For no less than eight seasons, The Vampire Diaries took audiences on a journey through Mystic Falls, the Other Side, and beyond. Epic though it might have been, the characters suffered no shortage of grief, loss, and a fair share of goodbyes, some still leaving a tear in fans' eyes years later.

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Telling a tale of powerful supernatural factions at odds, The Vampire Diaries was no stranger to high drama. With many spoilers ahead, these are the meaningful moments that range from small tears to full-out emotional breakdowns. Through realistic dialogue and acting, these scenes bring long-time fans and new viewers alike to waterworks for characters they've loved and lost.

Alaric's Sendoff - Season 3, Episode 20 "Do Not Go Gentle"

Surrogate guardian, drinking buddy, and vampire hunter, Alaric Saltzman (Matthew Davis) was many things to many characters. After the Gilbert ring protects him from death one time too many, Alaric develops an alter ego determined to destroy the original vampires. Refusing to turn on his friends, he decides to die locked away in the Salvatore crypt with Damon (Ian Somerhalder) ensuring that the deed is done.

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When Alaric emerges one last time before locking the door he discovers his students and loved ones waiting with a memorial sendoff. Audiences watched Alaric say a silent goodbye. Elena (Nina Dobrev) and Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) lose yet another guardian to the supernatural world after their aunt and uncle died in season two. Fans would see Alaric for another two episodes before his death was final, and the beloved history teacher would resurrect a few more times in the series before its finale.

Damon's "I love you" - Season 2, Episode 8 "Rose"

Freshly rescued from her kidnapping, Elena is vulnerable without her vervain necklace and finds Damon in her room. With her necklace in hand, he tells her that he loves her, confessing, "I love you, Elena. And it's because I love you that I can't be selfish with you." Stunned, Elena has no response as an emotional Damon continues, "God, I wish you didn't have to forget this, but you do." He kisses her forehead before compelling her to forget and leaving her behind, the necklace back on her neck.

"Delena" fans went nuts as the tension of their relationship finally came to a head. In the season one finale, viewers thought the two shared their first kiss, but it turned out to be Katherine (Nina Dobrev) impersonating the doppelgänger. Damon's small tears as he compels her brought out a side of him that audiences had been waiting to see from him. His pained confession wouldn't come back around until later in season four when Elena turns.

"I don't want to be a vampire, Stefan." - Season 2, Episode 20 "The Last Day"

Though ostensibly known as one of TV's sexiest shows, The Vampire Diaries sure knew how to wring some serious malaise out of its cast. Ahead of Klaus's (Joseph Morgan) ritual involving a werewolf, a vampire, and doppelgänger, Damon takes away Elena's choice of vampirism. He feeds her his blood so she would surely survive her portion of the sacrifice instead of taking a chance on Elijah's (Daniel Gillies) elixir. Devastated by Damon's betrayal, Elena agrees to go with Stefan (Paul Wesley) on her last day as a human.

As they overlook Mystic Falls, Elena breaks down. Her life choices to figure out like having kids and growing old were taken away. At seventeen she doesn't know what she wants, except for one thing. She tells Stefan what he already knows, "I don't want to be a vampire, Stefan. I never wanted to be one." Dobrev's exceptional acting skills moved fans to tears as they feel for a character who has lost so much already now losing her free will to decide her future.

Caroline's Letter - Season 6, Episode 19 "Because"

After her mother's death, Caroline (Candice King) turns off her humanity. She's unable to handle the grief of losing her final parent. A few drained bodies later, her friends make a second attempt to get the former Miss Mystic to turn her humanity back on. Stefan maintains the act that his is still off and convinces Caroline to find their next meal at a bed and breakfast. Elena delivers the final letter from Liz (Marguerite MacIntyre) hoping to spark emotion within her friend. Proving her indifference, Caroline burns the letter.

In a last-ditch effort to save himself and Caroline, Stefan shows her his final memory with Liz where she shows him the letter. Starved and desperate, Caroline begs to see the rest of the memory and to know what it is her mother said. She crumbles as her humanity flicks on and she realizes that she will never know what was in the letter. Letting the grief in and all the weight of her recent actions, Caroline breaks down, taking viewers with her. Any fan who lost a parent could feel Caroline's pain at that moment.

