The Vampire Diaries cast and crew gathered at Comic-Con today for a panel discussion with an auditorium full of rabid fans - and, yes, it included Ian Somerhalder and Kat Graham.

The stars - whose characters were seemingly killed off on The Vampire Diaries Season 5 finale - walked on stage holding hands, much to the extreme delight of those in attendance.

They joked about starting the trend of #SaveBamon to bring back Bonnie and Damon, although it's rather clear these two will remain at the center of events on The Vampire Diaries Season 6.

But the premiere will jump ahead four months, with family and friends assuming Bonnie and Damon are dead and gone.

“It’s been enough time for everyone to make some big choices in their life,” said executive producer Julie Plec, at the show’s Comic-Con. “Some are doing it very well, and some are not doing it very well at all.”

Elena, for instance, is "definitely not in a happy place. She has a strange, confusing way of dealing with her grief,” Nina Dobrev said.

Other tidbits and spoilers of interest from the panel:

• Alaric will be “be living outside of Mystic Falls, having compelled his way into a teaching job at the local university,” a returning Matt Davis said.
• And he must be getting a love interest! “If anyone deserves a little naughtiness, it’s Prof. Saltzman,” Plec laughed.
• Paul Wesley disagrees, though: he thinks Stefan is ready for some as well. With a certain bubbly blonde? "Stefan’s been pretty good. He deserves some action," the actor said.
• With Alaric and Elena (who will grow especially close this fall) unable to enter Mystic Falls, it will make it very “complicated” for the two to help Jeremy deal with the loss of Bonnie.
• Is there a chance at all for Stefan and Elena will to end up back together? “Right now, the love between Damon and Elena is so strong, and the friendship between Stefan and Elena has grown so strong" that the answer is basically no, said Plec.

The Vampire Diaries Season 6 Episode 1 airs on Thursday, October 2 at 8/7c.

Meanwhile, check out this video. It's HILARIOUS.

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