Speculation Without Spoilers

[PinkRibbons]

The place to guess at the future with nothing but what's already been shown to us!

 

I keep thinking that the Mystic Falls barrier is going to end up manufacturing a vampire cure by sheer accident. Let's take Stefan (who I would really prefer to get to be human, which means it'd more likely be Damon) for an example. Say something happens (magic, whatever) that lands Stefan inside the barrier at night. So his daylight ring not working isn't an issue. Stefan died from being gutshot, and we know it took him longer than Damon to go down (as it seems Damon got hit to close to his heart and died almost instantly); long enough to see Katherine nearby and wake up quite a while after Damon had already woken up in transition. So say that the bullet wound was too bad for Katherine's blood to heal it, but maybe he stayed alive a little longer because the vampire blood was trying and failing to save him. Presumably he died from bleeding out.

 

What if someone inside the barrier (I'm looking at you, Matt) managed to stop the bleeding long enough to get Stefan into surgery? If he doesn't die, the vampire blood in useless within Mystic Falls, and that leaves Stefan human.

 

(Also someone better versed in CPR could tell me if this would also work for Caroline, since she died by being smothered. There might be a window where she could be revived; same for Elena if they could force the water from her lungs. Modern medicine is pretty amazing.)

[MostlyC]

I am wondering if the coming season has a time jump of, maybe 5 years or so.  This way the cast will have graduated college and have jobs or something.    This way Damon can kind of move on with Bonnie after he's mourned Elena for 5 years. 

 

Because I can't imagine the writers will keep Damon celebrate the whole season.

[Goldmoon]

Who is Moonie?  Matt and Bonnie?

[Cattitude]

I'm really interested in who this hunter is. I know many think it will be Caroline but I'm not convinced. I think it will somehow have to do with that rock Ric is trying to use to bring Jo back. I'd think the hunter could be Jo but in silhouette the body type didn't really match Jo's. Since the mute heretic also had that scar it either has to be a new character or something happens to "activate" someone like what happened to Jeremy when he became a hunter.

 

I  am also curious about the other coffins with Damon. I would assume one might be Elena but I think there was one more. Who would that be? Maybe that was Caroline.

[GaT]

Now that I've just watched S07.E10: Hell Is Other People, I wonder if all the flash forwards we've been seeing are actually Stefan's "hell" while he's in the stone thingy, & not any kind of reality.

[YaaasBich]

Ok, so what if Kai lied about the spell? We see Rayna connected to the "Everlastings" in the coffins. They seem to be in the same suspended animation as Elena. If Rayna dies, one of them shrivels up and Rayna comes back to life. What if that is Kai's ultimate joke? Bonnie dies and Elena is gone for good?

[slayer2]

Ok, so what if Kai lied about the spell? We see Rayna connected to the "Everlastings" in the coffins. They seem to be in the same suspended animation as Elena. If Rayna dies, one of them shrivels up and Rayna comes back to life. What if that is Kai's ultimate joke? Bonnie dies and Elena is gone for good?

 

That does sound like Kai to be honest, but unfortunately, it sure isn't Plec.

[Katherine]

I've always believed the perfect ending for this show would be Damon and Stefan either taking off together or dying together while Elena goes on to live a normal human life. I used to think that was the ending the writers had in mind. Another ending I would find somewhat satisfying would be if Damon sacrificed his life with Elena for Stefan's happiness. IMO Damon has never been as good of a brother to Stefan as Stefan has been to him, so sacrificing his happy ending with Elena would be a great way to make amends. Even better would be if he sacrificed Elena's life for Stefan's, but that's obviously not going to happen.

Anyway, I just realized what the ending will probably turn out to be. Stefan will end up with Caroline and Damon will take the cure and live a human life with Elena. This should've already been obvious to me but somehow I was holding out hope. If this is in fact the ending we get, I will be so disappointed. First of all, Damon becoming human isn't a fitting ending. He hated being human and has always loved being a vampire. Stefan getting a chance to live a human life would make more sense, but Damon? It just doesn't flow from the narrative we've been told. Even the writers seemed to have some awareness of this when they did that episode showing Damon's possible (and terrible) future if he took the cure, but in the end, the message was that it would be worth it to be with Elena. I think that's a pretty terrible message and it just doesn't do justice to the story we've been told. I hate the idea that everyone's happy endings boil down to romantic pairings.

In my opinion, this show is about the relationship between two brothers, and in the end, Elena's role in their lives is just to bring them back together. Julie Plec often does lip service to how important the relationship between Damon and Stefan is--I seem to recall her talking about it as though it's the heart of the show and her favorite relationship. But what I see onscreen doesn't reflect that. Yes, we know the brothers would die for each other. But when it comes to Damon, the writers put much more effort into showing his relationship with Elena, even when Elena isn't on the show anymore. 

