What Do We Know About the True Blood Season Finale? (SPOILERS)

The break between True Blood‘s final two episodes of the season have provided us with time to let the events of the first 11 episodes sink in and start to form an idea of what’s coming in the season finale (airing Sunday, September 13) as well as what might be coming our way in season 3. How will the major plot points come together? What surprises are in store? The finale is being kept under wraps, but here’s what we know, and what we suspect.

Maryann/Tara/Eggs – Now that we know it was Tara who summoned Maryann, during the “exorcism” with Miss Jeanette, will it be Tara who ultimately defeats her? She has been a favorite of Maryann’s from the beginning and of all the Bon Temps residents, she has the most knowledge of Maryann. The Queen’s rather abstract instructions to Bill on how to defeat Maryann, coupled with Tara’s knowledge, just might save the day. Unfortunately, we suspect Tara will lose Eggs in the process. She will have to see some sorrow as a consequence of her actions this season, and we’re pretty sure Sam won’t be the cause of it (although seeing him in jeopardy could be what finally jolts her free of Maryann), which leaves Eggs to be the sacrifice for Tara’s folly.

Assuming as we are that Maryann is defeated in some way, what does that mean for Bon Temps? The revelers have nearly destroyed the town, the blackouts during the black-eyed episodes will have to be explained, and the odd circumstances the revelers wake up to after an orgy have many wondering what’s going on. Will Bill, Eric and Pam have to put their glamoring skills to good use or will they come up with some “hallucinogen in the water” explanation? Based on the seeming normalcy at Merlotte’s in this photo, we’re betting on the former:

Is everything back to normal at Merlotte's when Charlaine Harris stops by?

Sam – Maryann has been after him as her “perfect vessel” for what seems like years but in reality is just a couple of weeks. He’s fallen for a fellow shifter only to have her betray him, seen his friends become his enemies, and been hounded (ha ha) night and day. He also went public with his own shifter status, although only Andy and Jason remember it at this point and both of them took it in stride. It seems things are only going to get worse for Sam before they get better, but we’re confident that he will be around to serve another pint and hire another doomed waitress, setting up a further exploration of the shapeshifters in the Sookie universe.

But how will he escape? Sam Trammell has stated in several interviews that this season Sam will turn into a “big thing” and a “tiny thing”. We’ve already seen him as a literal fly on the wall, and we doubt that a collie is the “big thing”, so that half of the spoiler must happen in the season finale. What will Sam turn into? An elephant? Dinosaur? Probably not since he told Jason and Andy that he has to see something before he can turn into it. Perhaps he’ll turn into an alligator? Or does it have something to do with Sam placing his trust in “a most unlikely ally”? Will he turn into…Eric?

Uh oh, is Maryann getting her claws in Jason?

Jason – From carefree Lothario to grieving grandson & boyfriend to brainwashed cult member to guerilla warrior, Jason has had an intense couple of months. Remember, it’s been maybe 8 weeks since we first met Jason, Sookie, et al. A lot has changed for Jason in that span of time, but he finally seems to be growing up, just a little. Now he’s leading the charge to save Bon Temps, or so he thinks; maybe it’s time for the Stackhouse siblings to text each other when they’re about to undertake a Big Plan(tm): SOOK HEADED HOME TO DFEET FREAKY BTCH W/HORNS. C U @ MERLOTTES L8R. XOXO. At any rate, he’s shaken off the “come to the light” teachings thanks in part to his encounter with Sarah Newlin, and decided to put his leadership training to work for the good of his town. His curiosity about Sam’s shifter abilities and gradual acceptance of Sookie’s relationship with Bill suggests that Jason is no longer viewing all supernatural beings as evil or all supernatural gifts as a curse. Now, if he can just survive the coming battle at Stackhouse Manor without losing any of that hard-won enlightenment, we might see a very different Jason in season 3.

Lafayette – Captured by vampires and held in a filthy dungeon for weeks, shot in the leg when he tried to escape, and fed on by three vampires at once, we’ve seen a very different Lafayette this season. Huddled under his afghan at home until Eric rousted him with a shot of his own blood, Lafayette finally returned to work – both at Merlotte’s and dealing V at Eric’s command. His colleagues at Merlotte’s recognized a change him and said that he’d lost his “pizazz”, but he refused to comment. When his cousin Tara was in real trouble, he regained his mojo and went after her, until the image of his aunt with a shotgun triggered a PTSD meltdown in the form of Eric in a dress. Was that loss of control enough to give Maryann a way in? Because Lafayette has fallen under her spell and joined the black-eyed ranks. He wasn’t supposed to survive the first season (according to the book storyline); will he survive the second? We honestly don’t know on this one. He could be a casualty of war, but then there’s the matter of the V storyline that hasn’t been resolved and appears to be a potentially major storyline for season 3. A drug war in Bon Temps? It could happen.

