The Vampire Diaries Producer Breaks Down Those Insane Finale Twists

Are you sitting down, or passed out from shock? Because that Vampire Diariesfinale was bonkers!

In order to wrap our heads around what each of the episode's big twists means, we spoke with the episode's writer, Brian Young. Here's everything he told us:

What is the creature in the vault? In a very unexpected move, the finale revealed that the mysterious evil in the vault was some sort of monster. And not a vampire- or werewolf-like monster -- a legitimate monster!

"We've never really seen a CGI creature in The Vampire Diaries before," Young said. "We've done a lot of iterations of a lot of different kinds of villains, so we wanted to do something a little different and see how it plays out."

Whatever the creature is, it clearly has some powerful abilities, including being able to channel Elena's (Nina Dobrev) voice and completely take over Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Enzo's (Michael Malarkey) bodies. So could TVD be introducing some sort of yeerk-like situation? Young was tight-lipped about what exactly the creature is, but he did say it will be a major part of what's to come.

Are there any parts of Damon and Enzo left? After encountering the creature in the vault, it's immediately apparent that Damon and Enzo are no longer the people that we have known and loved for seasons. But Stefan (Paul Wesley) is determined that his brother is still in there, even if there are no visible signs that point to this.

While Stefan rallies the team to try and get Damon and Enzo back, the bloodthirsty duo will sink to their lowest lows. "What we really wanted to do was give Damon a chance to act on Bad Damon again, but do it in a way that we can always forgive him for," Young said. "Season 8 is going to be rough for Damon and Enzo because bad s--- is going on. But Stefan, always believing the best in his brother, believes Damon is still in there."

What's next for Stefan and Caroline? After three years apart, Stefan and Caroline (Candice King) got back together in a a heartwarming scene.

"I know! How sweet is that?" Young said. "We had a lot of discussions in the writers' room about where Stefan and Caroline end up, and we thought there was a really tragic and sweet symmetry in, 'Stefan is with Valerie and Caroline is with Alaric.' And both Valerie and Alaric, over the course of their relationship with these two people, realize that they may love us, but we are not their true love. ... And at the end of the day, at least for now, [Stefan and Caroline] really are meant for each other, even though Caroline has built this life and built this family with Alaric. He's not her true love right now."

Of course, right after Stefan and Caroline reconciled, their honeymoon phase was cut short by the realization that Damon and Enzo had broken bad. But does that mean the couple will be too busy trying to save lives to enjoy their relationship next season?

Ian Somerhalder hints that Season 8 of The Vampire Diariesmay be "my last year"

"We always try to find a little bit [of happiness]," Young promised. "The thing that was so exciting and so Vampire Diaries [about the finale] is that at the end everyone gets exactly what they want. Everyone gets their happy ending. And then we wait and we take it all away five minutes later. I feel that's sort of the Vampire Diaries way. We give glimpses and moments of happiness, because that's sort of what life is, and then it's surrounded by tragedy, because that's what television is."

How will Bonnie (Kat Graham) cope with her losses? In one fell swoop, Bonnie lost her boyfriend, her best friend and her magic. So what's next for the now-powerless Bennett witch?

"That's going to be a big thing for Bonnie next year: How does she deal with this new chapter of her life?" Young said. "She's lost the two people she cares about the most and it's going to be tough. But Bonnie is strong and so her rallying an finding the strength and really pushing forward with it is going to be a delight to watch."

Was that really goodbye for Matt (Zach Roerig)? In a surprising move, Matt ended the season by driving off into the sunset alone - but was that goodbye for good? According to Young, no.

"Matt's going to take some time," Young assured us. "It was rough for him. ... He's the only human character left. And as the show becomes more supernatural, the journey we wanted to tell with him was his feeling like he doesn't necessarily belong anymore. If and when he comes back in Season 8 -- he'll be back eventually in Season 8 -- we'll have to see what form that takes and what journey he's gone on and how that's changed him."

What did you think of The Vampire Diaries finale? And for more on Dobrev's mini-cameo, click here!

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