The Originals: Why Klaus & Elijah Were Killed Off In The Series Finale
On the TV series The Originals, a spinoff of the popular show The Vampire Diaries, brothers Klaus and Elijah Mikaelson were killed off, a move that signified the end of a redemption journey for Klaus. The five seasons of The Originals ran from 2013 to 2018 on the CW, centering around the very first vampire family, referred to as the "Originals," The Mikaelsons. Two of the central characters of the show, Klaus and his elder brother Elijah, first appeared during The Vampire Diaries season 2, with the other members of the Mikaelson family – siblings Kol, Finn, and Rebekah, and parents Esther and Mikael – debuting during season 3. The spinoff relocated the family to the city of New Orleans, with particularly Rebekah, Klaus, and Elijah becoming fan-favorite characters.
The Originals expanded on the Mikaelsons' backstory and the Shakespearean depth of their familial dysfunction: a group of siblings turned into monsters by their parents who repeatedly tried to destroy their children after realizing their mistake. Klaus was considered the most vicious, villainous, duplicitous, ambitious, and powerful Mikaelson clan member. He was given the opportunity to rediscover his humanity and repair his fractured family thanks to the miracle tribrid baby he conceived with Hayley Marshall: a daughter named Hope. Elijah saw fatherhood as the only way for Klaus to receive what he had lacked his entire life -- unconditional love. However, an ancient evil known as the Hollow introduced during season 3 threatened Hope and the Mikaelson legacy. The family's many efforts to protect Hope from being consumed by this malignant spirit failed. During season 5, Klaus made the ultimate sacrifice by transferring the Hollow into his body, sealing his fate to save his daughter.
Because he decided to absorb the Hollow, Klaus had no recourse but to end his own life, otherwise the power would work to amplify the darkest of his impulses, potentially causing a huge amount of death and destruction – his family being the first to be affected. It was quite an evolution from the character introduced on The Vampire Diaries, whose self-preservation and insidious agendas took precedence over any familial affection. Before Klaus' death, he even offered Rebekah the Cure, which he had previously refused to give her. In the final moments of the finale "When the Saints Go Marching In," as Klaus prepared to use the remaining White Oak stake to kill himself, he found Elijah at his side. Elijah told his brother his sole purpose in life had been realized, and he saw no future path for himself. " ...my unrelenting desire has always been your redemption." Elijah decided that their vow of "always and forever" would extend into the afterlife. Elijah also had his own sins to atone for, namely Hayley's death. In a 2018 interview, Plec told EW:
"I think that living on this plane, knowing the part he played in the death of one of his true loves, was a bruise that he would never be able to heal from, and being able to honorably stand by his brother’s side and protect him as they go into death together was his own sacrifice that he needed to make."
While fans may have thought killing off Hope's only remaining parent was a cruel act, for Plec, it was a happy ending for the brothers. "I think that they got freedom and peace and an understanding of the power of love, which for them after a thousand years of dysfunction and abuse and a lot of damage and drama is a really necessary and important thing for them to understand." Hope, a main character on the spin-off Legacies, still struggles to come to terms with her father's death, but she did get some closure regarding Klaus' fate during season 1.
Several Vampire Diaries characters have appeared on Legacies, which chronicles the lives of the next generation of supernatural creatures who attend the Salvatore School, but only Hope's Aunt Freya (Riley Voelkel) has made an appearance. Those hoping to see Klaus reunite with his daughter will be disappointed since Joseph Morgan, who played the beloved villain, has said Klaus will never make a cameo on Legacies, believing Klaus' story reached a satisfactory conclusion on The Originals.
Source: Screenrant
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