Ian Somerhalder's Alternate Ending For TVD Reflects Fans' Long-Held Desires
If Damon's actor had his way, The Vampire Diaries would have ended on a shocking but fair note.
Summary
- For years, fans of The Vampire Diaries have been at odds over the show's ending.
- The fandom seems to have split into four groups, each with their own idea of how the arc of the Salvatore brothers should have wrapped up.
- Damon's actor, Ian Somerhalder, is a staunch supporter of one of these alternate endings.
- He even pitched his own final scene.
It's hard to believe that the finale of The Vampire Diaries aired over seven years ago, on March 10, 2017. To this day, fans are still arguing about how the vampire show should have ended as if it was last week.
Opposing Opinions
Early on in the show's run, its massive fanbase split into two groups, Team Stefan and Team Damon. It was mostly about which of the Salvatore brothers deserved to be romantically involved with the show's female lead, Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev).
But interestingly enough, the same division applies to opinions about the show's finale. In the last episode, Stefan sacrifices himself to save the people of Mystic Falls and give his brother a happy ending with Elena.
For those who had been rooting for Damon, such an ending was a true gift. Stefan fans were disappointed. But there were two other possible options, each with its own small army of supporters.
One was that both brothers should have survived and gotten their happily-ever-after with different girls. The other was that both brothers had to die for the show to end on a fair and logical note. After all, the entire eight-season storyline was about their sins and journey to redemption.
Whose side is Ian Somerhalder on?
Even though his character survived, Ian Somerhalder seemed to be one of those dissatisfied with The Vampire Diaries' final arc. The actor proved to be a supporter of the most heartbreaking version of events.
‘I don't think that these brothers should have lived. I don't think that Damon should have had the happy ending with Elena,’ Somerhalder said at the 2018 Wizard World Con (via CinemaBlend). ‘I think they should have come and gone, and humanity should have won.’
The actor explained that the Salvatore brothers had taken too many lives and caused too much damage to have a chance at a guilt-free future. He echoed that sentiment the following year at Warsaw Comic-Con 2019, this time pitching the exact final scene he had in mind.
‘They should have gone to the Caribbean and these two men should have just sat there as brothers. They should’ve drunk a 60-year-old bottle of rum, and as the sun came up, they should’ve taken off their rings and thrown them into the ocean,’ Somerhalder said (via CheatSheet). ‘And then poof.’
The brothers' bodies turning to dust (which is what 'poof' sure means) would certainly be a hard-to-swallow moment for many viewers. But if you think about it, Damon and Stefan were the antiheroes who didn't deserve (and probably never could have) a quiet life. So there is some poetic justice in Somerhalder's ending.
Interestingly, both Paul Wesley, who portrayed Stefan, and the show's creators, Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson, have expressed the idea of both brothers dying at different points in the show's run. So it might be time to film an alternate finale. What do you think?
Sources: CinemaBlend, CheatSheet.