So, long time no-theory! Sorry it has been a while, (and by a while I mean quite a while SORRY!) but I am back and I do hve a theory for you.

A while back, and I mean a LONG while back, I think right after Charlotte was “murdered” I put up a theory that Melissa was/is A.D. And then I had another theory that Charlotte was alive, and then I had another theory that Wren was involved somehow. All three of these are correct. But I’m not 100% sure who is who yet, but I have a pretty good idea.

Let’s start with the person in the masks, I believe this may be Melissa. She up and disappeared in utter and complete panic after the first couple episodes saying she was freaking out about the taped confession (which I WILL COME BACK TO!). BUT I also wouldn’t completely rule out Charlotte being the one in the masks also because well here’s why.

So the finale (and what a head-turning finale it was), at the end whoever kidnapped Jenna has on a mask… And then they take it off, for obvious reasons. There’s also a HIGH probability that charlotte AND melissa are wearing masks since the mask making book was Charlotte’s in the first place, which makes everything all the more confusing. What people seem to forget is that there are two, what Marlene said to be “Avenger A” and “Uber A”, only it’s not quite that simple. I know who is doing what, but it’t the anonimity of which is which that is screwing everyone up, so I’m just going to talk about who is doing what for now.

What Charlotte is doing is not only brilliant on her part, but is so brilliant story wise that makes everything tie together in a fucking beautiful now. She’s getting rid of her minions, the liars, and everyone who had helped her… By turning them against each other and watching her beautiful plan take place. Everyone thinks the other killed Charlotte, but no one really knows who did it for the obvious reason that it never really happened. Jenna and Noel thought the girls did it, Mary thought the girls did it, Melissa DEFINITELY thinks the girls did it, and they’re literally killing each other to figure out which one of them is actually the culprit. And if that doesnt work, she just kills them and makes someone else looks guilty, such as she did with Sara… The old hit on the head finally worked, eh Charlotte?

In 6x10 Charlotte was quite literally preparing for her death. No one thought to ask “Why now would the mastermind behind the A game give herself up?” She had no reason to. Absolutely no reason. You know why? Because it was never supposed to end like this. We got too impatient, we were sick of being led down the rabbit hole only to find another trap door that lead to another rabbit hole. Marlene herself said that it was always supposes to be Charlotte, they set it up for Charlotte season after season, until the viewer said they had had enough. So what does Marlene do? She kills her. Or, so it seems. Everything Charlotte said, or at least most things that Charlotte said in 6x10 were lies. Marlene gave Charlotte a way out, so she could go with the plan she had from the very beginning, she’s saving Charlotte for the finale. The BIG finale. The way it was always planned. Every answer we had wanted and that wasn’t answer, every plot hole will be filled with the truth that we are dying to hear. The masks were introduced for a reason. They planted the mask making book in plain view within Charlotte’s other books for a reason. They had her killed for a reason. They had her packing up all of her stuff an episode before she was “murdered” for a reason.

Now, let’s get to Melissa- Melissa being “A.D.” an/or the “Avenger A” makes so much sense, as I’ve said before in my previous theory, Melissa was brought in with an agenda. It’s no coincidence that she was brought in the same day the new ‘devil A/whatever you call it’ made their presence known. It’s absolutely no secret that there is an odd connection between Melissa and Charlotte. The mystery surrounding their relationship is almost poetic, it started with the two of them that night- and it too shall end with them.

Something I noticed, and this specifically separates Melissa and Charlotte in what they’re doing- there are two completely different lairs that have been shown. One has the masks while the other does not. It also strikes me as odd that no one knows who “A.D.” is, Jenna assumes whoever kidnapped her is A.D., now if Jenna was in fact working for A.D. Like we assume… Why would she believe this person would kidnap her? If you didn’t catch in the finale, there were two shots- one was from Jenna, the other was from whoever actually shot Spencer. The person who shot Specer was 100% Cece, BUT if I’m correct in thinking Melissa is the one in the masks, she kidnapped Jenna THINKING she shot Spencer- again, Charlotte’s minions getting blamed for shit she does. Now, I’m going to tell you exactly why Cece shot Spencer.

It all goes back to Bethany Young. Everyone, including Melissa, Cece, and everyone else who WAS NOT IN THE GROUP WHEN THEY WATCHED CECE CONFESS TO ALISON IN 6x10 believes Spencer is the one who actually hit Bethany. We made the absolutely STUPID mistake in believing after Mona confessed to hitting Bethany that Cece heard it. Cece still believes that Spencer was the one who hit Bethany.

