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We all know that you can’t keep a bad guy down, but at the same time, all things must come to an end. And believe it or not, we may have finally reached Vivian Alamain’s end on Days of Our Lives!

She and Ivan had gone missing last week, of course, but then the truth of what happened to them all came unwound in Thursday’s episode. And it all centered on EJ.

EJ proved he’d be willing to kill innocents like Stephanie and Jeremy to keep his secret. And he made clear to Gwen that “The Work” will progress no matter what. So there is absolutely zero doubt in our minds that he’d happily kill Vivian and her loyal manservant, Ivan. It was bad enough that he hinted as strongly as possible to Gwen that Vivian’s disappearance was likely permanent, but then we got that scene at the end of Thursday’s episode.

Someone laid flowers down on a grave. And written on the tombstone? “Vivian Alamain.” And given the grand dame’s penchant for (trying to) bury her enemies alive, including her most recent attempt at all the DiMeras, we shudder to think of what might be in that grave. If EJ’s as vicious as he seems at the moment, there’s a good chance he had her dumped in a coffin alive and buried kicking and screaming all the way.

And this time seemed a bit different. It wasn’t like EJ making Rachel Blake disappear and just keeping it vague on what happened to her. We never saw any follow up, so it seemed pretty safe to say he’d just kidnapped her. This time around, EJ’s ominous suggestion that Vivian would never return, followed by that grave, made things seem a lot more permanent.

Because even if Vivian was buried alive, surviving being put six feet under like that would be tough. Her grave isn’t exactly hidden, but she’d have to be dug up fast. But if anyone (besides Stefano) could do it, it’s Vivian.

Still, that final bouquet of flowers seemed almost like one last tribute to a woman who gave so much of Salem waking nightmares. So was this really, truly her end? Who can say in Salem? But the show certainly seemed to go out of its way to make us feel like it.