Fans of "The Vampire Diaries" are still emotional over actress Nina Dobrev's exit from the show in the season finale of the hit CW supernatural drama which aired on May 14. In the episode, Kai put a spell on Dobrev's character Elena, which put her in a "sleeping beauty" kind of coma which ties her to Bonnie (Kat Graham). Only when Bonnie dies will the curse be broken, so the gang at Mystic Falls had to say goodbye to Elena before shutting her in the Salvatore mausoleum.
Hours before the season 6 finale aired, Dobrev took to Instagram to post throwback pictures with the cast and crew of "TVD."
She started with a picture of herself and Paul Wesley and captioned it, "In honor of my final episode of TVD tonight, and because it's Thursday…I'll be posting a Throwback photo every hour on the hour. It's been 6 amazing years…there have been a million great memories. Thank you to everyone who has joined me on this incredible journey. I love you all."
Next, she uploaded a collage of pictures taken during season 1 which featured herself, Ian Somerhalder, and Candice Accola captioned, "Tonight is the end for me so I'm taking you back to the beginning…Season 1."
More pictures of the cast were posted after that, and a particularly touching one featured some fan art and fan mail that she got, and on that post, she took the opportunity to thank her fans for all the "love and positivity" that they gave her during her run on the show.
Lastly, she posted pictures from the surprise farewell party that the "TVD" cast and crew planned, which took place while she was filming her final scene with Somerhalder. The final photo of the day showed her and everyone else covered with cake and icing and was captioned, "Surrounded by my nearest and dearest. Covered in cake."
Just as "TVD" fans wouldn't forget Dobrev right away, the actress also said that she would miss being on the show and that it would be "strange" to not be with her "TVD" family.
"I've loved working on this show," she told Self Magazine for its June 2015 issue. "It's been such a crazy, awesome adventure, and I've been surrounded by so many people who I consider family."
"I know this is a new exciting step in the right direction for me, but it's going to be strange not to be with them," she added.
