‘Vampire Diaries’ Villain Kai Parker Finally Appeared on ‘Legacies’ (Sort Of)

Though The CW’s Legacies is the third series in The Vampire Diaries franchise, after TVD and The Originals, the show has done a remarkable job of keeping their potentially confusing continuity simple to understand. Still, even with that edict, they’ve managed to sneak in Easter eggs and references to the previous shows, and even multiple references to one of the biggest villains the world of TVD/TO/L has ever seen: Kai Parker (Chris Wood).

And now, as of the latest episode of Legacies, Kai has finally appeared on screen. Well, screens. You know what, let’s throw up that spoiler warning before we get into it.

Spoilers for Legacies Season 2, Episode 4 “Since When Do You Speak Japanese” past this point.

Here’s the briefest of brief histories about Kai, because it could (and probably will anyway) get very complicated. Kai was an extremely evil member of the Gemini Coven, a group of witches whose power and physical selves are tied together. He wiped out the coven, turned into a vampire-witch hybrid, and was ultimately locked inside a Prison World (an alternate dimension) by non-Gemini witch Bonnie Bennett (Kat Graham), as well as much younger versions of Lizzie Saltzman (Jenny Boyd) and Josie Saltzman (Kaylee Bryant).

Though he’s still stuck in the 2018 Prison World, in the form of an artifact called an Ascendant, he’s been mentioned a few times on Legacies as Lizzie and Josie’s father, Alaric (Matthew Davis), looks for a cure for the Merge. The Merge — again, brief rundown — is an event that will occur on Josie and Lizzie’s 22nd birthday (they’re twins) where one will kill and absorb the other. Everyone would prefer that doesn’t happen, but Kai has popped up with interest as, other than Josie and Lizzie, he’s the only surviving member of the Gemini Coven and would maybe have some answers about how to stop said Merge.

Even with a few mentions, and the discovery of the Ascendant — it was quickly placed back on a shelf — Kai hasn’t physically turned up. At least, until this week’s episode of Legacies, when we got to see a key moment from the character’s history on a camcorder. It’s just a quick moment, but while trying to prove that Lizzie’s new vampire boyfriend Sebastian (Thomas Doherty) doesn’t actually exist (don’t ask), MG (Quincy Fouse) borrows a camera from the Salvatore School AV Club, which is one guy named Wade. It’s an extremely old camera, and when MG turns it on he sees a man saying, “All this time travel’s been hard on the camera, Bon. There it is!” Followed by a smattering of applause. Wade dismisses the footage, saying “Who cares, just record over it.” But we care, Wade. A lot.

That’s because the footage is of Kai in The Vampire Diaries Season 6 finale, “I’m Thinking Of You All The While.” In the episode, Kai kills Alaric’s wife Jo (his own twin sister!) on their wedding day, slaughters his entire family, and several other awful things. In the midst of all of this, though, Bonnie — the “Bon” he’s referencing there — finds this tape, with a serious threat from Kai. After she left him to rot in another Prison World from 1903, he managed to escape, and tie a blood bond between Bonnie and her friend Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev). Again, without getting too in the weeds here, the tape revealed that as long as Bonnie was alive, Elena would be in a magical coma.

That all wrapped up on The Vampire Diaries, but beyond being a fun moment for fans of the franchise, it points to how Legacies is definitively not letting go of the idea that Kai is out there somewhere, and is going to come back, sooner or later. Dramatically speaking, you don’t tease out a villain like this who is intrinsically tied to the heroes without bringing them in. And in fact, it’s going to be sooner: as confirmed to Entertainment Weekly earlier today, Wood will be back in Episode 12 of the series, which will air in February.

That’s good news for fans who have been eagerly awaiting Wood’s return; and bad news for everyone on Legacies. If you thought mud-monster Malivore was villainous, wait until the utterly irredeemable Kai is back. Watch out, Saltzmans, he’s coming for you.

Legacies airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.

Where to watch Legacies