Spoilers ahead for the Season 2 premiere of Legacies on The CW, called "I'll Never Give Up Hope."
Legacies returned to The CW with an episode that established what life is like for Hope's friends once Hope is removed from the equation, as they forgot all about her when she sacrificed herself by jumping into Malivore with Clarke in the Season 1 finale. The new status quo is very different, and opens the door for the return of two Vampire Diaries characters: Kai and Caroline. Here's what went down.
Hope did eventually make it out of Malivore, only to find that Landon had filled the Hope-less void with Josie, Lizzie had gone to Europe attend therapy, Josie was watching over her newly job-less dad and trying to get him to spill the beans about the Ascendant, and the Saltzman twins basically trying to find a way to not both die when they hit 22 from opposite sides of the Atlantic.
So, what does this mean about Kai and Caroline, and whether they could return in the second season of Legacies? Let's break it down.
Kai Parker And The Ascendant
Legacies and Vampire Diaries fans have long been talking about a potential return for Kai due to the facts that the twins are facing The Merge, they recovered the Ascendant used to lock Kai away, and Kai is just too badass of a villain to be kept out of the game forever. Since Lizzie and Josie didn't actually know what the Ascendant did or where it came from, there was every reason to fear/hope they would spring Kai, and their evil uncle would turn up at the Salvatore School.
Well, Lizzie got Caroline to admit (off-screen) that the Ascendant was something that the twins had made with Bonnie as children, and Josie was able to fill in the blanks once Alaric finally came clean. He revealed that the Ascendant was what kept their uncle Kai -- who they apparently did not remember from their childhoods -- imprisoned and safely away.
This was enough for Josie to return the Ascendant to her dad for safe-keeping, as Alaric also mentioned that Kai is the one who killed their biological mom, Jo. The choice of whether or not to use the Ascendant is no longer in Josie and Lizzie's hands, but Josie also revealed that Alaric didn't definitively rule out using the Ascendant to hit up Kai for help. Alaric told Josie that it's a last resort and "until then," they should just stay far away from it.
Alaric must be pretty desperate if he described going to Kai as an "until then" rather than an "absolutely not happening" scenario, considering Kai killed Jo on their wedding day when she was pregnant with the twins! So, all it will take is for Lizzie and Josie to need this last resort, and the time will be right for Kai to return to the Vampire Diaries world. That sounds like midseason or Season 2 finale material to me!
Caroline In Europe
Caroline remains elusive in Legacies, as she's still in Europe presumably doing what she can to solve the mystery of The Merge before her kids hit 22. Still, she was part of the Season 2 premiere due to Lizzie spending the summer with her (and trying to get Caroline to come clean about the Ascendant). Nobody seemed to expect Caroline back by the end of summer, so there's no indication that Candice King will be back at her vampiric best to play Caroline again any time soon.
Still, unlike Kai, there's never really any reason why Caroline can't return. She has major connections to Mystic Falls thanks to the twins and Alaric, not to mention the other Vampire Diaries characters who are living their lives of-screen but in the neighborhood. Josie might need to see her mom too, since she missed out on Lizzie's summer with Caroline to babysit her dad.
One of the biggest reasons I could see for Caroline to return would be if Kai returned. She surely won't have forgotten the trouble he caused all those years ago, and she wouldn't want her girls menaced by their evil uncle without her by their sides. Honestly, if Legacies brings Kai back and doesn't bring Caroline back -- or at least gives a solid explanation for why she didn't hop on the first plane back to the United States -- I'd have a hard time with it.
So, will Kai and/or Caroline return to the Vampire Diaries universe via Legacies Season 2? Only time will tell. See what happens next in the world where nobody remembers hope when new episodes of Legacies air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
