I shouldn't have come home.
I know the risk, but I had no choice.
I have to know her.
I really did fall in love with the role of Stefan.
Hello, brother.
It was a very special time.
I think I might stay a while.
The love triangle...
I love her, Damon.
...from day one was always the thing
that everyone talked about.
- So do I. - But over the years,
the show became about so much more than that.
You ready to do this or what?
We are all here together.
This is a whole different situsiion
than I've ever experienced.
- Did that just... - Yeah, it just happened.
- Luckily, lightning struck. - Don't lie for me.
There's something about the vampire genre that...
you can't help but be excited about it.
- You only live once, right? - Once or twice.
It's been, like, this imaginative release.
It really is an ensemble cast.
Wow! Like, we're all a part of this.
- Hi, Mom. - Little did I know
that it was about to turn into...
eight years of my life.
I'm the chaperone teacher from hell.
I'm really, really proud of the stuff we've done.
You mean the whole damn world.
Epic love, epic danger,
epic thrills and chills and just epic, epic, epic.
This is gonna be one hell of a ride.
Get ready, guys.
Dear diary, today will be different.
It has to be.
I'd like to say that Kevin and I
had some big years-in-the-making grand plan
of how to make the ultimate vampire show,
but when all said and done, it actually came as much
as a surprise to us as it did to anybody else.
I will smile, and it will be believable.
We were having lunch with another friend,
Jen Breslow, at the CW, and she told us
about this book series called "The Vampire Diaries."
I will no longer be the sad little girl
who lost her parents.
I will start fresh, be someone new.
You okay?
Don't start.
Elena started off very strong,
in that she had just lost her entire family, essentially.
How is she? Is she good?
Caroline, I'm right here.
And I'm fine. Thank you.
And truly felt like she had nothing inside
that made her feel alive, and we loved the juxtaposition
of then introducing a character who was truly dead inside...
Oh.
Uh, pardon me.
...who had spent a life kind of plagued
by a curse that he didn't ask for...
Thank you.
...who found life and purpose in the context of this girl.
When I first read the script,
I definitely thought it was one of the most exciting pilots.
- Damon. - Hello, brother.
I realized that these characters
were these well-developed human beings.
How'd you get here?
Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school.
The show began in high school,
to like all these complexities of youth.
His name is Stefan Salvatore.
He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue.
- You got all of that in one day? - Oh, please.
I got all of that between third and fourth period.
We're planning a June wedding.
I just remember that "Vampire Diaries"
was the pilot to get.
I predict this year is going to be kick-ass.
And I predict all the sad and dark times are over,
and you are going to be beyond happy.
It was pretty instant, all of our chemistries together.
It really felt like this was... This was gonna be something.
He hates me.
It felt relatable.
- It was all very real. - That's not hate.
That's "You dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it,
but secretly, I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits."
Anytime you grow up in a small town,
you're gonna know most of the people that are around you,
so they instantaneously feel like a family, almost.
Oh, Ty, be nice.
That's Elena's little brother.
I know who he is. Still kick his ass.
After seeing the pilot,
I felt that this could go someplace big.
And it could be a lot of fun.
Tell me something... When's the last time
you had something stronger than a squirrel?
Let's just cut to the chase.
Let's just go straight for Elena.
Stop it!
Imagine what her blood tastes like!
- I can. - I said stop!
It's cool not growing old. I like being the eternal stud.
Yes, being a 150-year-old teenager
has been the height of my happiness.
We knew we had the magic of the brother relationship,
two brothers that had been together
off and on for 160-plus years.
Better be careful, brother.
Your humanity's showing.
Stefan was kind of like the moral conscience.
- We choose our own path. - The protagonist.
Our values and our actions... They define who we are.
Okay, Count Deepak.
Damon's the anti-hero.
Just find someone really tasty,
and then erase their memory afterwards.
So easy.
Damon is a guy who has the same smile on his face
if he's saving a kitten out of a tree
or cutting your head off.
