'The Originals' Season 4 spoilers news: Series returning early next year; Who will save the Originals?

The third season of CW's supernatural drama thriller series "The Originals" ended with many unexpected twists and turns. Season 3 primarily focused on the prophecy that predicted the downfall of the Original family of vampires, the Mikaelsons. The finale episode showed how the dreaded prophecy came to fruition, with an unexpected enemy of the Mikaelsons being the driving force to bring an end to the family 1000-year reign.

To recap, the finale episode featured the prophesized "Beast" who will take down the Original vampires. According to the prophecy, the Mikaelsons will be killed by a friend, family, and foe. The previous episodes revealed that Marcel (Charles Michael Davis) turned his back on the Mikaelsons after the family has decided to sacrifice Davina (Danielle Campbell), her adoptive daughter. In retaliation, Marcel took the serum that allows the drinker to have power greater than that of an Original vampire. The Mikaelsons thought that Marcel was dead, but the serum made him return from the dead and become stronger as ever, with his vampire fangs imbued with an incurable werewolf venom.

Marcel sunk his venomous fangs on Elijah (Daniel Gillies) and Kol (Nate Buzolic), and poisoned the eldest Mikaelson sibling, Freya (Riley Voelkel). In an effort to stop Marcel, Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) undaggered Rebekah (Claire Holt) to convince Marcel to forgive the family for their misdeeds. However, Marcel decided to put Niklaus (Joseph Morgan) on a trial instead, in front of the many people that he and his family have wronged. In an effort to save the family, Niklaus decided to sacrifice himself and be taken down as an act of redemption. Freya created a spell that linked the rest of the Mikaelsons to Niklaus, delaying the deadly effects of Marcel's venom and poison. The ending scene shows Hayley and Hope leaving the town, hoping to find the cure to save the Original family.

"The Originals" executive producer Julie Plec stated in her blog via Entertainment Weekly that the anticipated return of the show early next year instead of this year's Fall can be considered as an opportunity to make the next season much more exciting. "The Originals" has been confirmed for a fourth season, although its premiere is expected to arrive by the mid-season, instead of the usual September or October release. With more time to plan, the upcoming season is expected to be greater as ever, with the expected comeback of the Mikaelsons expected.