Now that The Leftovers has ended, Damon Lindelof and crew have been opening up with fans and explaining why they went with their ending, as opposed to the numerous other theories that fans have proposed. And now Lindelof had shared one wild fan theory that, in his opinion, is far darker and nastier than they ever thought of while brainstorming for the finale:
The one that stuck with me coming into the end game was the idea that the physicists were actually in the Guilty Remnant, and that they were basically staging an elaborate con to recruit people, which is why they had selected Nora. So the idea is that they would kinda bring her into the back of the truck, and there'd be fifty other people dressed in white there saying, "We've now proven that you want to, you know, go and see your kids. You can admit that there is nothing worth living for now." So the series would end with Nora in white, as a member of the GR. It was like, oh boy, that's nastier. We've come up with some nasty stuff, but that's nastier than anything we've ever thought of.
Wow. Damon Lindelof wasn't kidding when he said this theory was dirty. Completely destroying Nora Durst's psyche aside, the proposed ending would've connected the Guilty Remnant into Season 3 in a much bigger way than the small cameos we saw. Co-creator Tom Perrotta elaborates to Uproxx that the fan theory also had some logic behind it, and was a call back to the twist that was seen in Season 2 of The Leftovers.
Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta go on to praise the theory, as it then focuses the show on the the Guilty Remnant, and their message that there is no moving on from the Departure. Perrotta and Lindelof also confirm this ending was logistically possible, as there were more members of the Guilty Remnant than the ones that were killed in the bunker (citing Meg's meeting with them in a past episode). But with the death of Meg brought the death of any further exploration into the chain smoking Hanes t shirt wearing cult. While the Guilty Remnant aren't a huge part of the final season of The Leftovers, both former leaders of the Mapleton chapter, Meg and Patti, and Evie are seen in Kevin's death dream (which we're still not 100% sure on what that all was exactly).
Fans of Nora Durst will be happy to know Damon Lindelof also liked another theory that didn't end in soul sucking anguish, but instead new life as the true Messiah of The Leftovers. Lindelof shares that if the world had needed a new Messiah, Nora would've been the better option overall compared to Kevin Garvey. Lindelof also praises the idea of a female savior, and points to the fact that there's a drastic shortage of female Messiahs.
The Leftovers has concluded, but it was just one of the many fantastic shows airing on the summer schedule. Find out about any of these new and returning shows premiering by visiting our summer premiere guide, and also be sure to visit our finale guide to see what currently airing shows are coming to an end over the next couple weeks.
