‘Vampire Diaries’ Spoilers: What Happened In The Season 6 Finale? Recap Before The Season 7 Premiere

The “Vampire Diaries” Season 7 premiere airs Thursday, but fans might want to take a look back at how the last season ended before tuning in. After all, the Season 6 finale changed everything for the show. The hour introduced new villains, killed off several characters and, most importantly, wrote out Elena (Nina Dobrev). Before fans sink their teeth into “The Vampire Diaries” Season 7, let's remember where Season 6 left off.

The finale picked up at Jo (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) and Alaric’s (Matt Davis) wedding. Kai (Chris Wood) just returned from the prison world to ruin their big day. He made himself invisible and killed his twin sister, who was pregnant with twins. After killing Jo, Kai had all of her powers, and let the chandeliers fall and windows explode, injuring a number of the guests. After his big moment, Kai stabbed himself in the neck and woke up a vampire.

Elena: The departure of Elena was the main focus of the finale. Kai put a spell on Elena to keep her in a coma as long as Bonnie (Kat Graham) was alive. Damon (Ian Somerhalder) had the choice to either kill Bonnie or let Elena remain unconscious. Damon wasn’t killing his friend though. Instead, he ripped Kai’s head off. Even though he died, his spell didn’t break. The vampires in the group helped the humans travel into Elena’s mind to say goodbye to her. Everyone told her how much they love her, and by the end, Elena seemed to be at peace with her fate. She was put in the Salvatore mausoleum and Bonnie put a spell over the place to protect Elena from any vampires that want to suck the cure out of her.

Bonnie: After Kai nearly killed Bonnie, Damon gave her his blood to heal her. When she said goodbye to Elena, the former vampire made sure that the witch didn’t feel guilty. “This isn’t your fault,” Elena said. “We’ll both get everything we want. We just can’t have it at the same time.”

Tyler and Liv: After Kai’s attack, Liv (Penelope Mitchell) was dying. Tyler (Michael Trevino) got her to the woods, but she knew that she couldn’t make it. She decided that Tyler could make it out alive if he had supernatural powers. She begged Tyler to kill her to trigger the werewolf curse. He covered her mouth and nose until she died, and the full moon initiated the transformation right away. At the end of the episode, Elena told Tyler to leave town and embrace being a werewolf.

Alaric: After watching his love die, the professor wasn’t in a good place. He tried to shoot Kai, but the bullets didn’t affect the vampire-witch hybrid. Alaric put the gun to his own head, but luckily, no bullets were left. When saying goodbye to Elena, she told him to let himself mourn his fiancée’s death.

Caroline and Stefan: Caroline (Candice King) was avoiding having a conversation about her feelings for Stefan (Paul Wesley). The older vampire said that Elena wasn’t actually his soulmate, but Caroline said that wasn’t why she didn’t want to be with him. Later, Stefan came to her with a list of all the ways loving Caroline had changed him. She finally revealed that she just wasn’t ready for a relationship. She was still feeling guilty for what she did without her humanity and mourning her mother's death, but Stefan said he’d wait for her.

Lily and the Heretics: Enzo (Michael Malarkey) helped Stefan and Caroline look for Lily (Annie Wersching). They discovered that she made a deal with Kai. He brought back her friends in exchange for her blood. She was desperately searching a lot where they were supposed to be and Stefan thought that Kai lied. After Kai died, the cloaking spell he put over her friends was lifted. Lily's vampire-witch hybrids, the Heretics, are back in Mystic Falls after 100 years in the prison world.

Damon: Damon had a sweet goodbye with Elena where they danced in the street. That might be the last time audiences see Damon happy for a while. The vampire was brooding on the clock tower as he looked over the town at the end of the episode. A flash-forward revealed Mystic Falls looking severely run down while Matt (Zach Roerig) drove a truck from the Sheriff’s Department.

In Season 7, Damon and Alaric will be mourning together. They’ll go on a binge-drinking tour across Europe with Bonnie. Back in the states, Caroline and Stefan will still be avoiding a relationship, but Lily will take their focus away from personal matters. She and the Heretics are taking over Mystic Falls, and they’re not keeping a low profile. Plus, Stefan will also have to protect Elena’s body. “The Vampire Diaries” Season 7 will also start to incorporate flash-forwards, which will show something coming after the Salvatore brothers in the future.

“The Vampire Diaries” Season 7 premieres Thursday at 8 p.m. EDT on The CW.