EP Says Fan-Favorite ‘The Vampire Diaries’ Character Absence a “Long-Term Mystery” on ‘Legacies’

The CW’s latest installment of The Vampire Diaries universe, Legacies, has only aired two episodes thus far, but already fans have been wondering where about the status of character central to the Salvatore School’s story — Caroline. Unfortunately, it seems like that status is a mystery fans won’t be solving anytime soon.

Series creator and executive producer Julie Plec recently addressed Caroline’s absence in an interview with Hollywood Life and said that the character’s situation will be a “long-term mystery” for the show.

“Caroline gets mentioned quite a lot,” Plec said. “Her absence gets mentioned a bit as well in that she’s been such a good mother so why isn’t she here? And there’s a little bit of a long-term mystery attached to that we will slowly unravel, but the girls take after their mom. She’s a good person, who as a teenager, wasn’t always a nice person. So we get the ying and the yang of Caroline and Alaric and, of course, Jo, their biological mother. Whatever DNA she left them with is twirling around. Let’s not forget these girls are related to Kai Parker by blood, so there’s danger there, too.”

For those who need a refresher, while Caroline Forbes (Candice King) gave birth to Josie and Lizzie, their real mother Josette “Jo” Parker (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) was murdered by her brother Kai (Chris Woods) with the unborn twins placed into Caroline’s womb magically in order to save them. Despite the unusual circumstances around her motherhood, Caroline has been portrayed in both The Vampire Diaries and guest appearances on The Originals as being a devoted parent which makes her absence all the more mysterious — and possibly problematic for Lizzie (Jenny Boyd).

“I think the lack of a mother figure really effects Lizzie a lot,” Boyd told reporters during a visit to the Legacies set. “I mean it’s hard. Obviously, her dad is the head of the school, his attention is focused in so many ways and she really has to share him basically with one hundred other students. I really think that is a huge reason why she behaves the way she does, wishing that she had a mother figure there to help her, to ask questions, to be a support system to her and she really feels that lack.”

What do you think the mysterious reason Caroline isn’t there for her girls is? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Legacies airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.