'I'm Thinking of You All the While' 

In this moment, I feel like Elena Gilbert, because I honestly do not know what to say or where to begin. I have to admit that the thought of losing Elena scared me at first. It really scared me. But watching this hour, which is arguably the show’s strongest since season 3, I realized that this might actually be the greatest thing that could have happened to the show.

In a lot of ways, this hour felt like the Delena love story had come full circle, much in the same way the Stelena love story did. For Stelena, they fell in love. They had three seasons of happiness, but when it came time for Elena to choose between her own life and the life of one of her best friends, Stefan knew her well enough—and loved her enough—to save her friend.

Now, Damon and Elena have had three seasons of love and happiness. And when it came time for Elena to choose between her own life and the life of one of her best friends, guess what? Even Damon Salvatore—the man who once swore that he’d have chosen Elena if he’d been in Stefan’s shoes—knew that letting Bonnie die would never give him a happy life with the woman he loved.

Sure, Elena didn’t die this time, but that symmetry is still there, and by putting Elena in a coma of sorts, it gave us just enough of an emotional goodbye—it’s the last time she’ll see Bonnie, and probably the last time she’ll see Matt, Alaric, Tyler, or Jeremy—but not

of an emotional goodbye that it was unbearable—Caroline, Stefan, and Damon will all be there when she wakes up.

We start with Damon lying in the road in the very spot where these two first met. Elena asks him, “How bad is it?” But Damon is more focused on the fact that she owes him a dance.

Flashing back to present day, we’re at the wedding, where Alaric is sobbing over the body of his dead almost-wife, and Damon is panicking at the fact that his blood isn’t waking Elena up. And when Damon takes Elena to the hospital, Kai finishes his plan: He stabs himself in the neck, and as he dies, so does his entire family.

And that includes Liv, who’s currently lying outside the barn with Tyler, who has a piece of glass in his abdomen that will kill him. (Honestly, talk about a red wedding.)

But when Liv notices the full moon, she tells the man she loves—yep! They love each other!—to kill her and trigger his curse so that he will heal. With that, Tyler becomes the second blubbering fool of the night. (Okay, third if you count me.)

Liv reminds him of his promise not to waste his second chance at life. She asks him to let her do this for him. (Man, this girl really loves sacrificing herself for her loved ones, doesn’t she?)

After one final kiss and “I love you,” Liv puts Tyler’s hands over her mouth and helps him to kill her. And now? Tyler’s a wolf again! Cue the breaking bones and (sexy) yellow eyes.

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