'Vampire Diaries' season 8, episode 15: Steroline's June Wedding brings back old faces

It's no secret that Nina Dobrev will be reprising her role as Elena Gilbert in the series finale of The Vampire Diaries, but the CW series hasn't revealed how she'll return. But there was a major hint in episode 15, which aired Friday night.

(Editor's note: Spoilers for season eight, episode 15 of The Vampire Diaries ahead.)

In episode 15, titled "We're planning a June Wedding," Caroline and Stefan tie the knot in an effort to lure Katherine out of hiding. Katherine doesn't end up resurfacing — but other familiar faces do pop up for the wedding.

Matt is shocked to find that his mom, Kelly, is back in Mystic Falls. She claims to have missed her son and wanted a reunion, but she really had ulterior motives. You see, in the years that she and Matt had not spoken, Kelly had a "bad fall" and died. She's only back in the land of the living because of the portal to hell that Matt opened up.

Of course, no one knows Kelly is dead. And to make matters worse, it turns out that she's in cahoots with Katherine. In between vomiting up gross, black gook, Kelly is working to make sure that Damon, Stefan and the rest of the gang can't stop Katherine from going through with her mysterious plan. And that includes killing her ex-husband, Matt's father.

What is Katherine's plan? Well, it kind of involves ruining Stefan and Caroline's wedding. Katherine sends Caroline one of her old necklaces to let the couple know that she's watching, but she doesn't stop the two from going through with their vows. Thanks to the power of the internet, Damon is able to marry the two without a hitch. 

It's the reception where things go to hell. 

Kelly takes the microphone from Damon in the middle of his best man speech to fire off a ridiculous rant about how Mystic Falls has screwed her over at one point or another. She calls out Matt for being a bad son and also breaks the news to him that she died. That's when the pieces start coming together for Caroline and the others. Kelly is just a distraction for Katherine. 

Kelly reveals she started a gas leak at the house where Bonnie is with Caroline's twin daughters. Caroline races to save them, but doesn't make it in time. An explosion engulfs the building in flames.

So much for a drama-free wedding. Fortunately, Bonnie still has some magic in her. After a pep talk from a magical hallucination of Enzo, Bonnie is able to get the twins to siphon her magic to get them to safety. The plan works, but Bonnie ultimately ends up losing her magical connection to Enzo.

Caroline is relieved to find her daughters and Bonnie safe, but they're not in the clear yet. Kelly confesses to Damon and Matt that the fire wasn't Katherine's real goal. The explosion was just another distraction so she could go through with her real plan — burn down Mystic Falls with hellfire. 

You see, the dark figure lurking around Mystic Falls the entire episode was actually Matt's dead sister, Vicki Donovan. She heads up to the clock tower and rings the supernatural bell that will trigger the hellfire. Episode 15 ends with Kelly collapsing after coughing up more blood, and Bonnie getting a bloody nose and falling into Stefan's arms. 

Is Bonnie dead? Did the bell kill her? Did the twins kill her by siphoning all her magic? Was it smoke inhalation? Did her body just finally give up from all the shit she's been through throughout the years? It's not clear, but Elena is waking up in the season finale Thursday, which means that Bonnie might not regain consciousness.

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