5 The White Lotus Theories We Can’t Stop Thinking About

Theory #1: Daphne snaps

Could Daphne be our overswim-loving, secretly scorned smiling assassin? Perhaps. Some fans think Daphne is the murderer, killing Sicilian escorts Mia and Lucia and potentially a third person. The White Lotus used to be a convent, and there’s an underlying theme throughout the season that all sinful women get punished in the end. The theory is that Daphne confirms Cameron’s adultery, and snaps. Why? Well, Daphne hints at her love of true crime way back in episode one, when Harper asks what the pair watch on TV. "We do a lot of Dateline, I love it,” Daphne chirps over a cocktail. “Husbands murdering their wives. Happens a lot on vacation… scuba diving. He'll just unplug her oxygen while she's underwater. Happens more than you think." 

Theory #2: the Wyoming cowboy

Tanya’s now-husband Greg is scamming her, and is Quentin’s ‘Wyoming cowboy’. Quentin is actually broke, and he’s teamed up with Greg to fleece Tanya out of her money. There’s plenty of fans online speculating that Greg is actually the one that dies, and tbh, we wouldn’t be mad.

At the start of the season, Tanya relays a dissociation she’s had to Greg where “I was seeing all these faces of men with these very effeminate hairstyles and then… I saw you! And your eyes were like shark eyes. Like just completely dead. Just like, dead.” Now flash forward to the party scene in Palermo when Tanya is dancing amongst a sea of flamboyant men… Coincidence? We think not. One fan theory that adds an extra layer of intrigue to the Greg-Tanya-Quentin triangle? “Maybe Quentin kills Greg to cut him out of the scam and take all the money for himself…”

Theory #3: more than one murder

We already know multiple people will die from episode one when, after the dead body is discovered in the water, Rocco tells hotel manager Valentina "One of the guests has drowned," and adds, "Salvatore says other bodies have been found." Upon Valentina's incredulous reaction, he clarifies, "Other guests have been killed."

One theory? Tanya’s assistant Portia discovers the Theory #2 scam, and Greg and Quentin attempt to kill her to keep quiet. Albie, in trying to protect her, is accidentally murdered instead. Ongoing references to the missed killings of The Godfather, and paintings of the martyr Saint Sebastian surrounding Albie, have us thinking this theory’s got legs.

Theory #4: visual cues

So, not so much a theory on who dies, but rather how we can sleuth out clues by studying the paintings and visual motifs that make their way into the mise-en-scène. We’re no art history buffs, but TikToker (and White Lotus fan) @meeeeelzonwheeeelz is. While we could spend days watching (and rewatching) each and every one of their TikToks, here’s the SparkNotes summary:

Birds are an omen or symbolic of death: 

• Birds and bird sounds are featured heavily in the opening credits. 
• Birds appear next to Aubrey Plaza’s opening credits; Harper watches them frequently, and bird sounds follow her throughout the episodes.
• Cameron and Jack both have bird tattoos. Ick.
• Jack places a white bird on Portia; back in episode one, Portia wears a sweater vest with swans on it. 
• When chatting to Portia, Albie declares that his type of women are ‘pretty, wounded birds’.
• In episode six, Mia wears feathers as she sings You Belong To Me at the hotel piano as the Di Grasso men watch on, defeated after their long-lost relatives’ rejection.

Symbolism of paintings strategically placed in scenes: 

• Tanya is the Jesus figure of Season 2. 
• Tanya is symbolic of Lucretia, an ancient Roman figure who suicides after being deceived by a man (cc: Greg, Quentin…). 
• Paintings of Mt Etna surround Greg and Tanya, symbolising that something will erupt between the two.
• Albie is a depiction of the martyr, Saint Sebastian.
• Dominic is a depiction of Odysseus, parallelled on a homecoming journey when Nymphs seduce him.
• Artwork peppered throughout the show hints that Cameron and Ethan may be more than just good friends. 

Theory #5: The Godfather effect

It’s impossible to ignore the Di Grassos’ constant chatter about The Godfather, but fans have found references to the iconic film even when the boys aren’t around. Some of the most telling connections we’ve seen?

• Dominic’s wife’s name is Abby, which is a derivative of Apollonia – the young wife of the Godfather who gets accidentally blown up in a botched assassination attempt.
• The three generations of Di Grasso men then visit the city where this exact scene was filmed, where a replica car (complete with Apollonia dummy) actually exists in real life as a tourist attraction. The best part? The dress the Apollonia dummy is wearing is then worn by Tanya in a later episode. Does this mean Tanya will be the one killed?
• On the flip, it could be Portia that dies – she’s spotted wearing a Godfather t-shirt that depicts the scene where Apollonia is blown up. Is Tanya the intended target, with Portia just in the wrong place at the wrong time? 
• Nonno Di Grasso watches a scene from The Godfather in his room while his son, Dominic, is having illicit affairs with Mia and Lucia next door. There’s a famous line in The Godfather that states: “In Sicily, women are more dangerous than shotguns." Does this mean the killer is a woman? 
• Further evidence that it might not be a man with blood on their hands in the finale? A remark by Albie that implicitly gives women the upper hand: “Men love The Godfather because they feel emasculated by modern society.” It might sound like a throwaway comment over brunch, but it not-so-subtly suggests that the tables have turned and women are now the aggressors.