Damon choosing Elena over everyone, including Stefan, is a pretty consistent character trait. It's just that I've always felt like the story would end with him finally choosing Stefan. To me, that seems most fitting and poetic. And I really do believe that was the original plan. I'm disappointed because I believe that plan got altered for the worse. I think shippers took over and the writers became more concerned with fan service than good storytelling. I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything more of a teen vampire drama. It just makes me sad when I watch earlier episodes and remember all the potential this show had in the beginning. I really hope my finale prediction turns out to be wrong. As frustrating as this show can be, I still look forward to it every week and I will watch until the bitter end.

[GaT]

Well, after they finally killed off ENzo, I thought about it & I think that Bonnie is going to die & her spirit or ghost or whatever gets to be with Enzo forever. 

[McKinley]

While watching the recent ep, and seeing them appear to kill off (Tyler, Enzo) or make disappear (Alaric) more and more characters as this season progressed, seemingly whittling down to the core characters, I had an image of the final scene being Elena waking up in the coffin and sitting up to find all of the remaining characters lying dead, scattered around at the foot of her coffin. 

Edited February 8, 2017 by McKinley

[imaneassi]

Elena is along with Bonnie the most selfless character on the show.Love her so much and want her to have a happy ending, preferably without the brothers, who are unredeemable for me.

Katherine is just so complex. Love her too.Wanted them to give her a redemption story but that didn't happen.

Now I'm hoping that Katherine will be the ultimate evil, and Elena the ultimate heroine who ends Katherine.

Nina will deliver exceptional, mind blowing performances like always.

Elena realizing Jeremy is dead, Elena turning her humanity off, Katherine at her daughter's death bed,......are some of the most powerful performances on the show. Nina is such an exceptional, brillant actress

 

I think that Elena is already awake somewhere.Her coffin is empty and we will first see her saving her loved ones from the ultimate evil(katherine). Just my opinion

[Katherine]

These last couple of episodes have made me remember what I used to love about this show. I can't wait to see how it all ends. Here are my predictions:

-Bonnie will somehow take out Katherine and get rid of Hell altogether.

-Bonnie will become the ruler of a new type of afterlife (the one she already created for Enzo). She'll likely die in the process, Elena will wake up, and Bonnie will get to be with Enzo in the afterlife (I intensely dislike Bonnie and Enzo together, but I think the writers will view this as Bonnie's happy ending).

-Stefan will sacrifice himself so Damon can live a human life with Elena. Caroline will go live her vampire life (and maybe move on to The Originals). Alternatively, maybe Stefan will live out his human life with Vampire Caroline while Elena lives out hers with Vampire Damon, so both couples get a happy ending. But I'm leaning toward Stefan dying as the most likely scenario. Plus, every character will have the promise of ending up in Bonnie's version of the afterlife.

I hope I'm wrong about a lot of this. I really don't want Damon and Elena to end up together. I would much prefer for the brothers to either die together or leave Mystic Falls together, but I don't think that will happen. I suspect that Stefan will sacrifice himself by giving Damon the cure, because the writers likely view this as the story having come full circle; Stefan "forced" Damon to become a vampire, and now he'll give Damon back a human life.

My ideal ending would be for Damon to choose Stefan over Elena. In my mind, that would be much more poetic, since Damon has spent the entire series revolving his world around a woman (first Katherine, now Elena), often at the expense of his relationship with his little brother. Stefan, on the other hand, has been pretty consistent in putting Damon first. It would be great if the series ended with Damon returning the favor. But tonight's episode was probably the closest we'll get, with Damon refusing to choose between Stefan and Elena and instead finding a way around it (sacrificing himself for both of them). It was touching in its own way, but not exactly new information; Damon has always been willing to sacrifice his life. I would love to see him finally realize that he doesn't necessarily need a woman's love to be happy, and that Stefan is actually the person he needs most. But since that's clearly not going to happen, I just hope that we get lots of great moments between the brothers in the next two episodes. 

Any other finale predictions out there? Am I way off? I feel like some of my predictions are too...predictable. The writers have always seemed to enjoy the element of surprise, yet it seems so obvious where they're going with this finale. I recall Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson saying they had a certain ending planned a long time ago. Will they follow through with it?

Edited February 25, 2017 by Katherine

[miss-vanilla]

On 2/25/2017 at 5:36 AM, Katherine said:

My ideal ending would be for Damon to choose Stefan over Elena. In my mind, that would be much more poetic, since Damon has spent the entire series revolving his world around a woman (first Katherine, now Elena), often at the expense of his relationship with his little brother.

