Was This the Monster You Saw? is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of Legacies and the sixty-first episode of the series overall.
Summary[]
THE TRUE CURSE WE CARRY – Lizzie continues on her quest, with mixed results. Ben reveals more about his family and its history and Jed finds his feelings deepening. Cleo is concerned about her recent changes. Meanwhile, the Salvatore School students comes together to celebrate one of their own. Also appearing Hope, Alaric, Landon, MG and Kaleb.[2]
Plot[]
People prepare for a festival in a Roman Village, 100 A.D. A young boy sits on the outskirts near the forest and scribbles on a piece of paper before being approached by an Egyptian woman. She asks the boy if he has no sins to share. He doesn't but insists that his mother instructed him to write something down for the festival. The Egyptian woman takes his feather and writes on his paper, offering she has sins to spare. The boy's mother calls him over to her, fearing the woman who's an exiled witch. She commands the woman to leave, or she'll burn. The witch quips back about who will burn, but leaves none-the-less. The boy takes his paper and places it into the effigy. After doing so, it catches fire with a demonic cackle.
At the Salvatore School, Ben offers his assistance to Jed, struggling with a foam stake launcher they use for training. Jed believes he has things handled and converting it into a confetti cannon for Dr. Saltzman's return to the school. However, he soon relents and accepts Ben's help. Jed wonders if it's that obvious that he has no idea what he's doing, though, to Ben, it's quite obvious and takes over. Jed, however, decides to go cut the paper for the cannon.
Students are busy preparing for the party as Kaleb approaches Cleo, asking where he should hang up the banner. Cleo decides to do it herself using her magic, though, she quickly loses control and the banner falls to the floor. Kaleb tells her that she doesn't have to prove anything to him, but it was more for herself. She's still confused about what Aurora did to her and her powers, and she doesn't know who she is without them and hopes that it's not permanent. Kaleb's sure that once Dr. Saltzman returns, he'll be able to help her and believes that things will get better for them all.
Lizzie and Aurora speed down a road, with the latter driving while Lizzie tracks their target with a spelled map. Aurora's frustrated that she's keeping her at arm's length in regards to the direction and questions how she's tracking the gods when magic doesn't work on them. However, Lizzie still has a piece of the sarcophagus and is tracking that instead. Aurora admits that it's quite clever. Lizzie thinks so too, if it only leads them to Jen and the rest of the sleeping gods. Making another last minute turn, she questions Lizzie why she doesn't trust her with the map. Lizzie has a billion reasons, none of which she believes she can handle hearing.
At the hospital, Alaric is released, though a nurse tries to convince him to stay a bit longer. MG is already there and presents him with a specially crafted cane and they embrace in a hug. Alaric, however, winces due to the pain of his still recovering body. Alaric thought Kaleb was supposed to pick him up, but MG explains that he was told by Kaleb that Landon had asked him to change how he will do things while they're in this crisis. MG is his new accountability buddy. Alaric accepts, so long as it doesn't interfere with him helping his daughters.
Jed alerts the student body that MG and Alaric are pulling up to the school. They all turn off the lights and get into position. Jed and Ben hide behind the confetti cannon, Wade stands behind a large flower vase, while Kaleb and Cleo hide behind the table of food. Cleo questions if this surprise party is the best idea, given Alaric's current health. With their backs turned, Hope appears behind them, noting that Cleo is right and they're going to give him a heart attack. Cleo and Kaleb are surprised to see her and question what she's doing there. Though she's crashing their party, she's here for a business trip. She comes bearing an offer. Wade wants to know what the offer is, but Hope will only talk to Alaric, believing he'll be easier to manipulate.
Hope joins MG and Alaric in his office. Hope has a problem that also involves the school, beyond Alaric's cane issue. Alaric notes that his body and brain are still having trouble synching up because of what she had done to him. His doctors said he's lucky to even be walking. If he could, he'll probably try to kill her for murdering Lizzie. Hope, however, corrects him. It's attempted murder, considering she transitioned into a vampire. Hope also admits that she may have accidentally started a chain of events that has led to the gods returning to our world and she's pretty sure those gods want her dead. MG wants to know why this is their problem, and Hope questions his presence. Alaric explains that he is his accountability buddy, suggesting that she should get one. The way she sees it, this is no different than when Malivore came into their lives. Alaric believes that he shouldn't have involved his students, but Hope now needs an army to face the gods and these students are the only ones with the skill set. Alaric tells her that he's done making the decisions alone and defer the decision to them. Hope demands for him to be an adult and make them do whatever he wants. Hope turns to MG, trying to sway him to her cause. MG doesn't believe her to be right and she's given them more than enough to worry about. Changing tactics, she tells them that her god problem is also their Lizzie problem.
