Spoilers ahead for Episode 2 of Legacies Season 2, called "This Year Will Be Different."
Legacies started Season 2 on a rough note for Hope Mikaelson. Although she did manage to escape Malivore in the Season 2 premiere, her time in Malivore guaranteed that everybody she'd left behind completely forgot about her. So, Landon moved on with Josie, Alaric had no idea he'd lost a surrogate daughter, and life at the Salvatore School went on without her. While many fans probably assumed that everybody would have their memories of Hope restored eventually, "This Year Will Be Different" raises the question: will Hope have to start all over?
Honestly, I was one person who figured that it wouldn't be too terribly long before Legacies introduced a way for Hope to magically remind everybody of who she is and why she was important the them. That's still pretty likely, but "This Year Will Be Different" seemingly suggests that Hope won't be jogging memories any time soon. Well, we were promised a significantly darker season!
Hope reunited with Alaric when she hunted what she thought was a giant troll to Mystic Falls High School. Alaric is the new principal there, and he originally assumed Hope was a new student. She eventually revealed that she's a monster hunter, and they teamed up to take down the creature. In a tense moment, Alaric tossed a crossbow bolt to Hope for her to magically use to strike what should have been a fatal blow.
When the crisis was temporarily passed, Alaric questioned why he so instinctively threw a weapon at a teenage girl. Hope tried to deflect, but Alaric could connect the dots. He had instincts about this young woman, and he had recently dealt with Malivore, which had the capacity to erase a person from the memory of everybody else. Finally, Hope tearfully confessed that her name was Hope Mikaelson, and she was the daughter of Klaus and Hayley Mikaelson.
Thanks to his time on The Vampire Diaries and (briefly) The Originals, Alaric recognized those names, and Hope's confession that he was the closest thing she had to a father and big old hug clearly impacted him, even if he didn't know what he would have felt in these circumstances just a few months earlier. So, why could this be a sign that Hope may need to start her life all over in the aftermath of Malivore?
Legacies And Supernatural 'Could Absolutely' Have a Crossover, According To Julie Plec
Despite the teen love story of Hope and Landon, the bond between Hope and Alaric is arguably the strongest in her life. If the closest he came to remembering her was instinctively knowing that he could trust her with a crossbow bolt, then nobody else may stand a chance at remembering her. Hope and Landon even had a long conversation at the end of the episode without any memories sparking in Landon.
Sure, there was some tension there, but he was more concerned about his bad date with Josie than making eyes at Hope. Giving her a milkshake that he didn't realize why he ordered doesn't really count as recognizing her significance, in my book. If Alaric didn't recognize Hope even after killing a cyclops (that they'd thought was a troll) together, is there even a chance that anybody else could without some kind of intervention? Might Hope need to re-meet all of her friends and re-form her bonds? That would be a unique way of adding angst to a teenage relationship!
Still, I'm guessing that memories of Hope will return, as Legacies gave a full season of development to her relationships already. Could Rafael have a part to play? He's been stuck in werewolf form due to some magic from Hope, so maybe he remembers her and simply hasn't been able to communicate it. An Originals alum is on the way as well, and we can always cross our fingers that she'll have something to do with restoring the memories of her niece.
Find out when new episodes of Legacies air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
