Hey everyone, I just want to start off by saying this is by far the biggest and best PLL theory I have ever done. Yes, as you can probably tell, it is a bit lengthy. But personally I think it’s a great read, I cover pretty much everything in this theory - and yes I’ve got jaw dropping evidence throughout the post from early days - season 2! This theory didn’t just happen at the snap of my fingers, it has taken hours worth of re-search and writing so I highly appreciate likes and re-blogs if you feel this post deserves it. Eventually I’ll tweet this to Marlene and maybe she’ll comment! Despite the length, hopefully you can all stay to the end, it’d mean so so much. I do think you’ll enjoy it too.

Let’s get straight into it. Peter and Jessica had an affair, as we’ve known since season 2, and together they had Jason. I don’t believe it stopped with Jason. Peter and Jessica also had another child - Charles DiLaurentis. Crazy, right? Let’s go further. There’s so much to explain.

Charles was the ‘accidental’ second child. Its bad enough Jessica and Peter both cheated on their original partner (Veronica/Ken) to have Jason but Charles was just out of the blue; accidental! This is really important to note.

Therefore Charles is Jason’s brother, not necessarily twins, but definitely brothers, and Charles is also Spencer and Melissa’s half brother. I know this seems really obvious due to the video of the two boys that we saw in Charles’ vault in 5x25, but here’s evidence that Charles is related to Spencer: boom!





So Charles was the accidental child. Peter and Jessica absolutely 100% needed to keep Charles a secret. Here’s what Veronica said in 2x19: “I didn’t know [my husband is also Jason’s father] until Jason was nearly an adult! I understand that you [Spencer] feel angry and confused and betrayed, believe me I did too. If I had known before, then I would’ve made a different decision and you wouldn’t be here”.

This is major! I’ll explain Veronica’s quote. Essentially, Peter got very lucky. Peter got married to Veronica and THEN Veronica found out about the affair where her husband is also Jason’s father. Peter managed to hide the secret for that long. But Veronica didn’t want to divorce him when she found out because they were already married and together had Spencer and Melissa; and Veronica didn’t want to put her daughters through that. The timing was perfect for Peter, he kept his marriage and got away with having the affair (Jason). This is important, because it explains why Jason could be ‘revealed’ but Charles had to remain a secret: Jason was enough to make Veronica really angry, so if one child nearly lead to divorce, then 2 children would definitely equal divorce.



If Peter so desperately needs to keep Charles a secret to keep his own family together, why didn’t he just tell Jessica to get an abortion? He tried. Jessica didn’t want an abortion. Remember when Peter said this to Jessica in 4x24: “Jessica, do we still have an understanding?”



Peter wanted an abortion for Charles, but Jessica said no because she’s against the idea of putting your own baby down. So pretty much Peter said (off-camera) “fine then, don’t get an abortion if you’re so against it. But promise me you’ll do your best to keep Charles a secret from everyone because if my wife finds out, my family is destroyed”. This was the ’understanding’ that Peter and Jessica were talking about in 4x24: to keep Charles a secret.

Peter feared that Jessica would accidentally reveal the existence of Charles during all those interviews about Alison at the police station when they just found out she’s alive, during the 4x24 finale. Peter needed to 'double check’ they still had their understanding to keep Charles a secret and that under no circumstance, Jessica would reveal Charles accidentally in the interviews with the police.



Why did Peter fear Jessica was going to accidentally reveal Charles’ existence to the police in the interviews? Because the interview topic was 'that night’, and Charles played a major role that night and by slip of the tongue, Jessica could let it all out! Hence “do we still have an understanding?”. Details on Charles’ involvement that night, shortly.



Charles was sent away to Radley Sanitarium when he was younger, as part of Jessica and Peter’s 'agreement’ to keep Charles a secret. That sounds pretty extreme to send your child to a mental institution!? Well, Charles needed it. He grew up unloved for being the accidental child that was kept a secret, that Charles eventually got depression for being treated like a shadow. Where have we seen an example of young Charles being unloved? The video in his vault - only Jason got to kiss Alison goodnight.

