The Best & Wildest Theories About Euphoria Season 3

After an even more bleak and chaotic run than Season 1, Euphoria’s second season is finally over. It ended with Ashtray dead, Fezco and Cal arrested, and Rue seemingly sober. But there are still quite a few questions left to answer. Will Rue relapse again, and does her mom really intend to wash her hands of her daughter as soon as she turns 18? What did Maddy mean when she ominously told Cassie, “This is just the beginning”? And what will happen to our bad boy king Fezco now that he’s arrested and Ashtray is gone?

Euphoria has been renewed for Season 3, and there are already some predictions to be made about what’s to come when the show returns. Most of what was originally planned for Season 2 was scrapped during the pandemic, which could mean some of those storylines will be reworked for Season 3 — though star Zendaya made that seem unlikely in a recent interview with The Cut. “There are very few things that remain in the version you’re now seeing,” she said. “The things that didn’t make it definitely needed to die.”

With most of the characters heading into their senior year of high school, there’s a chance that Season 3 will bring a sense of closure. After all, does it even make sense for Euphoria to continue once they graduate? Here are some Euphoria Season 3 theories about where the story could go next.

Rue will stay sober

Euphoria has bounced back and forth between Rue’s sobriety and drug use, but fans on Reddit are hoping that Season 3 will focus on her getting healthy — especially because she ended Season 2 clean. “Manifesting a genuine[ly] sober season where Rue takes [NA] seriously [and] makes amends. Does not date for a year. Does not look for other addiction[s] ... and manages her mental health with a therapist,” one Redditor wrote.

Rue does say in the season finale that she remained sober for the rest of the school year, which seems to leave the door open for her relapsing in Season 3 if there’s a time jump. But we also know Rue’s mom, Leslie, gave her a pretty strong ultimatum: once Rue turns 18 she has to leave the house so Leslie can focus on taking care of Gia.

This is probably why Rue seems to be pretty serious about finally taking care of herself. “I don’t know if this feeling will last forever, but I am trying,” she said in the final moments of Season 2. “I remember Ali said, ‘The thought of maybe being a good person is what keeps me trying to be a good person.’ Maybe there’s something to that.”

Is it naive to hope we’ll finally see a Rue redemption arc?

Maddy will leave town

Amid all the partying and regrettable hot tub drinking, it’s often hard to remember that Rue and her friends are actual students who will soon graduate. But in Season 2, the characters begin to allude to life outside of East Highland. Maddy vaguely tells Samantha that she can no longer babysit for her, and seems to hint at plans of leaving the area. We know Maddy had an unhappy childhood, and she probably wants to escape everything that happened with Cassie and Nate. Are Maddy’s last words to Cassie actually just a final warning to watch out for Nate because she’s leaving?

While it’s unclear if the show would continue to follow Maddy if she left school — McKay all but evaporated from the show when he graduated — getting distance might give Maddy some time to really come into her own.

Fezco will be in jail

After a massive shootout at the house, Ashtray was killed by cops while Fezco was shot in the side, bleeding profusely but still alive. But he was also tied up and taken away by police in the final moments of the finale. It looks like Lexi’s calls with Fezco are going to happen with a plexiglass wall between them next season, but fingers crossed Faye’s plan to pin Mouse’s murder on Laurie somehow gets him out of jail, or at least serving less time.

Kat will try to win Ethan back

Kat claimed that Ethan was boring, but it’s hard to back that up after he brought down the house with his oiled up performance during Lexi’s play. Kat was grievously sidelined in Season 2, so it would be nice to see her more in Season 3 — even if that involves her apologizing to Ethan for faking having a terminal illness just to break up with him.

Maddy and Jules take down Nate

One Reddit user theorizes that Maddy made a copy of Cal’s tape with Jules, and she plans to eventually team up with her to take down the Jacobs family. Another user also suggested that Maddy might have even been recording the moment when Nate broke into her room with a gun, and she’s just waiting for the right time to turn that over to the police. Regardless of how it all pans out, let’s hope Nate faces some real consequences eventually, especially now that we know he’s just strutting around with a loaded gun.

Elliot gets sober

Elliot’s song to Rue on Euphoria was a major moment in the season finale. This may have been because creator Sam Levinson just loves working musical numbers into Euphoria’s finales (thanks to composer Labrinth). But it could also be because Elliot is going to be a major character going forward. He confesses in the song that Rue is his only friend, yet he still thinks they’re bad for one another. Perhaps her own sobriety will inspire him to get better? Is it possible we’ll finally see Rue, Jules, and Elliot have some semblance of a healthy friendship in Season 3?

Lexi and Ethan become famous

All the Twitter memes about Lexi blowing the school’s entire budget on her play have to lead to something good next season, right? Maybe scenes from Ethan’s performance go viral, and they both get offers for creative colleges or get signed to create more content. That feels pretty pie in the sky for a grim show like Euphoria, but maybe this time it will let us have just one good thing.