- Are you gonna kill me? - Mm-hmm.
- But not yet. - Damon Salvatore... I'm sorry...
Has gotten away with some of the most ridiculous,
hateful, disgusting, despicable things.
No!
And while that's super dark to say,
it makes for a really great character.
I'm here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl.
Damon has this overwhelming resentment
against his brother...
Don't fight it.
We can do this... Together.
...for being the one who ultimately
turned him into a vampire.
It is a bit of a love story between the two brothers.
Not doing so great without you.
Stefan and Damon only really have each other...
Yeah.
...so there is sort of that unspoken bond.
They both have such a sense of loss.
They understand betrayal.
And then, of course, they had a woman come between them.
1864.
You and Katherine were the perfect couple.
My happiness was short-lived, as you well know.
Here's to history repeating itself, huh?
I see why my brother's so smitten.
For a while there,
I never thought he'd get over the last one.
Nearly destroyed him.
Stefan being an outsider with all these dark secrets
was something that I really think
that Elena gravitated towards.
- I'm Elena. - I'm Stefan.
The show began rooted in this powerful love story.
- We have History together. - And English and French.
- She looked at Stefan... - Right.
...in the graveyard when she first met him,
when he reached over and took the leaf off her sweater,
out of her hair.
Thanks.
You can see the connection between the two of them,
and it is just so pure.
I'm scared, Stefan.
But that love story, to me, it's first love.
They're so great together. They look perfect together.
But within that was this other character.
He was smoldery,
and he was sexy, and he was dangerous.
- You want me - Excuse me?
You think about me even when you don't want to think about me.
I bet you even dream about me.
And right now, you want to kiss me.
What the hell?
I don't know what happened in the past,
but let's get one thing straight...
I am not Katherine.
You can have all the rules of vampires
and you can have all the danger
and you can have all the scary beats,
but unless you have some true, raw human emotion
and a love story that fuels your show,
I think that's what made it really special.
All you can do is be ready for the good,
so when it comes, you invite it in,
because you need it.
I know it's late, but, uh...
I needed to know that you were okay.
Would you like to come in?
Yes.
"The Founding Families in Mystic Falls welcomes you
to the inaugural Founders Council Celebration."
Wow. Look, it's the original guest registry.
Is that Damon Salvatore?
And Stefan Salvatore?
Vampires have just been around forever,
and, you know, people are just so fascinated
by their youth
and their beauty and the darkness.
How can I deny what's right in front of me?
Someone who never grows old, never gets hurt.
Someone who changes in ways that can't be explained.
I think that without that sort of danger,
- the darkness... - What are you?
...the show just wouldn't be provocative.
Every belief that you have is about to change.
Are you ready for that?
What are you?
I'm a vampire.
When you Google "vampire,"
you get a world of fiction. What's the reality?
I can tell you whatever you want to know.
We took a lot of cues
from the book series, with the vervain.
It protects you from being compelled.
The daylight rings.
It's a family ring. Kind of stuck with it.
And then we built upon it.
- Crucifixes? - Decorative.
- Holy water? - Drinkable.
- Mirrors? - Myth.
You always have to be invited in?
By the owner or person of entitlement.
Short-term rentals and hotels are...
a bit of a gray area.
You kind of got to play it by ear.
To become a vampire,
the whole process was very long and taxing.
You had to drink vampire blood,
die while it was still in your system...
...be reborn...
- What happened? - I killed you.
Let's not make a big deal out of it.
...and then, make a choice to either die again
or feed and become a vampire.
- I'm sorry. - I mean, now I feel like,
"Well, yeah, that's how you become a vampire."
Who's gonna tell me any differently, right?
Ugh. Just so much drama.
She kind of wigs out.
It's, like, her thing.
Am I shallow?
Is that a trick question?
This has been a very...
just long journey for this character.
I'm not really supposed to say anything.
Caroline Forbes, when have you
- ever kept a secret in your life? - Okay.
