The 'TVD' Finale Is Going to Hurt

Alright, people: The moment we've been waiting for has finally arrived. On the heels of its spin-off series The Originals' off-the-charts Season 1 finale, The Vampire Diaries' Season 5 finale will air Thursday night. We've already been promised death and a huge game-changer on the TVD finale by series stars — and Julie Plec always sticks to those promises, right? After last Thursday's death of Stefan Salvatore, it appears that anything goes in this finale.

I'm sure you've all dissected the synopsis for TVD's finale, searching for clues as to what's going to go down in the finale hour of Season 5. But, while we all tirelessly worked, a handful of TVD's actors and show execs were dropping hints left and right about what we're in for on Thursday night. Sometimes the answers truly are right in front of your face, I guess. Last week, following the death of Stefan and the subsequent rumors that Damon Salvatore would be next, we realized that Ian Somerhalder had teased Damon's death by just flat-out saying he was dying. But we ignored it because there's no way Damon Salvatore could die, right? But maybe we should stop assuming that everyone from Julie Plec to Candice Accola are trying to trick us when it comes to their show.

Here's what we know about TVD's Season 5 finale, based on spoilers:

Death Is Coming & Fast

Three "permanent" deaths are coming on Thursday whether you're ready for them or not. And, according to a recent spoiler from TVGuide, TVD isn't saving all of the drama for the end of the episode:

At least one of the fatalities comes very early in the finale and serves to motivate certain people to save the other side.

Because Stefan and annoying Enzo wasn't motivation enough for everything to get their shit together and get this show on the road? Either way, this means you need to have your tissues or disposable objects close to you before the episode starts, depending on your reaction to whoever the finale's first casualty is. We've already gone through the prediction process of who they might be, so prepare accordingly.

The Cliffhanger Will Rock You

Michael Malarky, who plays recently deceased Enzo, opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about what fans should expect from the TVD Season 5 finale and apparently, we're in for an even bigger surprise after the death cards have been handed out. Here's what the actor had to say about the finale's cliffhanger:

When I read that final episode, my jaw hit the floor by the end of it. It was that good. It has such a good cliffhanger that's going to have everybody squealing. You guys gotta tune in. Everyone's going to be speechless at the end of it.

Okay — this guy's character recently got his heart ripped out and his jaw was on the floor? We're in for something huge here. Which, when I think about it could be a few things — the first of which is a massive party on The Other Side (not a real party) where all of these characters somehow get sucked up into it. The other option is possibly a big, romantic or heroic moment — TVD loves its big, romantic and heroic moments. Damon's death? Delena reunion? Steroline declaration? There are so many possibilities.

Everything Will Go Wrong

I'm not really surprised by this — considering the finale synopsis says that Damon forms a plan of attack with Jeremy and Matt and said plan relies solely on perfect timing. Caroline Dries told Zap2It after she'd handed the finale script in:

Basically, every place on the show where s—t can possibly go wrong, it goes wrong. Just when you think, oh it can't get worse than that, it does.

Well, that doesn't sound promising — and I'm immediately reminded of Bonnie losing the spell to save The Other Side last Thursday and of Damon's plan that seems to be hanging by a thread. I'm paranoid just thinking about this hour of failure before it explodes in the final moments. Of course TVD, will fail its way to the finish line. Of course.

Get Ready To Chill With The Dead

Dries dropped yet another spoiler about the finale that has huge implications for us and the characters that are kicking the bucket. In the same interview with Zap2It, the executive producer more or less said that Grams, Kol, and Vicky aren't the only old friends we'll see this season: other characters will return to TVD . Dries told the site:

The finale will be emotional. We'll get to see a lot of our favorite friends from the past possibly pop in.

With Stefan already dead, I'm sure we can safely assume that we'll see some scenes from The Other Side on Thursday night. And we'll also see Lexi — Stefan's blonde BFF that Damon unceremoniously killed early on in the series. And if Damon's planning on dying and succeeds, I'm willing to put money on the fact that we're going to finally see Alaric Saltzman again. Either from The Other Side or, like Enzo, trying to help out with what's going on in the land of the living.

I guess we should get our black clothes ready and have them next to our tissues, people.

Image: The CW