Today’s announcement that Nina Dobrev will be leaving The Vampire Diaries at the end of the season has truly floored me. I suppose I should have been expecting it and maybe I was on some level. I’ve read the rumors over the last several months that things were not unicorns and rainbows on set. Frankly, I don’t care about the actors’ personal lives. As long as everyone shows up and does their job in a professional manner, I’m a happy camper. I just want to see twenty-two episodes of my shows each season.

I’ve spent the last several hours trying to figure out how the writers get us from Point A (episode 6×17) with a happy Damon and Elena to Point B (episode 6×22) where Elena dies or leaves town or whatever the writers have planned. The path totally escapes me, although I can’t help but wonder if this is why the cure is back in play.

Even harder for me to envision is what season seven will look like. I consider Elena to be the central character around whom the show was built. To move forward without her seems like an impossible task. However, I have to have faith that the producers and writers will deliver, otherwise I’m just crushed.

So, I anxiously await the final five episodes of season six and plan to mourn the loss of Elena during the summer hiatus. When October rolls around and season seven premieres, I will be sitting in front of the TV, excited to see what season seven holds for the residents of Mystic Falls.

Any theories, anyone? Please share!