Julie Plec promises more Claire Holt in The Originals season 3 

Last season, the Original siblings went toe-to-toe with their murderous parents (and that one crazy aunt). But this season, the tables are turned when the Trinity — made up of the first vampire sired by Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah — shows up in New Orleans. Suddenly, the Originals are the parents, and they’ve got some explaining to do.

“One of the stories that we’re telling is that first 10 years of being a vampire after [the Originals] fled their raging father and their mother, and how they became the cultured, posh, fascinating people that they are today,” showrunner Julie Plec said. “And that’s how we introduce the Trinity: through that flashback storyline.”

And that flashback story allows for the return of fan favorite Claire Holt, whom Plec promised fans will see. “We’ll actually be seeing quite a lot of Claire in the beginning of the season in flashbacks. We’ll see which of the three she sired and how that all went down and then we will come find [Rebekah] in present day, where she realizes she’s in as much danger from the other sire lines as her brothers are.”

But don’t expect the Trinity — played by Rebecca Breeds, Oliver Ackland, and Andrew Lees — to bring the Original siblings together. Considering the rule goes as follows: you take out one Original and you take out an entire sire line, it’s a safe bet that these new vampires will only come between Originals, which will be easy considering that Elijah and Klaus are already at odds. 

“With Elijah and Klaus already being a bit frayed in their relationship, there is room for these new people to try to get in between them,” Plec said. “And Elijah’s point is, ‘Maybe they should get between us because every time I’ve stood by you it has failed spectacularly.’”

And yet, the always-and-forever siblings aren’t the only three affected by the arrival of the Trinity. With Cami taking on the role of being Klaus’ therapist — her latest attempt to hush her romantic feelings for him — let’s just say that her relationship with Klaus makes her an easy target. “Because Cami always has Klaus’ eye, when Klaus’ sired vampire Lucien comes to town, he finds Cami to be a VERY interesting element into how he can either get closer to Klaus or manipulate Klaus,” Plec said. “So she ends up caught in the middle of the daily supernatural crisis pretty quickly.”

However, Cami isn’t alone in becoming a target of the Trinity. After all, Marcel has a pretty complicated relationship with Klaus as well. “Because Marcel is this very dynamic leader of the vampire culture in New Orleans, he captures the eye of the Trinity who look at him as perhaps a potential ally,” Plec said. “So that brings him into the fold pretty quickly.”

Outside the fold is another threat to the Mikaelson family: Davina, who is now regent of the New Orleans witches. ”Davina 100 percent hates the Mikaelsons and has made this rule as we get to the top of the season where no witch in town is allowed to help a Mikaelson with anything, which of course, is an annoying thorn in Klaus’ side and also proving to make helping Hayley very difficult,” Plec said. “But Davina is very quickly going to step in it a little bit where she is going to find that there are consequences to the things you do when you’re exercising the kind of power that she has, and she’s going to get herself into a bit of a bind and need bailing out. And it’s hard to call for favors when you’ve been denying everybody theirs.”

In other words, Davina probably isn’t quite the threat she likes to thinks he is. At least, not yet.

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RELATED VIDEO: The cast of ‘The Originals’ on season 2’s multiple Big Bads

•A sire line war breaks out in first Originals season 3 trailer

•The Originals First Look: Klaus comes face-to-face with his first progeny, Lucien

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