Caroline first started, she was our little mean girl.
Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?
- What? - Caroline?
You want to hate her because she's uptight
and she's a control freak and she's bossy
and she's not all that nice.
We just spent the night in my bed.
There was... cuddling,
and then you snuck out before dawn
so you wouldn't have to face me, which I must say
is a total lame-guy move that I did not appreciate.
Deep inside, there was just this wounded girl
who, you know, desperately wanted to be loved.
How come the guys that I want never want me?
- I'm not touching that. - I'm never the one.
So she did act out in certain ways.
Who's the date you just tried to sneak past me?
A little old for you, don't you think?
Oh, 'cause otherwise, you'd approve.
Yeah, I doubt that.
She knew he was bad news, but she just also knew
that she couldn't turn away from him.
- I was hoping I'd see you again. - I know.
The end of Season 1, they kind of, like, mention,
"Well, we might have Caroline turn into a vampire."
And I was like, "Great!
Every female they've turned into a vampire has died.
Like, this is it.
What's wrong?
It was incredible.
They had this big change for this character.
Oh, hey, blondie.
She was the one vampire
who wasn't gonna be plagued and bothered and troubled.
You suck.
She's actually really good at being a vampire and...
- Hey, is everything okay? - I'm so sorry.
...we would have it no other way.
Aah!
It's funny how it took her becoming dead to become alive.
I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?
Technically, Grams says I'm a witch.
Bonnie was at the perfect age and the perfect innocence
in a way that the fans really connected to her...
kind of fish out of water, maybe a little insecure,
and had to really find her strength and figure it out.
I don't know what's happening to me.
- I know, dear. - Oh, Grams.
She had a great mentor for awhile, Grams,
who helped kind of hone in on it.
- I need to swear you to secrecy. - Okay. I swear.
When she began to learn how to control being a witch
and she wanted to tell her best friend, Elena...
...that scene being so beautiful,
watching Elena's face at the magical wonder.
It's true, Elena, everything my Grams told me.
- I'm a witch. - Love the way Bonnie
and Elena came together in that moment.
It's made for some of our greatest stories,
some of our most emotional sequences.
Emily.
Emily?
Some of our most powerful moves in the series
have been witch-related.
Please help me.
I love him.
So many times,
as a result of her need to fix the problem...
Bonnie, you're not dying to save my life.
If the situation was reversed...
would you do it for me?
...she's almost become an accidental martyr.
No!
I like playing a hero character.
I'm not gonna make it.
But you are.
No!
And I think she's still figuring it out,
which I think a lot of us in life are.
I hereby vow not to be judgmental
for the rest of the evening.
- Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie... - Cheers.
...really bonded with each other and become sisters.
Whoo!
Their relationship grew stronger as they got older,
and they didn't drift apart.
We're in college, Caroline.
We're here.
We're all here together.
It was such a familial experience.
It's Stefan.
Tell him I don't feel like talking.
Doesn't feel like talking. She doesn't feel like talking.
Boys will come and go, but friendships are forever.
What's going on?
To see women supporting one another
- and building each other up... - We're gonna slumber it.
We haven't done it in ages.
...I mean, I think girls need that.
In a way, they are each other's epic loves.
Let's give a big hand to the Mystic Falls
High School marching band.
And for a little local history,
Mr. Saltzman's students have re-created
Virginia's Battle of Willow Creek.
This took place in a small town, right, Mystic Falls.
This is Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls.
Mystic Falls is a special place
where you may be going to Mystic Grill,
but you maybe see some other shops
and walk around and be like,
"Okay, where did this little town pop up?"
Mystic Falls has been the kind of town
that everybody wants to call home.
Town Square and flags and podiums and events.
Enjoy the show!
The kind of town where no one really locks the doors.
It's Mystic Falls. Nothing bad ever happens here.
The thing I loved about Mystic Falls
is that, you know, we had this... a mythology.
