Is Jason Blossom the Gargoyle King on Riverdale? Three main theories explained

9 May 2019, 19:09 | Updated: 10 May 2019, 16:58

By Katie Louise Smith

Jughead finally learned the identity of the Gargoyle King on Riverdale but the big reveal is *literally* impossible... because as far as we know, Jason has been dead since episode 1.

After a season long mystery, several attacks, multiple murders, two un-maskings and one very long and confusing game of Gryphons and Gargoyles, Riverdale finally (again?) revealed who the Gargoyle King is... or did they?

In season 3, episode 21 titled 'The Dark Secret of Harvest House', Jughead finally made huge ground on his quest to uncover the true identity of the most recent Gargoyle King. Jug's investigation leads him to Ethel Muggs, who has been MIA since she was freed from the Sisters on the night of the quarantine. After saving her life, Ethel rewards Jughead by telling him who the Gargoyle King is. Apparently, it's Jason Blossom.

What happens in Riverdale 3x22? TERRIFYING finale episode trailer is here

Yes. Jason. Cheryl's twin brother. Polly's baby daddy. The one who has literally been dead since the very first episode of the series. OR SO WE THOUGHT. After receiving the news, Jughead goes and digs up Jason's grave to double check and lo and behold, his body is not there.

But how is this possible? Is Jason Blossom actually still alive or is someone posing as him? Did the Fizzle Rocks that Ethel was popping cloud her vision? Is she genuinely tripping? So many questions and with only one episode left before the finale, there's a LOT that needs to be answered.

Is Jason Blossom alive on Riverdale?

Ethel says Jason Blossom is the Gargoyle King but... is she telling the truth?
Ethel says Jason Blossom is the Gargoyle King but... is she telling the truth? Picture: The CW

Ok. So. If Jason Blossom is, in fact, alive and has been recently posing as the Gargoyle King, how? And if Jason Blossom is not alive, then why is Ethel under the impression that he's the King?

As far as we know, Jason is dead. He was shot by his father Clifford on camera and his body was disposed of by FP Jones with Joaquin as an accomplice. Prior to discovering his dead body and holding a funeral, the Blossoms did actually bury an empty casket. That *could* explain what Jughead found, but you never bloody know, do ya?

If he's alive, Jason's motives for being the Gargoyle King are quite foggy (unless he's working for someone?) but as always, all bets are off with Riverdale. At this point, literally anything could happen and there's a few theories as to how all of this could be explained.

Let's investigate...

Jason Blossom is alive and that body wasn't even his.

Even though we've seen a dead body, it's not out of the realms of possibility that the body that was found at the river wasn't actually Jason.

When Jason's body was discovered, it was extremely disfigured and could have easily been a random ginger kid who fit Jason's measurements. With the corrupt Curdle family at the morgue, fake death certificates, autopsies and evidence could have easily been forged.

Could Jason have faked his own death after all? It's possible, seeing as it was his original plan. Jason and Polly were set to leave for The Farm long before he was killed so what if he's actually just been holed up there this whole time, plotting his revenge on the town? It might explain why Edgar was so keen to get Cheryl into The Farm.

And, not being funny, but if you were shot in the head at THAT close range, your brains would be absolutely splattered out of the back of your head. As we saw in the footage of his "murder", the bullet wound didn't even exit Jason's head, which is weird. Maybe that's a censorship thing but either way, it's a bit sus.

Jason Blossom has a twin (that's not Cheryl).

Surprise! Another twin twist - exactly what we don't need in Riverdale, but it kind of makes sense, doesn't it? As we know, there's a long running history of twins within the Blossom family so what if Jason has an identical brother? Following Penelope's revelation that the Blossom family adopted and groomed young redheaded girls from the Sisters in order to marry them off to their sons, there's already a theory that Cheryl could actually be adopted, and not Jason's real twin. (Again, it's just a theory...)

If Jason had an identical twin brother, it would certainly explain why no red flags were raised by FP Jones, who knew what Jason looked like, when he was disposing of the body. It could also explain why Ethel thinks that Jason is the Gargoyle King and why Cheryl was so sure that Jason was at The Farm.

But again, the twin thing has been DONE. Riverdale wouldn't pull that stunt again, would they? (Please. No.)

Jason Blossom is 100% dead and someone is posing as him.

Look, it's impossible to predict what twists and turns Riverdale is gonna throw at us next but Jason being alive will truly be the biggest WTF of all time - and it might break the fandom if it's true.

Jason is dead. He has to be. Far too many people were implicated in his death to even suspect otherwise. But given what we now know about how Edgar goes about hypnotising and creating hallucinations, it's more than likely that someone has been pretending to be Jason this whole time (and somehow managed to remove his body from his grave.)

Just as Polly was physically posing as Betty, it would explain why Cheryl said she was able to speak and physically hug him. As for Ethel? Well, we know she experienced hallucinations while playing G&G at the Sisters which could tie into her whole "Jason is the Gargoyle King" statement. Maybe she's only seen that from a hallucinatory experience?

If that's true, then who is pretending to be Jason? Chic, maybe? Chic being involved with the Gargoyle King certainly backs the claim made by the tattoo artist about the blue eyes and sandy hair thing. Chic isn't confirmed dead, so he's likely still out there. Maybe he found a home at The Farm while he was on the run?

And listen, the true Gargoyle King wouldn't wanna blow his cover by revealing his true identity to Gossip Girl Ethel, would he? No, he'd trick her with a little... hypnosis? That he learned from... Edgar? Idk idk idk...

via GIPHY

Or, you know, maybe Ethel is just a big ol' liar and I am wasting my damn time.