In one of my previous theories, the one where I connect Cece, Melissa, Bethany, Alison, and Spencer, I said that Cece created the plan to have Bethany kill Jessica and Alison, but that plan was then ruined because Mona hit Bethany over the head- therefore causing Melissa to find the body, and in thinking it was Spencer, called Cece and had her help cover up the body. This story is nowhere near over, no matter what anyone says. Because after all these years, after everything they had been through Bethany’s death is where EVERYTHING starts and ends. It is why Cece, even when in the mental institution, called Wren and told him about Melissa burying Bethany. It was why she had Noel smear blood all over Spencer’s body in the dollhouse. She BLAMES Spencer for ruining her plans to kill Bethany, and she blames Melissa for burying Bethany alive. It’s no wonder that after finding out Bethany’s cause of death was actually suffocation caused by being buried alive that Cece turned her back on Melissa.

They ruined her plan. From the very beginning. And now she’s cutting the loose ends, killing off her minions, hurting those who ruined her plan. If you are fans of the PLL books, you’ll notice that Charlotte’s story is basically Alison’s, she faked her death and started killing her minions to make sure they kept quiet- aka the Allicats.

Jenna and Noel are easy, she had something on the both of them and both had a dark side that she could use- Noel with pushing down the girl in the party, and Jenna with Toby. Thus, she had things on both of them and she used that to her advantage. Ever wondered why the hell Noel and Jenna were the ones who had Emily in the car after she was drugged? And why Cece gave Jenna and Noel the death glare of all death glares at the Kahn’s party? Uh-huh. Yep. They were her unwilling minions, who most likely (eventually) became just like poor Sara and got Stockholm syndrome. I mean she tried to kill Jenna before for crying out loud and Jenna still sipes mingle loved her enough to kill for her even after she was GONE. What kind of intoxicating power does she have over these people? It’s just like Bethany said in her tapes, “She’s an evil bitch… 5 minutes with her and you’d drown a bag of kittens if she asked you to, 2 minutes if you were a man.” Bethany was right. She was right all along. Cece could get anyone to do anything for her, and she did. And they would keep coming back one way or another.

As for Wren, I’m not going to spend much time explaining because this is already ridiculously long- but he is involved, but he is working with Melissa most likely. He was the British guy on the phone that we’ve been hearing, he’s just kind of one step above Jenna and Noel in the sense that he did exactly what Dr. Rollins did. I still believe that Charlotte and Wren had known each other before the pilot episode, maybe an ex-boyfriend of hers. She had to have planted Wren in Radley so she could get the visitors passes, since (unlike her bold face lie in 6x10) she was 100% NOT A PATIENT THERE WHILE MONA WAS IN RADLEY. But since he had been with Melissa this long, I don’t know quite whose side he’s on at the moment, but I would love seeing him come out with Melissa while she’s exposing herself to the girls only to turn on her and Charlotte come out of the shadows. (Someone for the love of God LET ME DIRECT THE EPISODE 😩)

Now, why is Melissa doing this? Simple. She believes whoever is blackmailing her about killing Bethany is the one who killed Charlotte. Charlotte quite literally has everyone trying to kill each other over her when everyone thinks she’s already dead… And if that isn’t beautifully twisted, then I don’t know psychological thrillers or this show.

Charlotte is the evil mastermind we always wanted but haven’t gotten. Yet. Another observation I’ve made is looking at the messages throughout season 6 and 7, there are obviously two different people sending them, some are signed the red devil, some are signed A.D. And some aren’t signed whatsoever. This is why it is nearly impossible to figure out which is Charlotte and which is Melissa, but what I know for sure is Melissa is STILL receiving messages from Charlotte. Most likely blackmail. Over and over are threats that feel completely WRONG for someone in power to say, for example “If you find out who I am before I find out who killed Charlotte, you die. –A.D.” It sounds like they’re working against something or someone, just like the election night deadline they were working against in season 6. There’s someone who is signing the text messages with a red devil and A.D., and there is someone sending messages with absolutely no signature whatsoever.

P.S. Mini theory… So the “Letters from A.D.” Box that we keep seeing… This is letters from Charlotte to Bethany AS Alison DiLaurentis. I outlined how I believe Charlotte went to Radley as Alison to set Bethany up to kill Jessica and the real Alison- well, remember that letter that was found in the attic in the PLL Christmas episode? Bethany sure as hell was writing to someone, and she believed that someone to be Alison DiLaurentis. But, it wasn’t. It was Charlotte. And I think this may be another hint to Melissa being the masked one, if I’m correct she could be searching for the one who really killed Bethany to clear her name.

As always feel free to fact check all you want, I welcome it gladly but it’s 3;36 a.m. right now so I don’t have the energy to get all the video clips and screen grabs but I assure you they’re all there. But that’s all I have for now, guys!

-Rachel

If anyone wants to read how all of the plot holes will be fixed once Cece is revealed as being alive read this theory that clears everything up: http://theplltheorist.tumblr.com/post/145532260539/the-killer-three-cece-bethany-and-mary-drake