#prisionworld

"Kai Parker Screwed Us."

“Welcome to the supernatural Hunger Games.”

Kai Parker (Chris Wood) utters that line in Legacies’ upcoming two-parter (starting Feb. 6), which features the return of his delicious Vampire Diaries villain. (And this time he has a beard!)

Kai first appeared in season 6 of The Vampire Diaries, as a member of the Gemini coven so evil they used magic to lock him in a prison dimension with no one to talk to (or harm). But you can’t keep a good villain trapped for long. Not only did Kai return for Vampire Diaries’ final season, but now, nearly two years later, Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) and Josie Saltzman (Kaylee Bryant) are about to meet their uncle, and EW has the exclusive first look at his return.

“The prison world is inescapable up until now, so it’s not so much how he comes back into our fold as how we enter his,” Legacies showrunner Julie Plec says of Kai entering the picture. “It has a lot to do with Josie and the dabbling she’s been doing with black magic. It’s a consequence of those actions that leads them to the proverbial and literal door of the prison world.”

And seeing as how this week’s episode ended with the twins and Ric trapped in said prison world, it’s only a matter of time before the family members are reunited. However, a typical family reunion this is not. After all, this is the man who tried to kill the twins in utero and did kill their biological mom. According to Plec, the experience of meeting Kai will “rattle” the twins, particularly Josie, who sees him as “a mirror of what could be if she’s not careful.”

And no matter what he says or how he looks, know this: Kai hasn’t changed. As Plec puts it, “He’s forever an irredeemable a—hole… but he’s one of our favorites.”

We’ve seen Santa do battle with the Krampus, and met Alyssa Chang since then, but there’s still the matter of this Legacies prophecy to deal with. Here’s what we think lies ahead for everyone.

Okay, so, we know Legacies season 2 still has some major developments coming down the pike. Kai’s return in episode 12 looms pretty forebodingly, as he will undoubtedly bring Merge talk back to the forefront as well as his usual brand of chaotic energy. We also know that Josie will have to deal with the dark magic rumbling around inside the mora miserium. It doesn’t look like that’s going to end well, but there’s always a chance that those visions were warnings rather than foretellings of what will happen.

But, despite those items looming large on the horizon, we also have a prophecy that must be kept in mind. One or two of these will probably be seen and felt soon-ish, but I think other lines will continue to hang over the heads of everyone at the Salvatore School like the ring of a funeral bell.

Here are a few of our thoughts on that prophecy, line by line:

‘There are two prisoners’

This is pretty damn generic, but since we know that the Necromancer and Kai are both still alive, and that both have served as prisoners, either of Malivore or a prison world designed especially for them, they are more than likely our two prisoners.

However, if this, like so many prophecies before it, is leaving the word prisoner open to interpretation, this could also mean someone trapped in their circumstances or body instead of a literal prison.

If this is meant to be more of a symbolic prison, there is a possibility that either Raf or M.G. could be described as prisoners. Raf is technically a prisoner in his wolf body, forced to turn at every full moon, and since he’s still feeling some of the effects of having spent so much time in his wolf form, he’s feeling more trapped than ever. And M.G.’s discovery of his ripper nature is definitely a possible prison for him, too. Stefan definitely thought of his vampire nature as a bit prison-esque, so it wouldn’t be that far off.

‘One is the master of his cage.’

If we consider Kai to be one of the prisoners, then this could be describing him in his prison world. He’s been there a long time, so he could possibly found ways to make it work for him. Or, since he’s the only one there, he could be deemed the master of his prison by default.

However, if we consider the other options, maybe this is referring to M.G., instead. Trapped in his vampire body with no way out, he has had time to master his vampire powers, but, since he doesn’t have perfect control over his ripper side, it’s still his prison.

‘The other returns home without power.’

The Necromancer was returned to the world without any of his original powers, so this could definitely be referring to him.

But, again, if we look deeper, this could also be referring to Raf. Raf was returned to the land of the living, to the human world, and felt powerless to help himself. He has also recently returned home to his father, but is powerless to solve the issue of his mother running away all those years ago.

Legacies season 2 has a lot of variables up in the air right now regarding this prophecy. It could definitely refer to the obvious, almost generic possibilities, but it could also cause some serious problems if the sphinx was talking about our faves.

‘The sins of the fathers are visited upon the daughters here and not here.’

The obvious daughters to consider for this part of the Legacies prophecy are Josie, Lizzie, and Hope. I’m leaning toward this being a little more related to Lizzie and Josie rather than Hope, simply because daughters is plural, and there have been a few more egregious sins from Alaric that could come back to bite him.

First there’s the confrontations he had with Vardemus. I definitely don’t think Clark is dead, so when Malivore’s first born returns, he could bring with him something to punish Alaric by hurting Josie and/or Lizzie. Also, we just watched Alaric silence Sebastian in Legacies season 2, episode 9. That could definitely also play a role here. As far as the “here and not here” business goes, I’ll start to truly worry if one of the twins leaves to visit Caroline or something. Unless this could be regarding Elena Gilbert, who Alaric once saw as a daughter…

‘New hero rises, but can be felled by the golden arrow.’

I’m SUPER curious about this line. I would like to think this is referring to Landon, especially since we heard a whole lot of “I’m a sidekick, not a hero.” coming from him in the last episode. I would like to think that one or more of his phoenix abilities kicks in and he morphs into a hero before our very eyes. And since he’s a phoenix, AKA a bird, it wouldn’t surprise me if the golden arrow could be used against him.

The golden arrow part could also refer to someone using his love for Hope against him. If someone threatens her or uses her to threaten him, that would also be a way to fell Landon by the golden arrow.

‘The wolf among you has many faces.’

We have a lot of wolves floating around, so this is the most unclear line for me. Between Raf, Jed, the pack, and Hope, this could be referring to any of them.

However, wolves are often referred to as predators that hide in plain sight, a la the figure of speech, “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” In that case, Clark literally wearing other faces could come into play here, especially if we see him resurrected in the next couple of episodes.

‘When time fractures, darkness overwhelms.’

When the mora miserium, AKA the sand clock, breaks, the dark magic will spill and overwhelm both Josie, and, according to those flash forwards in the last episode, the school by means of flame. This is probably the most straight forward of all the points of this Legacies prophecy. I can’t think of many more interpretations that would make as much sense as this one.

‘But the greatest destroyer of all is love.’

This could definitely be referencing the earlier line about the new hero being able to be felled by the golden arrow, but, ultimately, I think this just means that someone is going to be left without someone they love. And that absence is going to destroy some part of them irrevocably.

Legacies Season 2 Returns Thursday January 16th.