Godric/Fellowship of the Sun – Godric’s teachings of tolerance juxtaposed with the FOTS hate set up the possibility for a mighty war between humans and vampires. While Sookie, Jason, Bill, Andy, Sam, Tara, et al. are focused on saving Bon Temps from Maryann right now, will season 3 bring war on a larger scale? Godric walked into the sun for atonement and the Newlins fell apart on national television, but we don’t think the violence is over.

What new secrets will Maxine spill to a bewildered Hoyt?

Jessica/Hoyt – The surprise romance of the season (come on, who didn’t see Terry/Arlene coming?) has been both incredibly sweet and quite enlightening. Poor Jessica discovered that, physically at least, she will forever be a virgin. Not what the hormone-driven baby vampire wanted. For his part, Hoyt showed an acceptance and understanding of Jessica that is indeed sweet but also unexpected. One of his best friends, Rene, went on a killing spree mere weeks before – in Sookie-time – because he hated vampires so much. Now Hoyt is in love with a vampire to the point that he stood up to his mother on her behalf. Of course, then Jessica bit Maxine (who is under Maryann’s influence) causing Hoyt to leave in a huff while Jessica dissolved into bloody tears. We don’t think their romance is over, though. In an interview with us, Jim Parrack said that he has an idea why Hoyt is “deeply, deeply intrigued” by vampires, although he’s not ready to share it just yet. Could it have something to do with his father, who we now know committed suicide and, possibly, was gay? Who knows what other secrets will be revealed as Maxine continues to unleash years of bitterness and hate in the finale. If nothing else, Jessica and Hoyt still have lots of potential for bonding over their assorted issues with their parents.

The Queen/Hadley – While it does require some reading between the lines, it seems that Sophie-Anne already knew who Sookie was before Bill arrived to seek help in defeating Maryann. And it looks as though Bill and Hadley had met before. Yes, this does appear to be setting up something major from the books, but based purely on what the show is giving us, suspicions are raised. Consider this: Sookie’s cousin, Hadley, escaped from rehab not too long ago and found her way to Sophie-Anne’s court where, presumably, she mentioned her cousin and her gift. Suddenly, Bill Compton, a subject of Sophie-Anne’s, decides to return to his ancestral home and immediately takes an interest in Sookie. Coincidence?

Additionally, we know that Sophie-Anne appears in the season finale in a confrontation with Eric. Bill is blackmailing Eric with the knowledge that the Viking has at least one human (Lafayette) dealing V at his command. Does Sophie-Anne find out and rage at Eric? Or is the cause of her anger something else? The official synopsis says that she “warns Eric to keep the lid on Bill’s inquisitiveness”, suggesting that the Queen herself might be behind the V venture. But to what end?

Is it all a dream?

Sookie/Bill/Eric – Now we come to the heart of the matter: who will Sookie choose? It seems she’s chosen Bill, but now that Eric has an equal blood pull and she’s seen the more human side of him with Godric, confusion is setting in. Bill’s rather selfish behavior – wanting to leave the Dallas vamps to deal with FOTS on their own, not telling her about Jessica right away, ordering Sookie around – isn’t helping his case, either. If he can at least help save the day from Maryann, that might prove to be redeeming. Is he the “unlikely ally” to whom Sam turns? They aren’t exactly fond of each other, but Bill did request Sam’s protection over Sookie in season 1, so it wouldn’t be completely out of character for them to team up on her behalf again. We also wonder if Bill has decided that two can play the dream lover game and sweeps Sookie’s subconscious off her feet in the photo at left.

Meanwhile, Eric continues to insinuate himself into Sookie’s life, and her dreams. She’s having some trouble reconciling dream Eric with the one she thinks she knows, but her brief conversation with Lafayette could help. If she has time to actually think about the conversation. There is that little matter of a town to save and a maenad to defeat. Will Eric return from his audience with the Queen in time to help? He’s ostensibly there at Sam’s request, but even Sam knows he’s only doing it for Sookie, so we have to think he’ll be part of the victory. Eric’s visit to the Queen might be even more profitable, at least to Eric. Should she (or Hadley) happen to let slip that Bill knew about Sookie and her gift before he arrived in Bon Temps, crafty Eric won’t take long to come to the same conclusions we have and use that to his advantage. We don’t think this triangle will be settled in the season finale, though we can see how there might be a break up. Maybe it’s time for Sookie to be on her own for a while, to process everything that’s happened in the past couple of months.

The True Blood season finale airs Sunday, September 13 on HBO. See you there!