bennetts

I have a theory about how Season 3 of Empire is going to end (episode 318). As I write this, the most recent episode to air is 313, and it according to the latest trailer, 314 will be the start of Anika going full-on seduction mode to Tariq. I predict that she'll spend the next four episodes (314-317) continuing to wear the wire and making all the right moves to protect Lucious, but also ultimately herself. Then, at the end of 317, the penultimate to the finale, Tariq will find out about the wire, but not tell Anika. Instead, he's going to develop a plan with the help of a trusty partner... Andre. Word gets around- plus it wasn't that hard for Tariq to think of someone that wants to take down Lucious just as much. And there's gonna be something good in it for Andre. But right now, we as viewers don't yet know that Andre's in on the plan- that'll turn out to be part of the twist. Anyway, here's how I think the plan will go and it will take place throughout 318 along with whatever else the writers come up with for Jamal, Cookie, etc.

First: Tariq will convince Leah (Lucious' mother) to threaten Lucious to kick Anika out of the house and immediately divorce her.

Second: Anika will come running to Tariq, who will tell her something that means she's protected- but she will have to marry another Lyon. This makes sense because of what Lucious figured in the Season 2 finale that resulted in him marrying Anika. I'll get back to that in a little bit. Why would Anika want to continue protecting the Lyons? Like past situations, her daughter Bella, who is a Lyon, could be in danger.

Next: Anika will go to the obvious choice, Baby Daddy Hakeem, who will say no because he is in love with Tiana. He'll do it in the future IF Bella's life could soon be in jeopardy, but for now, Tiana is his everything. So what does Hakeem come up with? He convinces Anika to persuade Andre to marry her. Little do Anika and Hakeem know that Andre is part of the plan they don't yet know about.

Then: Anika arrives at Andre's house- Andre plays sort of dumb. Anika then seduces Andre into marrying her. He gives her a skeptical look, but as soon as she turns away that turns into an evil smile.

Finally: Now that Andre is married to Anika, he gets his part of the deal. He will be able to achieve two goals that he's promised both characters in the show and us, the viewers. Both involve murder, and both were brought up on the mid-Season 3 finale (episode 309) in December. Remember that scene on the beach when Rhonda's ghost told Andre to "destroy that bitch" that pushed her down the stairs and the balcony? Andre's got a chance to do that now... in Anika's sleep. But that's just part of his evil part of the plan. Here's where we get back to Lucious' idea in the Season 2 finale that led him to marry Anika. It happened because the Lyons would've been screwed otherwise, particularly Lucious. The feds would've come after him, and possibly killed him. Now that Anika is dead, the feds will do just that. That achieves Andre's second goal from episode 309- killing Lucious. Andre just doesn't do it himself.

The big finale moment will be the feds coming for Lucious, and what I think happens is ridiculous, but hey- it's Lucious Lyon. I was kind of torn between thinking it made sense for him to die since we're already three seasons into the show and viewers sure as hell seem to only care about Cookie, and thinking that Empire couldn't go on for much longer without Lucious. So here's what I decided, if I were a writer on the show:

Lucious PLAYS dead. He's done a lot of crazy things, and this just might be the iconic moment to confirm that he's not your average Joe- and boost the falling ratings. That'll be the cliffhanger at the end of 318. I'll leave it up to you to decide how he plays dead, and how he brings himself back to like in 401.

Please tell me what you think of this theory, and if you have any of your own or feedback on mine, I'd love to hear what you have to say.