Lizzie and Aurora have hit a snag in their plan, namely a flat tire. Lizzie berates her for not being able to follow simple directions. Aurora considers the source of the directions, but Lizzie cites her profound trust issues and that the car is a metaphor for their partnership. Lizzie, however, believes she knows how to fix her, though Aurora mentions that Tristan tried "fixing" her where a doctor or a monk would stick her in ice baths or cut her open, to try to help. Lizzie has a different method of therapy in mind, though apologizes for what she went through. Aurora dismisses it, believing that her family would have done the same in her day. Lizzie doesn't believe so because what Aurora refuses to see is that Tristan was the problem. From the outside, their relationship seems abusive and toxic, yet she'd still do anything to have him back, similar to her wanting Josie and Hope back. Regardless, Lizzie decides to vamp to the nearest town to compel themselves a new car.
Hope meets with the remaining squad members. Wade questions about the potential death should they help her, but Hope reiterates that some would die, or it could be all of them. Kaleb, however, demands her to get out while they talk in private. Hope quips that there is nothing super with the squad since she left, plus they're missing Lizzie, Josie, Finch, and Ethan. Turning to Cleo, she wonders if she can inspire a half decent question, but reveals that she is no longer capable of using her powers. MG and Alaric listen from outside the Great Hall as Hope continues to seek an answer from them. They need to act now if they want to save Lizzie from herself because she's also working with an ancient and mentally unstable vampire. Jed tells her they've already learned a few things about the gods as well as having met Aurora. Passing over him, she questions who Ben is. He explains that the gods are his extended family and he knows them all too well considering they cursed him. He can also provide her with much useful information about them. She wants to know more about his curse.
After some time, Hope bursts out of the room, hitting Alaric and MG with the door. They've told her "no". If Alaric was so concerned with his daughters, then he should have taken matters into his own hands, like she has just done. She shows them Ben's bangle, though it's broken in half and the spell that protected him is now gone, which means something very scary should be making its way to the school. She believes that if she can prove to them that they can't beat a run-of-the-mill monster without her, then they'll take her deal.
Aurora drives the car, still with a flat tire to a gas station with the map in hand. Lizzie comes out with two slushies, knowing that she would take the bait. She was also testing her to prove a point. Aurora didn't need to look at that map, but she did anyway. She explains that maybe that's not the only thing she's right about. Aurora questions if this is modern therapy.
Jed chases after Ben through the woods, concerned about the monsters that will still be after him. The alternative is that they'll be coming after him at the school and Cleo's already locking up Kaleb. People could get hurt if he stays. Jed explains that as much as they don't want monsters knocking at their door either, protecting innocent life is their first rule. This is as far as he needs to go. Ben pulls out chains and asks him to chain him up. Jed is confused. He'll be defenseless while he gets eaten alive. This is Ben's best option, but Jed refuses, believing it to be torture. That is his life though he will return no matter what any monster does to him, unlike the innocent people in the school. His plan makes perfect sense and questions Jed's hesitation. Jed's been meaning to talk to him at the right time and today at the confetti cannon would have been better but he chickened out. However, before he's able to explain himself to Ben, the monster attacks Jed from behind, biting into his shoulder.
In a makeshift RV park, numerous people sit and talk or walk about. A young boy, Trey, hides behind some barrels but is quickly found by Jed, rather his younger self. They're playing a game of hide-and-seek. Meanwhile, Jed's father yells from his RV for him to quit playing and come home. Trey is scared of his father, but Jed tells him they'll be wolves soon enough then nothing will scare them. Jed stands before his younger self and his past life.
