Warning: The following contains major spoilers from this Thursday’s episode of The Vampire Diaries.



Hearts were broken on Thursday’s fall finale of The Vampire Diaries as Damon and Elena confronted his monstrous past.

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While it seems like Elena’s discovery of the terrible things her boyfriend did would put an end to their romance, she actually chooses to stick by his side — even as he yells, “I’m bad for you.”

As such, Damon is left to do the breaking up. “I’m choosing to let you go,” he declares. “I’m choosing to relieve you…. Stop defending me! I won’t change who I am. I can’t. I refuse to change you.”

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Meanwhile, Katherine and Stefan’s roll in the hay turns out to be a one-time thing as Stefan tells her that they were just swept up in the moment. Adding insult to injury, before a rapidly aging Katherine can perform a Traveler spell to let her live on in someone else’s body, she collapses on the floor.

As for the Augustine mythology, Elena learns her dad taught Wes everything he knows and that Grayson Gilbert was trying to heal a little girl named Megan. But even though Elena escapes her captor, the threat of Wes’ plan doesn’t seem to be gone as Phase 2 looms… as does that needle Aaron nabbed.

Here, executive producer Caroline Dries sounds off on the split and whether there’s hope for “Delena.” Plus: Now that the couple is no more, will it push Elena toward Stefan? Or will Katherine swoop in and steal his heart from her death bed?

TVLINE | The Damon and Elena break-up – what’s that going to do to him as a character going forward?

His character journey and Elena’s character journey thus far … they’ve been a really good couple, but Elena is in college. Her point of view is being influenced a bit by dating the bad boy. Damon’s fear is, “What if I end up changing her? What if I make her bad?” Stefan is good. Stefan’s knee-jerk reaction is to do the heroic thing. He can take care of Elena and influence her in the right ways. Elena is a strong female character, so she has a mind of her and her own moral compass. [Enzo is] starting to get into his head. So he’s starting to think, “What if I change her?” That’s why he made his decision. Going forward, the 100th episode will revisit this fight that they had, this break-up, and he’s going to get some good brotherly advice that will push him in the right direction.

TVLINE | Elena also had a surprising point of view – she chose to stick by Damon. Talk to me about her justification for that decision.

The whole episode was about Elena learning about what her father did. She is seeing it through her own lens as a child. She knows her dad was a good doctor, he cared about people. Even after being tortured by Wes, she realized at the end of the day, all her dad was doing was trying to help people. In this weird parallel, she doesn’t see her dad as evil, she doesn’t see Damon as evil. She’s able to justify his actions through the same lens – “You were tortured. You reacted a certain way.” She has a more empathetic view about it even though it’s strange that she’s justifying committing murder.

TVLINE | In the aftermath, how is Elena dealing with the break-up? Does she accept it?

The fun of the 100th episode is we pick up the day after this happened. We see how they’re both handling it. It’s a fun introduction to the show.

TVLINE | Does this open up a window for Stefan and Elena to rekindle something?

Stefan is a person that she’s going to lean on for advice and wisdom. She trusts him fully. But the Damon thing is still so tender. There’s still so much that is unresolved about it.

TVLINE | So all hope is not yet lost for Damon and Elena?

Yeah, no. They just had a big blowout fight/break-up. But we have to see going forward, the next time they’re in the same room together, how they deal with it

TVLINE | Putting aside the fact that she’s currently unconscious at the end of the episode, is any more romance between Stefan and Katherine a possibility?

[Laughs] Romantic make-out in the hospital bed. Maybe. The 100th episode is Katherine on her death bed. She doesn’t have a huge fanbase at the Salvatore house where she is, so Stefan is the person who’s there for her. But when you’re dying, romance isn’t exactly on the front burner.

TVLINE | I just want to clear something up: Katherine collapsed because of old age, right?

She had a heart attack.

TVLINE | Did any of that injection that Wes tried to put in Elena take? He did stab her with the needle…

It was hard to visually tell that story, but no. When we saw the needle on the ground, it was still full. So she’s safe.

TVLINE | Is Aaron picking up the needle part of a larger story with this Phase 2 that’s been hinted at?

It is and it isn’t. What we’re implying is that story isn’t over. There’s still some fallout from that.

TVLINE | Have we seen the last of Enzo?

No, we have not.

TVLINE | What kind of a role is he going to play going forward?

Enzo and Damon have a very complicated relationship. He’s holding a grudge [against Damon]. But at the same time, he also admitted he has no friends. [Laughs] He and Damon went through this horrible, trying time together. If you think about the way soldiers bond over trauma, that’s kind of what they went through. So it’s not as simple as saying they’re enemies or they’re friends. They’re a mixture of good and bad.

Vampire Diaries fans, head to the comments with your thoughts on the twists and grade the episode via the poll below.