Preparing for war is no easy task, and every single character on the show is at their most vulnerable.
There was an ambivalent quality to Legacies Season 4 Episode 18 because many of the characters struggled to keep it together as they pondered the future.
How do you decide what’s next when you don’t even know if you’ll survive the battle ahead?
Kaleb being killed by Ken before the battle was something I didn’t ever expect.
If you watch Legacies online, you know he’s been the heart and soul of some of the most essential parts of the series, so it was difficult saying goodbye to him so close to the end of the series.
The series had to set Ken up as a menacing villain, and honestly, had he been on the show for longer, possibly as soon as Legacies Season 3, he would have helped raise the stakes.
Cleo’s decision was a tearjerker. Choosing between her boyfriend and one of her best friends has got to be one of the most complex decisions she’ll ever make.
I was asleep when you entered my mind earlier. This time, I’m awake.
God
But Cleo’s been tormented by malevolent beings for pretty much her whole existence, so she knew that allowing Ken a leg-up in the battle by killing Hope would effectively doom the rest of the world.
We’ve witnessed characters sacrifice their happiness for the need of others on countless occasions throughout this franchise.
The only solace we can take from Kaleb’s death is that he died a hero. He could have begged for his life, but he understood there was no easy way to get out of the deadly situation.
Cleo may be reunited with Kaleb because, much like characters sacrificing their happiness, people often come back from the dead.
Surprisingly, Landon becoming the Ferryman of limbo added some emotional weight to his journey. He’s never been one of my favorite characters.
The character always seemed to serve a bigger purpose than how he was written on the show, and becoming the person who takes people to peace is a decent way of keeping Landon on the show.
Lynn was intriguing enough, but it would have been far better if the true story of why she was running limbo the way she was, came to light sooner.
The limbo arc has, for the most part, been stretched thin. It’s hard to fully complement the recent developments when considering just how long it’s been dragged out.
My offer is this, bring Hope to me, and I will let everyone else live.
Ken
I’m unsure whether the intent was for Aria Shahgasemi to leave the show with this plot or if he would return sporadically when characters didn’t survive.
Securing Ted’s peace showed how selfless Landon truly is, but the truth is, there’s been so much squandered potential with Landon that this seems like the best resolution we’ll get for him.
Lizzie’s potential sacrifice was handled with grace, and it’s going to be hard watching her think she’s going to die when she detonates the explosives to weaken Ken.
Lizzie spent her entire life with the merge hanging over her like a dark cloud, and there was always a chance she wouldn’t live long.
It was about time we heard her true thoughts on her mortality. I’m far more interested in seeing Lizzie’s life post-battle because it seems like there’s a lot to look forward to.
M.G.’s declaration of love clearly struck a chord, but she’ll be worried about whether she’ll even be leaving following the fight, meaning that she’ll struggle to connect with him until she knows what fate has in store for her.
Legacies hasn’t done the best job of making Alaric feel like the same person we spent eight seasons with on The Vampire Diaries, but he was super close on “By the End of This, You’ll Know Who You Were Meant to Be.”
Alaric has experienced loss on countless occasions, and entertaining the possibility of Lizzie killing herself to save everyone else was just too much for him.
You could see his struggle to remain positive, but the father-daughter dance hit me hard.
At a time he should have been empowering his daughter and making her believe she was strong enough to withstand whatever obstacle Ken through at them, he was struggling to hold it together.
There are many meanings to take from that, and while it definitely bordered on selfishness, his own brush with death at the hands of Hope probably changed how he views his own life.
He has done some bad things, and all he wants is for his daughter to live a happy and monster-free life.
Hope: What’s wrong, besides the end of the world?
Lizzie: MG told me he loves me.
Hope: Wow, did you say it back?
The bond between Hope and Lizzie was also strong throughout this transitional hour. On paper, they should still be at odds, but it’s mature that they can come to terms with the past for the good of the future.
We’ve been robbed of scenes of these two for a while where they’re not plotting their next moves. Even though they’ve been through so much, it’s a testament to their strong bond that they can look at the bigger picture.
Thanks to Jen, Aurora’s realization about Ken will undoubtedly play a big part in this looming battle.
Aurora’s return was a part of a revenge mission against Hope and the Mikaelsons because of things that happened in the past.
We know she’s deeply traumatized by the past and has been adamant about turning back the clock to be reunited with Tristan.
Maybe you’re afraid of the answer. Once you have one, things will never be the same again.
Hope
She has all the makings of a villain that can play nice when the opportunity presents itself, and she’ll probably turn on Ken when she gets the chance.
With just two episodes left, it’s hard to tell how all of this will end. The franchise has been around for 13 years, so there are high expectations.
What did you think of Kaleb’s death?
Do you think it will stick?
What are your thoughts on Lizzie’s potential sacrifice?
Are you surprised Ethan skipped town?
Hit the comments.
Legacies continues Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The C.W.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.