Meanwhile, Ben has returned to the school with an unconscious Jed mumbling about Trey and his father. Hope reiterates to Alaric that it's time for him to man up and make the squad accept her proposal otherwise Jed will only get worse. Alaric asks Ben for another description of what attacked him and Jed. It was unlike anything he's ever seen before and admits that he would have let it consume him, if he wasn't for Jed. MG and Wade return with a picture book of a clown, asking if this is what attacked him. Ben confirms that it was. Ben questions how one kills a clown. But Hope quips that they don't because she will. Ben confronts Hope about being the one to hurt Jed and employs Dr. Saltzman to let him leave to protect the school. Hope, however, has trapped them all within the ground with a barrier spell and are stuck with the school. Ben reminds her that he's impervious to magic and she cannot hold him here. Hope has another plan and vamps to Ben and breaks his neck. Ben collapses to the floor dead, leaving Wade, MG and Alaric, surprised.
Aurora comments on how dreadful the slushy is, yet continues to drink it. Lizzie believes that based on what she's learned, she chooses to do things that are harmful to her as a consistent pattern. However, Aurora can say the same about her, but Lizzie hears her out. Aurora explains that she can't function on her own and she's obsessively fixated on her sister and Hope. The more time they spend together, though, she wonders if it's even about them, because now she's partnered up with her. She believes she just needs someone to feel superior to. That is Lizzie's pattern and she needs to break it to learn to be alone and to like the person she is enough to spend time with herself without having to be distracted. This resonates with Lizzie but she brushes it off. Aurora stands to leave, but Lizzie reminds her that she can't, she has the mad and she needs her to find the gods. Despite her instability, she loves herself and she believes she's capable of doing it herself without Lizzie's help. Leaving Lizzie alone, Aurora vamps away.
Alaric is searching through texts when MG approaches him. Alaric believes he's found the monster, thanks to him and Wade's help. He explains that the first clowns originated from Egypt and were essentially priests that had the ears of the kings, metaphorically. When the Romans plundered Egypt, they brought back more than obelisks and Cleopatra and the book he's reading from had recorded the history of a Roman village. That village used an effigy of a clown to confess all of their sins during an annual harvest festival where they'd burn the effigy down believing that it would destroy all their misdeeds along with it. That is until a conscripted Egyptian witch cast a spell bringing the effigy to life to punish the villagers for taking her away from her home. MG questions how Hope can kill it, but Alaric wasn't aware that they were accepting Hope's deal. Alaric offers him a seat next to him and explains that the bite from this Protoclown would poison the villagers. It would force them to confront the memories of the worst things they'd ever done, so that they could be redeemed, or die by being stubborn. Again, MG questions how this changes things. Alaric believes they can use this monster to help turn Hope's humanity back on and asks whether or not MG agrees with him.
MG, Wade, and Kaleb prepare a bonfire and wait for the monster to show up. Hope also arrives, wondering if they've come to their senses. MG wants to work with her because Alaric has found out a lot about it, including that fire attracts it. After mocking them, the Protoclown appears behind Hope and bites her in the shoulder before running off. She collapses to the ground, and believes that MG lied to her. He didn't lie to her about anything. They need her help, just not this version of her. Hope covers her wound, taking some of the poison and fashions them into three needle-like weapons. Using her magic, she poisons them all to make them suffer. They all collapse to the ground, succumbing to the poison.
In Jed's memories, he watches the night he becomes a werewolf. His father addresses his pack who cheers for him. They have a code, and to some find it harsh, but it is their way. He gives them all the opportunity to challenge it, or his authority as alpha. No one dares to object and he remarks that their way will continue. He explains that there's no room for weakness in this pack nor is there no room to feed mouths that don't provide. He calls over Jed and Trey, explaining that one of them will become a wolf before the full moon rises. Jed questions what would happen to the other, but his father throws a baseball bat between the two of them He wants Jed to make him proud and to murder his fried Trey, activating his curse. Jed continues to suffer from the poison as Alaric watches over him and Ben. Alaric hears Cleo calling for help and leaves to investigate.
