The Euphoria Season 3 Theory That Could Rewrite Season 2's Most Devastating Scene

Euphoria is finally inching back into our lives. HBO has Season 3 set for April 2026, and the fan theories are already outpacing the calendar. The loudest one: Ashtray might not be as gone as we think.

Wait, is Ash actually dead?

Javon Walton's Ash (aka Ashtray), Fezco's adopted little brother and pint-sized criminal prodigy, supposedly died at the end of Season 2. But the show very intentionally never showed his body, and the whole thing was staged in a way that leaves the door cracked open.

Quick refresher: the Season 2 finale escalates into a SWAT raid at Fezco's place. Chaos, gunfire, lasers dancing across drywall. Fez tries to get Ash to give himself up and even offers to take the blame. Ash locks himself in the bathroom with guns. A red laser lands on his head, we hear a shot... and then the camera cuts away. No on-screen death. No body. No funeral. Just a lot of stunned reactions and the implication that something terrible happened. Also, in the middle of the raid, a cop fires and Fez is hit in the crossfire.

That ambiguity has fueled a very workable theory: with Season 3 jumping ahead five years, the show could either bring Walton back or recast Ash with an older actor and explain his survival. Walton himself has kept hope alive, telling The Wrap that we never see Ash actually get shot and that the writers could write him back in. Given how deliberately the finale avoided a definitive death, it is not a stretch.

Season 3: the five-year leap, first looks, and where everyone landed

HBO has already dropped first-look images and a bit of footage. Nothing spoilers-heavy, but enough to confirm the time jump and give a snapshot of where the characters are now. Creator Sam Levinson says the five-year leap felt natural so that, if these kids went to college, they would be past it by now. The bigger headline: Rue is not in East Highland anymore.

• Rue (Zendaya): south of the border in Mexico, owing Laurie (Martha Kelly) money and getting creative about how to fix that problem.
• Jules (Hunter Schafer): in art school, anxious about turning painting into an actual career and dodging responsibility like it is her job.
• Maddy (Alexa Demie): working in Hollywood at a talent agency for a manager, plus a few side hustles, because of course.
• Lexi (Maude Apatow): assistant to a showrunner played by Sharon Stone, which is a delightfully unexpected flex.
• Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) and Nate (Jacob Elordi): living in the suburbs, engaged, with Cassie glued to social media and jealous of everyone else’s curated success.

'Cassie and Nate do in fact get married. I am confirming it. And I promise it will be an unforgettable night.'

- Sam Levinson

The images line up with all of that: Rue in Mexico, Cassie clutching a melting ice cream cone, Nate home cooking like a reformed menace, Jules in a studio classroom, and Lexi doing the assistant shuffle on set. It all sells the passage of time without giving away the big swings.

The Ash wildcard in a post-jump world

Looping back to Ash: the five-year jump gives the writers maximum wiggle room. If he lived, he could resurface older and harder. If he died, the show could still use the jump to reframe how that raid really went down. The lack of a definitive on-screen death plus Walton openly rooting for a return makes this one of those fan theories that actually has legs.

Euphoria Season 3 premieres April 2026 on HBO. Long wait, yes. But if they are bringing this much chaos (and Sharon Stone) to the table, it might be worth the calendar burn.