Bombs were dropped left and right, shaking up everything we thought we knew about the Mikaelson family in this very impressive episode of The Originals.
Starting off with the Esther-centric flashbacks that bookended the hour, we learned there’s a whole lot more behind Esther’s actions. Here we were thinking she was the baddest witch around, yet it makes sense that her family is possibly even worse. In the Viking era when Esther and Mikael were newly married and experiencing fertility issues, Esther went to her sister Dahlia for help.
She did help her, as we know Esther went on to have Finn, Elijah, Klaus, Kol, Rebekah, and Henrik. But wait! Finn wasn’t her firstborn. She had a daughter named Freya. Klaus doesn’t noticeably react to what I thought was the biggest plot twist thus far in the series. Why was this the first time we’re hearing of Freya, and what happened to her? Everyone but Esther believes she was a victim of the plague and died even before Elijah was born.
By the end, we learn that Freya didn’t actually die of the plague. Freya took her niece as payment for helping her sister when she needed that special magical intervention. It gets even better when Dahlia swore that every firstborn of Esther’s entire bloodline is owed to her. Hence Esther’s whole motivation behind targeting baby Hope. Probably also the driving force that made Esther turn all her remaining kids into vampires in the first place so that they could never reproduce.
The mythology of the entire show gets fleshed out even more when Klaus meets his biological father. Klaus only just mentioned earlier this season that Mikael killed his real dad but of course no one ever stays dead with witches around. Esther brought Ansel back for Klaus from the Other Side so that he could have the father he always deserved. As usual, Joseph Morgan absolutely killed it in all of his scenes, but he was especially great when he met Ansel face to face for the first time in the cemetery.
Klaus: “His return changes nothing.”
Esther: “It changes everything.”
Truer words have never been spoken. Not only does Ansel’s return change everything about the course of the show in terms of Klaus’ arc, but the looming threat of this evil aunt and the mystery behind the fate of Freya shakes everything up. Who knows if Freya is a powerful witch or vampire? Esther might not even know what form Dahlia would take these days to beware of her finding everyone in New Orleans, so she definitely can’t even know what ever happened to Freya. It’s possible she was able to live and die as a mere human but that’s highly doubtful.
Besides all that family drama, there was plenty of action with the wolves. Hayley offers to help Klaus save Elijah from Esther but of course he refuses. That leaves her free to rescue Oliver, which is a dangerous task to go in alone. Luckily she has Marcel (and Gia and Cami) keep Finn/Vincent distracted while she and Jackson’s new wolf friend Ansel (a.k.a. Klaus’ father) are able to help Oliver escape. I was never a fan of Oliver so I can’t say I shed a tear when he died, but I am happy that his death will prompt Jackson back into action as the alpha of the pack. Right now it’s weird to see the wolves under the witches’ control so he’ll try to sever those ties and stop the enslavement. Hayley will have to walk a fine line between the Mikaelson family issues threatening her daughter while also keeping her loyalty to the wolves.
Cami’s also stepping up to her family’s calling in life. Kieran left her with a whole hidden apartment of supernatural weapons and information which she’s yet to really use yet. It’s nice to see that she’s confident in her ability to keep Vincent distracted while Marcel and company find a way to take him down.
To sum everything up, there’s the very real possibility for the long lost Mikaelson sibling and aunt to pop up and wreak even more havoc on the family. Klaus’ father is alive and well, but so far he doesn’t seem to pose a threat to his son. Meanwhile it’s obvious to viewers that the Mikaelson family needs to make amends with each other because all this miscommunication is only doing them harm.
Photo via The CW
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