The CW's The Vampire Diaries really sunk its teeth into nail-biting storylines of the shocking variety, making for some of the best moments. Plus, the cast members found themselves in quite surprising news, resulting in shock and awe from fans. 

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With that in mind, we came up with a list of the most shocking and best moments in 2015 for the hit CW series as well as its cast members.

We'll keep it short, we promise! Check it out below.

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Nina Dobrev's Departure From Series
Dobrev has been a member of The Vampire Diaries since it began filming its pilot. It was a huge shock and incredibly bittersweet to learn the actress was ready to move on since we love Elena and all the doppelgangers that came with her.

Her goodbye note to the fandom still makes us weep.

 Dearest TVD Family, I've just spent the most beautiful weekend on Lake Lanier in Georgia with my own TVD Family, the cast and crew of The Vampire Diaries. I want to be the first to tell you that it wasn't just a holiday celebration, it was a goodbye party. I always knew I wanted Elena's story to be a six season adventure, and within those six years I got the journey of a lifetime. I was a human, a vampire, a doppelganger, a crazy immortal, a doppelganger pretending to be human, a human pretending to be a doppelganger. I got kidnapped, killed, resurrected, tortured, cursed, body-snatched, was dead and undead, and there's still so much more to come before the season finale in May. Elena fell in love not once, but twice, with two epic soulmates, and I myself made some of the best friends I'll ever know and built an extended family I will love forever. There's more to come before we wrap this up, and I promise you'll get to hear all about my experiences over the next month as we approach the season finale (I have given an exclusive interview for the June issue of SELF Magazine that I am excited for you to see!), but until then I invite you to hop on the roller coaster ride that is Elena Gilbert's life and join me as I celebrate her and prepare to say goodbye to her -- and to my work family -- as I move on to the next chapter of my life. I want to share this goodbye with all of you (this weekend's pictures were just the beginning). You, the wonderful fandom who gave more love, support and passion than anyone could have ever imagined seven years ago, when a young Degrassi girl from Canada showed up in LA to audition for 'that Twilight TV show.' ;-) I love you all. Fasten your seatbelts. If you think you know what's coming, you don't. Love, Nina

A photo posted by Nina Dobrev (@ninadobrev) on Apr 6, 2015 at 5:01pm PDT

Elena isn't actually gone forever on the series: She's just in a deep sleep thanks to a spell put on her linking her to Bonnie (Kat Graham), as long as Bonnie's alive, Elena will sleep, so perhaps there is hope that one day Dobrev will reprise her role depending on when the series concludes its run of course.

Nina's Final Episode Was So Moving
Elena's goodbyes were everything in the Season 6 finale. They had fans laughing, crying and just really relishing how much of an impact Elena had on those she loves and vice versa.

Her goodbye to Stefan (Paul Wesley) was absolutely beautiful and tearful.

Her goodbye to Damon (Ian Somerhalder) though was probably the most powerful as a dance sequence was included.

These goodbyes to the Salvatore siblings were certainly two of the most tear jerking since each Salvatore was one of her epic loves.

New Characters Such As Heretics
With Dobrev departing from the supernatural series, new characters were brought in for a larger focus on the Salvatore siblings. Among the new characters, which are still popping up, are Lily's (Annie Wersching) heretics. They're witch-vampire hybrids that have a lot of baggage, which makes for many interesting storylines: Valerie (Elizabeth Blackmore) was once pregnant with Stefan's child for instance.
(Photo : Jordon Nuttall/The CW)

Lily's Death
Due to the war between the Salvatore siblings and their friends from Mystic Falls against Lily's savage-like family especially her lover Julian (Todd Lasance), a lot of chaos ensued in recent episodes, which led to Lily's unexpected death. It comes down to the fact that Lily wasn't aware her body was unlinked from Julian's so when she stabbed herself she only killed herself instead of Julian too.

Candice King's Pregnant
The Caroline portrayer announced her pregnancy at the end of August, which left fans, us included, wondering how it would impact the filming of the show.


It turns out her pregnancy has been written into the show since the Gemini coven used her womb as a way to carry on their bloodline (it's the twins Alaric [Matt Davis] thought he lost when Jo [Jodi Lyn O'Keefe] was killed along with the rest of their coven at their wedding).

Wow! That's just five moments from 2015, but we can think of so many other epic ones. We're sure this will all carry over into 2016 since The Vampire Diaries and the cast in general is far from done being shocking and awesome.

The Vampire Diaries returns to The CW on Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. ET.

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