What Happened to Young Sheldon's Paige in The Big Bang Theory?

Perhaps this isn't surprising because the new series' characters are young people, just starting on their life journeys and still learning to cope with the many trials of the adult world.

The spin-off features a number of new, interesting characters: some of them were mentioned earlier in TBBT, some appeared as guests after being introduced in the prequel, and others never showed up in the main series at all.

Of course, the fact that some of the characters are absent in TBBT is easily explained, as the writers might not have had time to write them into the script, or they simply weren't relevant to the narrative.

But this explanation doesn't satisfy viewers who are still keen to know where their favorite characters end up in the future, and there's one character from Young Sheldon whose fate continues to be a mystery for fans — Paige Swanson.

In Young Sheldon, Swanson is a child prodigy and rival of the main character, with whom she attends Dr. John Sturgis' classes. Paige and Sheldon don't always get along, and her friendship with Missy draws the two characters further apart. Life is rather tough for young Paige, whose parents are going through a divorce, while her mother is putting her under much pressure.

So why is Paige never mentioned in The Big Bang Theory, and what may have happened to her? One of the possible answers is that she and Sheldon simply stopped seeing each other after the girl became rebellious and less interested in academic endeavors.

"As far as speculation, the most logical explanation is that once she lost her academic drive, Sheldon no longer had interest in anything to do with her," Reddit user hippiechick12345 commented, suggesting a possible reason for Paige's absence in the hit series.

Furthermore, many fans expressed their concerns about the character's mental state in the recent episodes of Young Sheldon — Paige was clearly experiencing an emotional burnout, and viewers think this could lead her to taking some dangerous steps further on:

"I fear that something really bad is going to happen to her, and Sheldon will kinda force himself to forget her. That's where this next episode could be going," darkdoesreddit said, worried about Paige's fate in the future.

As the characters of Young Sheldon grow older, the show itself becomes darker and more serious, despite its natural comedic undertones. And with season six currently on the air, viewers are expecting to see more of Paige's story revealed in future episodes, and they hope it won't not be filled with tragedy.

Episode 16 of Young Sheldon season six will be released on March 30, 2023.