The Monster of All Theories
What I’m about to say, I don’t believe has been said in any other theory before. Yes, there is a twin, an identical twin… And it is someone we have met, someone we think we know very well and yet don’t know at all. There are three. Bethany, Courtney, and Charlotte. All identical, only two are twins, Charlotte is a doppelgänger of both identical twins so you could say… There are triplets among us, at least there used to be.
Charlotte never meant to hurt anyone, she never did- in fact, the only things she did usually ended with no one dying, and yet someone… Someone out there was a cold-blooded murderer. That person is still out there. That person is who I’m going to name “Courtney” (an ode to the books!).
She killed Jessica. She killed Ian. She killed Garret. She killed Charlotte. She corrupted and tried to kill Alison. She met with Melissa. She had the visitors pass. She lived in the haunted house. She went to UPenn. Everything Charlotte didn’t admit to, Courtney was behind it. She was behind it all. It was said that Bethany Young was 20 when she died, making her and Courtney two years younger than Charlotte. Charlotte isn’t the one with the twin, Bethany and Courtney are identical twins and they look EXACTLY like Charlotte, and I’m going to prove it.
Lets start at the beginning, the twins story- this is the story of Bethany and Courtney. We originally thought that Charlotte was the one with the twin, that the other girl represented Alison… It sounded right but didn’t really fit, Charlotte never caused any intentional harm to Alison- therefore she couldn’t be one of the twins. We knew one of them was crazy enough to stab the other over a doll, that one of them was sent to Radley, and one of them was dead. Now, in the story- they never said the other twin died after the stabbing, it is merely assumed she died from the wounds.
Both twins survived, one was insane- the other was not. The dead twin that we see over and over repeatedly tells us that her sister keeps telling lies to her parents about her, I think it’s quite possible that Courtney stabbed herself to get Bethany thrown into Radley. In 3x13, the dead twin shows up again- she says she called her mother and asked to go home but her mother started crying. The dead twin then says her sister tells lies about her- telling her parents she ran away, that they fight all the time.
This could be interpreted as Courtney telling her parents that Bethany ran away from Radley when she was actually murdered.
How do I know that Bethany was the non-violent twin? The tapes. The tapes that were recorded during Bethany’s stay at Radley.
“She’s a bitch. She’s an evil bitch. I don’t mean nasty or rude, I mean evil! Without a soul! You could be the nicest person in the world, she gets them to do anything she wants! 5 minutes with her and you’d drown a bag of kittens if she asked, 2 minutes if you’re a man!”
The person that Bethany is talking about doesn’t fit anyone on the show that we know of, Charlotte was not evil, and I can’t stress enough that she repeatedly uses “she” to identify this person. But… There’s more, from another one of the tapes Bethany had been recorded on:
“Not destructive, self defense! It’s me or her, she’s not the only one who can make plans!”
Bethany sounded like it was either her or the other- neither could live while the other survived. (Harry Potter reference for my potterheads!)
Does that sound like someone who would just randomly push someone off the roof and then blame it on someone else? No… Because the one who pushed Marion off the roof wasn’t Bethany, it was Courtney. How do you think Charlotte knew how to get in and out of Radley? Someone showed her how.
I believe Courtney snuck in and out of Radley at will to cause trouble, that way she could do whatever she wanted and Bethany would take the blame. She’d take the blame every single time because she wasn’t the twin that was admitted.
Now, lets take a step back to 5x13, the Christmas episode… While rummaging through the DiLaurentis house, Hanna found a letter, a letter from Bethany to Alison. Does this letter sound like someone who has any intent on hurting Alison?
This letter solves one of the biggest mysteries on the show… The yellow tops. Courtney sent letters to Bethany pretending to be Alison, she’s the one who bought the yellow tops, she’s the one who set everything up. Charlotte following Bethany from Radley back to her house to protect Jessica proves the fact that she had absolutely no idea there were more than one yellow top out that night, in fact it proves that whoever set everything up was NOT Charlotte but someone else.