I know this sounds super cliche and obvious - but now I’ll share my favourite piece of evidence with you! What I’m about to share is the reason I am so excited to post this theory. Below are screenshots from episode 2x19. Enjoy!



These are fairly self explanatory, they indicate Charles being unloved. In particular my favourite are the “I’ve never been kissed”, which we saw in the video in Charles’ vault in 5x25, and also “I’m afraid of my dad”, because Peter is the one constantly trying to hide him. And of course, “I hate my life”, just summarizes it all! Poor Charles!

Charles being a patient at Radley also explains why Peter wanted to shut down Radley during season 4; to erase all evidence of Charles existing. Around the time Peter was trying to shut down Radley was the same time Toby was searching for answers on his mother’s death which also occured at Radley. It can’t be a coincidence that he’s trying to close Radley whilst Toby is investigating there! When Spencer asked her father in 4x14 why he wants to close Radley all of a sudden, he says “I’ve actually been thinking about it for quite a while, the place is outdated”. Outdated, Peter? You’re going through a hell of a lot of effort to shut down a place because it’s 'outdated’?

“I always do what’s best for my family”, finishes Peter in his discussion with Spencer. Yes, evidently so Peter! You’re doing everything you can to make sure no one finds out about Charles to keep your family together!



Whilst at Radley curing his depression and simply staying hidden like Peter and Jessica agreed, Charles met Bethany Young. WHO IS BETHANY YOUNG?

Bethany Young is the child of Jessica and Mr. Young! Yes, Jessica is getting around, having kids with lots of people! I wouldn’t just make this up without probable evidence, because yes it does sound crazy: remember when Spencer and Mona both found Bethany’s Radley tapes in 5x12, they learnt that Jessica and Mr. Young were having an affair. I believe this lead to them having Bethany together. In fact, 5x12 was on Marlene’s list of episodes we must re-watch for clues. This is what she’s talking about. It was a very subtle reveal, never revisited since then. But it is important.



Bethany was sent to Radley from a very very young age as she was diagnosed with a mental disorder. More on this soon.

So at Radley, Bethany and Charles began to talk together. They got along quite well and became friends at Radley. Through constant, detailed discussions they discovered they have something in common: they have the same mother! Together they discovered that they are actually brother and sister.

As we know, Jessica was signing Bethany in and out of Radley to go on 'excursions’ and do 'fun things’. For example, we know Jessica was taking Bethany to ride horses! This is Jessica’s way of spending time with her daughter, but without actually actually telling Bethany that she is her mother. If Jessica told Bethany she is her mother, Bethany would be shocked and would respond in a way that would drag attention to them and Jessica would loose her job at Radley (don’t forget Bethany has a form of mental disorder and has a tendency for crazy reaction). Yep - Jessica was working at Radley as a reason to be able to sign her daughter out of Radley and go spend time with her. I highly doubt they let strangers sign patients out… but they would let workers!

Below is an image of a place Bethany and her mother, Jessica, used to visit often, that Spencer and Emily visited in 5x08 searching for answers.

This explains why in Bethany’s audio recordings discovered in 5x12, “I thought she really liked me, but everything she said to me was a lie. Every word. Every visit.” This is MAJOR. It basically backs up my point that Bethany is Jessica’s fourth child (there’s Ali, Jason, Charles and now Bethany) whom she sent to Radley and, wanting to spend time with her, took her out on field trips to ride horses where the mother and daughter spent great bonding time! Hence the “I thought she really liked me.” But, as Bethany discovered through talking with Charles, this women taking her to ride horses was actually her mother and the fact Jessica never told Bethany this - “but everything she said to me was a lie. Every word, every visit”, said Bethany.



Out of pure anger that her own mother lie and ‘betray’ her, Bethany pushed Marion Cavanaugh off the roof at Radley. Marion was standing too close to the window - it was an accident fueled by anger. Marion really was an innocent women and Bethany had no motive to kill her, but out of anger (and her mental disorder) she went crazy as a result of a huge feeling of betrayal by her own mother. All hell broke loose and sadly Toby’s mother was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bethany is that dangerous 'blonde girl’ at Radley that Dr. Palmer was talking to Toby about in 4x04. “The air was too heavy around that girl”, said Dr. Palmer, thus indicating this wasn’t Bethany’s first incident where she went crazy. Poor girl, I feel sympathy for people with mental disorders.

