‘Vampire Diaries’ Season 6 Spoilers: EP Julie Plec Didn’t Want Nina Dobrev To Leave; Did She Hint At Elena’s Death?

Fans don’t want Nina Dobrev to leave “The Vampire Diaries” Season 6, and neither do the writers. Executive producer Julie Plec revealed that she tried to convince Dobrev to stick around and even pitched her possible storylines for Season 7.

“Nina had said earlier this year that she wanted to be done and we spent a little bit of time trying to talk her out of it. [We'd say,] 'Oh, look at all these great plans of how you can stay!'” Plec told the KCRW podcast (via Us Weekly). “And she finally was like, 'No, I signed up for six years. I've done my six years. I'm ready to move on and spread my wings.'”

After it was decided that Dobrev,, 26, couldn’t be convinced to stay, Plec knew that they had to tell fans. Dobrev announced her departure on Instagram in April. “I always knew I wanted Elena's story to be a six-season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime,” the actress wrote.

Plec explained that they specifically chose Instagram to reach out to the fans because she worried they’d be hurt. “A lot of our audience — they're still teenagers — and there is a profound attachment to this character and to this show,” Plec said. “I started looking at it from a fan point of view and being like, 'We need to tell them that it's happening before it happens. You can't just end the season and do what we're going to do to this character.'”

So what exactly are the “TVD” writers going to do to Dobrev’s character Elena? Plec may have hinted at Elena’s death. In the latest episode, Elena took the cure for vampirism and is now a human. That leaves her two options: happily ever after or a gruesome death. Plec’s references during the interview make it seem like Elena might die. The writer said that the shock of Will’s (Josh Charles) death on “The Good Wife” made her want to tell fans about Dobrev’s exit.

“A lot of people had a hard time with that. It was a beautiful shock, but there's grief attached to that,” Plec said. Apparently, that was grief that she didn’t want “Vampire Diaries” fans to go through. She also referenced the recent shocking death of Derek (Patrick Dempsey) on “Grey’s Anatomy” and described the fan reaction as “interesting.” Still, Plec seemed glad that she gave fans enough time to “let them kind of mourn it. And then hopefully, knock on wood, celebrate it along the way.”

“The Vampire Diaries” Season 6 airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. EDT on the CW. Do you think Plec was hinting at Elena’s death or was she just talking about actors who left their series? Sound off in the comments section below!