After eight years and countless characters brought back from the dead, The Vampire Diaries (TVD) is officially coming to an end. The last episode of the iconic teen show (based on the book series by L.J. Smith) airs Friday, March 10, on The CW, and honestly, we’re VERY broken up about it. There have been plenty of times over the last few years where we’ve shouted at the screen and begged the show to just wrap up already. But now that it’s finally here, there’s something very bittersweet about saying goodbye to the vampire show that has been a staple in our weekly watching for almost a decade.We can still remember the excitement of watching the first few episodes of the show, with its breakneck storytelling and two very, very hot vampire brothers at its core. At first, we didn’t even care who human teen Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) ultimately ended up with — both Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) were plenty appealing in their own ways. Light and dark, good and evil, they represented two sides of the same sexy coin battling for Elena’s heart. But as the series went on, we stopped being objective and started shipping certain characters together. Hard. Since then, it’s been a real roller coaster of emotions, as we’ve watched those characters fall in love, fall out of love, die, come back from the dead and, ultimately, die again. There’s been an almost constant fandom debate as to who will ultimately be endgame. Will Damon move on from Elena’s “death” and end up with best pal Bonnie (Kat Graham)? Will Caroline (Candice King) and Stefan live out his human life together or will she make her way back to Klaus (Joseph Morgan) sooner rather than later? Or will the show shock everyone by returning to the early seasons and pairing Stefan with Elena?
As of the last Vampire Diaires episode, Stefan and Caroline are married, Bonnie’s fate seems precarious at best, and Damon and Elena might be getting a long-awaited reunion (if the previews can be believed). However, showrunner Julie Plec has promised one major death in the finale that’s sure to devastate fans. There’s a lot of speculation as to who it might be — as well as who will actually end up together by episode’s end.
In the complicated world of The Vampire Diaries and its love triangles/quadrangles/octangles, no couple has ever been truly safe. But now that it’s ending, we can finally predict who will end up together. Maybe. We think? Regardless, we certainly know who we want to waltz off into the sunset together. So, breaking it down by each popular couple, here are our love predictions/hopes for The Vampire Diaries finale:
Damon & Elena
We’d be totally fine if these two spent the entire final episode making out and declaring their love while absolutely no other drama affected them in anyway. Totally feasible, right? Well, since this is The Vampire Diaries we realize that’s highly unlikely. But still, the couple has been through enough, including Damon pining over Elena’s body for the past two seasons. With Nina Dobrev definitely returning for the finale and the previews seeming to confirm Elena’s reappearance, we can’t imagine that these two won’t end up together regardless. And we are ready. From the first moment Damon smirked his way onto our screens, it was clear that he had a special kind of chemistry with Elena. Since then, the two have fallen madly in love and repeatedly sought out a future together. Considering how often Damon has mentioned marrying Elena in the past few episodes, the show is clearly hinting at their inevitable reunion. Unless Elena’s appearance is a fake out orchestrated by Katherine (in which case we will flip a table!), it seems highly likely that “Delena” will end the series together. It also seems highly improbably that the show will bring Elena back to life only to kill her again in the same episode. So while a lot of the couples on this list are up in the air, these two seem pretty solidly headed toward a happily ever after. Thank God.
Stefan & Caroline
We were pretty surprised that the wedding went off without a hitch (you know, aside from the explosion and all). But Stefan and Caroline got their chance to declare their love in front of witnesses, making good on her promise from the pilot episode when she joked that the two were “planning a June wedding” to Bonnie. On the one hand, we love these two together. They were friends first, building a solid foundation that shows how much they love each other. On the other hand, we’re still kind of pining for a Klaus/Caroline endgame (more on that below)! But with Stefan being human, the “Steroline” days together are numbered regardless – their wedding vows made that clear enough when Caroline said she’d remember the day for both of them. We also can’t help but wonder if the big “death” that’s coming might be Stefan-related. If he does die we’ll be devastated, though it would definitely pack the emotional punch that the show is promising. No matter what, it feels like Stefan is Caroline’s right now (even if that right now lasts a hundred years), which could leave her open to a Klaus reunion in the future. We hope!
Bonnie & Damon
Bonnie and Damon are great friends, and the show has been hinting at a possible romance for the past two years, at least. Their chemistry also can’t be denied, showcased again when they danced together at Stefan and Caroline’s wedding. But at this point, we think any kind of endgame status for them as a couple is highly unlikely. In fact, we’re mostly just hoping that Bonnie makes it out of the series alive. The fact that Elena comes back from the dead (the two friends have their fates tied together) doesn’t seem to bode well for our favorite witch. It does seem like good news that we know Bonnie still has magic, but for now we’re crossing our fingers that she gets to live in the end, and maybe, somehow, gets a magic happilyever after with Enzo (Michael Malarkey).
Stefan & Elena
Let’s face it: the “Stelena” ship has sailed. It’s on another continent. Maybe even another planet. Considering how the show started out, it’s pretty surprising that we’ve moved so far away from the original main pair. But at this point we can’t even imagine the two ending the series together. We’re not hoping for any kind of romantic re-connection, but it would be nice to have some kind of resolution for their relationship as a whole. There’s speculation that (SPOILER ALERT!!!) Stefan might die, gifting Damon his humanity and allowing Damon and Elena to live a human life together. We’re not ready to condemn Stefan in order to get a perfect ending for “Delena,” but regardless we would like to see some closure between Elena and her first real love.
Caroline & Klaus
THESE TWO. Honestly, we would do anything for a “Klaroline” endgame. And no, it doesn’t mean we want Stefan to die. But while Caroline and Stefan have this great, committed, mature sort of relationship, we still can’t forget that moment when Klaus told Caroline he would be her last love. With Stefan currently human, and Klaus’s main love interest on The Originals dead, it seems like “Klaroline” is inevitable. The fact that Caroline “randomly” mentioned Klaus a few weeks ago only seems to prove that The Powers That Be want “Klaroline” to happen just as much as we do. Right now, Candice King has no plans to join the cast of The Originals to be with Klaus, but we’re going to keep hoping and praying that these two will be together in the ultimate end — even if that means waiting 80 years for Stefan to pass away of natural causes.
Damon & Stefan
Despite their tumultuous beginnings, the true heart of this show has always been the Salvatore Brothers. They’ve been at odds, they’ve been allies, but at the end of the day they might be the most lasting relationship on the show. Regardless of their fates at the end, we just hope that they end the series with the respect, love and familial devotion that they’ve been working eight seasons to build. If we have to get a sad brother goodbye (whether Stefan dies now or in 100 years, or if Damon is the one who perishes), then we at least want one that will make us weepy in the best possible way.
Who do you want to be together over all the others on The Vampire Diaries? Vote below!
