Vampire Diaries' Biggest Twists Revisited (And Explained)

In honor of The Vampire Diaries' 10-year anniversary, TVLine checked back in with some of the CW drama's heaviest hitters — Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec, Caroline Dries, Michael Narducci and Brett Matthews — for the stories behind some of the series' biggest game changers.

'SHIPS IN THE NIGHT

While we're talking about Vampire Diaries couples that never got their day in the sun (so to speak), let's do a quick romantic deep dive:

"We had a whole plan for [Elena's mother] Isobel and Alaric to be reunited, but that felt like it wasn't going to work," Plec recalls. "We also pivoted with Jeremy and Bonnie. They were so sweet together, but it felt like a relationship that lacked tension. We had a good run with Anna coming back and making it a love triangle, but it never latched on as a 'forever' kind of thing. But then we got Bonnie and Enzo, which was one of my favorite relationships of the whole show." (RIP, Enzo.)

Speaking of the all-powerful Bennett witch, "Bonnie and [Liv] had some scenes together [in Season 5], and out of nowhere, I just sensed all of this sexual chemistry," executive producer Caroline Dries recalls. "I was like, 'What if Bonnie is bi?' But that didn't go anywhere."

'SAY NO TO THIS'

Unsurprisingly, The Vampire Diaries' first behind-the-scenes plot twist occurred on Day 1. When Kevin Williamson was presented with the opportunity to adapt L. J. Smith's books into a TV series, he politely declined.

"I was just scared of it," Williamson tells TVLine. "At first glance, it really did feel like Twilight, and I was worried that it didn't differentiate itself enough. Plus, I was like, 'No, no, no. Don't you know about True Blood? We can't do this. There are too many vampires coming out.' And I watched True Blood religiously!"

At the insistence of then-CW executive Jan Breslow at a lunch meeting in Oct. 2008, however, Williamson and writing partner Julie Plec agreed to read the first book.

"Julie called me and asked what page I was on," he recalls. "I said, 'Page 64,' and she said, 'Stop reading. If you keep going, you'll say no, and I don't want you to say no to this. This could be a great thing.'"

"He said no a good 15 times before he said yes," Plec says.

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO (HAIR)

The casting process also lent itself to a few twists, including the unexpected challenge of finding the perfect Stefan.

"All of the top three were very difficult to cast, but [Stefan] was especially difficult because we were trying to be so faithful to the way the novel described him — how he was presented," Williamson explains. "We put Paul Wesley through the wringer. He must have auditioned 100 times. The casting director loved him, but I was holding back, because I couldn't quite see it. His acting was really good and he had that moody thing that worked well for this sort of troubled, haunted vampire, but I couldn't see it until we found Nina [Dobrev]. Once we put them together and tested them, I saw it. Like, 'OK, they have chemistry, this is perfect.' He came to life for me when we found Nina."

Adds Plec, "My favorite memory from shooting the pilot was just watching Paul and Nina work together on their first day together in the cemetery. After all the casting drama and uncertainty, we knew we had found the perfect Stefan."

DIVINE IAN-SPIRATION

Ian Somerhalder's casting, meanwhile, presented its own share of surprises — including his unexpected influence over the writing of the character.

"Damon was never supposed to be that snarky," Williamson admits, "but Ian was just so good at it, so I leaned in. And I loved writing Damon. It was just delicious. Everybody said, 'That must be a fun role to play,' but it was also a fun role to write. And Julie handed me all of that. She was like, 'You write everything for Damon, he's all yours.' And she would write a lot of the Elena stuff."

FIRST BLOOD

A lover of Dark Shadows, Williamson went into The Vampire Diaries wanting to make a "modern, sexy, gothic horror show — one full of epic romance, epic love, epic danger and epic horror." And it was that desire that ultimately led to Damon snapping poor Vicki's neck in the beginning of Season 1.

"Kevin's brilliant mind knew that the minute you lull your audience into a sense of what the show is, you have to pull the rug out from under them and blow their minds," Plec says. "That was back when shows weren't killing their series regulars so... regularly. And have one of your romantic leads be a cold-blooded murderer is what made this show so provocative for people. It's what separated it from being another Twilight."

"To me, the moment the show became the show is when Damon snapped Vicki's neck," executive producer Brett Matthews adds.

A TEMPORARY REPRIEVE

Vicki's death in Season 1 may have been shocking, but Aunt Jenna's demise in Season 2 was nothing short of gut wrenching. (Joseph Morgan has apologized on Klaus' behalf during multiple TVLine interviews.)

It was an inevitable death, one that "marked the end of Elena's childhood," as producer Michael Narducci puts it. And it would have happened a lot sooner, if not for — plot twist! — the actress being so darn likable.

"The story was dictating that it had to happen, and it was a character we struggled to make fit with any kind of dynamic purpose, but [Sara Canning] was such a gifted and lovely human," Plec admits. "[Killing her] was something I fought against for much longer than I would have otherwise."

