I am so glad that Legacies season 2, episode 9 has brought our Salvatore School crew back. And now that we’ve met the Alyssa Chang, I can’t wait to see what’s next!
Before we took a break for the holidays, we saw Hope return to everyone’s memory, Landon choose to get back together with her, leaving Josie alone, and none other than THE NECROMANCER! was unveiled as the creature beneath the red cloak wreaking havoc in Mystic Falls. For a full refresher on Legacies season 2, episode 8, check out our review.
But now, it’s time to dig into all things Legacies season 2, episode 9, “I Couldn’t Have Done This Without You.”
From ‘Master of Death’ to ice cream scooper
I really didn’t know what I wanted after learning that THE NECROMANCER! was back at the end of the Legacies season 2 midseason finale. I never expected to get an entire episode of Ben Guerens as a completely human, suddenly powerless version of our hell-raiser. This was absolutely freaking delightful, and while I don’t know how long he will continue to be hanging around causing all sorts of trouble, I can’t help but be delighted to have his enthusiasm back.
Watching him take his journey from powerless mortal back to the necromancer he’s always been was interesting, and now I can’t help but wonder what role Chad will be playing as the season rolls forward.
Introducing Alyssa Chang
Is there anyone who wasn’t excited to see Olivia Liang portray Alyssa Chang? We’ve been hearing about her since the pilot, so I was more than excited to finally meet the witchy powerhouse.
I don’t know if I expected to love or hate her, but I find I’m pretty much neither. I’m intrigued by Alyssa Chang. While I wasn’t too happy about her treatment of Hope in regards to the whole roomie thing, I did love how loyal she felt toward M.G. Our favorite, comic-loving vamp needs more people in his corner, especially when the Saltzman twins keep running hot and cold on him all the time. It’s nice to know there’s someone else around to have his back when Kaleb is MIA.
I’m not sure if I love how she set Sebastian up to fail his test, or if I resent her for casting judgement on him before giving him a chance, but I’m willing to give her loyalty to Lizzie and M.G. the edge here. Maybe it’s the Damon fan in me, but I keep seeing how similar Sebastian’s vibe is to TVD season 1 Damon. He’s just been resurrected after a VERY long dessication, and he’s not the good, kind-hearted vamp at heart. If he sticks around on Legacies, I can see a long and winding road to redemption for him, much like the Damon Salvatore tread.
Break-up and make-up awkwardness
It was inevitable that this episode was going to be full of awkwardness, with Josie and Landon still getting past all their break-up awkward, Hope and Josie trying to navigate a world where they both love Landon, and Hope and Landon trying to find their way back to some semblance of the normal they felt in Legacies season 1.
My greatest sympathies lie with Josie, even if I do think that Handon is my couple of the moment. While Hope and Landon are good together, I really do want to see Josie happy, so imagine the size of my grin at the end of this episode where all three parties find ways to bond in their new awkward and put the hard stuff behind them. I was basically brimming with glee whenever they were on screen.
“This is a seminal work of fiction, not something to run your horny clock out.”
I’m glad that M.G. is keeping Lizzie in her place a little. I thought it was cute that she wanted to bond with M.G. over his comics, but when we learned that it was just an effort to distract herself from Sebastian, I quickly turned on her. Not cool, Lizzie. Not cool. (Even if the tie in to the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event was super fun to see.)
But, seriously, though. Good on M.G. for standing up for himself and his interests and not allowing her to use him to distract herself. He deserves better, and I’m glad he recognizes that.
Is Landon really powerless?
There was a lot of heavy-handed talk about Landon’s lack of power in Legacies season 2, episode 9. No matter how long Sebastian and him spent together, the ancient vamp could not stop trying to emasculate Landon for being less powerful than Hope.
While I’m really happy that Landon isn’t afraid to be less powerful than his tribrid lady, I can’t help but wonder if we’re being set up for another huge reveal in the second half of season 2. Legacies season 1, episode 13, “The Boy Who Still Has a Lot of Good to Do” was the episode we learned Landon was a phoenix, so could Legacies season 2, episode 13 be when we learn the extent of a phoenix’s powers?