Charles witnessed his sister, Bethany, killing Marion at Radley. Charles is A. This text from A makes sense!





Let’s quickly add that Bethany and Charles both hated Jessica; their mother. So, during their free time, together they did this (mainly Bethany did it as its signed by her):





So the background knowledge is all there. The rest of it just falls into place and can be summarised like this:

Brother and sister Charles and Bethany both escaped from Radley that night that Ali 'disappeared’. Jessica was on the phone with the staff at Radley that night, trying to locate her son and daughter, hence she didn’t let Alison go to the sleepover with the liars. Jessica feared that maybe Charles and Bethany would be nearby and Alison would see them if she was wondering around town.

As we know, Alison got hit from someone.





CHARLES HIT ALISON WITH THE ROCK. Jessica saw this!



Charles did it out of pure jealousy that Alison was getting all the attention in life and Charles was being treated like a shadow for being the ‘accidental’ child! Hell, Charles had spent years hiding in Radley whilst Alison was living life to the max! So Alison was knocked out and Charles quickly escaped. Charles didn’t want his mother to see him do this - more on this later. This is why Jessica buried Alison - she thought Ali was already dead, so she had to choose Charles over Alison. She chose Charles over Alison that way the body is gone and she can say “I don’t know what happened to her”, to protect Charles. Again, it’s all about keeping Charles a secret.



And no - you may be thinking Jessica sent this email to Charles; whom she is protecting by burying Alison.

Nope!

This was (nearly) sent to Peter Hastings - Charles’ other parent. Because Charles is back in Rosewood, out of Radley (he’s running around town in a black hoodie!) and soon, Jessica and Peter’s secret would be exposed. Hence, “I can’t protect you anymore”.

Meanwhile, during that same night, Bethany was killed. How sad for Charles - the one person that he had whom did not classify him as invisible - the one person who loved him (his sister) - had been killed. Alison killed Bethany because Alison just faked her death after Mona helped her - SOMEONE needed to be dead in the grave if she could successfully fake her death! Alison set the whole thing up - she knew she had a sister out there (don’t ask how she knew, she’s Alison), so Ali wore the same yellow top that she knew Bethany wears (the yellow top Mrs. D was buying for Bethany). Ali needed someone with the same blood to be in the grave in her place.

Everyone thinks Ali arranged for Bethany to wear the same yellow top as her - I think its the opposite: Alison decided to wear the yellow top based on what Bethany wears. Not the other way around.

As revealed in 5x11, Melissa then buried Bethany and pushed her in the grave, after Alison actually killed her.

Charles, who hoped that by killing Alison would then pave the way for him being able to come out of hiding and be more appreciated in life, eventually killed his mother Jessica in 4x24. Enough was enough. Nothing he could do or say will ever work to get their attention. He’s always being ignored, no one will ever love him.



Charles became A. It revolved around Alison - Alison killed Bethany who was the one and only important person in Charles’ life who loved and accepted him. Charles needed revenge for making his life even worse than it already was. And on top of Alison killing Charles, Alison had the life Charles had always wanted - a life of being wanted and simply not being told to live a life hiding from everyone. Jealousy. So when Charles stole the game from Mona, he felt a sense of power. A sense of “no one can stop me now, I’m so powerful”. Charles wants to see other people go through a living hell just like he did, and what better person to start it on than Alison and her friends. The liars - out of feeling empowered and like he finally has his life under control, being A makes him happy. Alison - out of hate, revenge and jealousy. Maybe there is another reason he is attacking the liars - but we definitely have a reason he is attacking Alison.

Now all that is left to do is wait for episode 6x10 titled Game Over Charles, when this face and his true motives will no longer be a mystery!







I’m sorry this was such a long post, I tried to simplify it as much as possible but because I was covering 6.5 seasons worth, it had to be big! I really appreciate all your support on this post, it literally has taken hours to re-search, think, and write.

Thank you if you’ve made to the end, hope you enjoyed! :)