While I would agree that Damon has spent pretty much his entire existence around a woman I would disagree that it's at the expense of his relationship with his brother. We have been shown time and again Damon's wish to be reunited with Stefan only for those wishes and dreams to become shattered  for one reason or another(but mainly Lexie).

Stefan choosing Damon over his own happiness is not a healthy dynamic and not one I want or need to see replicated in Damon. Familial love and love for a life-time partner are two very separate types of love and both are very powerful in their own right however, the love you choose ie not one that is familial should always win out. As much as I love my siblings the love I feel for my husband is different in intensity and I totally felt for Damon in the situation Cade put him in. There was no choice that could lead Damon into leading any kind of fulfilled life no matter the choice he made so choosing to die himself was the right call just like it was the right call for Stefan to make back when he chose to serve Klaus back in S3 because how could he be happy with Elena knowing he had the chance to save Damon. This time the stakes were higher because both Stefan's and Elena's life were at risk and he chose to end his own life for good (or so he thought). Stefan has never had to choose to die. 

 

On 2/25/2017 at 5:36 AM, Katherine said:

Stefan, on the other hand, has been pretty consistent in putting Damon first.

He has never had to choose his own life though.

 

On 2/25/2017 at 5:36 AM, Katherine said:

It would be great if the series ended with Damon returning the favor. But tonight's episode was probably the closest we'll get

What favor? Choosing to live the life killing for someone else like Stefan did? he has just done that for Bonnie.

 

On 2/25/2017 at 5:36 AM, Katherine said:

Damon has always been willing to sacrifice his life. I would love to see him finally realize that he doesn't necessarily need a woman's love to be happy, and that Stefan is actually the person he needs most

What? In what world do people need their siblings more than they need the love of their life? If this were the rule of life the human race would be extinct. No, we fall in love and that person becomes the A1 priority, that is human nature. I'm all for brotherly love etc. etc. but really, be realistic.

[Katherine]

3 hours ago, miss-vanilla said:

While I would agree that Damon has spent pretty much his entire existence around a woman I would disagree that it's at the expense of his relationship with his brother. We have been shown time and again Damon's wish to be reunited with Stefan only for those wishes and dreams to become shattered  for one reason or another(but mainly Lexie).

Stefan choosing Damon over his own happiness is not a healthy dynamic and not one I want or need to see replicated in Damon. Familial love and love for a life-time partner are two very separate types of love and both are very powerful in their own right however, the love you choose ie not one that is familial should always win out. As much as I love my siblings the love I feel for my husband is different in intensity and I totally felt for Damon in the situation Cade put him in. There was no choice that could lead Damon into leading any kind of fulfilled life no matter the choice he made so choosing to die himself was the right call just like it was the right call for Stefan to make back when he chose to serve Klaus back in S3 because how could he be happy with Elena knowing he had the chance to save Damon. This time the stakes were higher because both Stefan's and Elena's life were at risk and he chose to end his own life for good (or so he thought). Stefan has never had to choose to die. 

 

He has never had to choose his own life though.

 

What favor? Choosing to live the life killing for someone else like Stefan did? he has just done that for Bonnie.

 

What? In what world do people need their siblings more than they need the love of their life? If this were the rule of life the human race would be extinct. No, we fall in love and that person becomes the A1 priority, that is human nature. I'm all for brotherly love etc. etc. but really, be realistic.

I completely disagree that romantic love should "always win out" over familial love, nor am I saying that familial love should always win out. I think it's terrible to have to make that kind of choice, and I hope that it never comes to that for anyone in real life. But if it did, I admit that I don't like the idea that romantic love should automatically win (though I acknowledge that many people view the issue the same way you do). It's different for everyone. I personally have a really close bond with my family and I can't imagine viewing my love for them as secondary to my love for anyone else. I don't think I need to be told to "be realistic". This is simply how I feel, and yes, it affects how I view this particular TV show.

My favorite part of the show has always been the relationship between the brothers. I've found this relationship more compelling than any of the romantic relationships, and so that's why I would like to see more emphasis on Damon putting Stefan before Elena. I acknowledge that this isn't going to happen and probably wouldn't happen in the real world either. It's just what I happen to be hoping for in this fictional teenage drama. We all have our favorite characters and our favorite dynamics. Just like other people root for the romantic relationship Damon and Elena, I root for the brotherly bond between Stefan and Damon. There are other shows where I do root for the romantic relationship. 

