INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

‘The Vampire Diaries’ Season 8: Nina Dobrev Finally Confirmed For Finale Episode Return

By Alexandria Ingham
Published on: 10:06 PST, Jan 26, 2017

The Vampire Diaries Season 8 finally has confirmation about Nina Dobrev’s return to the show. Fans will get to see her return for the series finale, just as many had hoped.

It’s only taken seven months of speculation for confirmation of Dobrev’s return to The Vampire Diaries. When the news broke that Season 8 would be the last, fans instantly called for the actress’ return to round up the story for Damon and Elena. While Julie Plec had said that the doors would always be open, Dobrev held back on confirming her appearance.

Rumors instantly spread that the actress was holding back due to her ex still being on the show. Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder, who plays onscreen love interest Damon Salvatore, used to date. They split up a few years ago and he has since married Twilight‘s Nicky Reed. There have been rumors that Reed hasn’t wanted Dobrev to return, although there have been no confirmation of these rumors.

Dobrev has been working on numerous other projects, including the latest XXX revival with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. There were speculations that her schedule was too busy for her return to The Vampire Diaries Season 8 but that didn’t stop fans hoping and asking.

Now it looks like the cast and crew were just waiting for Dobrev to show up on set. She shared a photo on her Instagram today of the series finale script, with the hashtag #BackonSet. She also made it very clear that it wasn’t a #TBT (throwback Thursday) despite being that day of the week. Fans immediately started sharing the post through various social media platforms after catching it.

There seems to have been no question for Dobrev about her return. Back in 2015, Plec confirmed that Dobrev said she would be there for the series finale if there was something for her to do. She wanted to see the story out completely.

Dobrev didn’t leave The Vampire Diaries on bad terms. When her contract came to an end in Season 6, she decided not to renew so she could focus on other roles. This was her decision and she had decided that Elena had gone as far as she could at the time. Other doppelgangers had also been taken out of the show by this point. That didn’t mean fans were too happy with the decision, with ratings dropping considerably in Season 7.

There is no news about how Dobrev will come into the show. Elena’s life force is currently linked to Bonnie. That technically means Bonnie will have to die to bring Elena back to life. In last week’s The Vampire Diaries Season 8 episode, Bonnie reiterated that she couldn’t become a vampire. Part of Kai’s spell was to stop all loopholes. He said no witchy-woo, although fans have questioned the legitimacy of the vampire loophole.

Some fans have questioned whether Dobrev will come back as Elena. There is the possibility that she will return as Katherine. The character was last seen unable to pass to the other side after her death. Instead, she was pulled into a black abyss, which fans now believe to be hell. It would make sense for Katherine to return through hell, since Cade is the devil and has recruited the Salvatore brothers on his side.

Another theory is that Elena will return in visions or new memories that aren’t just archive footage. There is a theory that Elena will be the salvation for both Salvatore brothers in the end.

“I’m thrilled to bring this show to an end the way we always intended — with Nina back to help us say goodbye.”

After Dobrev made the announcement on Instagram, Plec immediately shared how thrilled she is to be able to tell the ending to the story how she wanted to, according to Entertainment Weekly. Kevin Williamson, another executive producer, has also said that he is looking forward to the return, as it means the farewell episode will be “epic.”

“I’m so excited to have Nina back to ensure our farewell episode is truly epic!”

The Vampire Diaries Season 8 continues on Fridays at 8 p.m. on The CW. The series finale will air on March 10 and is titled “I Was Feeling Epic.”

[Featured Image by John Phillips/Getty Images]

Share this article: ‘The Vampire Diaries’ Season 8: Nina Dobrev Finally Confirmed For Finale Episode Return
More from Inquisitr