There's Always a Loophole

""Call maintenance, have 'em pack up my room. Take my files, all those notes I know that you keep about me, and burn them. Along with Landon's journal.""

- - Hope to Alaric

There's Always a Loophole is the seventeenth and final episode of the first season of Legacies and the seventeenth episode of the series overall.

Summary
HERO TIME — When a group of unwelcome visitors descends upon the Salvatore School, Hope leads the charge to keep her friends safe. Brianna makes a decision on her future with Julius. Meanwhile, MG uncovers a secret about his mother and Josie finds herself in a dire situation. Alaric, Lizzie and Rafael also appear.

Plot
Veronica radios to Triad announcing that the “power” is down and shortly after, the team move in. They're met at the door by the Salvatore School Group, who are ready to leave to save Landon. Hope attempts to cast a spell, but finds herself powerless; Kaleb, believing he can fix this, tries to use his vampire speed, but finds the sun burns him. Triad reveals that magic will not work at the school. Triad gathers the students up and reveal that they're looking for an object that they believe the school holds and that they need to find it quickly. Meanwhile, Alaric and Dorian cannot return to the school as the Sheriff department reveal that Wickery Bridge has been blown up.

Later, MG awakens in the basement below the school. He is greeted by his mother, who tells him that magic won't work in the school, but his daylight ring should begin to work when he clears the perimeter. She remarks that she is working with the good guys (Triad Industries) to stop Malivore from rising. MG hugs his mother and sneakily shoots her with the neutralizing darts, before leaving her to investigate the situation in the school.

Hope, Josie and Lizzie hurry to Alaric's office to hide. They try to find the school phone, but are confused and drawn to a shelf by Alaric's desk that previously had books on it. They realize that the books were an illusion spell, used by Alaric to hide things he doesn't want Josie and Lizzie to know. Hope eventually finds the phone and they use it to call Alaric and Dorian, they reveal that Triad is at the school and magic is down, and that they're looking for the Chalice of Arimathea; Dorian reveals that the school doesn't have the chalice, however, and Alaric tells Hope to help Triad get the chalice given they don't have magic. Alaric tells Dorian to wait with the car whilst he finds a way into the school and, when Hope is off the phone, the trio are met by a Triad member who shoots Lizzie with a bullet forged from Malivore. Josie jumps in front of the bullet, however and is hit in the shoulder. Triad imprisons them in the werewolf transition space, and Hope apologizes for what she has caused with no idea how to get them out of it. Hope's apology is not good enough for Lizzie. Josie is dying and they did not wait ten years to become friends with her not to come through with the heroics when they need her the most. Josie agrees. It's hero time. The Triad guard tells them to keep quite, but he's quickly tranquilized by MG.

In a warehouse, Clarke and Landon are searching for the artifact. Landon reveals that he won't help Clarke find the real artifact, however Clarke tells him that he may already have. He tells him to check his pocket — given he didn't realize he stole the knife — and when he does, he pulls out the supernatural artifact. Clarke takes a seat, and Landon questions what he is doing, given he just activated the last artifact. Clarke remarks that they will wait until the next monster arrives and takes the artifact to Malivore. The headless horseman arrives shortly after to retrieve the artifact, however Landon does not want to give up the object, and the horseman takes Landon with him.

MG explains the blood fountain, revealing that he can't shut off the fountain. Hope remarks that she will find the tunnel and try to shut off the fountain, however MG tells Hope she must find Landon instead; Josie and Lizzie agree that Landon should be the priority, given the students can handle themselves against Triad. Josie hands MG her necklace, remarking that he knows what to do with it. MG later allows himself to be captured by Triad and tells his fellow vampires that he has a plan to escape.

Alaric arrives into the tunnels to find Hope attempting to shut off the fountain. He points to a bullet hole in her jacket, and it is revealed that the Triad member shot her too, however the bullet did not pierce her skin; she remarks that it doesn't affect her, but Alaric becomes angry when he finds out Josie was shot. Alaric is able to shut off the fountain, and when Hope questions how he knew to shut off the fountain, and he reveals that the fountain was created by the Travelers. Hope tells Alaric to give Josie a vial of her blood from the werewolf bite cures, but Alaric is confused by her message.

Lizzie tries to siphon the magic from her wound, however, finds that it doesn't work. Josie remarks that it is one way to avoid the Merge, but the two begin a heartfelt conversation, apologizing to each other for the way they have been acting.

Meanwhile, the students realize that magic is back, and plan their attack. MG uses Josie's necklace — with the ability to make quiet things heard — to announce that the plan is in motion. With this, they attack the Triad guards and are able to get the upper hand. Josie and Lizzie help Rafael with a cloaking spell, allowing him to use Hope's ring to transform, and approach Burr unseen. Burr threatens the children on the bus, however, Kaleb is able to save them, dragging Burr off the bus. When Burr threatens MG, Nia arrives, turning Burr to stone.

Veronica talks with his mother, who tells him that they were misled, given the artifact is not at the school. Veronica tells him that Burr acted out of line and that he will never work in the field again; with this, MG questions how his mother could work with such a company, and she reveals that Triad was her father's legacy. Nevertheless, tensions rise between the two, and MG tells his mother that he no longer wants to be a member of his mother's family.

