Here Are All The Clues You Missed About A's Big Reveal In PLL: Original Sin

The reveal Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin fans had been waiting weeks for has finally arrived, and while most fans probably didn’t predict who was behind A’s mask, it was a total throwback to the original PLL. Thankfully, the new sequel series didn’t leave viewers hanging with its first season finale and fully explained the A mystery... even if that explanation was a bit out of left field. But once the truth came out, it’s pretty easy to look back at the season and notice quite a few clues about A’s identity that were hidden throughout Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.

Spoiler alert: This post contains major spoilers from the Season 1 finale of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. At long last, A has been revealed. And although some hardcore PLL stans may have seen certain aspects of the unmasking coming, the confirmation that there were effectively two As kind of threw a wrench into most theories. Turns out, A was Angela Waters’ hidden twin brother, Archie Waters, who was working in tandem with... wait for it... Principal Clanton. Oh, and Clanton is also Angela and Archie’s father.

Yeah, I don’t think anyone was really suspecting the barely-seen high school principal all that much. However, pulling a twin twist is a classic PLL move, so some viewers may have already guessed Angela had a twin who was behind all the chaos. And while the twist was definitely wild, there have been some clues that make a lot more sense looking back.

1. A’s workshop in the school

It definitely felt pretty off that A seemingly had free rein of Millwood High, so much so that he even had his own room filled with his creepy torture instruments. But now that viewers know Archie was Principal Clanton’s son and they were working together to terrorize Millwood, it makes more sense how Archie could set up shop in the school with his dad helping to hide him there.

2. The sixth “A. Waters” signature

When Imogen and Tabby visited Radley, they were perplexed to find six different signatures of visitors who signed in to see Angela’s detained mother Rose back in the day, all of whom signed in under the name “A. Waters.” They determined five of the signatures were their five mothers using Angela’s name as a pseudonym, but the sixth was a mystery. It wasn’t until they found Joseph England’s suicide note that they noticed the handwriting matched the sixth signature. However, it later became apparent the note was planted and Joe’s suicide was staged by A. That means the sixth “A. Waters” signature didn’t stand for Angela Waters at all, but Archie Waters, since he would of course want to visit his mother.

3. Karen’s bucket

Karen’s murder should have been the first tip-off that Principal Clanton was a prime suspect. As the person who announced the Spirit Week Queen results, Clanton was in the unique position to coordinate with his son exactly when and where to push Karen off the rafters and pin the whole thing on Imogen and her friends. As principal, he could navigate the school as he pleased, which allowed him to hide the bucket Karen was planning to dump on Imogen and convince Sheriff Beasley that the real reason his daughter’s life ended was because of Imogen, Tabby, Noa, Faran, and Mouse’s bullying.

4. Rose’s butcher knife debacle

Joe recounted that shortly after Angela dying, her mother Rose stormed the school cafeteria in a rage, swinging a butcher knife at the students. At the time, it didn’t seem like much of a glaring detail when Joe said nobody really knew how she was able to get into the school with a weapon, but now it makes sense that Clanton probably helped sneak her in to get vengeance for their daughter.

5. The twin thing

In order to truly exist within the PLL universe, the big reveal just had to be a twin twist. The new series may have faked some fans out by leaning into a possible Karen/Kelly switcheroo as the first season’s big twin drama, but hardcore fans of the franchise should have suspected that Angela’s secret twin would be a totally possibility for A’s identity.