Following The Legacies Finale, Fans Pay Tribute To The Vampire Diaries Franchise

Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Legacies finale, called “Just Don’t Be A Stranger, Okay?” Read at your own risk!

Legacies aired its finale, and its conclusion marked the end of an era. With no immediate guarantees of follow-ups or revivals, the future is unclear in terms of what’s ahead for The Vampire Diaries franchise. The uncertainty, paired with the emotional ending of The CW series, certainly had fans on the internet feeling some kind of way. As such, many paid tribute to the franchise, and all they’ve gotten from it so far. 

Fans of The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies can still binge all three shows with a Netflix subscription, but that doesn’t mean viewers don't deserve the right to get a bit sentimental. Some took the chance to eulogize the TVD franchise and pay their respects:

Thirteen years is a long time to be on television, and while Legacies' ride was cut a bit shorter than creator Julie Plec or others might’ve wanted, there are positives. For example, not every television series gets the heads up about a cancellation, which can mean abrupt ends and finales that don’t make sense. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case with Legacies. While it could’ve gone longer, at least it can live on for future audiences alongside the other two shows as a complete saga with a conclusive ending:

Still, some viewers are not content for the journey to end. For every heartfelt post about enjoying the ride while it lasted, there are Legacies fans not willing to let go. That’s not too surprising, and it’s natural that there were tweets trying to rally the troops for a potential renewal: 

There’s also the camp that acknowledges that while this is the end for now, Legacies did create stories that might be revisited someday in a future series, which Julie Plec already confirmed to EW could happen. The students convinced Alaric to keep open Salvatore school, even if he wasn’t willing to run it. Alaric set off but left none other than the Saltzman girls' surrogate mother, Caroline Forbes, in his place to serve as the new interim headmaster. It’s a temporary gig, but some were hyped all the same: 

It’s possible that The Vampire Diaries universe re-emerges with another series in the future, but until then, fans are already imagining new roles for the Legacies cast and even those from the other shows. After all, the end of TVD means Hope star Danielle Rose Russell is free to jump into other franchises, and maybe even the MCU:

We’ll have to wait and see what the future holds ultimately for The Vampire Diaries universe and all the actors tied to it. For now, it’s great just to hold onto the memories and maybe just enjoy what’s already happened. 

Legacies is officially over, but as previously mentioned, it’s available on Netflix along with the other two TVD shows. Now might be a great time to jump back in and experience it all over again, though it might also be smart to pace it out, given that we don’t know if a new show will indeed ever happen.