The headless horseman brings Landon to Triad. He takes the object from Landon and tosses it into Malivore, however, Hope arrives just in time and stops the object with magic. She is able to fight the headless horseman, but cannot find a way to kill him. She draws on Landon's use of Sci-Fi, and eventually, he realizes that Hope must kill the head. After killing the horseman, Landon and Hope confess they love each other, however, they are interrupted by Clarke, who throws the artifact into Malivore, initiating his rise. Hope tells Landon that nothing is truly immortal, given Nature will not allow it; therefore, everything has a loophole. Landon questions if she has any ideas, and she says that he will hate it and snaps his neck. Hope calls Alaric, telling him that she is at Triad, and to write down what she is going to say. Hope reveals that she, being the same species as those who created Malivore, is the loophole. Alaric begs her not to do what she is about to, however she tells him that she has no choice. Hope asks Alaric to destroy everything related to her as she doesn't want everyone at school missing her, and Alaric tells her that he is proud of her. With this, she forces Clarke to mimic her actions, and the two of them jump into Malivore, erasing their existence from the collective consciousness.

Lizzie and Josie talk, and she reveals that she stole the locked box from Alaric's office. They open it and find the ascendant they created, however, neither of them are able to remember it from their past, despite believing it to be familiar. Alaric enters telling the two that the needs to talk. Alaric takes a direct address to the school in which he announces that he has failed in his ability to create a safe space for his students; he believes the worst monster they have faced is ignorant human beings, and he is one of them. Shockingly, he reveals that the methods Triad used to infiltrate the school — including the use of the blood fountain — were methods implemented by him as a contingency plan. Alaric believes he has betrayed the students, believing that one day the world would need saving from the student's gifts one day. Alaric puts his position at the school to an Honor Council vote.

Main Cast

 * Danielle Rose Russell as Hope Mikaelson
 * Aria Shahghasemi as Landon Kirby
 * Kaylee Bryant as Josie Saltzman
 * Jenny Boyd as Lizzie Saltzman
 * Camila Cabello as Brianna Bellerose
 * Luke Benward as Julius Carter
 * Quincy Fouse as MG
 * Peyton Alex Smith as Rafael Waithe
 * Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman

Recurring Cast

 * Demetrius Bridges]] as Dorian Williams
 * Chris Lee as Kaleb
 * Ben Levin as Jed
 * Nick Fink as Ryan Clarke
 * Erica Ash as Veronica Greasley
 * Reznor Malalik Allen as Pedro

Guest Cast

 * Joi Liaye as Nia
 * Rod Rowland as Burr

Co-Starring

 * Dave Pileggi as Officer
 * Aaliyah Lewis as Witch
 * Justin Torrence as Triad Guard 1

Trivia

 * Antagonists: Triad Industries, Veronica Greasley, Burr, Ryan Clarke, Headless Horseman, and Malivore (indirectly)
 * Triad uses Alaric's contingency plan to disable magic at the Salvatore school by using a dark object that was created by the Travelers.
 * Ryan misdirects Triad by making them believe that the final key to unlocking Malivore is the Chalice of Arimathea and that is at the Salvatore School.
 * Instead, it's a knife stored in a Triad warehouse where they store supernatural artifacts.
 * Ryan reveals to Landon that he's to be, as he puts it, a "meat suit" for their father so he can procreate to create a new species.
 * Hope learns that she is the loophole that can stop Malivore from returning to golem form as she is a tribrid, a being with the blood of a witch, a werewolf, and a vampire. She sacrificed herself by jumping into Malivore. This selfless act erased her from the collective consciousness.
 * Hope has Alaric burn everything connecting her to the Salvatore School including a journal kept by Landon.
 * Due to her status as the loophole, the Malivore mud bullet doesn't affect her, her blood healed Josie's wound and she's the only one that remembered about Seylah.
 * However as we seen in I'll Never Give Up Hope, she isn't able to destroy Malivore for good, since she hasn't activated her vampire side. Besides, she's still "toxic" to him and every time she'd used magic, he tried to expel her out. This gives to us that the only way to her destroy him for good, is for her to die and activate her vampire side.
 * Rafael uses Hope's reverse kyanite ring and becomes trapped in his wolf form. After Hope sacrifices herself and jumps into Malivore, there is no currently known way to reverse the ring's effects since Hope is the only one who can turn him back.

Body Count

 * Triad Agents - Unknown methods; killed by the Headless Horseman
 * Headless Horseman - Head impaled; killed by Hope
 * Ryan Clarke - Broken neck; killed by Landon, but resurrected
 * Landon Kirby - Broken neck; killed by Hope, but resurrected

Continuity

 * Kaleb was last seen in The Boy Who Still Has a Lot of Good to Do.
 * Pedro was last seen in There's a World Where Your Dreams Came True.
 * MG was last seen in Let's Just Finish the Dance.
 * Klaus was indirectly mentioned by Hope. He was last seen in Moonlight on the Bayou in The Vampire Diaries and When The Saints Go Marching In on The Originals.
 * The ancient witch, vampire and werewolf were mentioned. They were last seen in I'll Tell You a Story.
 * The Travelers were mentioned. They were last seen in Home on The Vampire Diaries.

Locations

 * Mystic Falls
 * Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted
 * Lizzie and Josie's dorm room
 * Alaric's office
 * Fort Valley, Georgia
 * Triad Industries
 * Malivore portal

Behind the Scenes

 * This episode's title was a line used by Hope.