They are still in mystic falls

I asked myself the same question. Why even bother introducing those characters if we never see them... But I'm kind of happy because I don't want any other ship with Hope. It's enough.

Well the original plan which may or may not still be in effect is ethan and maya to fight over hope like damon and stefan

And sheriff mac lead to a new founders council

Hopefully someone just told julie or whomever that no, we arent doing that

The sheriff was in the second most recent episode

And she talks about her children so they’re definitely still around

She may talk about her children, but they're never on screen.

And right? They were only here for 2 episodes and said goodbye. What was the point of introducing them to us in the first place?

Ethan is probably out of school due to his broken arm and having a hard time finding himself after losing his football 🏈 scholarship. His family including Maya are probably being close knit to overcome his pain. Obviously there mom still has to work, and maby Ethan is back to school, but I'll be surprised if that don't explore how Josie caused Ethan to lose his scholarship. He's probably and expectedly a mess.