5 Euphoria Season 3 Theories That Aged Poorly

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of "Euphoria."

The buzz around "Euphoria" reached a fever pitch of speculation during the four-year wait that followed the HBO show's sophomore season. The gap gave audiences plenty of time to theorize about what would become of Rue Bennett (Zendaya) and her classmates in the third batch of episodes.

Some of those theories leaned heavily into the fact that Rue was in debt to drug dealer Laurie (Martha Kelly), while others focused on how the ramifications of Cal Jacobs' (Eric Dane) secret life might affect Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi).

But when the Season 3 finale rolled around, Rue died of an overdose and some of the dwindling plot threads from the previous two "Euphoria" seasons weren't explored in the way many expected. It seems — judging by these theories we've compiled — that fans had very different ideas of where "Euphoria" was heading.

When casting information for "Euphoria" Season 3 arrived online, one Reddit user noted that the team was looking for someone to play a man in his mid-40s with "an affinity for Nazi propaganda." And so, a theory was born on Reddit that sounds like something from a gritty crime drama.

"The nazi character has to do with Nate or Cal; since Nate ruined Cal's reputation his real estate company is likely f***** and Nate has to do something else, maybe he becomes a corrupt cop and works with nazis, or it could be another prisoner Cal meets," they wrote.

In the final season it's Laurie's goons that were neo-Nazis and they had nothing to do with Nate's storyline. Nate also didn't become a corrupt cop, although perhaps that might've saved him from his grisly death in Episode 7.

Elliot (Dominic Fike), who appeared throughout Season 2 and hooked up with Jules Vaughn (Hunter Schafer), was a notable absence in the third season. Given how much screentime he had in Season 2, many assumed that he'd be a key part of the third season. One theory suggested that he'd get killed by Laurie as part of a plot to get Rue.

The Redditor speculated: "The whole thing about Laurie would have roots on the first encounter between Rue and Elliot; as a plan to kidnap and sell her...Laurie elaborates a way to get her 'easy target' (the girl who's had an overdose and didn't have anything to lose) would be her perfect victim.

"Elliot was a pawn to get Jules out of the way, by creating a tension between them and eventually separating them," the theory continues. "But remember he's a snitch? He'll try to get rid of all of the trouble by telling the police about all of that, but ends up being killed by her men."

According to Variety, Fike was slated to be involved at one point, but Elliot didn't factor into the season at all. However, snitching did become part of Season 3 after Rue got picked up by DEA agents and started feeding them information on Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Laurie.

One of the most prominent storylines in "Euphoria" Season 1 was Nate's obsession with Jules, going so far as to stalk her with a fake name, texting her as "Tyler." Sure, he claimed he was only blackmailing her to keep her quiet about sleeping with his father, but it seemed like there was more bubbling beneath the surface.

Another theory suggests that he would continue stalking her in Season 3, with a Redditor writing: "Nate still stalks Jules. Maybe we'll even see some personal growth from him or watch him finally confront his trauma and sexuality. I think by the end of the season, he and Jules will reconnect."

They added: "Since this is probably the final season, there isn't much time left to explore their dynamic—which is still central and one of the most intriguing and emotionally complex parts of the show."

However, Nate and Jules only briefly crossed paths when she attended his wedding as Rue's plus-one. Aside from her conversation with Cal at the bar, the season completely bypassed the complicated storyline of Jules and the Jacobs family.

Cassie Howard's (Sydney Sweeney) storyline in Season 3 saw her try to make it big as an OnlyFans model with help from her erstwhile best friend Maddy Perez (Alexa Demie). However, some thought that Cassie might hit back at everyone in her life for the bullying she faced in previous seasons.

"I can imagine Cassie having a revenge arc in Season 3 where Lexi's play, Nate's breakup with her and eventually Maddy beating her up to give her karma for her misdeeds has worsened her mental state and anger," one fan wrote on Reddit.

"Instead of blaming Nate or those jerks who s*** shamed her and abandoned her, Cassie blames Maddy, Lexi and Rue for her life being ruined (maybe because of her actions during the play, she was expelled from high school or banned from cheerleading or ended up on probation or community service which worsened her reputation)."

Cassie's mental state definitely deteriorated after seeing Nate get tortured by loan shark Naz (Jack Topalian), but she didn't set out to ruin anyone else's life. She only wanted to become a rich and famous adult content creator.

Finally, there's the mystery of the third Jacobs brother. Throughout the first two seasons, it was easy to spot an extra brother in a photograph in the Jacobs household — but he was never mentioned or acknowledged in the show. Given Cal's cheating and Nate's twisted personality, some assumed that Season 3 would explore a deep-seated trauma within the family regarding the missing sibling.

In a Reddit thread dedicated to the bizarre mystery, one person pointed to the moment where Cal admitted his double life to his family while looking at the photograph in Season 2. "Cal looks directly at it and says 'We all have secrets' during his tirade in s2e4," they wrote.

Eric Dane also confirmed the child's existence to TVLine back in 2022 but said he didn't know what that meant for the show. Unfortunately, Season 3 didn't really touch on the Jacobs family saga outside of their appearance at the wedding and Nate taking over his father's company.