Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet streamed Yellowjackets’ latest episode from Season 2, “Two Truths and a Lie,” so be warned!
With its latest installment, Yellowjackets finally gave viewers a bit more insight into Nat and Travis’ final get-together before his death, which nearly ended in her fatally overdosing. The episode seemed to offer an explanation for Travis’ note, and ended with a shadowy nod to one of the horror-drama’s earliest curiosity-engulfing questions: who is the Antler Queen? Star Courtney Eaton, who portrays the possibly powerful Lottie Matthews in the teen timeline, couldn’t specifically identify anyone when addressing the mystery, but her answer was no less revealing or intriguing.
Since the Pit Girl’s mysterious theory-sparking death in the series premiere, fans have guessed at her identity as well as that of the Antler Queen, the presumed overseer of whatever rituals start to form over time. Lottie’s nature-y connections have put her at the top of the list of suspects, but what if everyone’s theories about A.Q. turned out to be technically correct? That might be the case if Courtney Eaton’s thoughts to TV Insider turn out to be canonically factual. (Well maybe not everyone’s, but still.) Here’s how she put it when asked about Lottie possibly being beneath the antlers:
I cannot confirm or deny. I don’t even know if there will be a permanent Antler Queen. I think with the hierarchy of the group, it’s ever-shifting.
Boom! That’s pretty huge in a way that doesn’t even necessarily have any gigantic ramifications on what we’ve seen so far, and what we know is coming. It’s the sign of a great show, I think, when every detail, even one that hasn’t been 100% confirmed, still matters in one way or another. (Just like my sentient moss theory still holds weight even if I’m the only one holding said weight.)
Because Eaton’s comment does make a lot of sense, even if it actually turns out to be completely bogus and just her way of swatting away spoilers. The introduction of using the card deck as a way of assigning duties is part of how the group approaches equality through “random” chance, which is theorized to be how Pit Girl and other sacrifices were self-chosen. It always gets worse than handling the shit bucket, kids. (As not-really-Crystal can attest like a mofo.)
And so if pulling the wrong card (perhaps the Queen of Hearts) can lead to one’s death, then it stands to reason that pulling an opposite card could give one of the survivors free reign as the Antler Queen, or even the Antler King if Travis or Javi pulled it, whatever that might involve.
Why Courtney Eaton’s Antler Queen Quote Makes So Much Sense After Episode 205
Despite Nat’s current-timeline attempts to reveal Simone Kessell’s Adult Lottie to be conning her followers dropping big money to stay at her retreat, the latter chose not to boot her old teammate, but rather to have the impromptu and somewhat invasive therapy session that drew out the aforementioned revelations about Travis. It was after Nat’s repeated assertions that the darkness they experienced after the crash was back that Lottie had an antler-topped vision that shook her quite noticeably.
While it’s certainly possible that Lottie would be haunted by a vision of herself as the Antler Queen, perhaps reflecting on the many unspeakable acts that she could have caused while sitting in that figurative throne, I think it’s more likely that she would be haunted by that visual if there were one or more other people beneath the veil. Depending on what that particular role entailed, it’s possible that whoever chose their A.Q. fate forced others to do unspeakable acts beyond the ultimate sacrifice of being hunted and eaten.
I can’t help but feel like Misty would be 100% responsible for coming up with the idea of the Antler Queen, as well as the notion that they would have no rules for what they could and couldn’t do with the others. She’s easily the one who could come up with acts so depraved that even an imagined shadow of the antlers could make Lottie quake in her boots, or whatever footwear.
It may also be worth theorizing on the idea that not everyone even knows who the Antler Queen is, giving each teen a bit of anonymous freedom when holding the reins. But that’s maybe for another time.
Though it’ll be taking a week-long break between new episodes, Yellowjackets will be back for more woodsy fuckery on Sunday, May 5. Fans can stream past episodes with a Paramount+ subscription with the Showtime add-on, and there are plenty of ongoing premieres in the 2023 TV schedule to keep audiences busy during the off-week, as if theorizing alone isn’t enough.