One of the biggest questions that Season 1 of 13 Reasons Why left us with was whether or not Alex would survive after experiencing a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The last we heard of him, he was in the hospital in critical condition, leaving the range of possibilities for his character wide open. Now with fan theories flying just over a week before the Season 2 premiere, I still have this query in mind: Does Alex die in 13 Reasons Why Season 2?
At close glance, it initially appears that Alex is one of the few characters to not appear in Netflix's Season 2 promo at all. Such a decision makes sense, as we ended Season 1 with Alex's fate unknown, and it wouldn't exactly be fair for the trailer to spoil one of the show's biggest ongoing mysteries. Seeing as he isn't the only character to not pop up in the ominous trailer, the series definitely hasn't singled him out in a special way, but it does bump up the speculation for upcoming episodes. The absence of Alex isn't stopping any hardcore fans from theorizing about what's in store for the character. We've gathered three theories about his role in Season 2 and, no surprise, they're not necessarily the most optimistic. It turns out that death is far from being the worst possible outcome for Alex, and the theories we've found focus on what could happen if Alex survives his gunshot wound (fingers crossed!).
The end of Season 1 also suggested that Tyler could conduct a mass shooting, showing him creating a hit list and gathering together a vast amount of weapons. A Reddit user recently tracked down an Instagram behind-the-scenes shot of one character, most resembling Alex with his newly dyed hair, using a walking stick alongside Tony and Clay. Put these two tidbits together, and it looks like Alex survives his own shooting only to end up in a dangerous confrontation with Tyler. We can only guess about the extent of Tyler's own potential shooting, but it seems that if he does go ahead with what the Season 1 finale implied, he may only shoot Alex in the leg.
As other Reddit users said, there's also the possibility that the mystery boy with a cane isn't Alex, but the resemblance looks pretty uncanny to me.
It's safe to assume that something with a gun will happen early in Season 2, but we don't know if Tyler will begin a chaotic school shooting or go after his hit list victims one by one. For Reddit user tamara1781, the brief moment in which Alex stood up for Tyler could be Alex's saving grace in Season 2. Last season, we saw Tyler taking Alex's photo down from his lineup of other stalker-esque shots after remembering that he tried to defend Tyler when the latter was being bullied. tamara1781 pointed out:
And Tyler pulling Alex's photo from the line is not because he killed Alex or that he already knew about Alex shooting himself; it's because Alex stood up for Tyler and Tyler interpreted it as being kind. Spare Alex because he was a friend, that's simply it.
If Tyler's mission is to hunt down people individually to harm them, Alex could be with one of the other students when Tyler arrives to shoot him or her. Further explaining the walking stick, Alex could try to intervene and convince Tyler not to shoot, but accidentally gets shot in the leg for his efforts. Far-fetched? Maybe. Possible? Well...
Season 1 briefly hinted at the chronic health issues Alex faced, particularly within his stomach. It seems that stress would often activate his worst pains, and the combination of Hannah's death and dealing with his often intense father obviously must have taken a toll on Alex's well-being. Ending up in the hospital after shooting himself would definitely call for further tests of Alex's overall heath, perhaps establishing a greater reason behind his chronic pain. A medical challenge wouldn't necessarily be the most traumatic of fates for Alex, but after surviving a gunshot, any kind of plot for him would seem far tamer, right?
At this point, I don't know what to think about Alex's fate, but I have an inkling that something upsetting is still in the works for him. We'll find out when Season 2 of 13 Reasons Why debuts on Netflix on Friday, May 18.
