In a great in-depth interview about her writing career, acting showrunner of The Vampire Diaries Julie Plec discusses the eventual end of the series.

EW has spoken to Plec as part of its “The Women Who Run TV” feature series, and the executive producer has some great insight into starting up in the television industry and talks about how she started working with The Vampire Diaries creator Kevin Williamson.

The interview also touches on her and Williamson’s overall plan for The Vampire Diaries, which Plec reveals has been laid out for a while. “Early in season 2 [Kevin and I] came up with the way we see the series ending,” she says.

Plec also muses that the big question the show needs to answer before the end is how the main trio’s stories will conclude. And this has already been decided. “We know how we want Elena’s journey to end as it relates to both her character and her relationship with the two brothers, and how we want the brothers’ relationship with each other to end,” Plec reveals.

But even though they know how the characters will end up, that doesn’t necessarily mean their journey to get there is set in stone. Plec muses that the end of the series, “could come in year 6, if [the actors] decided they were ready to move on, or it could come in year 10, you never know.”

Read the full interview with Julie Plec, where she also previews her new pilot (an adaptation of the British sitcom from the ’70s, The Tomorrow People), here on EW!

And don’t forget to tune in to The Vampire Diaries tonight, which returns with 2×12 “A View to Kill.”