Legacies EPs Break Down Series Finale's Emotional Conclusions, Reveal What Would Have Happened Next

Following Thursday's series finale of Legacies, the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted has closed its doors for good.

Actually, that's not true. In fact, as we saw in the CW drama's final hour, the supernatural academy is arguably more stable than ever. The finale, which was wisely written as a potential series-ender in case of cancellation, managed to wrap up everyone's stories fairly neatly — though not too neatly, leaving fans to imagine what might have happened in a fifth season.

But why settle for imagining when we can pull back the curtain and ask the people pulling the strings in the Vampire Diaries Universe? In addition to confirming that a time jump (of an undetermined length) would precede a potential Season 5, creator Julie Plec and showrunner Brett Matthews also confirmed which of the finale's special guests might have stuck around for a bit.

Read on to find out how the Super Squad's stories ended, coupled with intel from the EPs about what the future holds for each of them. While you're down there, grade the finale and season overall, then drop a comment with your full review of Legacies' last episode.

All together now: FINALLY! Following another beautiful speech from Lizzie about how MG is the only person capable of drowning out the other voices in her head, the long-overdue couple finally made their relationship status official.

"Timing has always been their problem," Matthews acknowledges. "When we began to look at this as the end of the show, we asked ourselves what the logical conclusion for their story was. Had the show continued, I'm sure it would have become a lot more complicated, and who's to say how that would have shaken out. But if this is how we must end, these are two characters who really deserve to be happy, and they have hopefully found their happiness in one another. MG has come so much more into his own from that pilot, and Lizzie has become secure in herself and who she is. She has allowed herself to have this good thing in her life, so they're really good for one another and always have been."

Unsure whether Mystic Falls was the right place to spread her father's ashes, Hope had her very own Mufasa moment in the finale when Landon (and his new sidekick Ethan) helped relay a message from the man himself, Klaus Mikaelson.

"My dearest Hope, my littlest wolf, my miracle child," he began, at which point most fans were already cutting onions. "What a gift to be able to leave you one last message, so please carry it with you in the years to come. I want you to know this: You will make mistakes in your life. That comes with being a Mikaelsson. You will go through hard times, for no one with your power always knows how to use it properly. You will find love and you will lose it, for such is the burden of immortality. But the most important thing about your life is that you live it, because you are my peace. And I regret a lot of things, but I don't regret a single moment I spent with you. I love you so much. Always and forever."

"Hope had been carrying such tremendous survivor's guilt," Plec says. "It has informed everything about her  — her inability to love too fully or act too freely. There's this adult responsibility that was put on her shoulders attached to the death of her family, more specifically the loss of her father. The Necromancer told her that Klaus would never find peace until she did, so if we had to end the show without being able to give her that closure, I would have been devastated."

Unfortunately, that's where things ended for Hope and Landon. As Limbo's new emotionless ferryman, he feels nothing, so they really had no choice but to part ways amicably... for now.

"We would have seen [Landon] again, for sure," Matthews says. "There would have been a lot of story there in terms of how he can support his friends from Limbo. Moving on, does he find his way back? Does he get his emotions back? We're talking about Landon, who's such a bleeding heart of a character in all the best ways. Even with dulled emotions, Landon is still a deeply feeling person, so it would have been a cool thing to explore long term. We certainly would have seen more of that."

But if it must end this way, Danielle Rose Russell is totally on board.

"For the first time, it feels like they're equals, which is something I really fought for," Hope's portrayer says. "If they were going to last, I wanted to see them as equals. [Aria Shahghasemi] and I were saying that it feels more comfortable being able to do scenes where they're on the same level, for lack of a better word, in life and in their power. They love each other, and even though the timing isn't right now, they're both immortal, so who's to say it won't be right again?"

Upon discovering that he's no longer a werewolf, Jed agreed to leave the Salvatore School with Ben (after appointing Finch as the new alpha), so they could both find themselves out in the world. But fear not — everyone's favorite new couple wouldn't have stayed gone forever if Legacies snagged another season.

"They would have been a very big part of the show moving forward," Matthews says. "Ben Levin did such a great job, and Zane Phillips was just a home run piece of casting. He took on a really difficult character to humanize. How do you play this demigod and make it real? To Zane's great credit, he never questioned it. He just inhabited that character and made Ben really fun to write. He has a lot of levels, and he had that great timeless quality. He brought a lot to that role."

Matthews also sings Levin's praises, acknowledging the incredibly unexpected journey that Jed took this season.

"Jed changed as much as almost any character," he says. "If you go back to the pilot, he was a run-of-the-mill bully. This was a case of us wanting to dig deeper into one of our supporting characters. Whenever we gave Ben Levin more to do, he always did it so well, so we just kept going. He went from being this threatening bully to exploring where that comes from. He's simple in all the best ways. Actually, maybe pure is a better word. He came from a bad environment, but that doesn't have to define who he is. His journey has been one of self-definition."

After initially opting to shut down the school, Alaric agreed to leave it open with Caroline as its new headmistress. In addition to putting Mystic Falls in his rearview mirror, his next steps involve writing a definitive history of the supernatural creatures he has encountered in his life... for when the students are ready to show the world who they really are.

"Alaric's role in the show certainly would have changed," Matthews says. "To see him outside the bounds of the school would have been interesting. It really is the way to personify his journey. The kids are the hope of the future, and this act is very emblematic of that. These kids have gone beyond the need to be protected so aggressively, and they can actually do a lot of good things for the world. At some point, the guy's just going to die if he sticks around, so it feels like the logical thing to do after a certain point. By the end of the show, Ric very much believes that the world must know about [the supernatural students] at the time of their own choosing. That time is going to happen, and he wants the world to be prepared for it. It's going to be a confusing time for everybody."

Of course, the Salvatore School will be in good hands while Alaric is away. As revealed towards the end of the finale, Caroline will be taking over as interim headmistress — and she's very clear about the "interim" part.

The possibility of King returning in a recurring capacity "was meant to be a conversation that Candice and we could have if there was going to be another season," Plec says. "I think she was open to the conversation, but we never actually got that far."

Despite catching a horrifying glimpse of what the future holds, Cleo and Kaleb promised to stay strong, which means staying together. And while sexy supernatural painting is clearly on the agenda for them, we were curious about Cleo's other apparent passion. Simply put, she looked very comfortable sitting in Alaric's empty headmaster chair.

"That's the longterm play for that character," Matthews says of Cleo running the school someday. "It's not a next-week thing, but when Cleo saw a glimpse of her future, that is where she saw herself. It felt right for her. She comes from this place of not having a safe home and not believing the school wanted her, so it felt like such great way to show how far she's come. I do believe that Cleo will be the headmistress of the school someday, and that's exciting to imagine.

Josie was chosen as the official guardian of Ken's spear (aka the only weapon capable of killing Hope), which Wade shipped all the way to Josie's new school in — wait for it — Belgium.

Matthews says there isn't any great significance to the school being in Belgium, other than the writers "trying to say that the world is a larger place. Josie has found her own purpose and her own calling, and that's really what we wanted for the character, for her to find herself and her own strength and make her own decisions. That's where her life is taking her, and it would be exciting to see all of the things she would do while she was there."