Is Rebekah's New 'Originals' Body Permanent?

New Orleans is going to be short one, blonde Mikaelson when The Originals returns on Jan. 19 — well, sort of. In the final moments of the CW series' midseason finale Rebekah Mikaelson jumped bodies with the unsolicited help of Kol. And now, everyone's favorite Mikaelson woman is trapped in the body of a witch who's trapped inside of a supernatural prison for all of eternity. That sounds like the absolute worst, right? Well, there's good news, Originals fans — first, though Claire Holt won't be back right away, Rebekah will continue to appear on The Originals Season 2 and second, there's no way that this is a permanent arrangement.

First, here's a refresher on where we're at with the Mikaelsons and Esther's plan to rid her children of their vampirism. Rebekah volunteered her blood for a plan to trap Esther in her current body (which worked, YAY), but while all of that was going on, Kol forced Rebekah to body-jump into a presumably insane witch that's trapped in the Dowager Fauline Cottage. Because, well, they might agree that their mother is the worst, but the Mikaelson siblings are still seriously screwed up. The only way for Kol to get back at his sister for betraying him in the early 1900s was to force her into a new body. Typical Originals, right?

But, while I'm sure that The Originals "New Rebekah," Maisie Richardson-Sellers, will be great — based on what we saw during the midseason finale — obviously I'm wondering when Claire Holt will return to the role that she's rocked since The Vampire Diaries Season 3. Or IF Holt can return to Rebekah?

Here's one thing both Originals and TVD fans know to be true — nothing is ever permanent in this world. (I mean, just look at how many times characters have died and come back to life.) So, Rebekah might be in a new body right now, but there's no way that she'll have to stay there. The Originals left off in its midseason finale with Esther being essentially taken care of and left to chill with her misery for awhile, which leaves an opening for more drama and a new goal. Sure, Mikael's still on the loose, but returning Rebekah to her body is something that should and probably will take priority for Klaus. He promised that he'd take care of her, after all.

This absolutely isn't going to happen right away — I wouldn't be surprised if Holt didn't reprise her role until the Season 2 finale this spring — but it will happen because Klaus doesn't fail. There are a few factors, however, that should convince you that Rebekah's fate will play a huge role in the second part of The Originals Season 2. First, there's the fact that her body wasn't destroyed and it's being kept safe — that wouldn't be the case if Holt were never to return to the series. There's also the fact that Rebekah and Klaus' relationship is stronger than ever — she threw herself into the fire for him and Hope — and he's not going to rest while there's so much uncertainty surrounding her safety. We've seen how obsessed Klaus can get with things and they usually end up going his way in the end, one way or another.

The most important thing to remember here, however, is that this is relatively common magic for The Originals. Esther and other characters on the series have been body-jumping forever and as long as Rebekah's original body remains, it'll be possible for her to get back to it. As soon as she's found, that is (and who knows how long that'll take). As usual, Claire Holt is leaving us guessing about whether or not we'll ever get to see her kick major ass on The CW and, as usual, my wishful thinking says that she absolutely will be back.

Images: Annette Brown/The CW, fuckyeahoriginals/Tumblr (2)