The Vampire Diaries always finds a way to end each season with your favorite characters in unthinkable danger, but the Season 7 finale may put all previous ones to shame. According to creator Julie Plec, the episode provides a lot of closure for the characters "that then is violently interrupted by a big shift in two of the central characters who may never be the same." Star Paul Wesley says the quest these two characters embark on in the finale sets up the main story line of Season 8, which is "going to be really dark, really twisted and really fun."
This is the first season finale not to feature Elena and Jeremy Gilbert.
The heartbreaking final hour includes a modest time jump - don't worry, it's not even close to this season's three-year leap - allowing for the show's key relationships, romantic and platonic, to achieve a sense of closure. Unfortunately, Plec says, "Just as we get there, we put it in a blender, chew it all up and spit it all out."
With this episode Damon and Stefan Salvatore will have appeared in the most episodes of the series with 155 episodes, by the end of Season 8 Damon and Stefan will have been in a total of 171 episodes. Elena Gilbert with the second most at 134 episodes until Season 8 when the remaining main characters Bonnie, Caroline and Matt will equal or surpass in episode appearances.