Note: the following contains spoilers up to “The White Lotus” Season 2 Episode 6
As “The White Lotus” Season 2 comes to a close, Sunday’s episode will reveal which characters are killed as each subplot comes to its climax.
The season premiere opened with Daphne (Meghann Fahy) going for a final swim in the Sicilian sea before discovering a dead body floating in the ocean. As she cries for help on the beach, Rocco (Federico Ferrante) informs Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) that “other guests have been killed” for reasons unknown at the time.
The opening scene indicates that Daphne, Valentina and Rocco are safe from being killed, and the absence of other major characters have left fans to theorize how they think season 2 might wrap up.
If you’re dying to know what happens in the season finale, read on for the biggest fan theories.
Harper, Ethan and Cam are safe
While Daphne certainly seems distraught from discovering a dead body, as emergency medical units arrive on the beach, she seems relatively removed from the situation, leading many to believe that our favorite couples are in the clear from whatever danger occurs. Fans have theorized that had the body been her husband, Cam (Theo James), or her friends Harper (Aubrey Plaza) and Ethan (Will Sharpe), her reaction would have been much more intense.
Though the finale trailer shows Ethan and Cam fighting in the water — including Ethan punching Cam and and pushing his face under the water, the trailer later shows the two couples at dinner where Cam has a bruise on his eye, indicating that no murder was committed earlier in the day.
Quentin and Greg are conspiring against Tanya
Many fans were excited to see that their theory of Tanya’s (Jennifer Coolidge) husband, Greg (Jon Gries), being the Wyoming cowboy that Quentin (Tom Hollander) said he was he love with was correct when Tanya discovers a photograph of Quentin and Greg together as young men in Episode 6.
Due to this connection, some fans believe that Quentin and Greg are working together to conspire against Tanya by encouraging Tanya to cheat on Greg to render their prenup invalid — as seen at the party in Palermo when Tanya hooks up with a man brought by Quentin. Fans even noticed a red light in the room, which might mean that Quentin was recording Tanya’s illicit sexual encounter.
In this theory, it’s unclear if Quentin and Greg are romantically involved or if Quentin is doing a favor for Greg after being in love with him for years, but it sure seems like both Quentin and Greg could use the money. Jack (Leo Woodall) is also wrapped into the scheme, as he keeps Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) away from Tanya and the party so that she is unable to keep an eye on Tanya.
While some versions of this theory end with sabotaging Tanya’s fortune, others go further to say that Tanya gets killed as a result of the plan. After fans noticed that Tanya is wearing the same dress as the mannequin from the “Godfather” re-creation — that depicts the wife that gets blown up — many correlated this similarity with a perilous fate awaiting Tanya.
Another version of this theory hypothesizes that Quentin comes clean to Tanya on the boat ride home and she pushes Quentin in the water, leaving him for dead while she returns to the resort. This theory is supported by fans who caught a glimpse of Quentin’s boat in the distance during the season’s opening scene.
Tanya follows in the footsteps of “Madama Butterfly”
While fans theorized about the conspiracy between Tanya, Quentin and Greg, some believe that Tanya ends up dying by suicide due to the show’s references to Giacomo Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” opera. In “Madama Butterfly,” the heroine commits suicide at the end of the opera, and in other Puccini operas, the heroine dies — making Quentin’s comment that Tanya is like a Puccini heroine feel less like a compliment.
Another Puccini opera called “Tosca” might give us a clue to how Tanya would commit suicide if she did, as the heroine kills herself by jumping off a parapet. One fan theory connects this opera to the tale of the small island next to the resort, where Quentin explains to Tanya that a woman was killed and was found by the cliffs — leading some fans to believe that Quentin might take Tanya to the island to kill her, but she also might take matters into her own hands.
Additionally, the same “Madama Butterfly” song that is heard when Quentin and Tanya see the opera in Episode 5 can be heard in the opening scene of Episode 1.
Lucia and Alessio are working together
While Lucia (Simona Tabasco) has been telling Albie (Adam DiMarco) and others that a man named Alessio is her pimp, some fans believe he might be a friend, or even a brother, who she is working with to threaten clients who don’t pay up by picking up on an earlier scene in the season where Lucia greets Alessio casually.
Their arrangement escalates when Alessio follows the Di Grasso’s car and Lucia leaves with him against the wishes of Albie, Dominic (Michael Imperioli) and Bert (F. Murray Abraham). While Lucia returns to Albie’s room looking emotionally drained, she does not appear harmed — giving more credence to this theory. Some guess Lucia might be trying to scam Albie into taking her to Los Angeles after she told him it was her dream to visit the city.
This theory might not result in a murder for the Di Grasso family, but some believe Dominic might have a heart attack if Albie ever finds out Dominic was a client of Lucia’s. Another less popular theory hypothesizes that Albie kills Cam for not paying Lucia.
Lucia kills Cam
In the season premiere, Rocco explains the origin story of the Testa di Moro head statues to Harper, Ethan, Daphne and Cam, warning that a Moor seduced a local girl without telling her he had a wife and children back home. As a result of lying to her, the local girl cut off his head.
Fans have theorized that this tale might foreshadow that Lucia ends up killing Cam. While Cam didn’t necessary lie to Lucia about being married with kids, he’s in hot water after not paying Lucia and Mia in full for their night of mischief — a debt Ethan is still paying off when Lucia and Mia approach him in Episode 6.
Bonus: Laura Dern shows up
After making a voice cameo as Dominic’s estranged wife, Abby, in a heated phone call in Episode 1, some fans think Laura Dern will extend her cameo by showing up in the finale to wreck havoc on Dominic.
One fan theory guesses that Abby incorrectly assumes that Portia is Dominic’s mistress and pushes her off Quentin’s boat.
“The White Lotus” Season 2 finale airs on HBO and HBO Max on Dec. 11.
