Before hitting the Ballroom 20 stage for their panel on Saturday, the cast of the CW’s The Vampire Diaries:  Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev, Matt Davis, and executive producer Julie Plec, sat down with press for round table interviews.  During our conversation, they discussed the new threats in Season 6, the emotional state of the characters, and the excitement of new relationships.  Hit the jump for more.

Question:  What will be the new threat this season?

JULIE PLEC:  There's multiple threats this season.  There's the threat of our supernatural heroes trying to get home to Mystic Falls and of course Damon and Bonnie trying to get home, period.  Where they are, it's not easy to get out of.  There's this ever growing sense of dread that somebody out there is not really happy with them and is determined to mess with their world. The threats are gonna come from some surprising places in the beginning and will grow over the course of the season.

What storyline do you have planned for Caroline this season?

PLEC:  Caroline's got a terrific storyline and I won't spoil anything for the second half of the season but it's gonna be pretty big.  In the beginning it's really just about her trying to pick up the pieces and figure out how she's supposed to be living her life.  Caroline Forbes has always been the girl with the lists and the spreadsheets, matching nail polish, the perfect dress, and the perfect party.  She's feeling displaced from her home and now from her friends.  Each of them are lost in a different way.  Her mom is still in Mystic Falls, she can't even have lunch with her mom in her own home town.  She's gonna have to start over and figure herself out. 

Can you tease any developing relationships coming up next season?

PLEC:  I can tease a little.  I think something we're all excited about is seeing Tyler in a new dynamic with somebody.  One of the fun things that's happened in four months is that he and Elena have actually become buddies.  Seeing him have a girl friend is very enjoyable and then seeing him have the hots for somebody—not Elena, someone else—and develop a romance.  He hasn't had a romance since Caroline and they've come back to a good place with each other.  It's time for him to find something for himself. 

Will Alaric be a father figure to Elena?

MATT DAVIS:  We're gonna start the season a few months from where we left off in Season 5 and I think you'll definitely see the relationship between Alaric right from the get-go.  I don't know if fatherly is the correct term but he's definitely a presence in her life.  I feel like the bulk of my scenes are with Elena.  You'll see that relationship deepen and grow and that relationship sets up a critical plot point for the rest of the season.   

Alaric can't come back to Mystic Falls, will he be at the college?

DAVIS:  Maybe.  That's set up right from the very beginning.  I will not be with some of the other vampire characters not in Mystic Falls.   You'll see Alaric having established a life outside of Mystic Falls that I found appealing creatively and narratively, and I think the fans will like to see too. 

Can you talk about what you'd like to see when it comes to the dynamic between Damon and Alaric?

DAVIS:  I feel like you can't have Alaric without Damon.  You might have Damon without Alaric at some level but I think you'll see Alaric doing everything he can to fix this time rift that's happened after Season 4.

What's going on with Stefan?  How is he dealing with Damon not being there?

PAUL WESLEY:  It's funny, over the hiatus I was talking to Julie Plec and said, "What's Stefan doing?"  And she's like, "Well he's searching for his brother."  And I was like, "No, he's not!  He's cut himself off and he's left town."  She was like, "I really like that."  So, she wrote this really interesting take on Stefan.  He's decided to shut off his emotions and you think he's searching for his brother but he's really just lying to everyone.  He's started his own life.  He wants nothing to do with anyone, he's done. 

Is he very dark this season?

WESLEY:  I wouldn't say that, he's actually content and happy, he's just kind of moved on.

Why do you think he's of this state of mind now?

WESLEY:  I think he's very emotionally affected by his brother's loss and Bonnie's loss but doesn't want to deal with it.  We open up the story, it's a year later.  Stefan's decided to deal with it in a way that's unexpected. 

We were told it was only a four month jump.

WESLEY:  Really?  I was told it was a year.  It's more than four, I feel like. 

Would you like to see Stefan and Caroline happen?

WESLEY:  Yeah.  I want them to make out, I want them to make it dirty, I want them to get sexy, I want them to just go at it, and then see what happens.  Then if they wanna be friends it's cool but they'll still have that night, you know? [laughs] 

Will Elena go back to college next season and what can you tell us about her state of mind?

NINA DOBREV:  Yeah.  She's crazy.  I mean, not crazy but you wonder about her state of mind.  She has a very interesting and confusing way of dealing with these particular deaths.

Can you talk a little bit about her relationship with Jeremy?

DOBREV:  Jeremy is in Mystic Falls because he's not a supernatural but Elena is, so she can't go back to Mystic Falls.  They're separated at the moment.  She's trying to be a mother figure again but he's older, so he's kinda not putting up with it.  

Do you miss Katherine?

DOBREV:  Yeah, I do.  I think if she had to go, she went in the best way possible, it was really cool.  I'm really happy with the way the character was closed.  It was really good but I'm sad because at the end of the last season, she ended up being so desperate and she was such a mess.  I love playing confused, broken characters. 

What is Damon’s state of mind when the season picks up?

IAN SOMERHALDER:  Ironic.  Profound.  The cool thing about it is I think by virtue of the fact that Damon and Bonnie are stuck together—Kat Graham and I love each other.  I think she’s an insanely, ginormous talent in what she does.  Katerina and I get to go work as individuals with our acting coach, create phenomenal connective tissue between what’s happening in our own lives and then what’s happening in the story.  You have to find that connective tissue to make it real for ourselves.  Then we get to work together as a group.  What that creates is a very profound connection to the work and to each other.  The shit that goes through our mind when we’re shooting is so dark, weird, dirty and nasty.  And that’s sort of what creates this really cool dynamic. 

How do you think the separation from Elena is going to affect their relationship?

SOMERHALDER:  Well, when your boyfriend is in purgatory and some weird place—that we only shoot in this cool blue hue—I think it’s gotta be difficult.  I think it’s going to be great.  I think that we’ve told these stories for five years and what’s interesting is it’s gonna change.  You create all these new dynamics and all these different characters fusing and molding in different capacities.  It’s a reboot.  It’s a time for us to see these different characters in different lights together.  It’s gonna be cool, I hope.