‘Vampire Diaries’ Season 8 Spoilers: Stefan Is Trying To Save Damon’s Future With Elena

“The Vampire Diaries” started off as a love triangle, but that story is long gone. In Season 8, Damon will be possessed by an evil entity, and Stefan is worried about his brother’s future with Elena on the CW drama. Executive producer Julie Plec teased that Elena’s reaction will be one of Stefan’s concerns regarding Damon’s most recent dark turn.

“Stefan somehow inherently understands that what’s happened to his brother is not Damon’s fault,” Plec teased to Entertainment Weekly. “Whatever is going on with Damon, he’s under some sort of control or is in some situation that he can’t entirely get out of. He’s very focused on trying to rescue his brother from this mess, understanding that the fallout of whatever it is that Damon has to do could impact his ability to be reunited with Elena one day.”

It seems it’s not only the innocent lives that Stefan (Paul Wesley) is worried about. He knows that Damon needs to live for something, and Elena is the one who keeps him on the straight and narrow, even when she is unconscious. (Whether audiences will actually see the two reunite is still unknown, but Nina Dobrev has been in talks to return.) However, possession has lead to Damon’s latest rogue streak. That means this is a little more difficult to fix than one of his phases where he turns off his emotions.

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) was taken over by whatever he found in the Armory’s vault in the “Vampire Diaries” Season 7 finale. The evil creature wants something, but it isn’t clear what yet. Whatever her mission is, it involves Damon and Enzo (Michael Malarkey) leaving a massive trail of dead bodies.

It doesn’t sound like Stefan is going to be able to save his brother right away. “Stefan realizes that whatever has a hold of his brother may have a more damaging grip over him than he could have ever imagined,” the Season 8 premiere synopsis warns.

Damon isn’t the only Salvatore that Stefan should be concerned about in the final season. This new villain is targeting his whole family, including Sarah Salvatore (Tristin Mays). “It’s actually a mystery what brings her back,” Plec told TVLine in August. “It’s seemingly disconnected to everything, and yet when we realize the what, we understand that it’s tied into exactly what the villain is attempting to do.”

“The Vampire Diaries” Season 8, the final season, premieres Friday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. EDT on The CW.