Raise your hand if you're not OK.
If your name is Stefan Salvatore, your hand is so raised that it's practically unattached from your body because it was poor human Stefan (Paul Wesley) who didn't quite make it to a happy ending (at least in this life) in tonight's Vampire Diaries series finale. True to Stefan's entire journey on this show, he sacrificed himself to save his brother, and to kill Katherine, and to save everyone, and to make us cry some seriously heavy tears.
Much of tonight's finale had to be spent dealing with the rest of this season's plot instead of the goodbye. Vicki (Kayla Ewell) was still ringing the bell, threatening to rain hellfire on all of Mystic Falls, but Bonnie (Kat Graham) realized she could use the bell's energy (and help from every Bennett witch ever) to send the hellfire right back to hell and kill Katherine (Nina Dobrev) with it.
Someone had to make sure Katherine actually did make it back to hell, and at first, Damon claimed the task and tried to compel Stefan to walk away. Stefan, of course, had been drinking vervain, and snuck back to give Damon his blood. He pushed him aside, stabbed Katherine, and let the fire consume both of them.
Stefan then met up with Elena in an afterlife version of the high school. He was able to explain to her what happened, and give her a message for Caroline (Candice King), since he didn't really get to say goodbye. And then, he went outside to find his best friend Lexi waiting for him (so we guess he did get a happy ending, and maybe he's OK, but he's still not allowed to put his hand down).
Eventually, Bonnie was able to break the spell on Elena, and she woke up. (Yeah, the waking up that was shown in the promo? That was Katherine.) She went back to med school and lived a long and happy life with Damon.
Bonnie went on to travel the world and honor her promise to Enzo (Michael Malarkey) to fully live, and then after Elena told Caroline Stefan's message that he would love her forever, Caroline went on to start the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted. She had help from Alaric (Matt Davis), the memory of her mother, Professor Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), and a donation from Klaus—the "beginning of another story," according to Alaric's voiceover.
Then, TVD pulled a Six Feet Under and fast forwarded to Damon and Elena's deaths. Elena went first and suddenly found her entire family waiting for her on the porch of her old house, including her parents, Jenna (Sarah Canning), and even Uncle John (David Anders), all ready for a big group hug.
Then, when Damon, who feared being sent straight to hell, died his human death, he showed up at the door of his house, where Stefan was waiting for him with a drink and another hug.
Oh and Matt (Zach Roerig)? He got his very own bench, and thought he might run for mayor someday. We really hope he did.
The Vampire Diaries Series Finale
Yes, if you're wondering, we wrote this through curtains of tears pouring down our faces. We are mere mortals, and that was just a whole lot of emotions in one hour.
Once you've had a second to dry your tears, vote in the poll above, and then head to the comments to tell us what you thought of the finale!