Legacies Season 2 Episode 13 “You Can’t Save Them All” is the second part of Kai Parker’s return to the TVD universe. Things don’t end so well for Kai, which he definitely deserves, but Ric deserves to see more consequences than he does.
Since Dark Josie shakes things up, Ric doesn’t truly see the fallout of his detrimental decision to send children to a prison world. His daughters aren’t able to have a thorough discussion with him, since neither Josie nor Lizzie are doing the best at the start of the hour.
Even Jade does not hold Ric accountable after Josie turns her humanity back on. She even says that she understands why Ric sent her to the prison world and believes she deserved it. That’s disheartening when Ric is supposed to teach these kids how to believe in themselves and their abilities.
Preferably, there will be some follow-through with this Ric situation before the end of the season. He’s been one of my favorite characters from the TVD universe for quite some time, because, more often than not, Ric stood as a voice of reason. Ric is also a fierce protector with a giant heart, hence why he made the Salvatore School in the first place – to give a home to supernatural children who need guidance.
Ric has lost sight of the school’s mission, by trying to keep his daughters safe from a monster that would have stayed locked in a prison world if it wasn’t for his own actions. He does own up to his mistakes a bit before the group leaves the prison worlds, when he offers to be the anchor. Except Ric gets out of being the anchor, so he must confront his mistakes in the real world.
It makes sense for it take a while for certain characters, like Jade and Wendy, to respect and trust Ric again. It wouldn’t do his character much benefit to see no repercussions in the real world, especially because he is one of the few authoritative figures in the Salvatore students’ lives.
Sebastian, who isn’t the best guy, takes responsibility for his actions more than Ric does. This disappoints me even more because I expect more from Ric than I do Sebastian. It’s also a testament to Thomas Doherty’s incredible talent that I found myself tearing up during Sebastian’s final scenes.
Sebastian’s line, “Some people don’t know what to do with a second chance,” applies to both him and Ric in that moment, and it’s one of the most moving moments of the episode. It’s a little heartbreaking because Ric has a second chance but hasn’t shown much appreciation of his opportunity to try and do things right or at least better. Sebastian, on the other hand, sacrifices everything to give Ric and Lizzie the chance he’ll never get.
This isn’t to take up for anything Sebastian has said or done at Lizzie’s detriment, because his actions are unforgivable. It’s simply refreshing to see a man genuinely apologize for what he’s done. Sebastian’s seals his fate when he tells Josie, “Can you tell your sister something a better man would say?” Sebastian knows Lizzie deserves a better man, and that is something we both can agree on.
Speaking of Josie, it isn’t shocking that all of the black magic doesn’t leave her episode by its end. Josie takes on more black magic than I’ve seen in quite a while from any TVD universe show, so it would be more shocking if she can shake it.
Josie’s unexpected connection with Jade towards the end of the episode makes me hopeful that Josie can find love again. It is a bit weird to know that Jade knew Josie when she was a kid and Jade was older. Looking past that, their longing glances are quite cute.
As for Landon and Hope, they are finally learning how to compromise and trust the decisions they make within that compromise. Hope is clearly distraught about letting Landon out from her figurative wing, though she learns Landon has some pretty epic wings of his own. With any luck, Hope will take more steps towards being co-heroes and less to sidelining Landon as an excuse to protect him.
Kai Parker finally experiences his own demise in “You Can’t Save Them All.” Or does he? I am reluctant to believe Ric’s decapitation is Kai’s final bow. Not only is it a rookie mistake to just leave Kai Parker chained to a post for most of the episode because he can clearly magic his way out of that, it’s also bit of a rookie mistake to believe Kai is really dead. In the many years I have been a fan of the TVD universe, Kai always comes back.
I am glad Ric is the one to kill Kai, since he’s been trying to do so in Jo’s honor for years. I’m with Ric that it doesn’t feel anticlimactic. It is long overdue.
The pessimist in me makes it difficult to believe he is actually dead, since Kai always has a back-up plan to his back-up plan. That is part of what makes him so menacing since it’s tough to guess his next move. Part of me believes that Kai will magically appear just in time for the merge to try to siphon all the Gemini magic from the twins.
And with the looks of this episode’s final moments, Kai may very well get some black magic in the process if Josie doesn’t find a way to free herself from it before then.
Other Spelltacular Moments:
- I’m so glad Dorian is going to be okay. I am not ready to say goodbye to him.
- Does anyone know what happened to Diego? Did I miss that?
- MG, Kaleb, and Jed are a trio I need to see more of in the future.
- I shouldn’t have loved Kai as Joshua with a weird cane and glasses as much as I did.
- Kai and Hope’s showdown is epic because Kai has never fought a Mikaelson before, and Hope is definitely the most powerful Mikaelson.
Legacies is new Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.
