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'Riverdale' Introduced A New Murder Mystery That Could Reveal The Gargoyle King

by Dylan Kickham
CW

Surprise, surprise — people keep dying in Riverdale! Wednesday night's new episode did not just include a brand new character death, but also revealed a murder mystery that the parents of the town had been hiding for years. Now, the big question that fans should be trying to figure out is who killed Daryl Doiley on Riverdale, because the answer to that might just reveal the truth about this whole Gargoyle King mystery.

Spoiler alert: Don't read on until you have seen Riverdale Season 3 Episode 6, "Manhunter." Betty seems to finally be getting somewhere with her Midnight Club investigation, and all her poking and prodding drudged up a secret from the parents' past that could reveal the truth about the Gargoyle King once and for all. After the Midnight Club flashback episode a couple weeks ago, Betty deduced that the Gargoyle King must be one of the ten members of the original Gryphons and Gargoyle club. Since we had already seen and gotten to know most of the grown-up versions of the Midnight Club, one of the biggest suspects for Gargoyle King was Daryl Doiley. Not only have we not seen the adult Daryl at all in the show, but Dilton's father was also one of the original Gryphons and Gargoyles game masters. Plus, his deep involvement in the game could have explained how his son was one of the first modern Riverdale residents to start playing the game.

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But Wednesday night's latest episode put an abrupt end to the Daryl Doiley theory by revealing that he had died years ago. Penelope Blossom, the other original game master, confessed that Daryl was in love with her and poisoned the drinks on Ascension Night so that they could ascend together, but Penelope refused to drink. Later in life, when both Daryl and Penelope had married and started families, Daryl confessed his love for Penelope once again, but she again turned him down. Penelope said that Daryl was found dead in his car afterwards, supposedly having killed himself.

Penelope Blossom wasn't telling the whole truth, though (shocking, I know). Betty's new creepy doctor friend revealed to her that Daryl Doiley actually died from a poisonous herb called oleander long before he was found in his car. That cause of death clearly makes Penelope Blossom the prime suspect in his murder, although Penelope claims she would never kill someone with oleander because it leaves traces. Another shocking twist in the murder mystery is that both Tom Keller and Alice Cooper covered up the murder in the public records, both corroborating that Doiley's death was a suicide.

With Daryl Doiley out of the picture, that means one of the nine remaining Midnight Club members could be the Gargoyle King, and there is a good chance that whoever was behind Daryl's murder could also be the person in that boney mask. Although she denies ever using oleander, Penelope Blossom definitely still seems like the prime suspect in Daryl Doiley's murder... unless it was someone else who live in Thorn Hill. We shouldn't rule out Cliff Blossom finding out about Daryl's affections for his wife and killing him out of jealousy as a possibility, or maybe Nana Rose decided to kill Daryl for some reason.

Hopefully we will find out the truth about Daryl Doiley's death pretty soon, because it is sure to illuminate a whole lot more about what the heck is going on this season.