It’s funny how Melissa and Charlotte were supposed to have this huge relationship, yet the only time Charlotte mentions her was when it involved the trip to Cape May. Charlotte supposedly went to UPenn with Melissa, Melissa supposedly called Charlotte to tell her that Mona was in Radley… But Charlotte was already IN Radley. She had never met Mona before, she knew nothing about her, she listened to Mona talk about how happy they were that Alison was gone… And yet, why did Charlotte need a visitors pass? Why did she tell Melissa to notify her if Mona was ever in Radley? It’s because Charlotte wasn’t the one using the visitors pass, it was Courtney. Courtney used Charlotte’s “Cece Drake” alias to gallivant around, she made friends with Melissa- corrupted Alison, and caused mass mayhem around Rosewood.
Courtney started the entire thing, from day 1. The attack on Alison in the haunted house? It was right after the frat party, and right after Alison started receiving messages… And ironically, right after Alison told the twin story the first time. Courtney created destruction wherever she went, she got people in trouble and felt no remorse whatsoever.
The fact that Charlotte, Courtney, and Bethany looked alike worked for Courtney’s advantage, she could do whatever the hell she wanted and one or the other would get blamed for it. That’s also why Jessica was taking “Bethany” out, only it wasn’t Bethany, it was Courtney- she was blackmailing Jessica for either the existence of Charlotte, or the murder of Mrs. Cavanaugh- probably both. It was said at the stables where Jessica took her riding that “Bethany” threw a bucket at Jessica’s head, they never came back. Courtney then hated Jessica, she started to feed Bethany lies about Jessica having an affair with their father… This is when Bethany’s drawings turned dark, this is when Charlotte realized Jessica could be in danger- and therefore giving Courtney the motivation she needed to kill her twin once and for all. If Courtney’s plan worked Bethany would’ve killed Jessica, Courtney would’ve killed Bethany (both of them wearing the yellow top), and Alison would’ve went down for the murder because she was also in a yellow top. Bethany killing Jessica would match the anger she had towards Jessica so no one would question it, and Courtney murdering Bethany wouldn’t be questioned since both were in yellow tops, and Alison would’ve gone down for the murder because of the letter planted in the DiLaurentis house so it made to look like she planned to kill her. (Season 5 storyline anyone?)… That is, if Charlotte hadn’t have escaped and accidentally knocked Alison out in the first place.
Now, getting to the proof that Courtney is in fact Uber A… There are some requirements for the person who actually IS Uber A… 1. This person knows everything that happened on Labor Day. 2. This person dug up Bethany’s body in 3x01, proving that someone knew that body wasn’t Alison before anyone else. 3. This person knew every single person involved with each crime, aka Mona and Melissa, along with the accomplices who covered them up. 4. This person is highly intelligent, but absolutely insane and dangerous.
Charlotte had no idea that Alison was alive up until the night of the lodge fire, so how could she have possibly known the person in Alison’s grave wasn’t her? The simple answer is, she couldn’t have. This proves that whoever Uber A is knew not only the Bethany was dead and that Alison survived, but they knew who was responsible for each crime. Didn’t you ever wonder why exactly Melissa, Wilden, and others did the things they did? There was something they had done that someone knew about that held it against them.
Last episode Melissa said Charlotte called Wren and told him what Melissa had done, this would be impossible because Charlotte was watching Jessica bury Alison, she had been with Jessica the ENTIRE night while Bethany was knocked out and buried. Meaning someone saw everything happen and watched it unfold.
Another thing Charlotte said during the 6x10 finale stuck out to me… She said she could never trust Mona, that since she hit her best friend with a car, how could she trust her? And yet, the red coat who dug up Bethany’s body had Mona do it. Speaking of red coats, one of the scenes with the A ending has red coat torching bobbleheads of the girls, if Charlotte had worn the red coat just that one time at the saw mill… Who bought the black hoodies in 3x01?
Now, I’m going to go back to the Season 4 finale when Jessica was murdered. We all know Charlotte didn’t do that, Jessica was the last person in the world who knew Charlotte existed and was the only person left who loved her. The person who did this was heartless, they wanted to hurt Charlotte and Alison in any way necessary, and that was taking away someone they loved, and someone who the killer absolutely hated. No one on the show hated Jessica more than Bethany, at least that’s what you’re made to think- and yet, if Bethany is dead, who STILL hated Jessica enough to kill her? Courtney.
