As The Originals' second season began on the CW Monday night, fans discovered that the new episodes of the drama are on the fast track, and not everyone will make it out alive. 

New Trailer For 'The Originals' Warns 'Fear The Fallen' 

During the premiere, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) and Elijah (Daniel Gillies), with a little help from Marcel (Charles Michael Davis), managed to orchestrate the take-down of Francesca Guerrera and her army of wolves.

The Guerrera pack had been set up during early previews as one of the "big baddies" of Season 2, but it seems those clips were part of a misdirect before revealing the much larger picture showrunners have in store.

Nina Dobrev Dishes On Playing Tatia For 'The Originals' 

"Our hope was that this would be the season about the return of mother and father and, as you now know, the return of the brothers as well," explained executive producer Michael Narducci in Entertainment Weekly on Monday after the episode aired.

"I think that's the big theme of this season," continued Narducci, "Is the past returning to haunt you and enemies who are even more dangerous because they know you intimately, and as awesome as Francesca was, she was the last remnant of what happened last season."

The aim is to dig deeper into the history of the Mikaelson family this season, with more flashbacks into Klaus' childhood before he was a hybrid. Episode 5 will also include flashbacks with The Vampire Diaries star Nina Dobrev as Tatia, the human girl both Klaus and Elijah loved before their family was made infamous as "original" vampires.

"If the first season was The Godfather," added Narducci, "the second season is The Godfather 2 and the thing I love about the structure of The Godfather 2 is it takes the story forward and it also explores what happened in the past simultaneously."

One thing that hasn't changed this season is the predominance of vampire-witch conflict, though alliances have shifted. Davina (Danielle Campbell) is working with Klaus and Elijah's father Mikael (Sebastian Roche) to take down Klaus and Mikael's wife Esther has returned in the body of a young witch, along with her sons Kol and Finn. Rebekah (Claire Holt) might also make a few appearances this season after the actress elected to exit halfway through season one.

If nothing else, The Originals will continue to be about family. "He's [Klaus] going to have to, at some point, confront his father. He's going to confront his brothers; he's going to confront his mother," explained Narducci. "All of those confrontations are on the horizon and they're dangerous and deadly."

The Originals continues on The CW with its second season Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Tags: The Originals the cw television