Van Helsing season 2 featured some major revelations about the vampire-slaying dynasty – here’s what the blistering season finale meant for the series. The brainchild of playwright-turned-filmmaker Neil LaBute, Van Helsing debuted on Syfy in 2016 and quickly found a fanbase thanks to its super-gory action. The show is in a similar vein to Syfy's own Wynonna Earp, but whereas Wynonna is a descendant of Wyatt Earp, Van Helsing’s protagonist Vanessa (Kelly Overton) is the great-great-great-granddaughter of legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing.
In season 1 Van Helsing viewers learned that in an event known as ‘The Rising’, the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano threw a load of ash up into the atmosphere and blocked out the sun, making the world perfectly habitable for vampires. Three years later Vanessa Van Helsing awakens from a coma to find out she may be humanity’s last hope, with her unique blood meaning her bite can turn vampires back into humans. This ability makes her a prime target for vampires, especially the powerful Dmitri who wants to use her blood to create vampires that can reproduce and withstand sunlight.
By Van Helsing season 2, Vanessa was reunited with her long-lost daughter Dylan who’d been turned into a vampire while she was comatose. Their reunion was sadly short-lived after Vanessa tried to cure her but ended up killing her instead. Family reunions were certainly a theme throughout season 2; Vanessa later met Scarlett (Missy Peregrym) – the long-lost twin sister she never knew she had – who in turn met their birth mother Abigail Van Helsing (Andee Frizzell, Stargate: Atlantis). Vanessa was absent for the mother-daughter reunion, however, having seemingly been shot dead in an earlier episode. Season 2 also revealed the existence of an ancient Elder vampire who would play an important role in the finale.
In Van Helsing's season 2 finale “Black Days,” Scarlett and Abigail travel to the Elder vampire’s crypt and Abigail informs her daughter he is one of four Elders, whose purpose is to release the ‘Dark One’ and bring about the ‘final darkness’ which would spell humanity's end. Abigail also reveals the vial of blood around her neck is that of the ‘Dark One’ and it may have something to do with Vanessa and Scarlett’s abilities. Arriving at the Elder’s lair, they’re met by Dmitri who orders Abigail to open the crypt (which can only be opened by a Van Helsing but costs Abigail her life) and release the Elder.
Unluckily for Dmitri and his minions, it turns out the Elder was captured by the Van Helsing family and given the choice to die by their hand or protect them. He chose the latter which condemned him to a life of servitude to the Van Helsing's until the Dark One is either released or destroyed. Scarlett uses this to her advantage by commanding the Elder to kill Dmitri and his underlings before telling him to find her sister. He locates Vanessa’s body and resurrects her with a bite, leading into the third season of Van Helsing in which Vanessa would discover even more about her lineage and how to defeat the vampires.