Here's how Elena will leave 'The Vampire Diaries'

By now Nina Dobrev's impending leave from "The Vampire Diaries" is old news. We've cried over her sentimental Instagram captions, laughed at the doppleganger cake the cast gave her on the last day of filming, and stuffed our faces with comforting chocolate after reading Paul Welsey's and Candice Accola's fareweel tweets on Nina's behalf. With all of the emotional torment out of the way, we can finally focus on the issue at hand: how will Elena leave the show?

Various predictions have been thrown into cyberspace. Some say she will body-hop so that the character lives on in a different actress. However, body-jumping is so season five. Katherine already tried that, and if the past 6 seasons have taught us anything, it's that Elena is not Katherine despite the resemblance. Therefore, we veto this prediction.

Others suggest Elena will leave town after taking the cure. While this ending would save us from the heartbreak of losing yet another beloved character, it wouldn't be finite enough. There's no way Elena wouldn't come back to visit the crew in Mystic Falls, especially after Jo births those Gemini twins. She's too compassionate to leave her friends and start a new life (cough cough Stefan). If we're meant to believe that Elena is truly leaving, she won't be leaving by choice.

Therefore, we brace ourselves for the most heartbreaking episode of TVD history. Elena Gilbert will be killed off. But how? Well, isn't it obvious? She's going to die the same way she was meant to die twice already. After being saved by a vampire the first time and becoming a vampire the second, Elena has cheated death by Wickery Bridge twice now. Given the existential undertones of the show, it seems only fitting that she'll finally fulfill the fate she escaped. Elena's being killed off the Wickery Bridge would be poetic and satisfying. She took the cure to live the life she always wanted, but instead it'll give her the life she was always meant to have; a tragically short one filled with love, laughter, and life-long friendships.

Here are some of Nina's career highlights over the past six years:

How do you think Elena will leave the show? Share your predictions with us via Twitter or Facebook.

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