With a television universe as mythologically-rich as the one explored on The Vampire Diaries, we can see how viewers who have never seen the show might be hesitant to dive into its spin-off, The Originals. But, we’re here to help! Here are the five things non-TVD viewers need to know before watching The Originals. Vampires and werewolves and witches, oh my! Everything fictional universe has its own rules when it comes to supernatural creatures. In the TVD/The Originals universe, vampires, werewolves, and witches are the main players and they interact in interesting ways. Vampires are immortal, but a bite from a werewolf will kill them and powerful witches have ways to keep vampires at bay. Klaus (Joseph Morgan) is the original vampire/werewolf hybrid, which pretty much makes him the most powerful big bad around. His blood is the only known cure for a vampire that has been bitten by a werewolf. The Mikaelson family is also known as The Original family The Originals refers to the Original Family, aka the first family of vampires. They started out as humans who were turned into vampires in the Middle Ages by their witch mother to protect them from the werewolf pack that lived nearby. As Klaus was already a werewolf, he became a hybrid. In addition to Klaus, siblings Elijah (Daniel Gillies) and Rebekah (Claire Holt) will play central roles in The Originals. These three have a somewhat tempestuous relationship. Though they vowed to remain loyal to one another back in the day, Klaus has repeatedly staked them with the white oak stake (which basically puts an original vamp to sleep until the stake is removed) over the centuries, which is one of the many reasons there’s so much tension between Klaus and his baby sister Rebekah. Hayley, a werewolf, is pregnant with Klaus’ child ...and that’s kind of a big deal. Basically, vampires aren’t usually able to reproduce, which is why Klaus and Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) weren’t thinking birth control methods when they had a one-night stand in TVD Season 4. Klaus and Hayley don’t have a romantic relationship (Klaus loves TVD’s Caroline — paints her pictures and everything), but are now connected by their unborn miracle child. Kind of. When the New Orleans witches took a pregnant Hayley hostage to use as collateral to make Klaus help them, Klaus didn’t really care. It took a pep talk from Elijah to convince Klaus he should not let his unborn child die. Yeah, Elijah is kind of the moral compass of the fam. Klaus, on the other hand, killed his mother. New Orleans is supernatural central The Originals will be set in New Orleans which, because of the TVD episode that acted as backdoor pilot for The Originals, we know is home to many a supernatural creature as humans turn a blind, frightened eye to their French Quarter shenanigans. Klaus built the French Quarter up back in the day and called it his home before immortal father Mikael came to kill him, causing Klaus to flee. Marcel is King of the Quarter now When Klaus lived in New Orleans before, he sired (i.e. made) a vampire out of Marcel (Charles Michael Davis). Marcel was Klaus’ protege back in the day and took control of the quarter after Klaus fled. Now, he rules it as self-proclaimed king. All supernatural creatures must live by his rules, and witches are not permitted to do magic under penalty of death. Marcel’s tyrannical rule is what led the witches of the city to kidnap Hayley and use her and her unborn child as collateral so Klaus will help them overthrow Marcel. Though Klaus ends the backdoor pilot as Marcel’s friend, it is implied that he aims to win back the city. Did we miss anything non-TVD watchers might need to know before watching The Originals? Sound off in the comments below! The Originals premieres Thursday, October 3 at 9 p.m. ET on The CW before moving to Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 8.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 18:31:16 +0000