The CW counted The Vampire Diaries among its crop of renewals for the 2016-2017 TV season, but series star Ian Somerhalder told fans on Sunday (April 10) that it would be its last.

“We have decided to do one last season to really do [the story[ justice, and work very hard on it,” the actor, who plays morally-nebulous vampire Damon Salvatore since 2009, told a crowd at Walker Stalker Con in Nashville.

"My role is shifting in the show, and we have a lot to do, basically," he said, evidently breaking the news that come 2017, Vampire Diaries will be deader than Elena's Aunt Jenna (too soon?). Like his costar Paul Wesley, Somerhalder's also moved behind the camera to direct two episodes of the show, recently helming the April 1 episode that brought two character deaths.

Neither the CW nor executive producer Julie Plec have confirmed or denied the supernatural drama's fate as of yet, but given recent cast turnover — and the fact that it's been arguably put out to pasture shifting from Thursday to Friday nights — it's not a huge surprise.

Nina Dobrev, who played series anchor Elena Gilbert, exited the show in May 2015 and Kat Graham also recently announced that Season 8 would be her last, regardless of whether it continued without her character Bonnie Bennett.

Do you think any familiar faces return as the sun sets on the long-running CW series? And does the prospect of its cancelation have you all emotional? Weigh in.

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