Courtesy of The CW
"It's a new take on villains for us," executive producer Julie Plec revealed during the show's final Comic-Con panel on Saturday.
"This season, get ready to meet evil herself."
The tagline for the eighth and final season of The Vampire Diaries reveals more about the villain that viewers only got a glimpse of in the season seven finale. During The CW show's final Comic-Con panel Saturday, creators and executive producers Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson (who is returning as a showrunner this season) gave fans a taste of the mysterious entity that took control over Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Enzo (Michael Malarkey) in the basement of the Armory and turned them evil.
"The villain has a finger so far," Plec said. "Other than that, it's a new take on villains for us. It's rooted back in ancient times." Williamson agreed, adding, "It's a really great mythology. It's the ultimate evil."
According to Plec and Williamson, the season eight villain is going to be the most formidable big bad of the series. They wanted to end the long-running show on a high note.
"There's mysterious elements of mind control going on, which we've never come across before," Malarkey added. "It's rippin'."
Somerhalder revealed that while Damon and Enzo seemed like they had no regrets over their evil actions in the season seven finale, the good parts of the characters are still there, just buried deep.
"They literally have no control over their actions," Somerhalder said. "But in their minds, it's still them. That struggle is there, and you'll see that."
The upcoming eighth season of The Vampire Diaries is going to be the last. Plec confirmed the news during the panel, and teared up while making the announcement.
"We all have discussed it and we've made the decision that this is it," Plec said. "This is going to be the final season of The Vampire Diaries. It's bittersweet and emotional and we're all going to be crying in a minute. It's been a beautiful run ... Now as we enter the final year, there are just two things left to say: thank you and goodbye."
Check out the thank you video shown during the panel and click here for more on the final season announcement.
Bookmark THR.com/ComicCon to keep up with all the SDCC highlights.