Alaric finds Cleo trapped in a cell. She explains that Kaleb was supposed to be but when MG came to them with a plan to take on Hope, he didn't believe her to be so powerful anymore. That was also Alaric's plan, but MG felt the same about him. Being in the hospital, all the vervain leached out of his system, and MG compelled me to stay inside the school. Alaric tells her that MG didn't want to be accountable for me getting hurt again, meaning they're going to face the clown without them. However, they hear the clown's laughter, meaning it's inside with them. Cleo wants him to free her, but he believes that she's safer inside the cell where she can't be reached by the clown. Despite not knowing how to kill it, he wants to try it even though he's weak. Cleo reasons with him. Everyone may think they're weak, but they're only weak if they believe it and asks him to unlock the door again.
Hope relives her worst moment of having to kill Landon. This version of Hope, however, decides to fight fate with Landon and refuses to kill him. If they stand together, they can win. Hope believes this to be a load of crap and not what actually happened. Humanity Hope, however, believes this could have happened and her being here means that she knows it too.
Lizzie eventually finds her way to Jen's hideout and, in a cargo container, four sarcophaguses. Lizzie enters the cargo container but it is booby trapped. Unable to get out, she calls out for Jen to come out. However, Aurora is the one to appear. She stands corrected as Lizzie didn't need her help and her retorts that Aurora merely followed her. Lizzie pleads with her to help her, though Aurora can't just let her out. Lizzie was right about one thing. They have profound trust issues. Lizzie tells her that she can fix that if she lets her out since her magic doesn't work on this god stuff. Aurora already knows how to fix their problem if Lizzie agrees to her terms.
Alaric sits in the library scribing sins and balling up the pieces of paper in the middle of the floor. The protoclown finds him, but instead of attacking him, begins to consume the pieces of paper. Alaric admits that this plan was more of a group effort, and he's had some help. Cleo appears behind the clown and stabs him in the head with Alaric's cane, the end of which was a frozen blade. Cleo comments that he's the one who guessed that a frozen blade would kill it because being born by a fire means death by the opposite. He thanks her for the advice.
Humanity Hope follows humanity-less Hope who refuses to participate. This is a clown delusion and she's over it. Though she's not really over being forced to kill Landon. Hope knows she's not real but Humanity Hope tells her to keep telling herself that. She is her humanity and she's trying to return and she knows it. Hope argues with herself that she's just a coping mechanism. Humanity Hope is just the tiny voice in her head, telling her what she already knows, but she will grow louder if she doesn't listen. She is and always will be, her better half–the real Hope Mikaelson. Hope manages to wake from the poison, as do Wade, MG, and Kaleb. Cleo finds them outside and extends a hand to Hope, but she doesn't accept it.
Jed's father wants him to pick up the baseball bat and kill his friend. Trey won't fight him and tells him that he was always the better wolf. Jed's father believes him to be a coward and that if he doesn't pick it up, he will. Jed picks it up and looks at his friend, then back at his father.
Having also recovered from the poison, Jed stands alone at the Old Mill until Ben finds him. Ben had thought he would have been by his side when he was revived. He was hoping that maybe they could further their discussion. Though the monster may be dead, he can't stop thinking about the memories. Ben doesn't understand and Jed explains. His father was an abusive bully and he tried to make him hurt a friend. So he killed his father instead and that is how he activated his curse. Jed doesn't regret that. Ben assumes the friend was Trey, though Jed admits looking back, he might have been more than that, a childhood crush. However, after he turned into a werewolf, he ran off. Dr. Saltzman eventually found him, he never saw Trey again and that is the part he regrets. Ben believes that sometimes the true curse they carry is family. That makes sense to Jed. After he got to the Salvatore School, he became a bully too and it took him years to realize that's only who he was raised to be, but he's ready to let go of the person that his father wanted him to be. That's why he's been wanting to talk to him ever since Ben shared his story with him and to tell him how he feels. Ben tells him that it's all right if he's not ready, but Jed closes the distance between them and embraces him in a kiss.
Alaric pours himself a drink with Hope mocking his accountability. He questions why she's still here. She figured she'd give him one last chance to save the world, now that his "Jiminy Cricket" is gone. In a way, she was right. He is the adult and it means having to tell kids like her things like this. They don't need her, but they want her here, because they still believe the real her is still there. She agrees if his students follow her order, but he refuses. They will work with her and not for her; that is their deal and she can take it or leave it.
