'The Vampire Diaries' at Comic-Con: Elena and Damon forever?

The Project: The Vampire Diaries

The Panel: Nina Dobrev (Elena), Ian Somerhalder (Damon), Paul Wesley (Stefan), Kat Graham (Bonnie), Candice Accola (Caroline Forbes), Caroline Dries (writer), Julie Plec (Executive Producer), moderated by Debra Birnbaum

Footage Screened: Before the panel began, the audience got a three-part recap of the past four seasons, with one focusing on the most recent and Silas. The others played as a kind of “best of” compilation of Elena and Stefan, and Elena and Damon. It got pretty sexy.

Snap Judgment: The people have spoken screamed and Damon is the vampire of choice. Somerhalder even pulled out a chair for Executive Producer Julie Plec when she came to join the panel and then gave her and Kat Graham kisses on the cheek. Smooth fellow. But overall, things seem to be in transition in The Vampire Diaries universe, and everyone is getting their footing in these new settings and relationships. Somerhalder said of Elena’s choice, “I thought they were joking. Damon never gets the girl. It’s always Stefan.” Wesley quickly chimed in: “Don’t underplay your sexy blue eyes. Don’t downplay the Smolder-halder.” Then, Wesley added with a laugh, “Enjoy it buddy. I did it for three years.”

The Big Revelations: Now that Elena has made her choice, Plec says she’s not going to rip the happiness away from the smitten two immediately. “One of the things that people always say is there’s no drama in happiness,” she said. “One of the things we decided to do this year was to keep them happy,” Plec added, referencing how people still love to see Meredith and Derek happy on Grey’s Anatomy. College is on the horizon too, though Wesley quipped: “Why are we pursuing college education? We’re all murderers.” Of the transition to college, Accola said: “The vampire girls can’t get away with the tricks they played in Mystic Falls.” But a new setting means a host of new characters. “There will be men in college. Some of them might even be attractive,” Accola said, generating a number of squeals. The big question on the table is around Silas. Plec teases, “We will catch a glimpse of Silas and why he is the way he is.” Plec also said there are big plans for the 100th episode, but wouldn’t say another word. She insisted anything would be a spoiler. Somerhalder joked: “It’s going to be a nude musical episode. It’s going to be awesome.” We can only hope.

Most Incisive Audience Question: The last question of the afternoon was cheekily morbid: If you could kill off a character, who would it be? Plec laughed and said, “If I could give you access to my emails from last week, there would be a very funny answer.” Sadly, she wouldn’t say more. Somerhalder sacrificed himself. “Kill Damon. He’ll go to the Carribean. It gets cold in Mystic Falls,” he said. Wesley said, “We all have someone we want to kill, but we’re not going to tell you at Comic-Con. Let’s be honest.” Dobrev added: “I would.” Now, who’s going to petition to see the contents of those emails Plec was talking about?