Why does elena look different in season 8

Elena Gilbert was a central character on The Vampire Diariesfor a large portion of the series run - until actress Nina Dobrev left the show at the end of season 6. Developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, the supernatural drama was based on L.J.

Smith's popular book series of the same name. With one of the most-watched series premieres in CW history, The Vampire Diaries debuted in and ultimately ran for a total of eight seasons. It has since spawned two equally popular spinoffs in the form of The OriginalsandLegacies.

Set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, The Vampire Diaries picked up with Elena still grieving the loss of her adopted parents in a car crash.

Final season soundtrack Elena broke Stefan's heart by proclaiming her love for Damon during the season 4 finale. Elena's trajectory of overcoming the death of her parents is an important one. She aims to be a journalist and publish fun and quality news from the industry. The Vampire Diaries moved far from its roots.

Her life grew even more complicated, however, when she became embroiled in an escalating love triangle with vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore. Elena and her friends also often found themselves caught up in various villainous plots and the factional conflicts between opposing supernatural creatures - including werewolves, witches, hunters, and ghosts.

Among others, the series also starred Steven R. McQueen as Elena's brother Jeremy Gilbert, Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett, and Candice King as Caroline Forbes. Despite the large ensemble, Dobrev served as The Vampire Diaries' core - with the actress playing differing versions of Elena and several doppelgängers.

Related: The Vampire Diaries: Every Character Nina Dobrev Played

In , it was announced that Dobrev would leave the show following The Vampire Diaries season 6 finale.

Many leaped on the notion that her break-up with co-star Ian Somerhalder (who played Damon) fueled the decision. However, that turned out to be erroneous, with the pair remaining good friends until this day. In actual fact, Dobrev revealed in an Instagram post that she'd always viewed Elena's journey as being one comprised of six seasons.

Across that time, as Dobrev also stated that she'd played "a human, a vampire, a doppelgänger, a crazy immortal, a doppelgänger pretending to be human, a human pretending to be a doppelgänger." Equally, her many characters had been "kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, enjoyed two epic on-screen romances, and much more."

Playing a lead on a TV show is an exhausting endeavor under normal circumstances.

Given the wealth of characters Dobrev played and how quickly paced the stories of The Vampire Diaries were, it was no doubt doubly so in this case.

Vampire diaries final season nina dobrev Plec sought to rekindle the Elena-Damon-Stefan love triangle by figuring out how to make Elena and Stefan's sad friendship into something more. So with the significance of Elena's character, what drove Dobrev to leave the iconic series? Dobrev also played the lesser-known character Amara, from whom the doppelgangers first started to appear. Elena and Damon Ian Somerhalder shared a gut-wrenching goodbye that ended with a dance in the middle of the road where they first met.

Elena alone had been put through so much of a ringer across the six seasons that there were few fresh directions to go. As such, despite her evident love and loyalty to the cast and crew, it's understandable that Dobrev would welcome a break and some new challenges. Following her departure from The Vampire Diaries, Dobrev landed a number of roles on other shows and in several cinematic outings - including cult horror-spoof The Final Girls.

Subsequently, her departure allowed more supporting characters to come into the spotlight and experience fresh challenges of their own.

The Vampire Diaries season 7 and season 8 turned its focus on delving deeper into the complicated brotherly bond between Stefan and Damon, which often served as a source of conflict and emotional turmoil.

Equally, the writers went on to make the relationship between Stefan and Caroline more central.

Final season lost Nina started dating Olympic snowboarder Shaun White in Season 8 had both Salvatore brothers facing the repercussions of their violent pasts by introducing the character of Cade, aka "the Devil. Look No Further! If Elena had remained in the picture, the much-loved Caroline-Klaus Mikaelson combination would have gained more traction, despite the character getting a New Orleans spin-off.

Such turns served the show well, sustaining its passionate following for two more seasons. Dobrev would briefly return, however, reappearing in the Vampire Diaries series finale as both Elena and her evil doppelgänger Katherine. The actress's extended absence from The Vampire Diaries, while leaving somewhat of a void, did little to hinder bringing the character's story full circle.

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