When Nina Dobrev left The Vampire Diaries, showrunner Julie Plec hinted that her departure might not be for good. "Nina has always said that if there’s something for her to do in the series finale that she will be there to do it," she told Entertainment Weekly . "When she left, she said, 'I want to see this character to its end at the end of the show, so I can’t wait to come back and put her to bed again.'"The time for that may have finally arrived.For the eighth and final season of the show, Plec wants to bring all the characters from past seasons back. “I will say that at some point over the course of this season, I would like to see everyone’s face that I can possibly see again, whether it be in the finale or in flashbacks or the characters who are still alive finding their way through Mystic Falls one last time,” she told EW For Elena Gilbert to emerge from her 60-year slumber, Bonnie Bennett would have to die. Another option would be to have a flashback or flash-forward.The earliest we'll find out if and how Elena and other past characters return is on October 21, when the show premieres. Bringing them all back will take some creativity, so it'll be interesting to see what they come up with.