The White Lotus season 2 ending explained: Who dies in Sicily?

For the past seven weeks, the question of whose corpse could have washed up on that Italian beach has been hanging over the series.

So, who dies? Who lives? Who finds their Italian romance? Ahead of season 3, which has officially been given the green light, read on for everything you need to know about the ending of The White Lotus season 2.

**Spoiler warning for The White Lotus season 2 ending**

The White Lotus season 2 ending explained

Who dies in The White Lotus season 2?

In a tragic but darkly comical turn of events, the body's identity that washes up on the Sicilian coast is Tanya McQuoid-Hunt (Jennifer Coolidge).

However, Tanya was not the only person to end up dead in the finale as she began to panic that she was due to be killed by the likes of Quentin (Tom Hollander) and his crew in a plot to get life assurance for her husband Greg Hunt (Jon Gries).

Tanya warned her assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson) of her fears surrounding Quentin and his "nephew" Jack (Leo Woodall) who she also saw having sex, highlighting the deception.

While Portia ended up confronting a remorseful Jack who went on to admit his misdeeds, he dropped her off at the airport and told her to leave and avoid Quentin's dangerous mafia connections.

Tanya, meanwhile, ended up on Quentin's yacht back to the hotel and her panic steadily grew, so much so that she seized the gun of her lover Niccoló (Stefano Gianino) and proceeded to shoot him, Quentin and the rest of their associates on board the yacht.

In a panic after wiping out the group, Tanya then attempted to make her way off of the yacht but ended up falling off of it, striking her head on the lifeboat and drowning in the sea.

The next day, Tanya's body washed up on the shore and was found by Daphne Sullivan (Meghann Fahy).

So, why did Tanya have to die? Well, speaking on an HBO Max featurette, show creator Mike White has explained the shocking decision to kill off the fan-favourite.

Recalling the first season's finale, White noted: "In the end of last season, Tanya is sitting with Greg in the last episode and he’s talking about his health issues and she says, ‘I’ve had every kind of treatment over the years, death is the last immersive experience I haven’t tried,’ and I was thinking, it’d be so fun to bring Tanya back because she’s such a great character but maybe that’s the journey for her - the journey to death."

He added: "Not that I really wanted to kill Tanya because I love her as a character and obviously love Jennifer, but we’re going to Italy, she’s such a diva, a larger-than-life female archetype, it felt maybe we could devise our own operatic conclusion to her life and story."

Greg is not seen elsewhere in the finale, so his fate and whether he gets Tanya's fortune remains open-ended.

What happened to Ethan, Harper, Cameron and Daphne?

An increasingly paranoid Ethan Spiller (Will Sharpe) confronted his wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza) about what was going on with his friend Cameron Sullivan (Theo James).

Harper admitted that Cameron kissed her, prompting Ethan to later confront Cameron on the beach and the pair to get into a vicious fight that was eventually broken up by another guest.

In the aftermath, Ethan confronted Cameron's wife Daphne, who is more than used to such betrayals from her husband. The pair continue on a walk and it appears that they have sex with each other.

Afterwards, Ethan returned to Harper and they had a passionate sexual encounter with each other.

In the end, both married couples prepared to return home with secret passions sat awkwardly in both marriages.

It is also implied that Cameron may be aware that Daphne's children are not biologically his own, with a previous episode having implied they were the result of her own 'revenge' infidelities with her personal trainer.

What happened to Lucia and Albie?

As many suspected, sex worker Lucia Greco (Simona Tabasco) engineered a long con with Albie Di Grasso (Adam DiMarco) by convincing him that she needed to pay off her pimp Alessio to save her life.

Albie asked his father Dominic (Michael Imperioli) to give him €50,000 to help Lucia, with the offer to help him save his marriage to Albie's mother.

In the end, Albie gives Lucia the money and they go their separate ways. At the conclusion of the episode, Lucia was seen celebrating with best friend Mia (Beatrice Grannò) and associate Alessio, both of whom had been aware of her plan.

Albie, his father and grandfather Bert (F. Murray Abraham) then made their return to America after their disappointing trip.

However, Albie was reunited with Portia at the airport, informing her of Tanya's death and both offering support after their dramatic trips.

They exchange phone numbers, offering an unlikely potential romantic ending for the pair.

Meanwhile, Dominic has a call with his estranged wife Abby (Laura Dern) and it seems there is some slow improvement.

What happened to Valentina and Mia?

After finally confronting her sexuality with help from Mia, hotel manager Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore) tried to engineer another sexual encounter with the singer.

However, Mia helped Valentina to realise that she needed to find a more meaningful romance of her own.

In response, when hotel piano player Guiseppe (Federico Scribiani) returns, Valentina tells him that Mia will be replacing him in the hotel as its resident musician.

Happy endings for all of our Italian main characters!

Which characters could return for The White Lotus season 3?

Of course, many would have hoped that Jennifer Coolidge would reprise her role as Tanya McQuoid-Hunt once more but alas Mike White has gone against expectations.

However, there are still a host of characters from both seasons of the show to return for the confirmed third run.

On a special featurette for the final episode, Mike White commented on the consequences of Tanya's death and the murder of her wannabe killers for her scheming husband Greg Hunt.

White said: "I think as far as like, what happens to Greg and the conspiracy of Tanya’s death, it’s possible that I think Portia is scared enough to just leave it alone, but the fact that all of those guys die on the boat, it feels like there’s gotta be somebody who’s gonna track it back down to Greg."

He added: "Maybe you’ll have to wait to find out what happens."

So, let's put Jon Gries down as a potential return as Greg!

Meanwhile, season 1 star Connie Britton has revealed that she almost returned as her character Nicole Mossbacher for the second season and, so, could return for the third.

Britton told Deadline: "[Mike White] wanted me to be in the second season, and there was an idea that I loved for the character. Our intention is to do it in the third season. A piece of casting didn’t work in the second season and we’re hoping to that in the third season. I would love to see a spinoff on every character in that show."

So, look out for more Nicole and potentially more of the Mossbachers in the third season!

The White Lotus is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW. Find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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