Here's Where All the Vampire Diaries Characters End Up

Matt gets to do the one thing no one else on the show ever did: remain human and alive. And he goes on to have a great life, it seems: for his efforts in saving Mystic Falls, he gets the key to the city, remains sheriff, and then hints that he might run for mayor. We have a feeling he has a great shot at that election.

As much as we worried Bonnie was going to sacrifice herself yet again to save everyone else, she also makes it out alive. Not only that, but she summons up more magic than she ever has — in fact, she summons all the Bennett witches in a badass scene to channel enough hellfire to defeat Katherine and save the day, once and for all. Though she mourns the loss of Enzo, her future is decided by him: she really lives, starting out with traveling the world, like she had promised him.

Caroline had almost had her happy ending with Stefan. After they'd married in the penultimate episode, it's Stefan who dies in the finale, leaving her a brand-new widow. So she takes the path that Alaric had started forming in the previous episode, building a school for supernatural children: the Salvatore Boarding School For the Young and Gifted (yes, that does sound very X-Men).

And in one of the most promising moments of the finale (you know, for a series finale), she receives a huge donation — from Klaus, which Alaric says in his voice-over is "the beginning of another story." Is it, now?

With Caroline, Alaric starts the school and gets to take care of his two beautiful daughters. It seems he still holds a torch for his wife, Jo, though, and we get to see her ghost looking lovingly upon them.

We knew Jeremy would be in the finale somehow, and in the final moments, we got our answer: he comes to help run Alaric and Caroline's school.

Stefan is the finale's big death. He meets his end after having ingested the cure in a previous episode and doing one last selfless thing so his brother can have happiness. But Stefan still ends up with a great afterlife, at least: after saying his goodbyes, he gets to chill with his BFF Lexi for all eternity. In peace.

Nina Dobrev's big return also meant we got Elena back. Elena finally wakes up from that curse she'd been under ever since the actress left the show, giving us a true conclusion. She has a sweet goodbye with Stefan, then appears to have a happy human life with Damon — for a while, at least.

We see her writing in the ol' diary, wearing nurse scrubs — and a very telling ring. Damon comes to meet her, holding her hand, and her voice-over talks about their long and happy life together. However, it doesn't seem they live all that much longer — we see her reunite with her family in the afterlife, then Damon with Stefan, implying they both find peace after death.

Like Elena, Damon also gets a second chance at a human life, since Stefan injects his brother with the cure before sacrificing himself. Damon, then, is the one who ultimately gets the girl. Along with Elena, it's implied he eventually dies, and his peace is with his brother, Stefan.