You don't actually think there are vampires in Mystic Falls?
I-I think, statistically, there's been more
animal attacks, mysterious deaths,
uh, people gone missing.
A lot of people during the Civil War had died there.
How many casualties resulted in this battle?
There were 346 casualties,
unless you're counting local civilians.
That's correct.
It attracted otherworldly characters.
- Mr...? - Salvatore.
Any relation to the original settlers
here of Mystic Falls?
Distant.
Mail call.
"Dear Damon...
They tell us to only send good news, but I cannot.
The days grow darker in Mystic Falls,
and my heart darker still.
It started as just being able to tell
a whole story about Stefan and Damon
before they were vampires, and that was just great...
Seeing those boys as humans,
seeing their relationship with their father,
meeting this young, mysterious, beautiful,
beguiling creature named Katherine Pierce.
Well, this works out wonderfully for me.
How's that, Ms. Katherine?
Now I'll have both of you here to keep me entertained.
And that period, turns out, was incredibly sexy...
...incredibly sort of provocative.
Your face... It was like a demon.
But you're not afraid.
Get away from me. Get away.
It doesn't change the way you feel about me.
We always knew it was a show about two brothers
and their deep feelings for the same girl.
I'm ready. I want you to turn me.
When it's time.
Kiss me.
You should get a taste.
You want to know why I'm here, Stefan?
I came back for you.
Only problem, Katherine...
is that I hate you.
Katherine, to me, is like the female version of Damon.
That sounded like the beginning of a love story,
Stefan, not the end of one.
She was manipulative and scheming.
The second the spell's lifted,
I'm gonna drive this stake right through your heart.
- God, you're hot. - And she was funny.
When did you get so hot?
She even got to be this sort of... carefree badass.
There was just everything
and nothing to love about Katherine.
I never had a graduation or a prom
or, you know, a life, but you did.
I loved any of the scenes
that Elena got to interact with Katherine.
Have a nice human life, Katherine.
Katherine was about power. She was an opportunist,
and she would just take, take, take.
I didn't hear you. Oh, my God. I'm going deaf.
Watching her become human and just sort of...
- Oh, my God. - ...lose her power.
Is that your tooth?
I have blisters, Damon.
It felt right telling the story of our big, bad Katherine
as a vulnerable human...
I can't help you, Katherine.
...to take her to the end of her journey.
No!
Katherine Pierce is in hell for sure.
Name the worst thing
Katherine Pierce has ever done to you.
She pretended to be buried in a tomb for 145 years
while I waited for her lying ass.
- She fed me to Silas, and I died. - Doozey.
She tried to kill me at least twice.
- She did kill me. - Quarterback... go.
My sister's dead because of her.
Yes, she is!
When you broke up with me,
you said it was because you needed some time alone.
I just want to let you know that I still believe in us...
and I'm not giving up on that.
Matt's one power is his moral compass.
Why won't you let me make it better?
I can't say that I hate vampires
and then use them when it's to my advantage.
We can't have it both ways.
There's no way he can compel or get his way out of anything.
He has to face and deal with it all.
I thought that I might be able to get past
this whole vampire thing.
But you can.
The years of carrying all that on his shoulders
by himself have really defined Matt
as the truest adult out of the group.
This is your life now.
I think that I just want to live it without all of this.
In Mystic Falls, there was the supernatural group
and there was a human group.
The humans kind of had to look out for each other.
I feel like a lot of the issues at their root
are just a very common problem
that everyone struggles with every day.
I've been holding on to the girl
that was supposed to die here with her parents,
'cause I feel like I've disappointed them.
I think that in our biggest challenges in life,
they strengthen you and make you a better person in the end.
You're doing a lot better than you think.
All these characters go through that,
and they become stronger as a result.
Here lies Elena Gilbert...
A fun girlfriend...
and an amazing friend.
Rarely is a secret tunnel just a tunnel.
Case in point.
Looks like a geek gold mine.
