I don't honestly see how anyone can argue that the sire bond doesn't exist... It's the reason she could only drink straight from a human and could only drink bagged once Damon told her to. That alone confirms its existence. Caroline gave a run down of the evidence, and Plec confirmed that it existed and that Elena only had the 'illusion of free will'.

Basically, I don't trust anything that came from Elena's mouth from the time she completed transition until Damon forced her to flip her humanity switch. This whole season was absolutely ridiculous.