This Theory About Jughead's Disappearance On 'Riverdale' Could Explain A Lot

The Jughead mystery that shook the Riverdale fandom to its core has still not occurred in the show's timeline, but some fans think they may have already figured out what's going to happen. Although it seems clear that fans will have to wait until the midseason finale to find out the truth about Jughead's fate, the first few episodes of Season 4 have hinted at what's to come. Spoiler alert: This post contains spoilers from Riverdale Season 4, Episode 4, "Halloween." After seeing what appeared to be Jughead's dead body in a flash-forward, fans are starting to wonder if Jughead will fake his death in Riverdale Season 4. That shocking ending of Episode 4 seriously has everyone trying to figure out what's going on with the show's resident "weirdo."

The Jughead mystery began in the final moments of the Season 3 finale. For the first time ever, Riverdale jumped forward in time to show Betty, Archie, and Veronica during spring break their senior year. The three friends were covered in blood, standing in their underwear in the woods, and burning their clothes. Jughead was notably absent, and even more concerning, Betty burned his beanie and told her friends to never speak of what happened. The implication of the scene was that Jughead will die at some point in Season 4.

Now that Season 4 is a few episodes in, fans have seen a couple more of these flash-forwards. In one, the whole town takes to the woods in search of a missing Jughead, and in the latest time-jump, both Betty and F.P. react in horror when a coroner reveal's Jughead's lifeless body on a slab.

This most recent scene has ruined a bunch of fan theories that suggested Jughead may have just gone missing. After all, pretty much every fan with that idea had been assuming Riverdale would not actually kill off one of its lead characters. But seeing Jughead's lifeless body sure makes it hard to think of any other possible fate for everyone's favorite Southside Serpent.

However, there actually still is a pretty convincing theory that could explain what's really going on in that time-jump scene: Fans on Reddit are theorizing that Jughead will fake his own death, and his actions will have something to do with Stonewall Prep, since his new life there has been the bulk of his Season 4 storyline so far. The theory guesses that Jughead may accidentally kill his school nemesis Bret, and Bret's diplomat father may come after Jughead himself, or hire killers to come after him. If this became the case, Jughead would probably need to skip town, and he may need get his three best friends to help him fake his death to do it.

Of course, this still leaves the body that Betty and F.P saw as a big question mark, although some fans are explaining that away as some prosthetic doll made to look like Jughead. Honestly, that sounds like a pretty ridiculous stretch, but then again, this is Riverdale, so even the most ridiculous things are totally possible.

Fans should be on the lookout for more clues about Jughead's fate as Riverdale Season 4 continues airing on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.