After calling upon help from her ancestors, Bonnie and the badass Bennett women send the fire back to hell, saving the town. In the show's final scenes, and not unlike a certain Scarlet Witch from another popular TV series, Bonnie finally takes charge of her grief and decides to live life to its fullest, grabbing her passport and heading off to see the world.

In the end, Damon manages to dagger his former lover, but it's the newly human Stefan who actually foils Katherine's plans when he sacrifices himself to prevent her from escaping the hellfire. While Katherine appears to finally die once and for all in the tunnel with Stefan, it wouldn't be the first time she was presumed dead, only to return with a vengeance.

In some of Stefan's final scenes, he emerges into the sunlight to find himself in the high school parking lot, where his best friend Lexi is waiting. As Lexi greets Stefan in the finale, she says, "That was beautiful," to which Stefan replies, "I was feeling epic," which is a callback to a conversation they had in Season 2 as well as the final episode's title.

The final scene of the series finds Stefan's and Damon’s spirits reuniting in the Salvatore mansion. There's a knock on the door. The implication is that Damon lived a long, happy life and has died, only to be reunited with his younger brother in the afterlife.

In her final scene, Elena — who has seemingly died — is greeted by the parents she lost prior to Season 1, saying, "That is the promise of peace — that one day, after a long life, we find each other again." Damon, meanwhile, was reunited with Stefan, but at least the couple get a happily ever after, or as much of one as possible given the circumstances.