10 Theories For How True Detective: Night Country Will End

Warning: spoilers ahead for True Detective season 4's episode 5.

True Detective: Night Country's episode 5 still leaves viewers in the dark about what might have happened to Annie and the Tsalal researchers, but leaves enough room for one to theorize how the finale will unfold. Many intriguing theories emerged after True Detective: Night Country's premiere on HBO Max. While some of these theories still seem relevant, others have not aged too well after five episodes.

For instance, theories that directly connected True Detective: Night Country with season 1's events and speculated the return of Rust Cohle seem implausible after recent developments. Even though the Tuttles have been mentioned again in episode 5, their implied link with True Detective: Night Country's events also seems like a red herring. However, many other plot developments in True Detective season 4's five episodes have solidified other theories that initially did not seem all that convincing.

10 The Sedna Myth Explains How Annie's Awake

The big reveal was spoiled in episode 1

True Detective: Night Country's episode 1 featured a picture of Sedna, the Inuit goddess of the sea. Although there are many iterations of the Sedna myth, most revolve around Sedna being murdered and betrayed by her loved ones before she returns to punish and seek revenge on those who harmed her and tried to disrupt the balance between the land and the sea. Although it remains unknown whether Annie's "return" has any supernatural connotations, the fact that Clark says "she's awake" suggests she could literally or metaphorically be Sedna, setting out to kill those who harmed her.

9 Raymond Clark Is Annie's Killer

The "She's awake" line reflected Raymond's guilt

Since supernatural elements were mere red herrings in True Detective's earlier seasons, season 4 might also take a similar route in its finale. Owing to this, Raymond Clark's "She's awake" claims could be a reflection of his repressed guilt after murdering Annie. His bed in the van, where he and Annie used to meet, suggested that he was obsessed with her and was having a hard time dealing with her demise. This could mean that after Annie discovered what Tsalal was doing for Silver Sky, Raymond Clark killed her before she could expose him and his fellow scientists.

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8 The Tsalal Researchers Together Murdered Annie Before Raymond Killed Them

Annie found the truth behind their connection with Silver Sky

Another possibility is that all Tsalal researchers killed Annie after she found out about their connections with the Silver Sky mine. Even though Raymond loved her, he could not protect her from his enraged colleagues. This would explain why Raymond would often be found talking to himself in the research facility, but the other scientists paid no attention to his changing behavior. Raymond's guilt over his inability to save Annie likely took a toll on him over time, leading him to ultimately kill his fellow researchers in pursuit of justice for Annie.

7 The Silver Sky Mine's Pollution Is A Cover For Something Even Darker

The Silver Sky and Tsalal conspiracy seems to have more layers

Although the Silver Sky mine is committing a serious crime by polluting Ennis' water and making Tsalal generate bogus pollution numbers, there seems to be more to the conspiracy than meets the eye. As established in True Detective: Night Country's early episodes, the researchers were working on an independent project that involved finding the origins of life and sequencing the DNA of an extinct organism. The Silver Sky mine could not have had anything to do with this project.

Also, considering how the background in Annie's video reveals that she found a spiral-shaped fossil inside the cave before she was murdered, it seems like she discovered what the researchers were looking for. The Tuttle connection between Silver Sky and Tsalal suggests that the mine was probably set in Ennis to distract the locals from what the researchers were trying to do at the Tsalal lab.

6 The Tsalal Researchers & Annie Discovered Something Ancient & Forbidden

True Detective: Night Country's The Thing easter could mean something

True Detective: Night Country's episode 1 briefly featured a "The Thing" easter egg, and the show's creator, Issa López, even implied that the reference was intentional. This led to viewers theorizing that, like the scientists in John Carpenter's The Thing, the researchers at Tsalal also might have uncovered an ancient entity that killed them. Or, they might have found something forbidden that landed them in the crosshairs of some powerful people like the Tuttles. As a result, they were killed before they could disclose what they had discovered.

5 The Researchers Were Actually Hit By An Avalanche

McKitterick's claims may have a semblance of truth

Kate McKitterick certainly bribed authorities in Anchorage to make them conclude that the researchers died in an avalanche. However, a part of this could be the truth, given how the researchers were found frozen in ice. It is possible that the killer forced the researchers to take their clothes off before setting them loose in the freezing cold. They must have done this to make their deaths look more natural, giving forensics a solid reason to believe that the researchers were not murdered.

4 The Woman From The Crab Company Has Something To Do With The Tsalal Murders

True Detective: Night Country has foreshadowed Bee's involvement in the central murder mystery

Bee, the woman who works at the crab company, seems to be a recurring figure in True Detective: Night Country despite having a fairly trivial role in the show's early episodes. In one of the opening episodes of the season, Bee acted strange when Navarro asked her about the spiral symbol. In True Detective: Night Country's episode 5, she even overheard Navarro and Eddie's conversations at the laundromat when they were talking about the ice caves and the Night Country. These scenes could be foreshadowing her as a crucial key in the overarching puzzle.

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3 A Pathogen Is Responsible For The Tsalal Researchers' Deaths

The Tsalal scientists took their research too far

While searching for the origins of life, the Tsalal researchers might have found a deadly pathogen. However, instead of treading carefully, they threw their caution to the wind, hoping that the pathogen would help them find a way to reverse cellular decay. Annie must have found out how their research work was putting the lives of the people of Ennis at risk. Therefore, she attempted to expose them by sneaking into the cave where they found the pathogen. However, before she could reveal their secrets to the world, they murdered her. Years later, karma came around when the pathogen infected all of them.

2 True Detective: Night Country's Big Villains Will Get Away With Their Crimes

The people behind Silver Sky seem too powerful

In all True Detective seasons, the main detectives usually find the perpetrators of the central murder, but the big villains always manage to get away. For instance, in season 1, even though Rust and Marty killed Childress, the FBI later denied that he had any links with the Tuttle family. This ultimately shielded the evil family's reputation. Considering how the higher authorities of Silver Sky were easily able to bribe the people at Anchorage and erase all evidence surrounding Annie's death when she was killed, they, too, will likely avoid facing any significant consequences for their crimes.

1 Danvers May Face Legal Repercussions After Episode 5's Events

One piece of evidence could land Danvers in trouble

Although the snow will help Danvers and Navarro cover their footsteps, and Peter will get rid of his father's body to hide all evidence of his murder, Danvers might end up landing in some legal trouble towards the end of True Detective: Night Country. She was the one who checked Otis out of the facility before Hank killed him. So even if Danvers, Navarro, and Peter try to set up Hank as Otis' killer, the people working at the facility where Otis was imprisoned will testify that Danvers took him home.

Not to mention, since Ted is already aware of the truth behind the Wheeler case, he, too, might get suspicious about her involvement in Otis and Hank's death. Because of limited evidence, Danvers may not end up going to prison for the murders. However, she, Navarro, and Peter will have to come up with a solid plan in True Detective: Night Country's finale to ensure that no one suspects them of killing Otis and Hank.

True Detective

In this anthology series, each season follows a different detective or set of detectives as they forced to confront some horrific truths about their town and themselves. No matter the setting and characters, each detective must unravel lies and clues to solve the chilling mysteries around them.