WHO IS CHARLES THEORY

I’m writing this after watching episode 6x02 and the promo for 6x03. This theory does not contain any twins, affairs, or gender-bending.

I started working on this theory after seeing Charles’s lair / “soul room” in episode 5x25, and particularly, the video with Jessica DiLaurentis and the 3 children. We are told that one of the boys is Charles, but we are not told which one. We are supposed to assume that the other boy is Jason and the girl is Alison. I think that the 3 children were Charles, Jason, and CeCe and that the boy who kissed his sister on the forehead was Charles kissing CeCe. This means that Charles and CeCe are siblings, which fits all the clues because the initials C.D. could stand for Charles Drake, not Charles DiLaurentis.

I think Jessica DiLaurentis and Mrs. Drake were best friends and raised their children together. I think Mrs. Drake was filming the tape with Jessica and the 3 children while the families were visiting the Campbell Farm together. This is one of Charles’s most cherished memories because he went to the Campbell Farm frequently as a child, and it’s a representation of his innocence and sense of humanity that was lost. I also think Ali wasn’t in the video because she wasn’t born yet. Ali is a couple years younger than CeCe and about 6/7 years younger than Jason, so the math adds up.

The closeness of the mothers is a possible explanation for the closeness between the children. Ali and CeCe were best friends, and almost acted like sisters, because they grew up together. They had similar personalities, dressed similar, and told each other secrets because they were like family. This also explains why Jason dated CeCe. It’s not uncommon for childhood family friends to date when they’re young adults. Last but not least, this explains the friendship between Jason and Charles. I think the boys were best friends growing up and that’s why it is revealed in the promo for 6x03 that Jason remembers “Charlie” and has a sentimental, yet melancholic, look on his face.

So why did Charles leave the picture? I think Charles attacked Ali when they were children and he was sent to Radley because of it. In 5x24, it is revealed during Ali’s trial that she fractured her elbow when she was around 3 and it never properly healed. I think Charles caused this injury. Maybe Ali provoked him or maybe it was an accident. Either way, the incident caused him to be locked up. Ali most likely doesn’t remember the incident because she was so young. This explains why when Ali asks her dad “Who is Charles DiLaurentis?” he gets flustered and says “there is no Charles DiLaurentis.” I think Ken wasn’t lying when this happened, he was just sickened by hearing the name of the boy who attacked his daughter and worried that Alison either found out or remembered on her own.

This also explains Jason’s substance abuse problem. His best friend attacked his little sister and was locked up in Radley as a result. Obviously that would have a traumatic effect on a boy, especially if he witnessed the incident. It’s possible that he could have done something to stop it and he didn’t, so he feels guilty.

It’s also possible that Jessica was the one who presuaded Mrs. Drake to send Charles to Radley. Since Jessica and Mrs. Drake were best friends, Jessica didn’t want to press charges and have her best friend’s son sent to juvie. Maybe Radley was the compromise they made. Jessica probably thought that the doctors would keep him for a few weeks and the doctors decided to keep him for the rest of his adolescence. Jessica would have felt immensely guilty that she was the reason Charles was stuck in Radley for so long. Jessica might have frequently visited Charles in Radley in order to make amends. Obviously Jessica wouldn’t want anybody in Rosewood, especially her husband, finding out that she was visiting Charles so she registered herself as Bethany Young’s guest as an alibi. In order to make her alibi believable, Jessica actually spent time with Bethany and bought her gifts. Once Charles found out that Jessica lied about visiting him because she was embarrassed, this was an incentive for Charles to kill both Bethany Young and Jessica DiLaurentis.

Charles missed out on all of middle school and high school, which explains why he wanted to recreate what would have been his senior prom in the dollhouse in episode 5x25. Since Charles and Jason are the same age, Charles is also the same age as Ian, Melissa, and Garrett. During high school, Jason, Ian, and Garrett formed the N.A.T. Club. Charles had an incentive to kill Ian and Garrett because they were Jason’s best friends in high school, meaning that they replaced him in Jason’s life.

While in Radley, Charles began scheming how he could get revenge on everyone who had ruined his life, including: Jessica, Bethany, Ian, Garrett, and last but not least, Alison. The reason why he killed the first 4 and tortured Alison was because he wanted to punish her in ways more severe than death. He did this by constructing the entire “A” alias, playing mind games, and tormenting her. One of the worst ways to torture someone is by hurting the ones they love, which is why Charles tortured Spencer, Emily, Hanna, and Aria as his twisted way of punishing Alison. Charles hasn’t tortured Jason because Charles still has pieces of his broken soul and he still remembers Jason as his best friend. Charles was released from Radley on good terms after he turned 18, and since he was a legal adult, Radley did not have the legal right to contact his family. By then, his family wanted nothing to do with him anyway.

So how does this connect to Andrew? Charles frequently visited the Campbell Farm and Andrew remembers seeing him when they were children. Andrew is a smart guy, so he tried to investigate and solve the mystery on his own. He cared about Spencer and Aria and wanted to be Rosewood’s hero. Charles caught on that Andrew was beginning to figure him out, so he planted clues to frame Andrew.

What about Mona? Charles recruited Mona to be one of his minions because he saw a lot of himself in Mona. Mona had her best friend, Hanna, stolen from her by the Liars. Charles could relate to this, so he recruited her for the A-Team. Once Charles realized Mona had become friends with the Liars, he quickly shifted gears, and she became one of his victims instead of one of his minions.

What about the rest of the A-Team? Charles recruited Toby for the A-Team because Toby had also been locked up for something that was Alison’s fault. Alison threw the stink-bomb in the Cavanaugh garage, causing Jenna to go blind, and Toby was blamed. This gave Charles an incentive to recruit Toby. Also, Lucas was frequently bullied by Alison and had a good reason to want bad things to happen to her, so Charles recruited Lucas as well for the A-Team.

Of course, this theory doesn’t explain everything that has happened, but it is a possibility!