No—Euphoria has not killed off Rue. Zendaya herself told us so.
Quick recap before we get to how we know: Euphoria season 2 has quickly become the most talked about television series of 2022, dwarfing its first season in popularity, and becoming perhaps the most iconic piece of media of the decade, especially amongst the gen-z set.
The new season has also started a raging debate: Did Zendaya’s character Rue die, narrating the show from the grave?
The fourth episode stirred the pot strongest, with the final sequence involving Rue seemingly leaving open the implication that she has died. After seemingly indulging too far, Rue hallucinates embracing with her dead father, followed by a series of fragmented images referencing films and television of the past.
To make matters even worse, her normal omniscient narration disappeared in most of the episode, making it seem that her voice has finally been silenced.
So—is she dead? Zendaya herself says no.
Did Rue die? Definitely not, says Zendaya.
Speaking to us last month, Zendaya was clear that this is ultimately a show about redemption and recovery, and will ultimately lead to a happy ending for Rue. After all, the series is based in part on the creator’s own journey from addiction to recovery, so Rue’s journey should follow that same path.
Here’s the most important quote from Zendaya herself on Season 2:
I think that one of the biggest themes of the season, other than redemption, I think it’s also hope. I remember halfway through the season, that’s when the rock bottom hits. And that’s where it became extremely painful. I think for all of us, just to watch it happen and to watch Rue go through this will be hard, and to portray her going through it hurt me. I remember having a conversation midway through with Sam. I was like, she can’t stay here. We can’t leave her here.
I always felt that Rue would be okay, because if Rue was a version of Sam, and Sam is who he is, and he was able to take all that pain and turn it into this beautiful television show many years later and was able to do something with it, then I feel that Rue was going to be okay. But I wanted to see that on screen.
I think we all wanted to see that happen in real and like on the screen, we wanted to actually see a sense of hope throughout the show, because it goes to such an extreme low for her. I think that’s a massive, massive theme in this show. Like I said, other than redemption, and that we are not the worst mistakes we ever made, but also the concept of hope, that there is something beautiful at the end and that we deserve happy endings.
We deserve the good things in our life, no matter the mistakes we’ve made, and I think the main theme in my eyes is that and hopefully people will feel that once we get through the tough part. It’s a long journey but when we get there, I promise to keep loving her and keep supporting her.
Zendaya
So there you have it–ultimately, Rue will be OK. Zendaya wouldn’t have it any other way.
Rue is not dead, folks. Tell your friends.
Read the full interview here.
Euphoria season 2 is streaming only on OSN and the OSN Streaming App starting January 9