OH, BROTHER, WHY ART THOU

Speaking of Jenna's killer, it's hard to imagine Klaus without Elijah by his side — especially after the series finale of The Originals — but according to Williamson, Niklaus' brand of troublemaking was originally going to be a one-man operation.

"The whole reason Elijah exists is because we couldn't cast Klaus," he admits. "Klaus was supposed to appear in the episode Elijah appears — it was supposed to be Klaus. But we hadn't cast Klaus yet, because the right actor was so hard to find. We honestly couldn't find him. We looked at every actor in town. So I just wrote that a man appears. The writers were like, 'Who is it?' I said, 'Uh... It's Klaus' helper!' And they were like, 'His helper?' So I said, 'His brother!' We kept pitching crazy s–t in the room until we finally latched onto something."

(And Daniel Gillies is very glad they did.)

KLAUS' CLOSE CALL

Here's another fun fact: Klaus was supposed to meet his end long before the final episode of The Originals. In fact, if he'd been killed according to the initial plan, there would never have been a spinoff in the first place.

"I remember that Julie wanted to kill him early," Williamson says. "She was like, 'Damon needs a win. He's been completely backed into a corner this whole season. He hasn't been Damon. Damon would kill this man.' I was like, 'Do you know how hard it is to cast villains? Do you know how hard it was to find Joseph Morgan? He's beloved! For the love of God, I beg you, do not kill Klaus.' I was like, 'Do I have to go on Twitter and tweet 'Please do not kill Klaus' a thousand times for you to hear me?'" (He adds, "She'll deny all of this.")

Narducci recalls speaking with Morgan at one of the cast gatherings midway through Season 3: "He told me, 'I don't expect I'll be around much longer, but I'm going to give it everything I've got.' I remember in that moment thinking, 'Well, wait, what if he doesn't die?' So I was happy with that outcome."

GONE GIRL

The show's biggest real-life plot twist came towards the end of Season 6, when Nina Dobrev announced her decision to leave. The departure affected nearly every aspect of the show, including the love triangle, which apparently wasn't over yet.

"We always thought Elena would circle back to Stefan one final time before the ending, but because Nina was no longer there, the show transitioned into a love story about the brothers," Plec says. "It also became about Damon and Stefan's redemption. That was their goal, and they achieved it in a very satisfying way in my mind."

Adds Williamson, "I was a true Stefan-Elena fan, but I didn't think we had the real estate to get there. Had I had all the actors at our disposal, I think Julie and I could have had a different endgame. But since that was the end — the network, the actors, everyone chose to end it — I think it was the best outcome. I stand by that ending."

THE END OF THE 'KLAROLINE'

The Mikaelsons did eventually say goodbye to Mystic Falls at the end of Season 4, and while their departure was ultimately for the best — as The Originals went on to run for five successful seasons — it meant the end of several relationships, including Klaus and Caroline.

"As much as it pains me to say this — because it wasn't very feminist or a good representation of a functioning relationship — they probably would have ended up together," Plec says. "But I do still think the story would have ended very similarly. Klaus would have still died in an epic sacrifice. And Caroline would have found her way to Stefan, regardless. Klaus put a wrench into my long con with Caroline and Stefan, but like Damon and Elena, Klaus and Caroline were undeniable in a lot of ways."

A(NOTHER) SPINOFF IS BORN

With Elena out of the picture in Season 7, "Caroline was poised to become the romantic center of Stefan's life" and step up as a leading lady, Plec explains. Then came another plot twist: "We broke all this story and were a couple of months into the scripts, and Candice [King] called to tell us she was pregnant."

Once the initial excitement subsided, Plec thought, "How the hell are we going to do this? She can't carry a handbag in front of her baby bump all season. This show needs stunts and sexiness!"

Fortunately, The Vampire Diaries was capable of handling a "bananas crazy" twist — say, for example, a "magical womb transfer." As Plec notes, "It gave us the Saltzman twins, which gave us the spinoff. Technically, Florence May King is responsible for Legacies."

CAROLINE IN THE CITY

Speaking of spinoffs, Plec recalls, "At one point, [CW president] Mark Pedowitz said he wanted a spinoff about Tyler and Caroline living in the city, and I was like, 'I think I have a better one.'"

(We'll count that as a narrowly avoided plot twist. But can you even imagine?)

SURVIVAL OF THE SMOLDER-IEST

Which brings us to the show's bittersweet conclusion.

"In our minds, the brothers were always going to die together in an epic sacrifice in the series finale," Plec says. "After battling for the love of the same woman, in order to save her life and her friends and the town she loves, they would die together. Kevin and I came up with that at the beginning of Season 2, and we just burst into tears right there in the W Hotel in Atlanta."

Dobrev's exit, however, changed that trajectory, ultimately resulting in the death of only one brother — but which one?

"The decision of which brother would die was difficult," Plec recalls. "It started as Stefan, then we went to Damon and settled on him. Then Kevin came in and said, 'What the hell are you doing?' So we went back to Stefan."

For more information on that sacrifice, please consult the Stefan Salvatore Memorial Library located at the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted in Mystic Falls, Va.

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