Is Damon truly dead?

Is The Other Side really gone?

Where will Mystic Falls residents go to drink? And what the heck is Tyler now?!?

Following The Vampire Diaries Season 5 Episode 22, fans have a number of questions. Fortunately, Executive Producer Julie Plec is here with at least a few answers to tide us over until October.

Read Plec's full interview with Entertainment Weekly now and scroll down for a few Vampire Diaries Season 6 tidbits and teasers...

ARE BONNIE AND DAMON ACTUALLY DEAD? Plec was non-committal: "I can say for certain The Other Side is gone for good, and I can say for certain that when The Other Side disappeared for good that they had already been dealt with - whether it’s through finding peace or other means... I’ll let the speculation blow around a little while longer."

WILL WE SEE IAN SOMERHALDER AND KAT GRAHAM AGAIN? Yes: "As far as in what context - how, why, and where? - that’s part of the mystery."

WHAT IS TYLER? "He is back to being a boy with a werewolf gene... it puts him in a really interesting predicament next year because it’s almost like a do-over in a good way, but also a scary way. Now with that comes that testosterone, needing to work out his aggressions, and find way to not lose his s–t so that he doesn’t re-trigger the curse."

WHAT'S ON TAP FOR ALARIC? "We never really got to see him deal with having become a vampire because Esther had gotten in his head and screwed with his brain so badly that he just kinda became the villain with no conscience... [he'll now need to hide] "the fact that A.) he’s this weird, weird breed of vampire and B.) He’s not particularly sure if he likes it."

Plec also said that Stefan and Elena are still vampires; and is not writing Season 6 as if it will be the final season of the show.

So there you have it, TVD Fanatics. What do you read into these responses? Is Damon truly gone?

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.