I think I also have a different take on the relationship between Stefan and Damon than you do. You say that Stefan has never had to choose to die. I don't remember all past episodes, but I feel certain that Stefan has willingly sacrificed his life for Damon multiple times, just as Damon has done for him. We already know that they would die for each other. What I was hoping for was that Damon would decide that Stefan was the person he needed most. I loved the moment in the season 6 finale where Stefan told Caroline that in the end, he needed Damon more than he needed Elena. I would love to see a similar realization from Damon (but obviously don't expect it to happen). And for the record, I certainly do not rank the importance of different types of relationships in the real world, nor advocate for choosing one person over another. This is just a TV show, so I approach it differently. 

I was simply expressing what I hope to see happen to these characters I've enjoyed watching for 8 seasons. We clearly aren't going to agree, and that's okay. I just find it fun to discuss how it could all end and what the writers may be thinking as they provide closure to these relationships. 

[miss-vanilla]

5 hours ago, Katherine said:

I was simply expressing what I hope to see happen to these characters I've enjoyed watching for 8 seasons. We clearly aren't going to agree, and that's okay. I just find it fun to discuss how it could all end and what the writers may be thinking as they provide closure to these relationships. 

Apologies if I came across a bit brusque, having re-read my post I see that it comes off that way when my intention was to discuss parts of your original post.  

I would love nothing more than to see Damon and Stefan end up in a healthier place with each other once and for all but I personally think the essence of Damon does not need Stefan in the same way Stefan needs him.  Damon stated in this episode that he has accepted that he will have to face a future without Stefan in it someday and he kind of accepted that fact back in 6x22 when he chose to become human with Elena.

In this episode he chose to end himself, not because he couldn't see his life beyond Stefan (he can) but rather he could not choose to see him die. He couldn't live with making a choice either way but his deal did include the caveat that Cade leaves Elena's soul unclaimed for hell forever knowing that both Stefan and himself are doomed eventually anyway. I liked that part because he knowingly separated himself from Elena for eternity because she will not end up in hell with him and Stefan when she dies. I guess that is all a moot point now since Katherine is the one ruling Hell and for sure she will want to claim Elena Gilberts soul.

Anyway, I do think we will see Damon and Stefan together at the end of the show. That is how I see the trajectory of the story being told so I think you will get the closure you prefer for brothers. I was hoping for Damon to be fulfilled in a romantic way because the character has been chasing that for the entire series (and he achieved that with Elena) whereas Stefan has been chasing a different kind of peace. 

[Katherine]

15 hours ago, miss-vanilla said:

Apologies if I came across a bit brusque, having re-read my post I see that it comes off that way when my intention was to discuss parts of your original post.  

I would love nothing more than to see Damon and Stefan end up in a healthier place with each other once and for all but I personally think the essence of Damon does not need Stefan in the same way Stefan needs him.  Damon stated in this episode that he has accepted that he will have to face a future without Stefan in it someday and he kind of accepted that fact back in 6x22 when he chose to become human with Elena.

In this episode he chose to end himself, not because he couldn't see his life beyond Stefan (he can) but rather he could not choose to see him die. He couldn't live with making a choice either way but his deal did include the caveat that Cade leaves Elena's soul unclaimed for hell forever knowing that both Stefan and himself are doomed eventually anyway. I liked that part because he knowingly separated himself from Elena for eternity because she will not end up in hell with him and Stefan when she dies. I guess that is all a moot point now since Katherine is the one ruling Hell and for sure she will want to claim Elena Gilberts soul.

Anyway, I do think we will see Damon and Stefan together at the end of the show. That is how I see the trajectory of the story being told so I think you will get the closure you prefer for brothers. I was hoping for Damon to be fulfilled in a romantic way because the character has been chasing that for the entire series (and he achieved that with Elena) whereas Stefan has been chasing a different kind of peace. 

You're totally right that the essence of Damon's character has been that he doesn't need Stefan in the same way Stefan needs him; the writers have been pretty consistent in writing romance as Damon's number one priority. I guess I was just hoping that this was all eventually heading towards him realizing that maybe Stefan is even more important to him than he's realized up until this point, and in fact, maybe Stefan is his true number one.

Like you said, Damon has been chasing romantic fulfillment for the entire series, and IMO sometimes not in the healthiest of ways, so maybe that's why I felt like growth for him would be to realize that, in the end, he doesn't need romantic love to be a worthwhile person and to lead a fulfilling life. Again, it's not that I have anything against romance; it's just with this particular character, I've felt more compelled by the brotherly dynamic. That being said, I can see why many fans would be dissatisfied if he didn't get that romantic fulfillment he's always craved.

Edited February 28, 2017 by Katherine