want to see his comeback in being star of the show. I like the concept of Bonnie & Damon’s friendship, i’d like to see where that goes. Definitely a much needed shuffle, cull and refresh. Season 7 should be interesting & quite unpredictable! :)

I am looking forward to the new season, I’ve never been an Elena fan so looking forward to the show concentrating more on the other characters especially Bonnie.

I hate people who love claiming plotholes when they dont pay attention

1. Spell was sealed by kai’s death…him dying made elena’s link to bonnie unbreakable

2. Kai became the leader of the gemini coven when he merged with luke and he was linked to the coven, they couldnt kill him or they all died

3. As leader of the coven kai held the prison wolds together, which is why they almost collapsed when he was sick, so with enough power say blood from one of the most powerful witches in history he could break the curse and free himself

4. Whether or not kai preserved elena’s body doesnt matter because bonnie could have perserved it, her ancestors did it for ester, im sure she could do it for elena too.

5. How has this show retconned stelena when they have acknowdleged their bond and relationship at every turn even to the end she was his soulmate for a brief moment in time, they just were never the endgame

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