Outside the show’s mysterious symbol, nothing is quite as iconic in Yellowjackets as the elusive Antler Queen — but who is the Antler Queen, and what does she really want? The Antler Queen was first introduced to audiences in the Yellowjackets premiere, seemingly the proverbial leader of the 1996 cannibal cult in the wilderness. The Antler Queen remains the symbol of what the girls will eventually become: cold, unfeeling, and animalistic. With her face shrouded, and her head adorned with antlers, the Antler Queen’s visage strikes both fear and questions into the hearts of audiences, with bets being placed almost immediately on her true identity.
In a revelation that came completely out of left field, the Antler Queen’s true identity was finally disclosed in the Yellowjackets season 2 ending. While the one who adorns the antlers has now been identified, it doesn’t change the fact that the nature of her powers is still a mystery. Yellowjackets season 2 has thrown some considerable questions into the mix as to the true nature of the Antler Queen. In particular, Yellowjackets season 2 had some major reveals that bring the identity and classification of the Antler Queen into question, making many wonder if there’s a lot more to her story than was previously let on.
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Is Yellowjackets’ Antler Queen A Person Or A Spirit?
The Show Has Hinted At Supernatural Origins
One of the biggest queries that Yellowjackets season 2 left with audiences is whether the Antler Queen is technically a person or a spirit. So far, a lot of signs are pointing to the latter. Yellowjackets‘ supernatural leanings were all but confirmed when adult Lottie put Natalie under hypnosis, and Natalie admitted that there was something dark with them in the wilderness – something spiritual and evil that they brought back with them. Natalie has a vision of the crash in which she did not survive. The vision then sees the Antler Queen exploring the corridor of the plane wreckage.
It seems like Yellowjackets is positing that the Antler Queen isn’t technically a person but rather a spirit of the wilderness. It’s true that Natalie becomes the Antler Queen that audiences see in the opening cannibalism scene of Yellowjackets season 1, but how Natalie eventually makes that transformation could be attributed to the spirit. What the girls experienced during Doomcoming, while aided by psychotropic mushrooms, could be a sign of the Antler Queen’s growing influence on the group, and the same goes for their visions of a Romanesque feast while they consumed Jackie’s corpse, and Shauna’s haunting words, “she wants us to.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, adult Lottie actress Simone Kessell and adult Natalie’s Juliette Lewis discussed the importance of the Antler Queen, with both admitting they weren’t fully let in on her secrets. When Kessell asked whether the Antler Queen was real or metaphorical, showrunners pointedly didn’t answer. Lewis chimed in, saying she could possibly be both, which would only further add weight to the theory that the Antler Queen is a spirit that eventually is embodied in Natalie. However, Kessell aptly stated that the Antler Queen is, for now, wholly up to interpretation:
“It can kind of be anything that we deem it to be. There was so much about Lottie being the Antler Queen. But really now, we’ve distilled it into the fact that the Antler Queen is a part of all of us, and she really was something that kind of kept these women going to survive in the wilderness.”
How The Antler Queen Connects To Yellowjackets’ Wilderness
The Being Might Be The Physical Incarnation Of The Land Itself
The idea of “the wilderness” as a spiritual entity is a building theme in Yellowjackets season 2, and the Antler Queen must be connected to that. While the origins of the Antler Queen remain unknown, she was not present in the Yellowjackets team’s lives until they crash-landed in the wilderness. Whether the “wilderness” and Antler Queen are interchangeable terms is unknown, but it seems like the two are separate pieces of the same pie. Travis’ line that the “wilderness” is coming back to haunt the adult survivors suggests that the wilderness is the one that calls them, but the Antler Queen is the one that comes to collect.
The Antler Queen could be the spirit of the wilderness, with both being responsible for separate things. For example, the wilderness could be responsible for blowing the snow that caused Jackie’s body to slow cook, or the snowstorm that brings on Shauna’s labor. The Antler Queen could also be responsible for the girls’ descent into animalistic behavior during Doomcoming or the veracity of their feeding frenzy on Jackie’s corpse. Either way, the Antler Queen and the wilderness are interconnected, and it seems like the wilderness itself causes events in nature, while the antler queen causes events with people.
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Why The Antler Queen Could Be Using Natalie As a Host
The Mysterious Entity Could Be Behind Her Penchant For Cannibalism
Since Natalie is the one depicted in episode 1 leading the group in their cannibal sacrifice, then it stands to reason that she’s being possessed by the spirit of the Antler Queen. This possession would explain how Natalie eventually descends into being the cold and calculating leader of the 1996 cult since her previous sentiments saw her outright rejecting the idea of spirituality, and deeply wary of Lottie’s tactics. However, Natalie letting Javi drown marked a major turning point in her character. Where she was once separate from the group she is now a part of the harrowing goings-on, something she states to Ben in the Yellowjackets season 2 finale.
However, it is precisely her separateness that could be why the Antler Queen targets her. Jackie may have been the team captain, and Lottie may have been the original guide, but Natalie is the most natural-born leader of the bunch. She doesn’t subscribe to groupthink as easily as the rest of the team, and Lottie defers leadership to her because she’s the wilderness’ “favorite,” evidencing that the group tried to kill her and the wilderness wouldn’t let them. It’s possible that the Antler Queen sees Natalie as the most natural leader of the team and decides to use her for her own horrific plans in Yellowjackets.
