Five years passed between season two and season three. The damage did not age the same way the characters did. That gap is what the finale is really about.
![Explained: How Euphoria Season 3 ends; the deaths, the betrayals, and the final scene | Complete breakdown [SPOILERS]](https://www.thestatesman.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Explained-How-Euphoria-Season-3-ends.webp)
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SPOILER: Season 3 finale of ‘Euphoria’ titled ‘In God We Trust’ aired on Sunday. The episode runs for 93 minutes, making it one of the longest in the show’s run. The season consists of eight episodes in total, airing Sundays on HBO.
The finale picks up in the aftermath of Nate’s death. In the penultimate episode, “Rain or Shine,” Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) died after a rattlesnake got into the breathing tube while he was buried alive by a loan shark. Cassie and Maddy are back at a diner, still in shock after discovering his body.
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The episode opens right where Episode 7 left off. Faye (Chloe Cherry) screams to wake Wayne (Toby Wallace) while Rue (Zendaya) is stealing from his safe. Wayne reaches for his gun, but Rue grabs a wrench and hits him in the leg. On her way out, Rue punches Faye and knocks her out. Rue runs, and Wayne chases her down aiming his rifle at her. Rue eventually manages to escape, but a man named Harley, riding a horse, lassoes her and drags her down.
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After the traumatic night, Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) praises Rue for the job and gives her a payment along with prescription painkillers for her time off. Rue hesitates before taking them. Alamo gave Rue the pills telling her they were for the pain, but they were actually fentanyl. Rue gets her hand stitched up at the hospital and then heads back to Ali’s place to recover.
Wayne figures out that Laurie (Martha Kelly) has been set up by Alamo and flees the scene with Faye. The DEA arrives at Laurie’s place and arrests everyone in the ambulance allegedly transporting the drugs, including Kitty, Mitch, and Big Eddy. Laurie climbs to the roof of her place and takes her own life, saying she cannot go to prison.
Rue finds her way to Ali’s home. Their conversation becomes one of the most grounded moments of the finale, as Rue reflects on her choices and the weight of everything she has endured. After the exchange, Rue takes the pills given to her by Alamo. She eventually succumbs and dies in her sleep. The next morning, Ali finds Rue rolled over on the couch, dead. He tests the pills Alamo gave her and confirms they were fentanyl.
Rue compares herself to Moses throughout the episode after hearing what she believes is the voice of God speaking through a burning bush. Ali reminds her that Moses never actually reached the promised land himself.
Ali kills Alamo after learning he was the one who gave Rue the fentanyl pills that killed her. Then Ali kills him in a duel, avenging Rue’s death. Ali looks at his associate Bishop, realizes Bishop had taken the bullets, and shoots Alamo. With Alamo dead, the girls at the club slowly file out. Later, Ali attends a meeting and gets vulnerable about losing Rue, revealing that he relapsed. He says it will be his last meeting and plans to find a better way to be of service.
Cassie and Maddy are shown grieving after discovering Nate’s dead body. The two are living together in the home Cassie previously shared with Nate. The pair decide to turn the house into a content creation space, housing other creators onsite. They want Lexi to direct, an offer she declines. Cassie is noncommittal when Lexi asks about Nate’s disappearance, saying she does not like to think about it. Lexi has not been told the truth about how Nate died.
Maddy ends up at Alamo’s strip club trying to pay off the debt she took on trying to free Nate. After Alamo’s death, it appears Ali’s actions freed her from that obligation.
In her apartment, Jules sits in front of a blank canvas, overcome with emotion and unable to begin painting. When she finally starts, she paints a portrait of Rue while crying and smiling at the same time. Jules appears in only one scene and has no dialogue. It is unclear whether she knows Rue is dead at that point.
Fezco received a tribute during the finale, with Rue dreaming about him escaping the correctional facility where he was being held.
Rue Bennett is dead. But to those whose lives she touched, she remains vividly present. The finale brought its primary characters to some form of closure. Ali visits Rue’s former house, a place tied to many of her memories and past struggles. He quietly walks through the space, reflecting on the time he spent with her. A seat at the table is left empty.
Season 3 is the first ‘Euphoria’ season not scored by British composer Labrinth. German composer Hans Zimmer served as the sole music composer after Labrinth publicly departed from the project in March 2026. Eric Dane, who died of ALS on February 19, 2026, after completing his work on the season, appears posthumously in his final TV role. Creator Sam Levinson confirmed there are no current plans for a fourth season.
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