Jughead’s Fate is Revealed & ‘Riverdale’ is Changed Forever

Lauren Gallaway
TV Riverdale
TV Riverdale The CW

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the Riverdale episode “Chapter 35: Brave New World.” Proceed with caution.

Riverdale returned this week for the final episode of the season. The episode picked up in the aftermath of Hal Cooper’s arrest as the Black Hood and the Ghoulie thrashing of Riverdale. Jughead’s fate was left unknown and a second Black Hood was still on the loose. Tonight’s episode provided a whole new set of shockers, including a mass exodus from the Southside to the Northside. Let’s jump into it.

Jughead Lives

Riverdale Season 2 Jughead

The biggest shocker from last week’s episode was Jughead‘s brutal beating at the hands of Ghoulies. Thankfully, he survived, and woke up bloody and beaten in the Riverdale hospital. While in the hospital, Jughead’s dad explained that the Ghoulies had extinguished the Serpents — even though that wasn’t entirely true. He also revealed that Fangs was still alive, and that the Deputy’s call was to incite more violence between the rival gangs.

The Real Black Hood

Riverdale Black Hood

After Archie identified Hal Cooper in a lineup, he tried to tell the new Sheriff that there was a second Black Hood, but Sheriff Minetta could care less. It came as a surprise, then, when Minetta told Fred and Archie that Southside Serpent Tall Boy was the second Black Hood, and that he was dead. Jughead agreed that this could be true, since Tall Boy had done Hiram Lodge’s bidding before.

Betty: No More Darkness

Betty Cooper Riverdale

Hal’s arrest also left Betty wrestling with the darkness within. Thankfully Jughead was able to talk of her off the proverbial ledge and remind her that she was a good person, no matter how dark her family legacy proved to be. She even confronted her father in prison and declared to him that the darkness was over. Betty may have started this season on shaky ground, she kept trying to prove herself to Jug, to the Serpents, to her dad. Now she is strong enough to stand on her own.

Leading Into Season 3

Cheryl Blossom Riverdale Season 2

There are a few changes ahead for certain characters in Season 3. Cheryl emancipated herself from her mother, which should be a healthier situation for her next season. She was also officially welcomed into the Serpents by their newly appointed king, Jughead, after FP retired.

Veronica also made a huge play against her father by buying the White Worm. She did so and traded it for Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe. It was a powerful move on her part, but it came at a cost: Veronica was cut off from her parents money and she had to surrender her share in Lodge Industries.

Hermione won the bid for Mayor of Riverdale, beating Fred by only 200 votes. Which means the Lodges will have the upper hand over the town in Season 3. Archie also won a big victory during this episode, by winning the votes for Class President of Riverdale High. His victory gave him the courage to confront Hiram Lodge and swear that one day, he will bring Hiram down.

The Final Shocker

Riverdale Archie

Archie’s threats came to haunt him, quickly. Before Archie could even be sworn in as Class President, Hiram had him arrested for the murder of the kid at the lake during the cabin episode. Next season won’t be so much of a murder mystery, but a “prove Archie innocent” mystery, which will require all hands on deck.

Poor Archie. He’s the only character this season who didn’t kill anyone and yet he’s the one who was arrested. As Veronica would say:

Riverdale Veronica Karma Gif

Riverdale will return this fall.

Lauren Gallaway
TV editor at FANDOM. Creator of The Marvel Report. Journalist, Comic-Con reporter, Podcaster.