Legacies Finally Revealed Who Is Under That Red Hood

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the latest episode of Legacies, "This Christmas Was Surprisingly Violent." Read at your own risk!]

Ho-ho-holy crap! Christmas was 10 kinds of crazy at the Salvatore School. The midseason finale of Legacies took a small detour into absurdity by bringing both a Krampus and the actual Santa Claus to town, and the showdown between the two "monsters" was, like the episode title forewarned, surprisingly violent.

Besides a Christmas-themed showdown, the episode also brought some closure to the love triangle between Hope (Danielle Rose Russell), Landon (Aria Shahghasemi), and Josie (Kaylee Bryant). After returning to school, Landon finally made his decision between the two girls who are kind of perfect for him, and whether you love or hate his choice, you have to admire the epically romantic speeches he gave to both girls. In the end, Landon chose Hope, as we all kind of knew he would. It's hard to deny your first love, after all.

The Christmas cheer didn't last long, though, since the midseason finale also revealed just who has been under that red hood all season, and honestly, we're ashamed we didn't see this coming. A fan-favorite monster from last year, the Necromancer (Ben Geurens), turned out to be the one beneath the cloak! The control of zombies and other various dead body parts should have been the first and biggest clue that he was masterminding this whole thing, but alas, Legacies pulled one over on all of us!

Discover Your New Favorite Show: Watch This Now!

What exactly the Necromancer is doing in Mystic Falls is anyone's guess, but he certainly seems to have an agenda involving Malivore. Is he seeking retribution for being gobbled up all those years ago? Or is he just the latest in a long line of servants Malivore has at its disposal?

We'll have to wait until the show returns to find out!

Legacies will return Thursday, Jan. 16 at 9/8c on The CW.

(Disclosure: TV Guide is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of ViacomCBS.)