‘The White Lotus’ Theories About Who Dies After Episode 3 on HBO

Armond (Murray Bartlett) and Shane (Jake Lacy) are both suspects in fan theories regarding who dies on 'The White Lotus' vacation in the new HBO limited series.

by Rachel Hunt

Published on July 26, 2021

3 min read

‘The White Lotus’ theories about Olivia and Paula

After The White Lotus Episode 3, several viewers believe that Olivia Mossbacher (Sydney Sweeney) might be the one who murders someone — her friend Paula (Brittany O’Grady). In episode 3, Paula continues to lie to Olivia about a man she hooks up with on the island. In the last few minutes, Olivia finally figures out why her friend was sneaking out every night.

Olivia finds Paula having sex with a resort staffer, Kai (Kekoa Kekumano), at the end of episode 3. The young girl is visibly upset by her friend’s actions, so viewers begin to wonder if she ends up murdering Paula.

“Olivia kills her friend Paula out of jealousy,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “Maybe it’s an accident during a struggle or disagreement.”

When fans first watched The White Lotus Episode 1, they thought Shane was alone at the airport because his wife, Rachel, died. However, he doesn’t seem upset about her death but rather infuriated that random strangers asked him about her. The longer the show goes on, the more viewers see the rift growing between Rachel and Shane. So, she may leave him, and the death has nothing to do with Shane.

‘The White Lotus’ theories continue: Who dies?

After The White Lotus Episode 2, viewers suspected that Shane might kill Armond or Rachel. However, during episode 3, Armond continues to spiral from his drug and alcohol use. He sets up Shane for a disastrous boat ride with grieving Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge). Shane was expecting a romantic dinner on the chartered boat with his new wife. However, the couple ended up participating in Tanya’s memorial for her mother while she sobbed.

Later, the resort manager rejoiced when Dillon (Lukas Gage) confirmed the trip was awful. Armond inappropriately spoke to the resort staff member and continued to drink while working.

Could Armond kill someone? Viewers already know that Shane complains to anyone who might listen. Is the entitled wealthy man so upset that he goes above Armond’s head and gets him fired from the resort? That would explain Armond’s motive for murder. Does he accidentally kill Rachel instead of Shane? Fans have three more episodes of The White Lotus on HBO to find out which theories are correct.

Could the death in the HBO limited series be a suicide?

Other fan theories swirling about The White Lotus include Quinn Mossbacher (Fred Hechinger) or Tanya.

“I’m starting to think that Quinn may die,” another fan wrote on Reddit. “He is a very lonely character in this show. His sister and her friend treat him poorly. His mom verbally defended him but did nothing to fix the problem. And his dad almost uses him as a therapist but doesn’t get to know him.”

The viewer wonders if Quinn ends up swept into the ocean after sleeping so close to the waves? Fan theories also suggest that Quinn or Tanya might die by suicide.

“That woman is an emotional mess,” one viewer wrote about Tanya. “When she finds out that Belinda isn’t actually interested in being friends, it will push Tanya over the edge.”

The HBO comedy is dark, but is it that dark? The White Lotus theories will continue until the limited HBO series ends on Aug. 15, 2021.