Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Riverdale episode "Judgment Night." Read at your own risk!
Riverdale Season 2 was flipped on its head in the Season 2 penultimate episode when fans were blindsided with the cliffhanger that Jughead Jones may be dead. Of course, had fans been paying attention to the Twitter account of showrunner Roberto Aguirre Sacasa maybe they would've seen the clues that the cliffhanger ending was approaching. Sacasa teased the episode's shocking end prior to its airing and also revealed the scene was inspired by a popular Batman storyline. Unfortunately, that bit of cool trivia has us much more worried about Jughead than we were previously:
Arrow-verse fans will likely instantly recognize that scene, but for any Riverdale fans currently scratching their heads, that is Batman carrying the lifeless former Robin known as Jason Todd. Prior to that moment, Todd was beaten half to death by the Joker with a crowbar and died after being unable to escape a building rigged with explosives. Roberto Aguirre Sacasa tweeted the image of Batman carrying Todd and noted that it was the show's inspiration for the final scene of "Judgement Night," which just might mean Jughead Jones actually died after that beatdown by the Ghoulies and Penny Peabody. That's assuming Sacasa and the show's writers really went all-in on the Jason Todd/Jughead connection, which might mean some good news for devastated "Bughead," fans.
As Batman fans know, Jason Todd did come back from the dead and eventually became the Red Hood. Roberto Aguirre Sacasa's tweet might mean that Jughead is in for a resurrection of his own, although with all the negative PR the Black Hood has given hooded figures in general in Riverdale, it might be best if he does not follow too far in Todd's footsteps. The most important takeaway here is that while Todd survived, the event forever transformed him. If Jughead somehow survives this incident, he may never be the same person that he was before.
The Jason Todd connection also benefits in combatting that bleak Riverdale promo, which showed the gang standing in front of a grave while Betty held Jughead's beanie. Jason Todd's resurrection involved him escaping his own grave, which could mean that even if Jughead is six feet under in the show's Season 2 finale, he's still got a shot at busting out of that grave. Stranger things have happened in Riverdale, and after watching Cheryl shoot arrows with better accuracy than Oliver Queen to fend off the Black Hood, who's to say Jughead can't pull off a superhero feat of his own?
Riverdale's Season 2 finale will air on The CW Wednesday, May 16 at 8:00 p.m. ET, and, hopefully, then we'll all see what becomes of Jughead. For a list of shows to catch after Riverdale is done for the season, head on over to our summer premiere guide.