Good morning, everyone.
You discover Alaric as just, uh, the high-school teacher.
Alaric Saltzman...
Kevin and I looked at each other, and we were like,
"Oh, my God. He's so handsome.
He's so handsome."
It's a mouthful, I know.
And our love affair with Alaric Saltzman
was born on that day.
I'm your new History teacher.
Alaric encounters Damon,
who in his own way shares a similar journey
in trying to find his lost love.
And so, they realize they have common ground
and a chemistry as friends.
That ring is the reason I've killed people.
You're going vampire hunting, Ric.
Wear it.
What started off as, "I'm gonna kill you"...
Are you really this stupid?
...has turned into really a deep bond
and a true friendship formed between the two of them.
Looks like I'm joining the human club.
- I'm proud of you. - You too, buddy.
He went from sexy teacher to the sexy professor...
This'll never not be weird.
That some ancient witch turned me into a vampire,
or that four months ago, I rose from the dead?
That you're my college professor.
How many times has Alaric died?
Damon, no!
I feel like somehow, Alaric has died a lot.
At least six or seven, realistically...
if not more.
- You have to kill me. - What?
Elena, you... You have to kill me.
I would be curious to do an actual tally
of how many times he has passed away.
If he dies a supernatural death,
then you'll come back to life and you'll be healed.
So, you travelled across the country
to get me to talk to a dead vampire?
"Dead vampire" is redundant, but yes.
I mean, what is your definition of death?
The sun, without the daylight ring...
Pretty sure you can burn them, maybe?
...does that work?
Killing them with kindness never works.
Oh, you can rip their heart out.
Oh, you could remove their head.
A little decapitation.
I've snapped everyone's neck on this whole cast,
that's for sure.
We could have a drinking game about the neck breaks.
I find the most satisfying way to kill a vampire is just...
...the old-fashioned
driving the stake through the heart.
Yeah, you got to puncture that breastbone,
get into that cold, dead heart,
and just watch them desiccate right before your eyes.
It's the most satisfying feeling.
Okay.
Ty?
Matt, listen to me.
I triggered my curse.
No.
Tyler's been on a very interesting journey.
- Season one... - Whoa, hey, hey, hey!
...he's just this cocky, aggressive frat boy
who wants to fight everybody.
You two, follow me.
But you really don't know why.
What's your problem?
And then, he walked away
and revealed the full moon behind him.
And we just teased it.
But then, you get to season two
and you realize he has a lot of issues.
This can't be happening.
Tyler?
I don't think Tyler could've gone through
that werewolf transformation if it wasn't for Caroline.
She was right there by his side.
It's like my skin is on fire.
Really? I've never had any of that.
Guess wolves are different.
That was the start, I feel, of their relationship.
I'm alone with this.
I'm scared.
It was just different layers, and it was fun to travel,
you know, the ups and downs of that character.
Damon?
Lockwood.
That scene with Damon, his last scene...
He's willing to die for Damon to try
and find some sort of humanity as a vampire.
If this is the way I go out, then let me go out as the face
that you can never erase from your brain.
He's willing to put his...
to put his neck out there.
I think because it was Damon doing it,
they knew okay, Tyler's finally dead.
Like, he's not going to come back from this.
We're here to... honor Tyler.
I loved him.
And we all did.
I can't believe this is happening.
I can't believe she's gone.
One thing I will say we do very well
on this show is say goodbye to people.
They need this.
I need this.
There have been so many moments
where I might have cried in the scene.
Every scene I had to cry,
and whether it was written or not, I did.
Remember Alaric's memorial in the forest?
That was sad.
We're just gonna lock you in here and let you die?
And we're all up in the woods, and he walks out
basically to say goodbye, and we're all gathered there.
A beautiful scene between he and Damon in the tomb
with the single man-tear...
Drink.
Actually, I've been thinking about cutting back.
Yeah.
I didn't feel like there was any acting really much at all.
It was all very sincere.
