The eighth and final season of the hit supernatural drama "The Vampire Diaries" premieres next week. However, its spin-off series "The Originals" is slated to start airing its fourth season next year, but it is already rumored to be canceled.

When "The Originals'" season 4 renewal was announced, fans of the series weren't exactly ecstatic to learn that the episode order has been reduced to 13 when the first three seasons had 23 episodes each. Rumors then started brewing that the upcoming season may be the series' last. Also, season 3's low ratings performance could be another factor for the reduced season 4 episode order.

This could follow the fate of "The Vampire Diaries." The said show's eighth and final season is the result of season 7's poor ratings and the departure of Nina Dobrev, who played key roles Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce.

According to reports, if "The Originals" gets canceled on The CW, there is still a chance that the show may continue on another network or platform. It is possible that networks like ABC or CBS may be willing to run the series for another shot. Also, popular streaming platform Netflix could be the new home of the series, especially that the streaming site has produced several shows that debuted on television networks first.

Series creator Julie Plec revealed on TV Line about the timeline of "The Originals" in the upcoming season. "When they shifted the air date, it actually gave us the freedom, weirdly, to shift the timeline in our favor so that we could have more time pass in 'The Originals' between seasons than 'The Vampire Diaries,'" she explained. "So we get to add an extra couple years on to our time lapse between seasons. It's actually a good thing. It's positive to not have to worry about being side by side."

"The Originals" season 4 premieres on Jan. 29, 2017 on The CW.