The Vampire Diaries Season 8 finale: Elena's return is going to be worth the wait

The Vampire Diaries will air its final episode on March 10, and the finale will see Elena Gilbert, who has been in a magic-induced sleep for years, returning to the land of the living.

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Dobrev departed from the show after her contract expired in Season 6, but she vowed to come back for the finale to wrap up Elena's storyline, and the wait is going to be worth it, said actor Ian Somerhalder, who plays her on-screen love interest Damon, as well as executive producer Julie Plec.

"The great thing is that for the audience to see this character that they've loved for so long and that she went away and now she comes back, this sort of everyday girl who had really fallen into hard times in her life that the audience had grown to love and really identified with in so many ways, and to see that character back in Mystic Falls is going to be really powerful," Somerhalder told E!News.

According to Plec, the finale will feature Dobrev, who also plays Katherine, in one of her best performances.

"I can tell you that it was really great having Nina walk in the door," she told the publication. "She came to really give her best work. She was excited to see everybody. She wanted to play and have fun and be great and she delivered everything we could have ever asked from her. You know, the perfect tears, the perfect performance, and it was really nice to have her be there and be at the top of her game."

The Vampire Diaries will air its finale, titled I Was Feeling Epic, this Friday at 9 pm ET on the CW. The finale is expected to be a tear-jerker, and it will see a major character saying goodbye to Mystic Falls.