Is The Antler Queen Javi’s “Friend”?
The Antler Queen Is The Most Logical Explanation So Far For Javi’s Mysterious Benefactor
After Javi is found and revealed to be alive in Yellowjackets, he refuses to speak to anyone about his whereabouts, or anything at all for that matter. He doesn’t end up saying a word until he encounters Coach Ben in the cabin, and randomly tells him that his “friend” told him not to come back. He specifically mentions that his friend is a “she,” and it’s possible that he could be referring to the spirit of the Antler Queen. The chances that Javi found another physical person in the wilderness are slim to none, almost completely ruling out that he could’ve been talking to someone that was alive.
The only proposed spirit, thus far, that has shown some semblance of interaction with people is the Antler Queen. Why the Antler Queen would tell Javi not to return seems somewhat counterintuitive to her overall goal, which seems to be bloodshed and sacrifice for the wilderness. Unfortunately, Javi was the first official victim of the Yellowjackets ritualized cannibal sacrifice process, and he is consumed in the season 2 finale. Coach Ben has found Javi’s cave to hide in, so that could provide more answers in the future. However, Javi himself won’t ever be able to reveal who his “friend” was.
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The Yellowjackets Season 2 Finale Revealed Natalie Is The Antler Queen
There Is Now A Name And A Face For The Mysterious Figure
By far the most astounding realization was that Natalie was the Antler Queen all along, and not Lottie as was previously thought. The Yellowjackets season 2 finale saw Lottie wholly regretful of the team’s actions in creating the ritual resulting in Javi’s death and consumption.
Lottie decides in the end that the wilderness may have spoken to her first because she was more susceptible, but now that they can all hear and understand it, she isn’t needed anymore. Lottie hands the reigns over to Natalie, proclaiming that Nat is the wilderness’ “favorite,” and the rest of the group shows their fealty by kissing her hand.
This means that the Antler Queen is Natalie. Her new role explains a lot of her adult behavior. Natalie probably feels a lot more culpability in the events of the past than the other survivors. This would explain her falling into her addictions, her guilt over Travis’ suicide, and her own suicide attempt. In turn, it also explains adult Misty’s bordering obsessive devotion to Natalie.
Natalie would’ve been her original leader, proving she views their relationship as something much more than a trauma-bonded friendship. Adult Natalie’s tragic sacrifice and death in the Yellowjackets season 2 finale was her way of repaying her debts, and satiating her guilt for good.
Fan Theories About The Antler Queen
Season 3 Still Has Many Questions To Answer
Yellowjackets season 2 revealed that Natalie was the Antler Queen, though the mystery is still far from solved. Many of the above ideas still stand. Natalie being behind the veil doesn’t remove the possibility of the Antler Queen being supernatural, for example. It also doesn’t explain the ties between the wilderness and its chosen messenger, or how the landscape is able to select a messenger in the first place. As such, there are still multiple theories surrounding the Antler Queen going into Yellowjackets season 3.
A key theory that’s been circulating among the Yellowjackets fandom is that there may be more than one Antler Queen. The evidence that Lottie was the Antler Queen seemed pretty watertight until season 2 revealed that it was, in fact, Natalie. However, many have pointed out that they both could have held the title at different points. It could have been Lottie wearing the ceremonial headdress in the pit girl scene of the Yellowjackets pilot.
The theory states that while she was recovering from the injuries given to her by Shauna, Lottie was still the Antler Queen, but received a message from the wilderness informing her she needed to give up her title. This then led to the moment Natalie drew the Queen of Hearts. According the theory, this was the wilderness’ way of informing her that Natalie was to be the new Antler Queen, and Lottie’s time as its representative was over.
There’s also another theory that suggests the mysterious Antler Queen that spoke to Javi, and that Natalie referred to as a ‘darkness’ with them in the wilderness, is a wholly separate being to any of the girls. This would be an interesting spin on the mystery. It’s been presumed that the being in the headdress was one of the survivors. However, given that Yellowjackets seems to be leaning more and more into its supernatural elements, it now seems entirely possible that the figure in moments like the “pit girl” scene of the pilot could have in fact been a physical manifestation of the wilderness itself, and not one of the survivors of the 1996 plane crash.
Yellowjackets is a thriller and drama television series created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson. The series stars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, and Ella Purnell. The plot sees a high-school Soccer team from New Jersey returning home from a National Tournament in Seattle. As they make their way back by plane, there is an unfortunate crash that sees them stranded in the Canadian wilderness.
- Cast
- Juliette Lewis , Sophie Thatcher , Warren Kole , Jasmin Savoy Brown , Tawny Cypress , Steven Krueger , Christina Ricci , Ella Purnell , Sammi Hanratty , Sophie Nélisse , Melanie Lynskey
- Release Date
- November 14, 2021
- Seasons
- 2
- Streaming Service(s)
- Paramount+ with Showtime
- Showrunner
- Ashley Lyle , Bart Nickerson , Jonathan Lisco