Elena's Humanity Switch - Season 4, Episode 15 "Stand By Me"

Maintaining the loss count, Elena adds her brother (technically cousin) Jeremy to the list. It takes her a full episode to realize that the Gilbert ring can't bring him back from his death. As Jeremy became a vampire hunter, he became a supernatural being, for which the ring is useless. His death on the island at the hands of Katherine and Silas (Scott Parks credited for season four's depictions) could not be undone.

The weight of all her losses comes crashing down and Elena finally breaks. She truly lost her last family member and is consumed by the grief. She begins erratically prepping to burn the house down, begging, "Please make it stop. It hurts." In one of the hardest emotional breakdowns the series had seen thus so far, Damon uses his sire bond and tells her to turn it off. Distraught fans watched as Elena turns off her humanity, a pivotal arc for her character. She burns the house down and leaves her old life behind.

Funeral for Sheriff Forbes - Season 6, Episode 16 "Let Her Go"

The characters of this show are no strangers to losing their parents. Though known for its elaborate celebrations and proms, The Vampire Diaries is just as accustomed to funerals. After Liz loses her battle to cancer, Mystic Falls holds another memorial for a fallen loved one.

From Damon's eulogy to the police officers' last call, there is no shortage of tears for this moment. The final straw is when Caroline stands in front of those paying their respects and sings a final dedication to her mom. Without a dry eye from audiences, she sings, "Go in peace. Go in kindness." This funeral hit fans hard and Caroline even harder as she would turn her humanity off shortly after.

Elena & Bonnie's Goodbye - Season 6, Episode 22 "I'm Thinking of You All the While"

With the announcement of Dobrev's exit for the remaining seasons of the show, season six's finale featured her goodbyes. Her life is linked to Bonnie's (Kat Graham), and Elena falls into a supernatural sleep until the day Bonnie dies.

In season one when Bonnie confessed to Elena she was a witch, she did so by levitating a pile of pillow feathers. Still enthralled by Bonnie's magic all this time later, Elana asks her to share that moment one more time. They say goodbye, leaving fans devastated by the sacrifice these best friends made for each other.

Jenna's Death/Funeral - Season 2, Episode 21 "The Sun Also Rises"

Shocking audiences two seasons in, lovable Aunt Jenna (Sara Canning) becomes one of the major victims in Klaus's path. Just days after being introduced to the world of vampires and supernatural of Mystic Falls, Jenna is lured out by Katherine for Klaus to turn into a vampire for his curse-breaking sacrifice.

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Her death and subsequent funeral left fans sobbing as the Gilbert children lost their only guardian so quickly after their parents. The first funeral of the show was heartbreaking, paired with Birdy's version of "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver. This moment set the emotional bar for future funerals and major deaths of the show.

Bonnie's Funeral - Season 5, Episode 4 "For Whom the Bell Tolls"

Another notable funeral for the show would be the memorial for Bonnie. Her friends finally learn that she died the night of graduation when she closed the supernatural veil and brought Jeremy back. With his ability to see and speak to the dead, Jeremy gathers Bonnie's best friends and delivers her message.

Distraught, Elena and Caroline grieve for their friend while carrying guilt for going a whole summer without knowing she was dead. Bonnie, only visible to Jeremy, says, "It's okay. They need this. I need this." She speaks to them as if they can hear her and that was all audiences needed to let the waterworks fly. Like many other Mystic Falls characters, Bonnie would die and resurrect a few times throughout the show, but season five's memorial remains heartbreaking.

"Hello, brother" - Season 8, Episode 16 "I Was Feeling Epic"

As if the series finale wasn't enough to send audiences clutching their tissue boxes, the final line of the entire show would be enough to seal the deal. An iconic The Vampire Diaries line, "Hello, brother" was Damon's first line in season one, episode one. It would be his final line in the final episode.

Through the series, the Salvatore brothers loved, hated, and tried to kill each other. The line in season one was almost a warning from the then villain. Fans across the screens knew as soon as Stefan opened the door to greet his brother in the afterlife what was coming next. As the two embrace, they finally find peace after more than two centuries of pain. It was a perfect ending that left fans at peace as well as they parted ways with the show.

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