The Vampire Diaries series finale recap: 'I Was Feeling Epic' 2

The Salvatores battle Katherine Pierce one final time, and not everyone makes it out alive

Caroline promises to get to safety, but first, she has to meet up with Stefan. Speaking of Stefan, he gives us one final glimpse at the history classroom — where he and Elena once had history together — before he finds her body in the boiler room. The problem? Apparently Kai helped Katherine spell that room so Elena can’t get out.

Stefan calls Damon and tells him that they have to get Katherine to break the spell, but as per usual, Katherine is a couple steps ahead of everyone. Kitty Kat is back in all her glory — curly hair and all — and she informs Damon that she’s not looking to negotiate. Not this time. Because she’s about to get everything she wants: Mystic Falls up in flames along with everyone in it. Damon calls her out on being jealous of Elena because “Stefan and I both would choose her over you.” But two can play that game. Let’s not forget that Katherine knows where to hit the Salvatores so it hurts. As she targets Damon’s biggest insecurity, she says, “And she would choose Stefan… because I would. Any woman would. Stefan is the better man.” Done with this conversation, Damon stabs Katherine.

Still looking for a way to undo the spell that has Elena trapped, Stefan, now joined by Caroline, calls Ric and Bonnie, who are on their way to the Armory. Stefan begs Bonnie to help. After all, it’s not just Elena; Damon won’t leave her, so Bonnie has to save them both. But Ric is done saving the day. He tells Caroline it’s time for her to leave town and to take the tunnels that lead to the Armory. He then hangs up before Bonnie can fully make up her mind.

At the high school, Stefan tells Caroline that he has to talk to Damon. He at least has to try to convince his brother to leave. But Caroline promised Ric that the girls wouldn’t grow up without a mother, and Stefan understands. “Family first,” he tells her. But as Caroline reminds him, they’re a family now. “Don’t make me leave you,” she says through her tears in a moment that’s sure to rip your heart out. But Stefan has to move fast if he’s going to convince Damon, and he can’t do that unless he knows she’s safe. “He’s my brother,” he tells her. And like he said, family first.

So with one final “I love you,” Caroline heads to the Armory, where Bonnie is currently in the middle of, once again, finding a way to save the day. When Bonnie sees the research that Ric and Dorian had started for “Project Hail Mary,” a.k.a. finding a way to destroy Cade’s hell, she gets an idea. Ric had come to the conclusion that they’d need a few million volts of mystical energy to destroy hell, which roughly translates to: the amount of energy contained in hellfire. Bonnie quickly calls Stefan and tells him that Katherine has to be in hell when she destroys it, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes.

By the time Caroline gets to the Armory, she has to leave Bonnie behind to get out of town with Ric and the girls. As Bonnie puts it, “I’m gonna save the world and you need to get in that car and drive away.” Ric promises to fill Caroline in, so she leaves her best friend with one final thought: “Don’t do anything stupid, Bonnie Bennett.” And as she’s done so many times before, Bonnie promises she’ll be fine, all the while knowing there’s a good chance she won’t be.

Returning to the tomb where Katherine was supposed to have been when Damon first came to town looking for her, Damon informs the woman he once loved that Bonnie has figured out a way to save the day — she’s going to draw the hellfire through the tunnels, thereby protecting the town, and then send it straight back to hell where Katherine and Damon will be waiting patiently for it. As Damon tells her, he’s looking forward to dying at her side. (And how fitting that Katherine should die in the very tomb where she was supposed to spend all those years desiccating.)

At least, that’s Damon’s plan. But Stefan has something else in mind. Ever the martyr, Stefan shows up, and after Damon daggers Katherine — she’s almost caught up with Elijah at this point in terms of how many times one person can be daggered — the brothers have their most emotional chat to date. Damon, ready to sacrifice himself, asks Stefan to tell Elena that he did this for her, to pay for his past mistakes. But Stefan has mistakes to pay for as well: He owes it to Bonnie and Enzo. He owes it to a lot of people.

Damon is quick to remind his brother that he wasn’t responsible for Enzo, but when Stefan argues that he’s responsible for every drop of blood he’s spilled, Damon chimes in that he’s spilled more. When it’s clear neither is going to cave in the battle of “who needs redemption more,” Stefan tries a new approach: He’s human now. He’ll be dead in 60 years. Damon, meanwhile, has an eternity with Elena ahead of him. As true as that might be, Damon tells his brother that eternity will mean a lot less without him.

“You think I want this? I just got married,” Stefan tells his brother. But it’s been nearly two centuries since Stefan made Damon become a vampire, and as he tells Damon in what might be my favorite line of the entire hour, “I have fought to turn you into the man who deserves the happiness that’s out there right now, so let me do this for you.” But Damon’s still not budging. So Stefan follows that with: “Then let me do this for me.”

And this is where I take a break because I’m crying writing this. But we’re not done with the tears yet…