The Originals: Concluding After Season 5!

The Mikaelson family have just thirteen episodes left to tell their story.

Series creator, Julie Plec announced the news via Twitter that the supernatural drama will be ending after Season 5, which is set to debut in 2018.

The tweet included a letter to fans, inviting them "to help us say goodbye to The Originals, which begins shooting its fifth and final season on Monday."

“It’s both a gift and a burden to be able to control the ending of a series,” she continued.

“Many shows are not lucky enough to have a hand in deciding when the end has come."

An announcement….. #TheOriginals pic.twitter.com/pizW1LIsdS
— Julie Plec (@julieplec) July 20, 2017

"Being able to celebrate the completion of The Vampire Diaries was a joyful and deeply emotional ride, a luxury gifted by Mark Pedowitz at The CW and Peter Roth at WBTV, who, as TV fans themselves, know what it means when a fan is able to say goodbye."

"Ending a show is always bittersweet, but for me, it’s a true blessing to be a part of making that choice.”

The news is certainly surprising when you consider the fact that there are reports the series would pave the way for a Hope Mikaelson-fronted spin-off.

Time will tell if the network plans to make a full-fledged series for the popular character.

The Originals has struggled in the ratings over the last few years, with The Originals Season 4 averaging 0.9 million viewers and a 0.3 rating among adults 18-49.

Like most CW shows, it gets a solid boost in delayed viewing, regularly catapulting over 100 percent in the demo.

If you watch The Originals online, you will know that The Originals Season 4 Episode 13 closed off a lot of storylines, likely in the event it did not snag a renewal for Season 5.

The news comes just one year after Plec confirmed parent series, The Vampire Diaries was coming to a close after eight seasons.

That series ended in March, but The Originals had Matt Davis appear as his character Alaric during multiple episodes in Season 4.

Just yesterday, it was announced that Candice King would be appearing in one episode as Caroline Forbes. It is widely expected that it will be in scenes set in Mystic Falls at the school Hope Mikaelson is attending.

Over to you, The Originals Fanatics. What do you think of the decision to end the series?

Is it time to let the series go?

Sound off below.