With four words, this White Lotus character predicted their own death.

*Warning, spoiler alert for The White Lotus season three finale*

The nail-biting finale of The White Lotus Season three has finally aired, and I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor.

From the tearfully wholesome reunion of trio, Laurie, Jaclyn, and Kate, to Lochlan's near-death experience at the hands of his father and that darn blender… it's been a ride.

After weeks of wild speculation, endless Reddit threads, and countless office debates that nearly came to blows, we finally know who did and didn't make it out of the luxurious Thai resort alive. And let me tell you — it was both exactly what we predicted and somehow still completely shocking.

A major fan theory that we have been obsessing over since episode one did come true, and in the most devastating way possible.

Sadly, it ended in the deaths of Chelsea and Rick.

Here's exactly how it went down. Side note, Mike White, you absolute genius — you've done it again.

Watch: Laura Brodnik interview the cast of The White Lotus season 3. Post continues below.

The 'rule of threes' theory explained.

In The White Lotus season three, fans quickly noticed that a 'rule of threes' permeated the season, creating a web of foreshadowing for the story's tragic conclusion.

The theory first emerged when viewers noticed the Ratliff siblings positioned exactly like the three wise monkeys ("see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil") during their boat arrival in the opening episode.

The Ratliff siblings. Image: The White Lotus.

Saxon covered his eyes with dark sunglasses, Piper covered her ears with headphones, and Lochlan covered his mouth with a drink — a deliberate nod to the Japanese symbols.

Then there were threes everywhere — three Ratliff siblings, three friends on a disastrous girls' trip, and even a threesome between Saxon, Lochlan and Chloe.

Image: HBO.

But the theory really kicked off through Chelsea's repeated warnings that "bad luck comes in threes."

After surviving two near-death experiences within days (having a gun pointed at her head during the hotel robbery, then being bitten by a poisonous cobra at the snake show), Chelsea ominously predicted: "This could be some final destination shit. Like death is coming for me."

Chills, anyone?

Her words proved prophetic, of course.

The "rule of threes" wasn't just clever writing — it was Mike White basically telling us exactly how the season would end. And in true The White Lotus fashion, when the final episode arrived, the third time really wasn't the charm for poor Chelsea.

Then there's the fact that Chelsea also said, "I'm hope and Rick is pain, and eventually one of us will win."

Given that both of them ultimately lost their lives in the finale, along with Sritala's husband Jim Hollinger (who we later find out is actually Rick's true dad), we're not quite sure what that says about hope and pain.

But three people did die — only further cementing this theory.

So, let us take you through the lead up to their deaths.

What actually happened in The White Lotus finale?

The final scenes of The White Lotus finale were devastating, to say the least.

Rick, consumed by his quest for vengeance, once again confronts the man he believes killed his father. He gives into his pain and shoots him, but in a shock twist, the man Rick has been hunting turns out to be his actual father. It was absolutely gut-wrenching.

What follows is pure The White Lotus chaos — a shootout erupts, bullets flying everywhere.

And who gets caught in the crossfire? Our sweet, sunshine-in-a-person Chelsea. It's her third brush with death — and this time, there's no escape. Just as she predicted, bad things really do come in threes.

And in classic The White Lotus fashion, the carnage doesn't stop there. Rick, devastated by the realisation he's killed his own father and now lost Chelsea, is then shot dead himself — by Gaitok, who never wanted to hurt a fly — completing the trilogy of deaths that the season had been building towards.

Image: HBO.

Unlike many complicated fan theories that require deciphering, this one was handed to us on a silver platter. Chelsea literally told us what was going to happen to her.

"At this point, we're linked. If a bad thing happens to you, it happens to me," Chelsea says to Rick earlier in the finale. And sadly, she was right about that, too.

As we pour one out for another season of The White Lotus mayhem, one thing's crystal clear: Mike White is the absolute master of planting the seeds of a character's demise while still making the harvest genuinely shocking.

And sadly for Rick and Chelsea, that third stroke of bad luck finally caught up with them in the most spectacularly White Lotus way possible.

Anyone else need a stiff drink and a group therapy session after that finale? No? Just me then.

The White Lotus Season 3 is now available on Max +. The final episode of The White Lotus Season 3 is now on Max.

Feature Image: Instagram/waltongogginsbonafide.