Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Van Helsing season 3
Syfy's Van Helsing season 3 concluded with the deaths of two major characters and Vanessa (Kelly Overton) reaching the end of her mission to find the Four Elders. After spending an entire season hunting down the remaining vampire lords, Vanessa, Scarlett (Missy Peregrym), and Axel (Jonathan Scare) reunited for an encounter with the Fourth Elder.
Throughout Van Helsing season 3, the main cast of characters have been scattered, resulting in a number of various storylines that have yet to converge. While the main plot is centered on Vanessa, Scarlett, and Axel, other main characters are involved in their own struggles. In Denver, Doc (Rukiya Bernard) is working on uncovering the secrets of vampire blood, while Flesh (Vincent Gale) is determined to find his wife in a prison called Loveland, not to mention the Sisterhood launching an attack on the humans.
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In the Van Helsing season 3 premiere, Vanessa and Scarlett discovered that the only way to end the vampire menace was to destroy their master, the Dark One. However, the Dark One had been imprisoned for quite some time. While the original idea was to make sure the Dark One never escaped, Vanessa instead decided that she would rather free the Dark One so that he can finally be killed. To accomplish this, they had to find the totems of the Four Elders and combine them to open his cage. Over the course of Van Helsing season 3, Vanessa and Scarlett have killed three Elders and acquired their totems. Only the Fourth Elder remains.
- This Page: Sam Becomes The Fourth Elder & Scarlett Dies
- Next Page: Lily Returns & Van Helsing's Story In Season 4
Sam Becomes The Fourth Elder
Sam (Christopher Heyerdahl) has been a thorn in Vanessa's side since he was revealed to be an insane serial killer way back in Van Helsing season 1. After becoming a vampire, Sam became even more a threat. In Van Helsing season 3, Sam decided to become something more. He learned that, in order to fulfill his destiny, he would have to kill the person that he loved, who happened to be his former best friend, Mohamad (Trezzo Mahoro).
When Vanessa goes to find the Fourth Elder, she comes across Sam and tries to kill him. However, their fight is interrupted by a mysterious female vampire, who explains that there was never a Fourth Elder and that this person must be created. Apparently, this was Sam's destiny all along. Vanessa tries to stop Sam from becoming the Elder but the woman's powers render her helpless. Sam is finally able to empty his heart of love by murdering Mohamad. After this is done, Sam is transformed into the Fourth Elder and given a devil-like appearance.
It's strange that there would be three Elders who've existed for centuries while the Fourth Elder, and arguably most powerful one of the bunch, is someone who hasn't existed until now. But it's also a twist that coincides with Vanessa's destiny, as she's forced to defeat someone she once knew and perhaps thought of as a friend. It brings her story full circle, now that she's not hunting seemingly random vampires but must defeat a vampire that knows her better than most. It brings the show down-to-earth for a more familial affair.
Scarlett Dies To Save Vanessa's Soul
Vanessa's sister, Scarlett, has been a key part of the show since she first appeared in Van Helsing season 2. So far, Scarlett has been instrumental in fighting the vampires. After being told that only one of them would survive through the end of their journey, Vanessa trapped Scarlett on a deserted island and set off to kill the Fourth Elder alone.
After finding a way off the island in Van Helsing season 3's penultimate episode, Scarlett found Axel and caught up to Vanessa while she was talking with Sam and the vampire woman. Knowing that Vanessa is dealing with a growing darkness inside of her, Scarlett suddenly decides that the only way for them to win is for Vanessa to overcome the darkness. Scarlett believes that doing what Sam was told to do, to kill a person he loved, would have the opposite effect on Vanessa. She hoped it would allow to Vanessa to do the right thing. She forces Vanessa to kill her, which upsets Axel to a point where he vows to kill Vanessa if they ever meet again.
