Legacies Confirms Hope's Season 2 Dark Josie Plan Didn't Stop The Merge
The fated Merge is still on, per the first two episodes of Legacies season 4, but what that means for Josie and Lizzie is yet to be determined. Many were hopeful that Hope's plan to enter Dark Josie's mind—in order to free Light Josie when the former initiated the Merge early against twin sister Lizzie in season 2—would have circumvented their dark destiny, but that appears not to be the case. Josie and Lizzie will still have to face off on their 22nd birthday, and only one will be left standing after.
All Gemini twins, on their 22nd birthday, must merge with their womb-mate, with the stronger twin ultimately absorbing the weaker. The concept is akin to vanishing twin syndrome, but for magical young adults born as twins in the Gemini coven line of witches. Alaric Saltzman had tried to keep what was coming secret from the twins. Meanwhile their birth mother, Caroline Forbes, has been absent from the series under the guise of traveling overseas searching for a solution that keeps both her daughters alive.
Josie's taking the approach of trying not to think about it. At least, that's what she told Finch when the Salvatore School's newest vampire—and Josie's latest girlfriend—asked about it. Finch made it all about her in typical teen fashion, suggesting that Josie should have informed her the girl she loved only had a 50% chance of making it past the age of 22. High school relationships rarely last, so it's possible Josie felt it was a moot point. Regardless, siphoner twins Josie and Lizzie can act like they're not thinking about it, but the knowledge that the only way to see your 23rd birthday is to kill your twin sister isn't something that readily escapes the mind. That is doubly true now that Josie has confirmed the failed early merger wasn't the "Get Out of Jail Free" card fans might have been hoping for.
Lizzie and Josie first learned of their fate in the Legacies season 1 episode entitled "I'll Tell You A Story." But aside from Dark Josie trying to kickstart the process a few seasons early, it's rarely been mentioned since. However, the key to surviving the Merge may have been hinted at in that very same episode, when it was explained where Caroline is during the events of Legacies. Josie surmises that the Merge went deeper than the coven itself and could be a curse on the Gemini twins. In the universe of The Vampire Diaries, curses have a way of coming undone. If there's one rule that connects all three series in the TVD Universe, it's that there's always a loophole.
The first two episodes of Legacies season 4 to drop have both mentioned the Merge, which suggests that answers could be coming soon for the Saltzman sisters. They do happen to be biological daughters of a Gemini Twin (Jo) who survived her own Merge, and where there's life, there's certainly hope. Jo survived her Merge because Kai, who was later beheaded by Alaric, was trapped in a prison world. He was then able to merge with his non-twin sibling, Lucas, because they were biologically the same age and bloodline when Kai escaped. However, it only worked fully when Jo willingly gave her powers to Kai. Perhaps there is a similar loophole Josie and Lizzie can use to avoid both dying in the Merge.
Whether it's through appeasing the original curse crafter or finagling a survival method similar to Rafael's, or something not considered yet, if anyone can figure out a way to survive the Merge, it's Josie and Lizzie. Caroline hasn't spent years "traveling" just to come up short, and Alaric's school of magical everything seems just the right kind of place to challenge fate. Rather than choosing not to think about it, here's hoping Josie and Lizzie can put their minds together on Legacies, and finally end the tragic Merge tradition once and for all.