Nina Dobrev is returning for “The Vampire Diaries” finale, and we’re already crying

As if traveling the world with her legion of girlfriends in tow, starring in XXX: Return of Xander Cage, and maybe dating Glen Powell wasn’t enough, now we know that Nina Dobrev can add “returning to The Vampire Diaries” to her list of badass things she’s accomplished in 2017.
And it’s only January.
On Thursday, January 26th, Dobrev posted a photo of the long-running CW show’s series finale script — an episode titled “I Was Feeling Epic” — with her name boldly on top and the caption “I know it’s Thursday, but this is not a TBT. #BackOnSet #TVDForever” just to drive the point home.
Elena is back, y’all!
“I’m thrilled to bring this show to an end the way we always intended — with Nina back to help us say goodbye,” executive producer Julie Plec told Variety in a statement, with executive producer Kevin Williamson adding, “I’m so excited to have Nina back to ensure our farewell episode is truly epic!”
Of course we figured this might happen once we learned that Season 8 would be the series’ last. Dobrev departed at the end of Season 6 to pursue other projects, with the focus of the series then shifting to its other two main vampires, Ian Somerhalder’s Damon and Paul Wesley’s Stefan.
Her character, Elena Gilbert, ended her run in some sort of magical coma — she’ll eventually come back to life, but only when her best friend in the whole wide world, Bonnie Bennett (Kat Graham) expires. Presumably her Mystic Falls friends will figure out how to reverse this by the end of the finale, because we feel like Bonnie and Elena never getting to see each other again would be too damn dark, even for a show that has famously offed a gaggle of main characters.
But either way, we’ll surely come prepped with a box of tissues come March 10th. We suggest you do the same.