Wishmaking is a tricky game. Thanks to the fine print, there are often more losers than winners. 

On Legacies Season 4 Episode 12, Landon, Alaric, and Ted learned firsthand how challenging choosing the right wish can be, all of them choosing incorrectly, though Alaric’s wasn’t entirely unsuccessful. 

As for Lizzie and Hope? They used violence and deceit to get what they desired.

For all his cynicism about the Jinni, Landon sure agreed to his grave terms mighty quickly: three wishes for three souls. Quite the bargain.

Three wishes for one person never seem to be enough, so one came as a shock to our Limbo trio and us. 

Landon’s wish was foolproof — or Jinni-proof — so they thought. (Why did they believe that? Typically one can’t simply wish themselves back to life. If it were that easy, every soul stuck in Limbo would’ve done it.)

Did anyone else roar with laughter when Landon told Ted not to worry when they saw the Ferryman outside Alaric’s hospital room because he locked the door, and the Ferryman proceeded to walk right through the door to collect them? Comedy gold.  

A standout scene of the episode was Landon visiting Wade. It succeeded in its humor and unexpected sentiment. 

Landon going full “elementary school sheet ghost” was a riot, redolent of MG and Kaleb’s goofy-not-spooky seance with Ethan’s sister in Legacies Season 4 Episode 11. Leave it to sweet angel Wade to see through the no-budget ghost costume only to trick himself into thinking the whole encounter was a dream. 

Landon: I am the dead one. Who are you to be telling me how ghosts work?
Wade: Wait, is this a dream?
Landon: Yes! Busted, bro-tato!
Wade: I should’ve known. I always dream about you coming back to the school.

Landon barely reacted to Wade’s confession that he often dreams of Landon returning to the Salvatore School. (My heart splintered.) Wade was traumatized. He loves Landon, which was made abundantly clear when Landon came across his tombstone.

Wade had chosen the thoughtful epitaph for his friend: not all those who wander are lost. (Ding, ding, ding! Title alert!) It felt like a moment that rushed by without being given the attention it deserved. I hope I’m not the only one that was struck by it. 

Another significant part of Landon and Ted’s brief stint back with the living was Ted’s vehemence when correcting the Jinni not only for calling him by the wrong name but for not including “the” before it.

That was a scrap of foreshadowing, given it was a quintessential Necromancer thing to do. 

The Jinni: My sincerest apologies, Fred.
Ted: It’s Ted, the Ted.

It was also an excerpt of another of Wade’s personalized epitaphs, this one for the Ted, “a friend in the end.”

Ted latching onto that phrasing illustrated his two conflicting sides. Ted was tickled to be thought of as a friend, while the Necromancer was pleased to be addressed with a minor honorific. 

Are you happy to see the Necromancer again? I was for a solid couple of minutes until he started ripping off his face and ranting like the Grinch. It was then I began to long for Ted.

Landon was a good sport about being left behind with the Necromancer when Alaric came out of his coma — a recipe for pure entertainment. 

His glass-half-full attitude and eagerness to help others reach Peace are commendable, but let’s pray Limbo is not his final resting place.

Wade needs his friend, and Landon is too good to rot there. Or maybe he will become the next bartender of Limbo. Anything is possible.

This episode proved to be another in which Lizzie redeemed herself, while Hope did the opposite. The worse Hope gets, the better Lizzie gets. 

It was fascinating to see Lizzie’s morality contrasted with Hope’s in a good cop, bad cop scenario. 

A prime example was Lizzie’s reluctance to subject Aurora to torture, recoiling from her screams as if experiencing her agony, versus Hope’s complete passivity while jamming a makeshift version of Papa Tunde’s Blade into Aurora’s chest. 

Lizzie: I’m sorry.
Aurora: Don’t be. It’s not your fault my mind is broken.

Not long ago, Lizzie was trying to murder Hope, someone she loves, and now she shudders at the sight of a mere stranger’s pain and even apologizes for having a hand in causing it. It’s an abrupt shift in character but not an unwelcome one.

Granted, Lizzie confirmed my early suspicions that Aurora is more than a stranger; she is a mirror in many ways, with her self-described “broken mind” and grief over a lost sibling. (Though I’ve said it before, Josie is not dead!)

Lizzie breaking the sire bond to save Aurora’s life was a turning point for Lizzie. She underwent an emotional reconciliation by recognizing her judgment of Aurora and accepting that her struggles strengthened her to a certain extent. 

Lizzie: I just couldn’t let you die without apologizing.
Aurora: For what?
Lizzie: Calling you crazy, being dismissive, judging your symptoms and not their cause, treating you the same way everyone treated me whenever I’d have an episode. I used to think of my brain as a weakness, but maybe all the issues I’ve struggled with are what allowed me to break the sire bond.

The surprise team-up between Aurora and Lizzie altered the trajectory of this season. The “kill Hope” plan is now taking a backseat to a reckless time travel plan. Everyone knows messing with the timeline rarely works out for anyone. Just ask Barry Allen. 

Jen being a female version of the blacksmith of the Greek gods, Hephaestus, is a cool twist. I had been wondering if she were Athena. To see Jen work with or against Lizzie and Aurora will undoubtedly be exciting, even more so in that it will aggravate Hope. 

Hope is acting more and more like Klaus every episode. Her humanity being off was fun for a while, but frankly, my interest in her apathy and appetite for violence is waning.

I miss Hope the heroine, the Hope that was terrified of becoming her father. 

I had such hope — no pun intended — that she was finally regaining her humanity when that kind older man stopped her.

With her smudged mascara, admitting she felt gratitude, it seemed as if my own wish was coming true. (We all know how that ended. RIP kind older man.)

Hope is a monster now, joining the likes of her late father and Aurora. She got her wish, but she’ll be desperate for a do-over whenever Alaric and the Super Squad manage to flip her switch. 

How will Landon fare with the Necromancer in Limbo?

Will Lizzie and Aurora find Jen?

Will Alaric reach Hope, or will he fall into old patterns and fail? 

You can watch Legacies online right here on TV Fanatic if you missed this week’s episode. 

Legacies airs on the CW Thursdays at 9 PM EST/PST.

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