When Nina Dobrev left The Vampire Diaries, it was hard to imagine the show without her. What's a show about a vampire love triangle between two immortal brothers without the object of their affection? Now, a half a season later, the CW hit is in the middle of a creative renaissance and as strong as ever. But that doesn't mean the end isn't near.
Co-creator Julie Plec tells E! News that she has indeed begun to think about how she'll wrap up the series—which is natural for something that's gone on for seven seasons—and even decided on an end point.
"I finally realized that my destiny on this show, creatively, is tied in to Ian [Somerhalder] and Paul [Wesley]. And I mean that in a really good way," she explains. "As long as those boys who I now consider my friends want to keep telling the story, then I won't walk away from telling the story."
But once the Salvatore brothers decide to call it quits, Plec will work with them to create the best possible ending for the show. (Read: No Gilmore Girls season seven situation here.)
"When they are ready to be done telling the story, I will put my pencil down and say that I'm done too, and then we will work together to end it in the best way possible. There's always things that could go wrong in that scenario, there's always pressure that can be put on," she says, "but…the three of us I'd like to think will make the creative decision of when the show should be over."
The Vampire Diaries moves to its new Friday night time slot on Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. on the CW.