Well, Jughead is Officially Dead on "Riverdale"

But did Betty really do it?

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Jack Rowand

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Riverdale season 4, episode 13.

Well, it finally happened. At the end of tonight's episode, Archie checks Jughead's pulse, and there's nothing there. After months of anticipation, flash forwards, and fake outs, our favorite teen writer has been killed. But let's back up, because episode 13 was full of clues as to what led to this moment, and what's to come in the remainder of the season.

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The CW

Throughout the episode, Betty and Jughead continue their investigation against Jug's fellow classmates at Stonewall Prep. Unfortunately, the preppies seem to best the couple, and end up forcing Jughead to resign from prep school, blackmailing Jug with a sex tape of him and Betty.

That being said, B & J can still tell that there is A LOT of sketchy stuff going on at Stonewall, and while Brett Weston Wallis and Donna Sweet are def involved, it seems to all lead back to Mr. Dupont. Anyway, all of this is in the back of their minds as the core four get together for the first time in what feels like forever, and head to Stonewall Prep for an Ides of March party.


It's unclear what Jughead's plan was heading into the party. He brings along a knife and a bunny mask, though he ditches the mask as he heads into the woods with Brett. Donna and Betty follow close behind, with Donna revealing to Betty that she visited former Farmy Evelyn Evernever in prison who told Donna "the magic word," one that makes Betty "hurt the people" she loves.

And that's the last we see of Betty and Jughead in the episode. Of course, until Veronica and Archie find them in the woods, Betty standing over Jughead's dead body, a bloody rock in hand.

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The CW

So, what happened in the woods? Did Donna say the "magic word" and get Betty to kill Jughead? Maybe. Or did Brett kill Jughead and leave Betty with the evidence? It's possible.

It's obvious that at this point, the writers want us to think that Donna and Brett got Betty to kill Jughead, but I don't think that's what really happened. Somehow, at the last minute, Betty and Jug had to have bested the preppies. There's the theory, which we've discussed before, that Jughead and Betty decided to fake Jug's death, so they can get Donna, Brett, and Mr. Dupont off their case once and for all and start anew. Or, Jughead is still trying to get ownership of the Baxter Brothers book back, so he is creating a mystery even juicier than the one that his classmates wrote (or more accurately, stole). To really make his point, Jughead is acting out the mystery, and faking his own death in the process.

Yeah, it sounds ridiculous, but this is Riverdale people! Nothing is too crazy for these writers. We know that by now.

Unfortunately, we will have to wait two weeks until the next episode, but considering it's called "How to Get Away with Murder" hopefully we will get some much needed answers.

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