After over 13-years The Vampire Diaries franchise is coming to an end. This is shocking for all of us after the show had not one, but two spin-offs following The Vampire Diaries. The CW has gone on a rampage canceling shows, one of them being Legacies, the spin-off following The Originals with Hope Mikaelson, Klaus’ daughter. The Vampire Diaries first aired in September 2009, then being joined by The Originals in October 2013, then the spin-off ended in August 2018, but then the story was immediately continued in October of that year with Legacies.
The Legacies show continued where The Originals left off, following the vampire, werewolf, and witch tribrid Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell), the very first of her kind. Hope is the daughter of werewolf mother Hayley Marshall played by Phoebe Tonkin and vampire/werewolf hybrid Klaus Mikaelson, Joseph Morgan. Hope now attends the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted in Mystery Falls, Virginia. While attending, she’s learned how to control her supernatural powers and abilities, while also protecting herself, her friends, and all of Mystic Falls from various threats that come their way. During the airing time of Legacies, we were able to see many characters return to the big screen from The Vampire Diaries, including Alaric Saltzman, Jeremy Gilbert, Matt Donovan, Jo Laughlin, Freya Mikaelson, Kai Parker, Caroline Salvatore, and many more.
So it is now official that season 4 of Legacies will be it’s last now that CW Network has canceled the show and it won’t return for its season 5. This cancellation now brings the 13-year franchise to an end, and it is a sad day for fans considering no other spin-offs have been announced, and even still, it would be hard to tie in another spin-off without having Hope Mikaelson as the center. Of course, we’d love to see the fourth spin-off but it just looks highly unlikely now.
The Legacies show was already going under large changes, with Kaylee Bryant leaving who played Josie Saltzman, a huge character in the show. But, we know it won’t be the first time a huge character has left the franchise, looking back at Elena Gilbert who disappeared for multiple seasons of The Vampire Diaries. Josie is a self-conscious witch student, daughter of Alaric and Caroline, and sister to Lizzie Saltzman. The final time Josie appeared in the season was in Legacies season 4, episode 9, where Josie left the school and said a final goodbye to her girlfriend werewolf Finch Tarrayo and Lizzie. It was a surprising twist but unfortunately, now we have to say goodbye to more than just one Saltzman sister. And Sadly, many of us will wonder if this twist might have been something that ruined the show.
With all The CW’s cancellations that happened, many of us feel Legacies was extreme and is now bringing the network’s long series to a close. Although creator Julie Plec is told too soon to be bringing a new vampire series to the screens in the form of Vampire Academy, it seems like the Vampire Diaries family is leaving us now.