The saddest for me, I would say, was Sheriff Forbes.
I didn't get to say goodbye to my mom.
That death...
It's just so normal, and it's so sad.
I do understand how significant
that episode can be for a lot of fans
that have lost parents to cancer.
I'm gonna be all right, Mom. I promise.
♪ Go in peace ♪
♪ Go in kindness ♪
♪ Go in love ♪
♪ Go in faith ♪
♪ Let us go ♪
♪ Into the dark ♪
♪ Not afraid ♪
♪ Not alone ♪
♪ Safely to arrive at home ♪
W-What happened?
- You were in an accident. - How did you...
Save you?
He didn't.
Does... does that mean that I...
Am I dead?
Everybody is somebody's uncle or father
or camp counselor or Bible study teacher, Elena.
You don't know these people. Why do you care?
I care because I'm still me.
She went from a girl...
I know what I signed up for, Damon.
And I'm all in.
...into this incredibly powerful, confident woman.
We really wanted to explore all the different levels
of a young woman finding a deeper sexuality,
a deeper sense of danger...
and moral ambiguity.
Something's changed between Damon and me.
It's like everything that I felt for him
before I was a vampire...
Has been magnified.
Your feelings for him have been magnified.
And he just represented something dangerous
that became undeniable.
There was a vulnerability to Damon.
And he did everything, believe it or not, out of love.
Now, do you see a future with me?
Because that's all I see.
Elena, I've seen it since the second I laid eyes on you.
Elena and Damon had a connection that was unlike any other.
- What's that face? - I'm happy.
And you could see it onscreen...
Promise me this is forever.
I promise.
...a very tumultuous back-and-forth relationship,
but love ultimately prevails.
There's so much fantasy in my life, Elena.
Enough for a hundred lifetimes.
I'd give it all up for one life with you.
I love you.
Till death do us part.
- I will go anywhere with you. - There is, like,
nine different shipper categories for Caroline...
People who still love Caroline and Tyler...
And if we have to spend the rest of our lives running,
I will run with you.
...people who, of course,
will never recover from Caroline and Klaus.
Yes, I cover our connection with hostility,
because yes, I hate myself for the truth.
So if you promise to walk way,
then yes, I will be honest with you about what I want.
I love them all, obviously,
but I was rooting for Caroline and Stefan.
There you are. Have you been down the falls yet?
Because they are really cool at night,
and I can show you if you want.
You and me... It's not gonna happen.
My favorite thing is the idea that in the pilot, like,
"You and I... absolutely not."
And so, she wasn't the first girl
to catch his eye by any means.
And so, I kind of love that all these years later,
he has eyes only for her.
Always looking out for me.
Yeah, well, you don't exactly make it very easy on me.
I do think that Stefan and Caroline
are pretty polar opposite, but they complement one another
because she's so chipper and optimistic...
Hey, Stefan?
I am happy.
...and he is much more doom and gloom,
and I think that somehow, they complement one another.
My best friend's gone, my mom's dead,
the whole town is destroyed,
but when I'm with you, I'm happy.
We've gotten to see all of them have these,
uh, as Julie Plec would say, "epic romances"
throughout the seasons.
I love you...
Damon Salvatore.
I love you, too.
What's been so beautiful about it over the years
is the show became about so much more than that.
It wasn't just one couple.
It wasn't just two characters. It was an ensemble.
Guess what, we're having dinner.
Oh, and for the love of God, please put on something
besides these abhorrent sweatpants.
What do you care about my sweatpants?
I'm instituting a dress code.
All I've ever wanted...
This is the best I could do.
...was to have this character be with a match.
With our two characters and what we've been through,
there was just this natural need...
...to fulfill that.
It does make sense, the more you get to know Enzo,
why they...
...really gravitated towards each other
and why they needed each other.
One day, we'll do that for real.
We think that Bonnie and Enzo
are gonna be completely domesticated
living in this upstate New York house.
