The White Lotus: Who Dies in Explosive Season 3 Finale Shootout?

Warning: This post contains spoilers for season 3, episode 8 of The White Lotus.

After much anticipation and fan theory speculation, The White Lotus season 3 finale revealed which characters were killed during their stay at the White Lotus.

The first episode of the season began with gunshots ringing out while Belinda (Natasha Rothwell)’s son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) was having a meditation session. He leaped into the water and prayed for his mother’s safety before the episode jumped backyards, a week earlier, as everyone arrived for their stay at the resort.

The finale episode begins with Rick (Walton Goggins) leaving Frank (Sam Rockwell) after a night of partying and returning to Chelsea back at the White Lotus. “Well, I didn’t kill anyone,” he tells her as they embrace on the beach. “I said what I had to say and got the monkey off my back.”

During dinner, Chelsea tells Rick he’s “free” now and explains the term “amor fati,” which she says means embracing one’s fate, good or bad. She goes on to explain that they’re linked, so whatever happens to him, happens to her. He then surprises her by saying “the plan” is to be together forever, making her happy and emotional.

Meanwhile, Jim (Scott Glenn) whom Rick assaulted in Bangkok and accused of killing his father, returns to the resort with his wife, Sritala (Lek Patravadi). Jim confronts Rick at breakfast and tells him to get out of the resort. He says he remembers Rick’s mother as a “drunk” and a “slut” and a “liar,” as he says Rick’s father “was no saint.”

“You didn’t miss out on much and that’s the f—— truth. What? You’re going to try to kill me now? I don’t think so,” Jim says as he flashes a gun inside his coat.

Chelsea tries to talk Rick down, who’s visibly upset. “Stop thinking about the love you didn’t get, focus on the love you have. I love you, I’m right here,” Chelsea pleads. “Please don’t do something stupid.”

Rick says he’s going to see his meditation specialist, Amrita (Shalini Peiris), but when he tracks her down, she insists he wait on a bench as she starts her hour-long session with Zion, and tells him he’ll “be alright.”

Rick watches Sritala and Jim take photos with Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and notices Jim’s bodyguards leave the area. He starts walking towards Jim as Chelsea appears. He yells at her to “get out of here” as he confronts Jim.

Rick grabs his gun out of his jacket and shoots Jim. Sritala clutches Jim’s body and screams “Why?” She then reveals, “He’s your father, he told me.”

Jim’s bodyguards return and start shooting at Rick. The hotel’s security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) grabs the gun in his office and races towards the shooting. Rick kills one of the security men, as Chelsea is shot in the chest.

As Rick starts carrying Chelsea’s body away, Sritala orders Gaitok to kills Rick. He shoots and kills him from behind.

Before viewers see the shootout, many were led to believe another major death took place.

Lochlan (Sam Nivola) drinks a protein shake that contained poisonous seeds left by Timothy (Jason Isaacs) in the blender. It appeared he died after he experiences a series of visions and Timothy cries over his body.

After the shootout, the episode returns back to the Ratliffs were Lochlan wakes up.

Ahead of the April 6 finale, executive producer David Bernad revealed he and show creator Mike White had a backup plan to ensure the show maintains its signature shock factor.

“We have fake endings to the scripts,” he told PEOPLE. “So we wrote up — we have six different endings — and we kind of distributed fake endings to people just in case someone leaked anything, and then we could say there’s different fake endings.”

“And then when we shot the ending scene, it’s a locked down set,” he continues. “So no one really has access to what we were shooting and there would be no non-White Lotus participants ever seeing what we’re doing.”

Their strategy worked. In fact, Parker Posey, who plays Victoria Ratliff, revealed she couldn’t even remember who dies.

“I forgot who died,” she admitted to The Hollywood Reporter  “It was so stressful when I read it. The dark stuff, I blazed through.”

The White Lotus season 3 is streaming on Max.