The Hollow's Backstory & Death Explained
The Hollow was the main antagonist of The Originals’ final two seasons – here’s her backstory explained and how she was finally defeated.
Who was the Hollow on The Originals and how did she die? The Mikaelson siblings and their allies faced off against all kinds of formidable foes on The Originals – from Klaus’ protégé-turned-frenemy Marcel Gerard to their own parents Mikael and Esther. The ‘fighting your own family’ theme continued when Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah met long-lost aunt Dahlia, a powerful witch hellbent on wreaking vengeance on the Mikaelson bloodline by claiming each generation’s first-born child – baby Hope Mikaelson included.
If the Mikaelsons thought defeating their aunt Dahlia was hard work, the Hollow proved they hadn’t seen anything yet. Introduced in the fourth season of The Originals, the Hollow was described by Vincent Griffith as “the most powerful witch in all of history.” At first, the Hollow only appeared in spirit form but was already strong enough to compel vampires, werewolves, witches and mere mortals to sacrifice lives so she could absorb more power. As the season progressed, it was revealed the Hollow had her followers working hard to collect her bones so she could resurrect in physical form.
In The Originals season 4 episode “Voodoo In My Blood,” the Hollow’s backstory came to light. Long before the founding of New Orleans, two rival Native American tribes of witches decided to unite. Two members from the tribes married and had a child named Inadu that was imbued with magic by elder witches to make her powerful. Unfortunately, the child grew up to be ruthless and power-hungry – an empty, unfeeling entity that earned Inadu the moniker of the Hollow. She went on to kill most of her tribe, and the elders were forced to enlist her mother to kill her. Before she could, the Hollow cast a curse that turned her killers into the first-ever werewolves – making them Hayley and Hope’s ancestors.
Hayley and Hope’s connection to the Hollow meant that they were the only ones with the power to destroy her which made them particularly dangerous to the witch. The Mikaelson siblings were both a source of help and hindrance to the Hollow too. While the sacrifice of an Original vampire would give the Hollow the power she needed to resurrect, it could also be used in a spell that would temporarily trap her. Despite everybody’s best efforts, the Hollow completed her resurrection using Elijah as collateral damage and although the gang was eventually able to kill her physical form and get Elijah back, her spirit possessed Hope. To save the young Mikaelson, her father Klaus, aunt Rebekah and uncles Elijah and Kol each took a piece of the Hollow’s spirit but had to vow never to meet again lest the Hollow reform.
In the fifth and final season of The Originals, the Mikaelson family were reunited in New Orleans and a now teenaged Hope channeled the Hollow’s spirit back into her body to prevent the death of all first-borns. The dark magic of the Hollow was gradually destroying Hope from within, however, so Klaus had the witch siphoned into himself to save his daughter. When he and Elijah died at the end of The Originals series finale, the Hollow finally died with Klaus and her dark magic was destroyed once and for all.
