In The Vampire Diaries Universe, Kai has been one of the most interesting and intriguing villains. He's funny and gleeful, causing the viewers to want to like him. When he tried to convince Bonnie he was a changed man, we wanted to believe it, too. Kai was a menace on his family, literally killing them all except his nieces, who were transferred from Jo's dying womb to Caroline's vampire womb.
Now, that he was back briefly, and seemingly ended by Ric, what are the reasons why his return was good for Legacies, and what are the reasons why it wasn't?
10 Good: Interaction with Josie
Their moments together show an interesting chess game of sorts. While Josie is good and kind, she's also very clever. At one point, Kai seems to have won their mental battle when Josie hands him what appears to be Bennett blood, something that they need to get out of the prison world. However, we find out that she tricked him, and Kai says aloud, "Josie Saltzman screwed me."
Because of Kai, Josie becomes Dark Josie, too. She absorbs dark magic in order to get her father and sister out of the prison world. As Dark Josie, she's incredibly powerful, but we're worried, too. Dark Josie could become a villain on the show.
9 Bad: No Interaction with Lizzie
We would have loved to see him interact with his other Gemini niece, especially since they have more in common. Lizzie has a touch of the Gemini-crazy, something that she's been dealing with her whole life. She's seen potential futures, one in which she killed Lizzie due to becoming unhinged and fearful about The Merge.
Like Josie, Lizzie is also very smart. But unlike Josie, Lizzie is less stable. It makes us wonder if Lizzie didn't have the loving upbringing that she had with Ric and Caroline; if she weren't as attached to Josie as Josie is to her, could she have become like Kai? In that sense, Kai could have worked as a cautionary tale for Lizzie.
8 Good: Humanized Alyssa Chang
In Season 2 of Legacies we meet a new character, one as complicated as our main characters. A side effect of Josie's spell in which she restored everyone's memories of Hope was that other memories were restored. Due to her recovered memories, Alyssa has a vendetta against the Saltzmans. She's become the ultimate ice queen, almost beyond redemption in her limited empathy and understanding.
Kai builds on her vendetta, recruiting her to destroy the prison world where the Saltzmans are still trapped. As she's about to do it, Hope talks to her, saying that destroying the world would result in killing the Saltzmans. Hope tells her that killing someone stays with you, and Alyssa tells her that she knows. For a moment the ice queen melts, and we see that Alyssa is still hurting over her accidental killing of her own family, a trauma from which she's never recovered.
7 Bad: Didn't Give Information About The Merge
The ultimate threat for Lizzie and Josie is The Merge. In the Gemini Coven, when the twins reach a certain age, they perform The Merge. Whoever is the strongest twin both kills and absorbs the other one. Both Ric and Caroline have been searching for a way to save both their daughters from this.
Kai did The Merge. This was an opportunity for them to get information about it: What does it feel like, can it be stopped, what's its history, and did Kai care for his sister before The Merge? However, they didn't get any answers to this.
6 Good: Let Ric Have His Moment
Ric has suffered a lot at Kai's hands. He lost the love of his life, literally, right in front of him at their wedding. Seeing Jo bleed out, dying on their wedding day, isn't an image we'll get out of our heads either. Then Kai tried to kill Ric's daughters. Kai went after Ric's friends, too. In Legacies, Kai is still a threat to the twins.
Finally, Ric gets to kill Kai and feel that he's avenged Jo's death. At the end of the episode, it does look like Kai is really dead. However, Kai has been beheaded before and came back, so we're not completely sure Kai is gone.
5 Bad: Overshadowed Other Villains
Kai is an interesting villain. He's smart, cocky, funny, and charismatic. While he may ally up with people, it's always temporary and for his benefit. He plays games with people, a skill we saw in the Legacies. He's a full-bodied, robust character. Kai is the energizer bunny of constant threat. Sent to two prison worlds, he finds ways to get out of both. Even killed, he's found ways to survive.
The villains on Legacies are less interesting than Kai. Ultimately, he's both more frightening and intriguing.
4 Good: Showed the Type of Threats That The Legacies Inherited
The legacies are protected from the outside world by the school. However, some of the legacy children have very old enemies, enemies of their families. They inherited their amazing magic, but they also inherited these old enemies and fears. For Lizzie and Josie, the two main threats that they've inherited are The Merge and Kai.
But this opens the doors for threats that other characters may face, specifically Hope. Klaus, Hope's dad, created many enemies. When she was a baby, Klaus actually sent her away to stay with her Aunt Rebekah in order to protect her. These enemies could easily come back and try to harm Hope.
3 Bad: Made Us Want to See More OGs
Seeing Kai made us want to see more of the OGs from The Vampire Diaries. We want to see Bonnie come back and help the twins. We want to see how she's doing and why she's taken a step back from protecting Mystic Falls and Caroline's children. Damon and Elena also had close connections to Kai, and Damon was one of the few to outsmart Kai. Where are they? Why aren't they helping, especially since they live in Mystic Falls?
This hunger for other characters could take over Legacies where the current characters aren't able to grow and flourish. Instead, they'd be living in the shadow of the OG characters. However, the absence of certain characters like Caroline still feels strange since she's Josie and Lizzie's mother. Caroline would never stay away from the school, especially if Kai was back and threatening her children. Having Kai back makes Caroline's absence feel more strange and out-of-character. She's a big missing part of this show.
2 Good: Brought Back a Legacy of Family Trauma
Kai merged with his younger brother, killed his twin sister, and ultimately killed everyone in the coven. However, before Kai, there was other family trauma. Kai was treated badly by his father, making us wonder if the treatment helped create this evil Kai. Before that, every pair of twins have had to do The Merge. The trauma of killing your twin and absorbing them is intense and has built up for generations.
Lizzie and Josie have been sheltered from this trauma and grew up with love. Now that they've been exposed to the Gemini trauma; it brings extra layers to their narrative, making them even more interesting.
1 Bad: Could Take Over the Show
Kai is an interesting character. Not only does he overshadow the current villains, but he's so charismatic that he could take over the whole show. He could be the main bad, the one that the other characters try to outsmart. Also, the supernatural students are developing their powers and strength. In Season 2, side characters are becoming less flat. For some, having Kai there could shorten that development, either by killing them or making the show more about the characters closely connected to him.
Kai is a playful villain, but having him around full-time could compromise the current story and tone. Maybe this time, he better stay dead.
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