Hey everyone! So I've been racking my brain and reading theories about Landon's death in Legacies, so here's a bit of a breakdown and what I've come up with so far. Let me know what you think!
RECAP
So Landon has resurrected every time he's been killed due to his Phoenix supernatural powers, all up until Legacies S2 Ep15 - When The Necromancer is controlling Raphael and he stabs him with the golden arrow (which is the one thing that can kill a phoenix).
Then in order to get the black magic back too, The Necromancer makes a deal with Alaric to release all the hostages from his control but loophole, it returns them to their original state as dead. (p.s I still don't get how Hope knew he was dead whilst being inside of Josie's head at the time - like why didn't she wake up? low key reminded me of TVD's Elena in the sleeping beauty spell)
Anyway, then S3Ep1 Rafael convinces Landon to get back to his body especially to also allow The Necromancer to access all the black magic he was promised as part of his deal with Alaric and also so Hope wakes up.
Then, later S3Ep4 - The Necromancer and Alyssa plan to bring back Malivore and release all the monsters, which then The Necromancer demands Malivore "to end Landon as he sees fit" which actually gives them "wiggle room" & a loophole. So THIS part could be the start of when Malivore and Landon merged as they made a deal for Landon to become Malivore's vessel in order to save each other. Then when The Necromancer's dragon came to save him on the football field, it incinerated Landon (or was it just incinerating the host?) - I'm still confused how Landon came back at that point because he would've been no longer a phoenix (so either it was still Malivore or his powers were fueled into Landon).
^Although, I believe Landon came back because in that nick of time, Alyssa and the twins were able to create a Prison World which allowed Landon & Hope to survive any deaths and revive there. Then, in order to escape the prison world, they went back to the Salvatore Crypt and through the Malivore portal of goo in order to be spit back out into the normal world. However, even if Hope & Landon held each other tightly in those moments - perhaps Malivore never released Landon and only released Hope as her blood is toxic to Malivore. Another flag with this is HOW did Landon & Hope remember each other even if they went into the pit together.. they didn't quite explain that (Maybe it wasn't just Landon's soul?) And also, Hope's blood is technically not completely toxic to Malivore because she's not a vampire yet hence why it didn't work the first time when she went into the Malivore pit to try destroy it).
OR it is possible Landon did come back with Hope from the prison world/pit back into the normal world but then when they had sex, her blood was toxic to Landon?? This concept raises big question marks - because realistically, and correct me if I'm wrong, fluids can exchange when having sex but blood cells don't usually & especially if protection is used then it's highly unlikely - so this is a really stupid concept for them to say that Landon was killed/turned into Malivore mud after sex with Hope - even more so if it's just Landon since he's also part human whereas it could've maybe made a bit more sense if it was Malivore still at that point, since Malivore would be consuming Hope which could instantly turn him into goo (but that's extremely concerning because it would mean Hope had sex with Landon's monstrous dad..)
Either way, in S3Ep5 - Hope is doing everything she can to find out what happened to Landon. Low key though, technically if Landon went into Malivore's pit/turned into goo - shouldn't he be forgotten? Anyway, even though Hope sees Landon in the simulation from Professor Vardemus's therapy box, he is presumably dead. At the end of that episode, we find that Landon is in Malivore darkness and the following episode we find that he's stuck there with The Necromancer. So we guess that The Necromancer was consumed by Malivore in the Prison World. And since, Malivore was still in the prison world at the time, in S3Ep6, when Landon & The Necromancer battle in the ice cream shop/darkness, Landon returns to the Prison world where Malivore was. BUT AGAIN, that raises questions because when The Necromancer eventually returned, he was human and directly returned to the normal world where Josie and Alaric found him working in a funeral home. So I don't get what happened there?
Back to the episode, at the end of it - Landon writes a letter in the Prison World writing that's he's alive and pins it on The Salvatore School gate. So I guess we can actually think that highly likley regardless of all previous confusions, this is the true Landon. But then from there, could Landon still be in the prison world?
By S3Ep8, the letter from Landon is found when Hope and Lizzie astral projected to the Prison world, and also since the ascendant was not destroyed (instead just hidden by MG and meaning the prison world is still exists), they find ways to bring back Landon. At the end of the episode, the black magic ends up being toxic to the twins and Hope when trying to travel back into the prison world, which again I don't understand as they explained it as if The Necromancer who had black magic coursing through him was still alive and present in the prison world (which is untrue because he would've been in the darkness or at least in his human form).
Anyway, we see Landon return and save the girls from being consumed by black magic just in time by destroying the ascendant. He has the one liner "Long Time, No See". THOUGHT - If the ascendant is destroyed then, how did 'Malivore posing as Landon disguised hunter' come back to life?? And if the ascendant is destroyed and REAL real Landon was still there, does that mean he's dead now or who was the prison world bound to in order to keep it existing?? (Can't be The Necromancer and if it's Malivore then it also means doomsday for real Landon since Malivore technically returned)
Going back to S3Ep8, we see Landon reunite with Hope at the end even though it turns out to be a golem which Cleo created and not the real Landon. We do see "real/fake Landon" disguise as a hunter monster and spy on golem Landon & Hope's happy reunion.
Then S3Ep9, it's obvious in hindsight as to why golem Landon couldn't explain his time in Malivore or the prison world to Hope because he didn't come from there to begin with.
S3Ep10, when the banshee foretells doom and says Landon will die if Cleo doesn't leave the Salvatore School. It must've meant that everyone would find out about Cleo's fake creation of Golem Landon - maybe idk? I guess the Salvatore super squad gang doesn't figure it out til later anyway, until they notice little things that didn't add up about Landon.