Because there’s got to be more to being a phoenix than just coming back to life. Having a power like that at your fingertips has to mean there’s more he can do. It’s just going to take the perfect set of circumstances to bring forward any other powers he might have boiling under the surface. I’m wondering if there isn’t some healing, superspeed, or SOMETHING else waiting for him to discover.
Is Chad going to be this season’s true hero?
I mean, his introduction, death, and resurrection in this episode has me wondering what role he might play as season 2 goes on. Will he be THE NECROMANCER!’s undoing? Or just a simple, loyal acolyte to the king of the undead? Only time will tell, but I won’t be forgetting him anytime soon, that’s for sure.
Josie’s little premonition
There are exactly three visuals that we see when Josie starts magically messing with the mora miserium. They are: someone smashing the mora miserium in front of a large fireplace, an image of the entire Salvatore School engulfed in flames, and an image of Josie who had clearly gone full Dark Willow. (Like, seriously, the look of it is SO reminiscent of what Willow looked like when she went dark on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)
I’m curious if this was just the mora miserium trying to convince her to let it out, or whether this was a true sort of premonition of a future that could be if they don’t find a way to get rid of the mora miserium safely.
Friendship restored!
That three-way hug!! I’m really glad that Hope, Josie, and Landon have been able to individually work on their relationships. We saw Hope helping Josie, Josie helping Landon, and Landon leaning on Hope. Everyone is doing the work to get back to the friends they were before all the Malivore-memory-related shenanigans.
I really need Hope and Josie to keep bonding, because I love them having each other to lean on. With all the craziness going on for both of them, it’s really important to me that they have each other to go to in times of trouble, stress, or emotional upheaval.
KYM IS BACK!! Now where’s Kaleb?
Okay, so I didn’t think twice when Dorian kept mentioning his intern, but OMG! It’s Kym! Talk about ecstatic. I don’t know where Kaleb was supposed to have been for the entirety of this episode, but knowing that soon we will have Kaleb, M.G., and Kym all together again is giving me life. I loved their dynamic earlier this season when they were investigating the Croatoan, so there is bound to be some great stuff for them coming down the pike.
Bye Sebastian… the pirate vampire?
So, Sebastian is most definitely in TVD season 1 Damon mode. He’s purposely pushing Alaric’s buttons, he’s head-over-heels for Lizzie, and he’s unable to control his need for chaos. The only question remaining is: Will he end up down a Damon-like path of redemption, or will his story meet a swift and bloody end? Or did it already?
Also, there were a couple of references to Sebastian having a pirate past in this episode that had me wondering where they are taking our new vamp troublemaker. Alaric’s book, Alyssa’s reference to a boat, and when you think back to the Croatoan and the whole Roanoke situation, it would make sense that a pirate could have ended up on the island for all that craziness.
And that original outfit we saw him in. I definitely think it had a pirate-like quality.
I’m definitely eager to see how his pirate-hood may play into later storylines, especially since Alaric did something with him for the time being. Is Sebastian back in his coffin? Is he dead? Did the vamp really choose to leave? I’m sure we’ll find out in Legacies season 2, episode 10, “This Is Why We Don’t Entrust Plans To Muppet Babies.”
Altogether, I think was a great midseason return. We got to see how THE NECROMANCER! came to be back in Mystic Falls, we watched as Sebastian proved himself incapable of following the Salvatore School rules, and we saw Josie, Landon, and Hope well on their way to healing all the ills the first half of the season brought.
I’m anxious to see where the rest of this season takes us after Legacies season 2, episode 9. Have we seen the last of Vardemus? Could we meet the real Vardemus at some point? Is Clark really dead? Is Hope still friends with Maya and Ethan? The questions floating around in my head could go on and on and on and on. But for now, I’ll just trust that there’s a great storyline ahead, and we only have to wait a single week til it arrives this time.