Aurora branded Lizzie's forearm with the Triad symbol, reminding her they're a part of a blood pack which means neither of them can back out or betray the other while they quest to raise the gods. Lizzie knows this as Aurora forced her to cast the binding spell. Lucky for her, she knew all the words, otherwise, she probably wouldn't have. She's also upfront about her terms. It also ensures that she won't be alone in this endeavor and they both get what they want. As much as Aurora detests the things Lizzie said to her, many of them were true. Likewise, the same thing is true with Lizzie. However, what makes them most alike is that people have always made them feel as though they need to be fixed. But they don't need to believe them when they say they're broken. Lizzie finds Aurora's words borderline empowering, though Jen has returned to her hideout. She already knows Lizzie and questions who the new person is. Aurora introduces herself. They know who she is and they need to know who else is sleeping in the coffins.
Cleo releases Kaleb from the cell, explaining that Hope has agreed to their terms, which included her making a new bracelet for Ben. Kaleb realizes there was no reason for her to be in there either, considering she was the one to save them. If he was so self-aware, he would have never locked her up in here. Kaleb admits he had help from the protoclown. It showed him the memory of what he did to her and it's kind of hard not to take the hint. Cleo tells him that she lived in the pit of Malivore for so long and most people cannot fathom what it's like to sit with that kind of stillness. However, the gift it gave her was knowledge of who she is. She is strong, with or without her power, even when she doubted it. He had even told her that, and yet he didn't believe it. Kaleb tells her that he believes it now, though hopes he's not too late. He's not, so long as he realizes she does not need a protector or a shield. In the future, she wants him to stand and fight beside her, not in front of her.
Hope rests on her bed at the school and MG knocks on the door, asking if it's a bad time. He's brought her a blood bag. She'd rather have a human, believing there's no going back once you've had the real stuff. He reminds her that Lizzie is on their side no matter how over her head she's gotten herself into, kind of like how she is now. They love and miss her, as they do her. Hope dismisses him, telling him he can go and rolling on to her side away from him. MG leaves the blood bag and leaves. She turns over the photo of her and Landon so not to have to look at it. However, something catches her attention, believing it to be MG again. When she sits up, it's looking back at herself; her humanity. She tells herself that she couldn't get rid of her so easily.
Cast[]
Starring[]
Special Guest Star[] |
Guest Starring[]Co-Starring[] |
Trivia[]
- Antagonists: Egyptian Woman (indirectly) and Protoclown.
Body Count[]
- Ben - Snapped neck; killed by Hope Mikaelson but resurrected
- Protoclown - Impaled in the head with ice; killed by Cleo Sowande
Continuity[]
- Cleo, Jed, Kaleb, MG and Ben were last seen in Follow the Sound of My Voice.
- Jen was last seen in The Story of My Life.
- Ethan and Finch were indirectly mentioned. They were last seen in Follow the Sound of My Voice.
- Josie was mentioned. She was last seen in I Can't Be the One to Stop You.
- Tristan was mentioned. He was last seen in A Streetcar Named Desire on The Originals.
- Malivore was mentioned. He was last seen in See You On The Other Side.
- This episode marks Hope and Alaric's 60th and Landon's 50th appearances in Legacies.
Locations[]
- Roman Village (100 A.D.)
- Mystic Falls, Virginia
- Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted
- Great Hall
- Alaric's Office
- Memorial Library
- School Grounds
- Werewolf Transition Space / Cells
- Hope's Dorm Room
- Mystic Falls Hospital
- Woods
- Old Mill
- Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted
- Road
- Roadside
- Gas Station
- Jen's Hideout
- Cargo Container
- Memory-scape
- Jed's Worst Memory
- Jed's Father's Pack RV Park
- Hope's Worst Memory
- Kaleb's Worst Memory
- MG's Worst Memory
- Wade's Worst Memory
- Jed's Worst Memory
Behind the Scenes[]
- This is the second episode of Legacies where the title is not a direct line from the episode, but it refers to MG's line "Is this the monster you saw?"
Cultural References[]
- In reference to the Protoclown, it's referred to as several clown and clown-like entities, namely Pennywise and Bozo the Clown.
- Given MG's role as Alaric's accountability buddy, Hope refers to him as Jiminy Cricket.
Multimedia[]
Soundtrack[]
"OUTRUN MYSELF" – Jack Kays & Travis Barker
"I Like You" – Ai Bendr
Videos[]
