Who Was the Major Character The Vampire Diaries' Creator Feared to Kill Off?

The CW supernatural series ended over six years ago, but many fans are still reeling from the death of Stefan Salvatore in the final episode. The protagonist sacrificed himself to prevent the destruction of Mystic Falls along with its inhabitants and make sure his brother Damon could live a happy human life with the love of his life, Elena Gilbert.

According to Kevin Williamson, the show's co-creator, the decision to have Stefan die in the end did not come easy. In an interview for TV Guide, he revealed that there were some pretty heated discussions in the writers' room about which character had to die in the finale.

‘There were so many possibilities,’ Williamson said. ‘There was a conversation that Damon and Stefan both died. And then there was a conversation that it just ended with Damon killing Katherine and saving the town and saving everyone.’

However, both Williamson and his co-writer Julie Plec ultimately agreed that Stefan's death made the most sense.

‘Stefan had just been the Ripper for a long period of time and killed Enzo. And the only way for him to come back from that, I felt, was to kill him. That's why he had to die,’ Williamson shared.

But weren't they nervous about how the show's huge and vocal fandom would react to such a heartbreaking twist? After all, Stefan was a fan favourite, and he had just distanced himself from the love triangle with his brother and Elena by marrying Caroline Forbes. Williamson says the showrunners were indeed apprehensive about killing off such a popular character, but they all felt it was the best course of action for the story. In a bid to soften the blow, they gave Stefan time to explain his decision to his wife.

‘That one's a little tricky, possibly. I hope that the audience understands though,’ Williamson explained. ‘[Stefan] kind of said it to [Caroline]. “[...] It's always going to be about family. You understand that more than anyone. And because it's always about family, you're going to understand what I'm about to do." And she understood it.’

Williamson also added that he would personally have preferred a completely different finale, with Stefan ending up with Elena, but seeing how Nina Dobrev, who played Elena, had been gone for two previous seasons, there was no time to make that work. Thus, in the end, he had to go with a finale that was emotional and heartwarming at the same time.

‘In another universe, if Elena hadn't left the show in Season 6, we might have had another ending because I am a Stelena 'shipper, always. But this ending just makes me cry and makes me smile at the same time, and that's what we really wanted to do. We wanted to cry, cry through laughter,’ Williamson explained.

Source: TV Guide.