Scarlett's death has been foreshadowed for the last few episodes of Van Helsing season 3. As fans of Van Helsing may have seen her death coming, in part due to the fact that the actress playing the character, Missy Peregrym, is now playing the lead character on the new CBS series FBI. Plus, it's difficult - if not nearly impossible - for a show to kill off its main character, especially if that character's name is in the show's title.
Page 2 of 2: Lily Returns & Van Helsing's Story In Season 4
Lily Returns In Van Helsing Season 3
Down in the same underground vampire lair where they encountered the female vampire, Sam, Vanessa, Axel, and Scarlett find the perfectly preserved body of Lily Van Helsing, one of Vanessa's ancestors, in the third episode of Van Helsing season 3. She was supposedly killed after failing to destroy the Second Elder in the early 1900s. It was on her body that they found the First Elder's totem. Lily's body was seen again in the Van Helsing season 3 finale, just before the showdown with Sam.
In the closing minutes of the Van Helsing season 3 finale, Sam slashed his clawed hand across Vanessa's face, which caused her blood to splatter onto Lily's body. And it was the blood of a Van Helsing - which, in this case, is Vanessa - revived her. That's when Lily attacked Sam and told Vanessa that there was "another way" to win. According to Lily, they can succeed in defeating the vampires if they work together - but she doesn't explain anything beyond that. With the Van Helsing season 3 finale ending with the two standing together against Sam, Lily's plan is something that should be explained in Van Helsing season 4.
How Lily was suddenly revived is never explained, but being a Van Helsing, the answer could be found all the way back in the series premiere. The series began with Vanessa in a coma for several years until a vampire feasted on her blood. It's highly possible that Lily, like Vanessa, has somehow been comatose for over a century now, rather than actually dead. Vanessa and Lily share an interesting connection; in an earlier episode, Vanessa was sent back in time where she was forced to relive Lily's memories of 1900s Hong Kong. This experience has allowed Vanessa to develop a much deeper understanding of her ancestor than she ever would've had otherwise, and it's something that played into the Van Helsing season 3 finale.
What It Means For Van Helsing Season 4
Scarlett's death and Lily's return suggest a major shift in Van Helsing season 4. Since Van Helsing season 2, Scarlett has been fighting alongside Vanessa as an equal while also serving as Vanessa's most reliable ally. With her death, Lily could take up that role and help guide Vanessa as she fights to overcome the darkness within her. Vanessa's recent decision to murder an innocent man has shown how far her darkness has taken her, and it may take a knowledgeable and experienced Van Helsing like Lily to put Vanessa back on the right path. Plus, it brings Vanessa together with yet another member of the Helsing family. Perhaps this will be an indication of things to come in Van Helsing season 5 and onward, should the show continue on.
Scarlett's death alienated Axel in the Van Helsing season 3 finale, which means that Vanessa will have continue on her mission to defeat the Dark One without him. Sam's rise as the Fourth Elder also indicates that he may be the show's next big villain - which brings the series full circle as Sam has been a part of Van Helsing since the beginning - as well as the next major obstacle before Vanessa can face off with the Dark One. Sam may not be the only antagonist in Van Helsing season 4, though. The Van Helsing season 3 finale also introduced the head of Blak Tek, a human character played by Neal McDonough. He has plans that involve working with vampire blood, but what he wants from it isn't exactly clear. Of course, according to what's happened in countless other sci-fi shows, Blak Tek may either want to extract the healing properties from vampire's blood for themselves or figure out a better way to kill all the vampires at once; biological warfare would fall in-line with a shadowy organization such as Blak Tek.
Multiple storylines unfolded in the Van Helsing season 3 finale, but none were resolved. Aside from Vanessa's unfinished fight with Sam, Doc is on the run from Blak Tek and Flesh's search for his wife will continue into season 4, along with the coming battle between the humans and the Sisterhood. Julius is looking for revenge now that Scab, his former underling, has murdered his girlfriend. So, it's clear that Van Helsing season 4 has plenty of loose ends to tie up when the series returns in 2019.