The Vampire Diaries Almost Had a Very Different Ending

When The Vampire Diaries ended its eight-season run in 2017, The CW drama did so in a way that few shows do: with a satisfying conclusion to most of the fan-favorite series’ storylines. The series even left fans with an avenue for more stories to be told in its spin-off, Legacies as well. But while the ending fans got was a solid one, it wasn’t the series creators’ original plan. It turns out that Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson had a very different ending for the series in mind back in its second season — and it’s one that would have been very divisive for fans.

Before we hop into that shocking alternative finale for The Vampire Diaries, we need a quick refresher on the core elements of the series and how things actually ended. Based on the book series of the same name by L.J. Smith, The Vampire Diaries was initially centered around the love triangle between Mystic Falls high school student Elena Gilbert and vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore. Complicating things across the seasons was that Elena looked strikingly like Damon and Stefan’s old love, Katherine. But while the series began as a complicated love story with the two vampires vying for Elena’s affection, the series would ultimately expand to include a lot of other stories over its eight seasons including Original vampires, a vicious subculture of witches called Travelers, pocket universes, and even literal Hell.

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The series ultimately concluded with essentially a final battle for Mystic Falls. With Katherine set to have Hellfire released into the town to destroy it once and for all, the Salvatores and their allies conspired one final time to stop her. With Katherine subdued, the plan was for Bonnie to redirect the Hellfire into a tomb where Katherine would be the one to burn instead of the town. The Salvatores decided that Damon would stay with her to ensure her demise, but Stefan made a switcheroo, injecting Damon with the cure for vampirism so he could live a human life while he remained and burned with Katherine in the ultimate sacrifice.

Julie Plec Wanted a Very Different Ending (But it Changed For Good Reason)

While Stefan got an epic end in the finale, back in Season 2, Plec and Williamson had a very different idea for how the series should end. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly after the series finale, Plec revealed that the initial idea was that the story would end with both Salvatore brothers sacrificing themselves for Elena and watching over her in the afterlife.

“Back in Season 2 when Kevin and I were sitting in the mall and we had fallen in love with this series and this story about two brothers who loved the same girl and the love triangle was kicking into high gear, we said to ourselves: When all is said and done, when this show is over, both brothers should die in the name of saving their girl and then be watching her like ghosts — because we had introduced the Other Side — as she went off into the sunset to live her life and maybe marry Matt Donovan or maybe become a doctor, but that those brothers would be side-by-side watching her live. That was the thing that made us cry all the tears in Season 2.”

So, what changed? The show had significant longevity and outlived the love triangle. As the series went on, the show got more and more narratively complex and at the Season 6, The Vampire Diaries saw its biggest change: Elena Gilbert actor Nina Dobrev left the series. With Dobrev gone, Elena’s romantic fate was sealed and it changed the series’ ending.

“I felt like we had to make a commitment to seeing Damon and Elena through to the end,” Plec explained. “If Nina had never left, I would’ve loved to have been able to see if Stefan and Elena could’ve found their way back to each other. I don’t know if they could have, but had that departure not been a part of it, the long game would’ve been to see if we could bring the love triangle back around before the series ended and really leave a choice. But her departure sealed the romantic contract between Damon and Elena. In that moment, to me the show ceased to be about a love triangle and became a show about the power of these brothers and their love for each other. And so, there was no way in hell I was killing both of them and leaving neither of them with the happy ending. It just was never going to happen.”

The Real Ending Was Honestly the Better Conclusion

While aspects of the actual series finale remain controversial with fans eight years after The Vampire Diaries’ conclusion — in particular, some fans are still unhappy that Stefan sacrificed himself and as a result, he didn’t get a happily ever after with Caroline, who he married right before the final stand — it is ultimately a very fitting end. Katherine is defeated, Elena is reunited with her loved ones, the Salvatore home is turned into a school for supernatural children, Elena goes on to become a doctor and, in the end, after living long lives both Damon and Elena find peace in the afterlife. Damon’s peace comes with peace or Stefan, too, as the final moments of the series show Damon reuniting with his brother. Everything is tied up in a way that honors the journey and development of each of the show’s main characters across the series.

Had The Vampire Diaries ended the way Plec and Williamson originally conceived, it would not have honored the development of both Damon and Stefan as characters. Reverting back to the love triangle format would have felt a little hollow and even immature now that Elena was an adult. It also would have weakened Stefan as a character more generally. For Stefan in particular, choosing to sacrifice himself for everyone he loved was a huge act of redemption. While Stefan was a beloved character, he’s one that did some truly terrible things during his existence. For Stefan, Damon was the better man between the two so choosing to be the one to free everyone from Katherine once and for all was an act of redemption that finally set him and his brother free.

The official ending also allowed for The Vampire Diaries to continue the story of Mystic Falls in Legacies. With Legacies running for four seasons on The CW after The Vampire Diaries ended, the spinoff allowed viewers to see what Stefan’s sacrifice had been for, expanding The Vampire Diaries universe for another generation of supernatural creatures. It also would have even seen the introduction of Stefanie Salvatore, Elena and Damon’s daughter named for her heroic uncle had that series made it to Season 5, but much like the dual sacrifice of the Salvatore brothers that Plec initially envisioned, that particular story just simply wasn’t meant to be.

The Vampire Diaries is now streaming on Peacock.