S3E12- Hope finds out the truth about golem Landon and realizes Cleo orchestrated the whole thing. Then Hunter Landon saves Cleo from killing Hope and activating her vampire powers (which actually makes total sense because if Malivore is posing as Landon at this point then I'm sure he doesn't want Hope to turn into the one thing that can truly defeat him).
At the end of the episode, we THINK that the real Landon has returned from the Prison World as the hunter but in fact, it's untrue.
S3E13 - Most of this episode explains Cleo's motivations for her actions and drive to destroy Malivore. In fact, Malivore posing as Landon/returned hunter: acts aggressively (blaming Prison world survival), breaks up with Hope, leaves the Salvatore school, and ends up teaming with Cleo to destroy Malivore (which is ironic because he is Malivore so seemingly he must've just tried to keep an eye on Cleo or divert her from finding another way to destroy Malivore since turning Hope into a vampire was not an option).
Until S3Ep16, we just see the impact on Hope's break up with "Landon". But this finale shows how Malivore/landon (a.k.a Malilandon) is still aggressive as he beats the crap out of the museum guard when Cleo and him go to steal an artifact in hopes of destroying Malivore.
Okay so here's where it gets interesting. So after the last two episodes when the twins & Hope go through their Wellness Retreats for Witches & their trip, crosses with Andi and Hope realizes through the Star Wars episode etc that the only way to defeat Malivore is for her to turn into a hybrid, and that it's actually been her sole purpose. The interesting part is, when Andi resurrected what was supposed to be another Malivore monster but turned out to be Clarke - how did Clarke become human and allow him to bleed as a human? Actually thinking about it, in previous episodes especially when Landon was still a phoenix, when he bled - it was still human blood too? In fact, MG couldn't have bit Landon and drained his blood the first time he was killed if Landon DIDN'T have human blood. So that adds to more of the confusion as to how Hope and Landon having sex way back when, presumably killed Landon (once again, unless it wasn't Landon - and was actually Malivore?)
Anyway, so I'm S3Ep16, when Cleo melts down the Malivore mud from the artifact she created and stole back, she attempts to create a prison world for Malivore to be destroyed it. (Tbh idk how she was going to create a prison world with the Malivore mud) but either say, it failed for "some reason" - the reason probably being that Malivore was very much present right in front of her, just posing as Landon.
After this when Cleo is trying to inspire Malilandon to come up with solutions, he sees visions of what he needs to do. My theory is that he must have found a way to kill Hope for good, seeing as that's the only threat he has.
However, Hope & Clarke's locator spell lead to them in that very moment and judging their closeness, a jealous Hope storms out. Leaving Clarke with Malilandon, to then be called out by Clarke as he realizes 1. Real Landon wouldn't let go of Hope so easily and 2. Clarke hadn't told anyone else about the darkness he encountered except for Hope (and the only other person who could've known is Malivore himself). Malilandon must have a solid skill set because despite Clarke showing to be the one with weapon at hand, when Hope returned to the hotel room, Clarke's throat had been slit.
At this point, Landon is rushing Cleo to escape with her (which I actually kind of think, he should've just escaped without anyone following him unless he wanted to be caught), but when Cleo is suspicious and questions his plan for leaving, she gets devoured by Malilandon. And creepily enough, Alaric arrives just in time to horrifically witness it before he forgets who Cleo is.
(This reminds me, when Clarke took over Professor Vardemus's body, how was he capable of devouring other beings? Had he allowed himself to be a vessel for Malivore too at the time or ??)
Anyway, Clarke in a hospital bed in Mystic Falls, warns Hope that Malivore is planning something big.
And I believe Salvatore School basically hasn't been running classes since the first disappearing of Landon, because the Salvatore super squad traps and confronts Malilandon locked in a cage in the gym. The last moments of the season finale is Hope demanding for Malilandon to release all of her friends but then he says he something too first before he obliges, ending with the one liner "Fate's a bitch, isn't it?". YIKES
THEORY TIME
- I reckon Malilandon is going to release their friends but either strike a deal to permanently take over Landon's body or to destroy Hope once and for all
- Landon is definitely either still stuck in the Prison World or possibly dead by one of the monsters
- IF the whole blood mix during sex concept is true, then Landon could possibly be in Malivore or either resurrected as a vampire in the prison world (some have theories that he could be a tribid too but i don't see how that would work because he doesn't have the genetics to be a witch nor werewolf)
- After striking the deal with his dad, when Landon lets Malivore take over his body as a vessel, it's possible that he inhabits all the monsters that Malivore consumed.
- Landon could return again as a phoenix possibly since he merged back again with his father, Malivore.
- SPOILER: Season 4 Episode 3 is titled "We all knew this day was coming" - This could ultimately be the day Hope becomes a true tribid activating her vampire side and the destruction of Malivore. (but that could also be too obvious). We never know, it could even be the day of Landon's real death reveal and funeral.
- Omono Okojie who plays Cleo, has also been confirmed as a series regular for Season 4 of Legacies so it must mean she returns and helps the Salvatore super squad to defeat Malivore.
- As much as all the above could be scrapped and Landon could have been very much well dead this whole time, I doubt the writers would repeat the same story arc which was given about how Hope mourned Landon's death. Although he was never given a funeral so who knows? Maybe they will kill him off for good? I surely hope not though because Hope & Landon are ENDGAME.
Phew, that's about all the analyzing I can do with Landon's deaths. Any thoughts?