Legacies' first season has tackled everything from monsters of the week to mysteries to even the teenage drama viewers must have come to expect from shows in the Vampire Diaries franchise. Lurking behind all of the supernatural twists and turns, however, is a looming threat to two characters that will need to be dealt with eventually: The Merge. Only one of the two Saltzman twins may live past the age of 22 if The Merge happens. Will Lizzie and Josie's relationship change once they learn about it?
Lizzie and Josie are clearly two very different young women, but they also clearly love each other very much. Under normal circumstances, it's difficult to imagine that the threat to their lives would drive them apart. The Merge is not part of a normal set of circumstances, however. According to the rules of the Gemini Coven, which the Saltzman twins were born into, twins must undergo the Merge ritual at the age of 22, with the "stronger" twin absorbing the power of the "weaker" and surviving.
If The Merge happens, either Lizzie or Josie would presumably have to die. The latest episode saw Josie snap at Lizzie in a moment that had to shock fans accustomed to seeing Lizzie as the more composed of the sisters. Was it a glimpse of what could happen if they learn the terrible truth before they're ready for it? Jenny Boyd, who plays Lizzie on Legacies, weighed in on whether The Merge will force a change between the sisters:
That one is more complex. I don’t know how much detail I can go into (laughs). The audience learns about the Merge, and that is something that the twins don’t know about. Their relationship, until that information is given to them, remains very codependent and much of the similar dynamics of them really relying on each other in different ways.
Going by Jenny Boyd's comments to ET, Lizzie and Josie's relationship will remain much the same... for now. She obviously couldn't spoil precisely what will go down between the twins when the truth inevitably comes out. If the events of a previous episode are any indication, the girls are doomed to have a major falling out.
When Lizzie had the chance to change her life via wishes from a Jinni, she inadvertently created progressively more awful realities, until she ultimately ended up in one in which Lizzie had learned the truth about The Merge. She began to see her sister as a threat; growing dark and paranoid, Lizzie ultimately killed her sister.
Lizzie was able to undo her wishes, but not without losing most of the memories about The Merge. According to the Jinni, a remnant of what she witnessed in those realities would linger, and Lizzie would slowly go insane and wind up in a state of mind in which she'd kill Josie all over again. Can this be avoided?
A lot may depend on how the girls find out about The Merge. Alaric and Caroline have gone to some extreme lengths to keep them out of the loop, and they have no idea that their mom's long absence is actually because she's on a mission to find a way around the ritual that would end in the death of one of her daughters.
If Josie and Lizzie are told by either or both of their parents, perhaps they'll be able to control the situation. If the girls find out on their own... well, that might not go so well. Only time will tell. New episodes of Legacies air on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW. An episode directed by Vampire Diaries alum Paul Wesley is coming up in the not-too-distant future, and franchise fans can continue to hope for nods to the two shows that came before Legacies.
A recent episode featured a touching tribute to Stefan; we'll have to wait and see what comes (or does not come) next. Season 2 is on the way, so at least fans don't need to worry that Legacies will be done for good at the end of its current season!
