Merry Christmas, TV Fanatics! Happy Hanukkah and everything else in between! The Vampire Diaries Season 7 Episode 9 just gave us a boatload of early presents with what might be one of the best cliffhangers we've ever seen.

The Salvatore brothers are in serious trouble, and this time they cannot save each other.

Plus, Caroline just gave a whole new meaning to the notion of the crazy, hormonal pregnant lady. Mood swings are no joke!

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Okay, so we know based on the flash forwards that the Salvatore brothers don't stay trapped inside the Phoenix Stone for long. They're both coming out of it at some point in the next three years. How long they'll stay stuck inside, however, who can say?

In piecing together the puzzle, Damon is pulled out of the stone and opts to put himself in a coffin to await the day Bonnie dies and he's reunited with Elena. My guess is that after being inside the stone, he realizes that putting himself in harm's way is stupid and no way to ensure he is still alive when Elena wakes up.

Hence his long winter's nap.

This might also explain how Caroline and Alaric end up raising the twins together. Since we don't know how long Stefan is trapped inside the stone, it's possible that at some point during his imprisonment, she and Alaric are drawn together over her pregnancy and the babies.

Hence how Stefan ends up with Valerie in the future.

What I'm trying to say is don't lose hope, Steroline fans! We can only speculate how they end up apart, but this might be a very plausible reason for their separation.

It doesn't explain why Caroline seems to hate Stefan in the future, but maybe she's somehow compelled to forget. Not compelled-compelled, since that would mean a visit from an Original, but just...magically encouraged to hate him.

Mary Louise and Nora are the vindictive type, after all.

I was really starting to like Nora and her newfound freedom. The way she embraced the 21st century and enrolled in college, destined for dorm life. The tenuous but budding friendship between her and Bonnie.

But no. She's still evil. Or loyal. Sometimes that's the same thing. Julian was certainly both.

The hunter is still out there, and we still have yet to meet her. Without seeing Matt and Enzo, there's no way to know if the huntress tracking Stefan in the future is doing so because Matt has somehow called her into this or if she's related to the stone.

I'm thinking it's the latter and hoping we'll have answers when the show returns. It seems unlikely that Matt Donovan found a mystical huntress who tracks vampires and bad guys. Pretty sure that's not something you can find on Google, you know?

Plus, his assistants seemed tactical. (Buffy and the Initiative, anybody?)

I'm totally spitballing theory here with nothing at all to back this up, but I think the huntress tracks the souls of those who have escaped when their scars open up. That means Beau, Julian, Stefan, AND Damon are in danger either now or in the future.

She'll probably return, suck up Beau and Julian, and then Stefan's scar will open, and she'll start hunting him. They'll find a way to defeat her before she has a chance to start tracking Damon.

Anyway. Enough guessing. Let's talk about Caroline.

There's something about this pregnancy which is causing our normally in control Caroline to lose control just a little bit. Or a lot. Watching her vamp out and being completely unaware she's even doing it is sort of weird and scary. She's the character who, even though she's killed people, has almost always done so for a reason or on accident.

(Except during her humanity-less blood-fest with Stefan on The Vampire Diaries Season 6.)

What happens if Caroline attacks someone who doesn't know how to fight back like Alaric does and she ends up hurting them? Will the magical babies inside her stop it from happening?

Magical pregnancies come with all sorts of questions and so far the most we've gotten from this one are mood swings and some seriously weird cravings.

Blood bags and marshmallow fluff! MMMMM!

What did you think of The Vampire Diaries Winter Finale? Were you shocked that Damon and Stefan were BOTH trapped inside the Phoenix Stone? Who will help them escape? Jump into the comments below with your thoughts on this episode and on the season so far and don't forget you can watch The Vampire Diaries online!