We're so close to everything we wanted.
Come here, love.
Then, literally out of the blue...
Enzo?
When I saw Enzo's death,
I felt bruised and wounded and sad.
Enzo!
Enzo was definitely in a place where he could die happy,
feel like he's achieved this relationship...
It's a beautiful thing.
He's completely and utterly in love,
and, um, it's all he ever wanted, you know?
I don't think realized he wanted it until he met her,
which is the thing that's kind of beautiful about it.
Bonnie. Hey, what's wrong?
Enzo's gone.
What?
Your brother killed him.
As we get closer to the finale,
I realized that my version of a happy ending
isn't necessarily happy for everybody else.
I'll deal with Stefan.
I already did.
I gave him the cure.
He's human now.
Characters will ultimately be telling their death story
as much as their life story.
I just have no idea how to make this right.
I don't, either.
But I know where you can start.
How's it feel to be a mere mortal?
Hurts.
You know, we've always talked about peace,
- and does peace exist. - Well, why don't you take a seat?
I poured you a painkiller-friendly drink.
I'll sit with you and remind you
how badly you always wanted to be human.
And is that something
that you can look forward to when you die?
In this season, it's never been a more important question.
Do you think that there's a chance for us...
For redemption?
Absolutely.
I think that you can find peace and happiness in death
as much as you can find happiness in life.
Enzo... I need you!
Hello, love.
It's important to remember that in a way,
death is not the end.
Is it really you?
Are you really here?
It is really me, but I'm not really here.
You find yourself still connected to those people,
which is the thing that's kind of beautiful about it.
You know, you always think when you lose someone,
if you just had five more minutes...
Hi, Mom. Hey, sweetie.
Is something wrong?
...if you could just hold them one more time,
if you could just say, "I love you," one more time.
Is that you?
Grams?
How do we want to remember these characters forever?
So, that ending's gonna be really, really important.
I'm human, Damon.
You're gonna have to let me go someday.
And it's gonna suck when that day comes.
But it just shouldn't be today.
How we say goodbye to them
is almost as important as how we said hello to them.
- I'm Elena. - I'm Stefan.
It's almost overwhelming to try to accept it in its entirety.
I don't want to be the guy that gets emotional, but, uh, you know,
we've been together for eight years,
and we've been on this wild ride together.
- Bonnie? - One and only.
I'm so thankful for all the moments.
- Where's Elena? - I'm here.
I'm proud of the family... The TVD family.
They'll be a part of my life until the end of my life.
I love you.
It's so overwhelming
because this experience has been so amazing.
I'm in love with a human who makes me feel alive.
It's just been insane.
- To you, brother. - We grew into a family.
We learned a lot from each other,
and I'll always remember that time very fondly.
Because you are my best friend.
I hope that the show has inspired people.
You got the girl, man. Now don't screw it up.
All of us have been forged in this very unique
and special experience.
This is Josie, and this one's Elizabeth...
Indescribable...
...in honor of your mother.
...how significant this time has been in my life.
- Will you marry me? - Yes, of course.
The show's ending, and I'm so grateful for it.
You changed everything for me.
We all have to kind of say goodbye to each other.
Thank you for bumping into me that day in the hallway.
It'll be a sad one, but a good one.
I'll see you soon.
You try to figure out how to honor the show
and how to give the audience
an ending that has been worthy of their time.
But I don't need some spirit journey
with a bunch of strangers to convince me
that my redemption is within reach.
I just need the people I love.
We decided to tell a story about...
About grief and about love and about filling that hole.
And eight years later, that's what we did.
And I'm just so grateful.
The heart of this show... is our fans.
If it hadn't touched you the way it touched us,
this experience would've never happened.
That is a wrap on Matt Davis.
I love you guys so much.
This is something I will hold in my heart with me forever.
Thank you guys for everything you have done.
I'm getting emotional,
and that's not a Paul Wesley thing.
That's a wrap on "The Vampire Diaries"!