Legacies Season 4: Why Clarke Can’t Attend The Salvatore School

The Legacies season 3 finale set up a scenario for Clarke potentially attending the Salvatore School, but the supposedly reformed villain can’t for a specific reason. Debuting in late 2018, Legacies is the second spinoff from ‘00s paranormal soap The Vampire Diaries. Following on from the first spinoff The Originals, Legacies tells the stories of a group of supernaturally-powered teens attending the Salvatore Boarding School for the Young and Gifted.

Mostly centered around the romantic relationship of Hope and Landon (Danielle Rose Russell and Aria Shahghasemi), Legacies also has a sprawling cast of witches, vampires, werewolves, and assorted other paranormal beings. Among this diverse cadre of supernatural youths is Ryan Clarke (Nick Fink). Originally introduced as a human character, Ryan was revealed to be the part-Golem son of series villain Malivore soon after he arrived on the scene. Since his introduction, Clarke has been a secondary antagonist, doing whatever it takes to escape the Malivore Pit and survive, even if that has meant betraying others.

However, in the Legacies season 3 finale, Ryan did seem genuinely contrite and to have regret for his past actions, even telling Hope that he truly wishes her and Landon happiness. He also gave Hope what seemed to be an equally genuine pep talk, reminding her that she has friends and people who support her, unlike him, who has been alone all his life. Any other time a wayward teenager with supernatural ties has appeared in the series, they’ve ended up being taken under the Salvatore School’s wing. Despite the potential setup, however, Clarke didn’t appear alongside the students of the school in the Legacies season 4 premiere. The unfortunate truth is that he can’t – not while Malivore himself is still technically a resident of the school, having taken control of Landon’s body.

The villain is a particular threat to his son Clarke, who effectively acted as a lackey for Malivore before finally defying his father in season 3 and escaping Malivore. While Clarke may be reformed, Malivore could still be powerful enough to manipulate his son, particularly when he is already controlling the body of Clarke’s half-brother Landon. Not only that, but Malivore (as Landon) was the one who put Clarke in the hospital in the first place. His son is still recovering from the injuries he received in that attack (or was when he was last seen on screen, at least), so there’s a good chance Malivore would psychically attack Clarke even if he didn’t attempt to manipulate his son to regain control.

Further, it’s possible that Clarke still has ties to Malivore that would make it easier for his father to sense his presence the closer he gets. When Clarke was near-fatally injured in the season 3 finale, he refused Hope’s offer of using her blood to heal him, noting it could kill him as he is still part-Malivore like Landon. It’s entirely possible that Malivore could use this connection to find Clarke. Even while locked up, after all, Malivore is a danger to all of them and can manipulate the thoughts of characters even without direct contact. As such, the safest place for Clarke to stay in Legacies season 4 is far from the Salvatore School until the threat of Malivore is neutralized.

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Cathal Gunning
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Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies and TV online since 2020. His obsessions include The Simpsons, Stephen King, the Scream series, and the horror genre in general. He has spent more time thinking about Stranger Things than the writers of Stranger Things, and he has never seen a Star War.

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