The White Lotus’ season two ending is discussed in this post’s spoilers.
On Sunday’s White Lotus season 2 finale, a cherished character discovered that a week-long vacation in Sicily is truly a journey to die for.
After two seasons, Tanya’s fate was revealed to the HBO series’ viewers, much to their dismay. The climax yacht slaughter and Tanya’s eminently preventable, accidental death, as described by writer Mike White, yet managed to surprise, despite a tonne of social media ideas.
After Quentin (Tom Hollander) and his “high-end gays” hosted a party at his palazzo in Palermo for the shipping heiress, whom they had now called “the new diva of Palermo,” and set her up with Italian stallion/mafia scion Niccol, Tanya was back together in the finale.
In another location, her aide Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) awoke in a hotel with Quentin’s alleged nephew Jack. When Jack made indiscreet references about Quentin’s financial woes, Portia immediately became suspicious of him.
Quentin saw Tanya looking at the picture she discovered the previous evening, which appeared to show him and her dubious husband Greg (Jon Gries) as young men, just before they left the palazzo. Quentin made up a narrative about a guy named Steve, despite the fact that she insisted it looked exactly like Greg. Tanya went to Quentin’s boat with his companions to return to Taormina, but she was still sceptical and unable to find out the truth at that time.
Portia questioned Jack about her missing phone later, during lunch, but he continued to deny doing so. The moment he dropped his own phone at the table, Portia used it to call her supervisor.
Surprisingly, Tanya was able to connect to the yacht’s signal, giving Portia the chance to inform Tanya of Jack’s information that Quentin was about to lose his family villa but was anticipating receiving a sizable amount of money soon. Tanya also informed Portia at this time that she had observed Jack engaging in sexual activity with his “uncle” Quentin. They both concurred that they felt horrible about everything.
Tanya quickly realised that their prenuptial agreement forbade her husband from receiving any money in the event of a divorce and informed Portia about the picture of Quentin and Greg. But if she passed away, he would inherit everything. She recalled that Greg had originally thought about the trip to Sicily. Portia was instructed by Tanya to return to the White Lotus so that they may leave the area.
Tanya tried to exit the yacht and return to land as it anchored back in Taormina, but Quentin encouraged she stay for dinner, saying she could catch a boat ride back to shore with Niccol after their final meal together.
Portia immediately confronted Jack about having sex with Quentin while they were travelling to the resort. In the end, he gave in and told her to “just leave it alone,” claiming that he was only carrying out his duty by returning her to Taormina as his “uncle” had requested.
After some time, Jack put Portia off in Catania, which was nearer the airport. He advised her to set Tanya aside and board her ticket the following day to return to the United States. He informed her, “These individuals are powerful.” You shouldn’t mess with them, she said. He threw Portia’s phone on the side of the road next to her before accelerating away.
Tanya was more hesitant than ever not to board the dinghy of doom with Niccol after seeing him rummaging around in a mystery bag while eating dinner back on the yacht. She took the bag and shut herself in a bedroom after another drink, only to find that it was filled with the rope, duct tape, and gun he had shown her the previous evening at the inebriated party in Quentin’s villa—a serial killer kit.
Tanya terrified as soon as she heard thumping coming from the cabin outside. When the door suddenly burst open, she grabbed the revolver and fired it. She began shooting wildly after killing Niccol, killing everyone on board but the captain and one partygoer.
She questioned Greg whether he was cheating on her while Quentin lay bleeding on the ground, but he was unable to respond and could only manage one last, bloody splutter.
Tanya attempted to board the boat to return to shore after her rampage, but she stumbled on her big platform heels and smacked her head on the dinghy’s railing as she fell. She was knocked out and drowned.
The body that Daphne (Meghann Fahy) found in the pilot episode was then identified as being hers. The additional bodies on the yacht were found by the coast guard not far from land.
When Ethan (Will Sharpe) accused Harper (Aubrey Plaza) of having sex with Cameron, things between them reached a boiling point. In the end, she acknowledged kissing him, but Ethan was certain she was lying.
Ethan found comfort in some advice from Daphne after charging over the sand and punching Cameron in an oceanic bro fight. They left for Isola Bella, where they may or may not have added to the love quadrangle’s complications, after she gave him a knowing glance.
Despite an unpleasant farewell meal, everything was fine with the young couples; Ethan and Harper even had some vacation sex on their last night together.
White Lotus manager Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) let the ambitious singer to permanently replace Giuseppe after a lovely night with Mia (Beatrice Grann).
They agreed to keep things informal and convenient, and Mia even offered her and fellow sex worker Lucia (Simona Tabasco) as Valentina’s wingwomen to meet local lesbians. Despite the fact that Valentina seemed heartbroken to learn that Mia didn’t want to pursue a relationship, they still agreed to keep things casual and convenient.
Lucia accepted Albie’s (Adam DiMarco) offer to move to Los Angeles with him, and he even persuaded his father Dominic (Michael Imperioli) to give him €50,000 as “karmic payment” so he could rescue her from her alleged pimp. No one was surprised when Lucia took off with the cash after giving Albie one more look before leaving him to spend his last morning alone.
Albie met Portia at the airport, so not everything was lost. Portia began to understand what had transpired with Tanya when he informed her about the unidentified drowning victim and the yacht loaded with corpses. She offered a hazy apology to Albie for being duped, and they exchanged phone numbers. Kids!
Never miss a story again; subscribe to PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to receive the best of the magazine’s content, including juicy celebrity news and gripping human interest tales.
HBO Max now has The White Lotus seasons 1 and 2 available in their entirety.