Legacies Season 2 is nearly upon us, and details about the new season are getting us seriously hyped to return to Mystic Falls!

The finale left fans in a bit of a lurch, as Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) dove to her apparent death into the Malivore pit to stop the evil monster-gobbling golem from rising. As a result, everyone forgot she ever existed, meaning her friends at the Salvatore School aren't exactly champing at the bit to rescue her. Meanwhile, Josie (Kaylee Bryant) and Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) found the Ascendant (a magical device used on The Vampire Diaries) hidden away in their father's office, not knowing it is the key to releasing their evil uncle Kai (Chris Wood) from his prison world. If that doesn't sound like a gun waiting to go off, we don't know what does.

So where will these dangling storylines pick up when the show returns? We've got all the scoop you need to prepare yourselves! Here's everything we know so far about Legacies Season 2.

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Legacies will return to The CW this fall. Legacies Season 2 debuts on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 9/8c.

We'll find out what became of Hope right away. "The mystery of where [Hope] is and what happened is actually the way we begin the first episode," showrunner Julie Plec told TV Guide at the ATX Television Festival. "Within the first few minutes, we'll see what's become of her. I think it's going to be fun to watch her first realize that she's not dead and, two, realize how she's going to get herself out of this mess that she's made."

Legacies -- "I'll Never Give Up Hope" -- Image Number: LGC201b_0963bc.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): Jenny Boyd as Lizzie and Quincy Fouse as MG -- Photo: Quantrell Colbert/The CW -- © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Photo: Quantrell Colbert, Quantrell Colbert/The CW

Hope will be trapped somewhere with Ryan Clarke (Nick Fink). "One of our favorite stories from Vampire Diaries was when Damon and Bonnie got stuck in the prison world together. We love sticking people together who do not want to be together, and in this case, Hope and Clark are with each other and none too happy about it," Julie Plec told TV Guide.

Whether or not that situation will turn them into the best of friends or mortal enemies is still up for debate though. "I think when you're stuck with someone — we call it the 'trapped in the elevator' pitch — the end result of that is always going to either be you have a new and very important understanding of who that person and maybe have been able to find your way to common ground and to bond, or you just really hate them even more than you hated them to begin with. So you'll have to tune in to find out what their future is," Plec said.

Legacies Boss Compares Hope and Clarke to The Vampire Diaries' Damon and Bonnie

We'll be introduced to a new vampire named Sebastian. A new vampire is headed to the Salvatore School, and though he'll be young in spirit, he'll be old in years. "We really want to bring in an old, old, old-world vampire," Plec told TV Guide. "But we want to introduce a vampire who kind of got desiccated when he was 17 in maybe the 15th century and now wakes up in the 21st century and realizes that all the rules of being a vampire have changed and that he does not fit in into this very modern world."

Plec announced at San Diego Comic-Con that this new character will be played by Scottish actor Thomas Doherty, who is best known for his role as Harry Hook in Disney's Descendants 2. Jenny Boyd hinted that Lizzie might have a romance with this vampire, even though he's got "old ideas about the way things work, but Lizzie might be into that."

TVLine has revealed the first look at Sebastian.

Aunt Freya (Riley Voelkel) is heading to town! Legacies will be getting a visit from an Original family member. TV Guide has learned that Riley Voelkel is set to guest star in Episode 6 of Season 2. Plec mentioned at San Diego Comic-Con that they had actually written an episode that had three scenes with Freya Mikaelson in it, but Voelkel was already booked to guest-star on Roswell that week, which derailed their plans. We're glad they managed to work out the scheduling so this could still happen!

Plec teased to TV Guide earlier in the summer that there would be room for Originals to visit the show this seasons. "I think there's going to be an opportunity this year to see some of the Originals," Plec told TV Guide. "I don't know who and I don't know when, but the way that Hope's storyline is shaping up, there's definitely a link to the family that got left behind as well that we will have to address at a certain point. And it would be nice to see a familiar face."

A new professor is on the way to the Salvatore School. TVLine broke the news that Legacies has cast Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel alum Alexis Denisof as Professor Vardemus, an "urbane British sorcerer" who is also "a bit of a dandy." That all sounds innocent enough, but he'll also have some ideas about the superiority of the supernatural world that will be troublingly appealing to several Salvatore students.

Alexis Denisof, Grimm Photo: NBC, NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Romance could be on the horizon for Josie. Plec told TV Guide that the twins will be spending the summer apart from one another and trying to get back to healthy places both physically and emotionally. For Josie, that means digging into the Gemini Coven future in store for her and her sister, but it might also mean a new romance for her. "When they're apart that opens a world up for Josie that's very different than the world she lives [in] with Lizzie day by day," Plec said. "And actually, we'll see her start to make new friends and maybe even some new romance."

Though we shudder to even imagine it, that new romance might have a familiar face. In the first photos for Legacies Season 2, it sure looks like Landon and Josie have been spending a lot of quality time together over the summer, and considering that neither of them can even remember Hope exists, there's not a whole lot stopping them if they decide to pursue a relationship. That could turn into a pretty confusing love triangle since they've both had feelings for Hope in the past.

"I can't imagine that Hope would react to Landon and Josie well at all," said Danielle Rose Russell told TV Guide of that potential new romance. "She still loves him, and it's not like she's forgotten anyone, you know. It's the opposite... It's kind of been interesting because with Hope going into Malivore, it's allowed us to do different things with the show, and kind of giving us an actual, valid reason to do that. So I think that it's interesting to have explored different love dynamics and different relationship dynamics this season. But yeah, it's kind of very heartbreaking to see."

Aria Shahghasemi and Kaylee Bryant, Legacies Photo: Quantrell Colbert, Quantrell Colbert/The CW

Lizzie will spend the summer in Europe with Caroline (Candice King). While Josie is busy with summer at the Salvatore school with their dad, Lizzie will be getting in some mommy-daughter time. "We're having a lot of fun with the idea that Lizzie is spending the summer in Europe with her mom, both doing some therapy and also touring all the hot boy hot spots of Europe," Plec told TV Guide.

A Christmas episode is on the way. Executive producer Brett Matthews revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that he and Julie Plec love doing Christmas episodes and teased that they have been wanting to do an "evil Santa Claus" story. Matthews said M.G., in particular, would have trouble reconciling himself to the fact that "all of his friends are plotting to kill Santa."

The Salvatore School will get a flirtatious new student. Deadline reports that Bianca Santos will recur in Season 2 as Maya Santos, "a sharp-tongued and flirtatious new student at Mystic Falls High." She will be the daughter of Sheriff Mac, and she'll have a brother named Ethan, but other than that, we've got very little info on her.

Season 1 of Legacies is currently streaming on Netflix.

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

PHOTOS: Legacies Season 2 Premiere Photos