Web Series Review : ‘Legacies’ created by Julie Plec - Hybrid Double Spin-off of ‘The Originals’ and ‘The Vampire Diaries’

 

Source- Amazon

For decades the iconic heroes and villains of The Vampire Diaries (TVD) and The Originals (TO) have captivated audiences worldwide, leaving behind an enduring legacy of love and family which continues in Legacies. This new CW’s drama series is a spin-off to the two. 

Another of Julie Plec’s works is back on the screen with a supernatural boarding school at the Salvatore House bringing you the story of Hope Mikaelson, daughter of the original and first vampire, Klaus Mikaelson and the alpha werewolf, Hayley Marshall.

Introduction

Series Name - Legacies

Number of Seasons - 3 (as of 2021)

Created by - Julie Plec

Genre - Fantasy, Supernatural, Drama, Occult Fiction

Language - English (USA)

Starring - Danielle Rose Russell, Aria Shahghasemi, Kaylee Bryant, Jenny Boyd, Quincy Fouse, Peyton Alex Smith, Matt Davis, Chris Lee, Ben Levin, Leo Howard.

Roots of the Series

The series continues the tradition of TVD and TO with the story of the next generation of supernatural beings at The Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted. Yes, it is the same house where Damon and Stefan Salvatore lived. 

 

Source - Pinterest

Synopsis - Spoiler Alert!

The series continues the 17-year old Hope Mikaelson’s story after having fought with Dark Magic in season 5 of The Originals that ended on a sad note with Klaus and Elijah’s death. 

Most of the plots take place in Mystic Falls, Virginia getting viewers to speed up on the school and few of its pupils including Alaric Saltzman (former vampire-hunter in TVD) and his daughters, the Gemini twins, Josie and Lizzy, pop-culture vampires M.G and Kaleb, hot headed alpha werewolf Jed, Ethan a student at Mystic Falls High School and son of Sheriff Mac (season 3). 

Source- Screen Rant

The school sees two new entries in season 1 of the werewolf Rafael accompanied by his friend and foster brother Landon (the Phoenix) who is temporarily accompanying Rafael and is not aware of his supernatural powers.

The story revolves around the Malivore black pit that has consumed millions of different monsters which is a portal into a dark dimension. Malivore is also known as Eater of the Dark created from black magic capable of consuming supernaturals and humans.

The only Tribrid on the planet, Hope can save the world from being consumed by Malivore by locking him inside the prison world. And Landon, Malivore’s son from a human, is the only one who can set him free by being consumed in the pit. 

Origin of Malivore

Around a millennia ago, a witch, a werewolf and a vampire, the ‘Triad’ combined their blood, using black magic to create a Golem capable of consuming dragons. The spell, however, also  made it unable to harm witches, werewolves or vampires. 

With each monster’s DNA being consumed Malivore evolved, became truly alive and betrayed his creators which is why the Triad wanted to turn him back into mud by wiping away the symbol on his forehead.

With these young supernatural becoming the heroes they want to be or the villains they were born to be, they have to fight to protect their secret, the town Mystic Falls and eventually the world by relying on ancient folklore and tales to learn how to battle their far-reaching enemies.

The Prison World & Mora Miserium

Source - Vampire diaries fandom

This prison world ascendant was created by the Gemini Coven and the Bennett Family to imprison the evil supernaturals and to transport the Mora Miserium that contains the black magic to prevent it from escaping if the Miserium breaks and rebounding back to Josie. 

The ascendant was also used to transport Malivore and the Necromancer (a monster who wishes to consume all the black magic to rule the world as well as Malivore) in order to save the school, humans and bring peace. 

Prison world creates a parallel universe where the same day keeps repeating in an infinite loop of time. What is one month in the real world is only a few hours or a day inside the prison world.

The first time the prison world was introduced in Legacies was when Kai, uncle to Josie and Lizzie Saltzman, tried to escape from it after being trapped there for killing his Gemini sisters with the intention to have all the magic and become powerful.

Psychological Analysis

The series inculcates a diverse cast with diverse stories of their own. You will find the sprawling cast of teen characters that have come or brought to the Salvatore school from various walks of life.

All characters because of some instances, judgements and traumas as supernaturals faced in their life come forward as emotionally unstable. Few examples that portray this are: MG, a pop-culture vampire who was not accepted by his parents for being different than a human and possessing supernatural powers. 

He has a personality that strives to keep his supernatural family back at Salvatore school happy and safe but falls for the fake side of people real fast, ultimately hurting himself.

Another character Alyssa Chang, who had a complex history and accidentally blew up her childhood home killing her parents is subject to unstable behaviors and emotional distress leading to cause tensions often. 

In the same way, Lizzie Saltzman takes the cake for being the doppelganger of Katherine, carrying her emotional baggage. On the other hand, Josie, her twin, is everything that Elena once was on The Vampire Diaries- good natured, kind and a borderline naive.

Source- Pinterest

Lastly, every character on this show has their unique style of being a leader and taking  initiatives to fight against all the monsters with the belief - ‘United We Stand, Divided We Fall’, irrespective of their personal biases regarding each other. 

Thus, leading to the creation of the ‘Super Squad’ that recruits students, faculty members and persons on the basis of their motives and loyalties that work together to fight against a common enemy. 

Currently, the squad members include: Alaric Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson, Landon Kirby, Kaleb, Jed, Wade, Cleo (new admission in the Salvatore school) and Lizzie Saltzman.

The Bottom Line

In an era where TV shows can be anything, Legacies is a television landscape full of cinematic innovation depicting stories of characters in a melodramatic but fun way that may provide some working solutions to deal with emotional problems as each episode portrays a moral lesson.

With the third season currently streaming on Amazon Prime, there is literally no better time to jump on this show than now. Even if you have not yet watched its parent series, it’s completely alright. This is one show I can’t wait to have in my weekly rotation being a huge fan of its parent series.

My ratings for the show - 5 on 5

Airing time -  Every Thursday on Amazon Prime India

Written By - Umme-Aiman