Courtney isn’t like Charlotte or Mona, she has no real reason to do what she does… As Bethany said, “She’s a bitch. She’s an evil bitch. I don’t mean nasty or rude, I mean evil! Without a soul!”
Knowing just how evil, and just how smart Courtney was, she did things for Charlotte to hate Bethany (i.e. killing Marion and blaming it on her), and she did things for Bethany to hate Jessica (telling her about the “affair”). She pitted people against each other without them knowing it was even happening, and they didn’t even know they were being manipulated, Courtney had a reason for every single move she made- she never did anything that wouldn’t serve a purpose.
Now, reading the synopsis for an upcoming episode, it says that Alison believes she’s going insane- I think Courtney is going to be showing up (much like what Alison did when she was supposed to be “dead”) just to torture Alison, making her think Charlotte is still alive. Alison will probably think she’s going insane and will most likely be put in a place like Radley (possibly by her own hubby *cough*).
Now, who do I think killed Charlotte? Like I said in my Vertigo theory (which you can read here: http://theplltheorist.tumblr.com/post/137259102034/6x11-thoughts-and-vertigo), I think Dr. Rollins was the one to help murder Charlotte- while Courtney was there. From the tapes Bethany was recorded on, she said Courtney could get anyone to do anything she wanted within a few minutes of knowing them, 2 minutes if you’re a man. And I can guarantee you that he’s using his marriage to Alison as an alibi, Courtney probably told him to do it as an alibi but also to further damage Alison and put her away permanently. And we’ve also seen recently that whoever the big bad is right now has access to Medical Records, (Veronica and Yvonne’s).
And now, she’s going after Mona and Melissa as well, she’s framing Melissa for murder and torturing Mona as well. Melissa is going to most likely be pinned for some murder, whether it’s Charlotte or Bethany- right now it looks like Melissa may be going down for Charlotte’s murder because of the murder weapon being a part of her luggage bag. And remember, Melissa HATES Charlotte now for telling Wren what she did… So they’ll believe the motive.
Now, for the physical proof:
In 6x10, while Charlotte is explaining what happened Labor Day- she says that Bethany left with the Yellow Top, and from this letter that was found in 5x13… Someone was sending Bethany letters pretending to be Alison, and THEY are the ones who gave Bethany the yellow top. In 3x19 Jason stumbles out of the house, drunk and high- he sees Melissa and someone who looks like Charlotte in the yellow top. I think it’s very likely that Melissa was talking to Courtney, in fact- I think Courtney was the one who outed Alison and Ian to Melissa.
Whomever Melissa was talking to in the yellow top, she knew- she knew very well. And in 6x10 while Charlotte was explaining how she accidentally hit her thinking it was Bethany, Alison says that Jason saw her and Melissa talking, but it couldn’t have been Charlotte because she was in all black. So, whoever Melissa was talking to looked EXACTLY like Charlotte.
And in episode 4x24, when Alison was telling the girls what happened on Labor Day, she discovered the EXACT same yellow shirt in her room- along with an A message. So the person who sent both Alison AND Bethany yellow tops had a plan for them, and Charlotte was NOT included in that deal.
And again in 6x10, Charlotte said she stopped visiting Mona once they started weaning her off her meds- and yet, in 3x01 Red Coat took Mona to the cemetery to dig up Bethany’s body which Emily recalls in 3x18. This proves that whomever dug the grave up KNEW whoever was in that grave wasn’t Alison, and Charlotte believed Alison had been dead up until she discovers that Alison is alive in the Lodge Fire.
One of the most prominent pieces of proof that Bethany, Charlotte, and Courtney looked alike was in 6x10, while Charlotte is explaining what happened Labor Day when she mistook Alison for Bethany- Charlotte says this: “She stole my clothes and knew I had out privileges so she snuck out of Radley.”
Speaking of Red Coats… A recurring thing that keeps popping up are twins, specifically twins in red. Well, take a look:
The last photo is from the night Charlotte was murdered, whoever was in that red shirt was there when Charlotte was murdered… And since Marlene has confirmed there is an identical twin coming up, along with the fact Alison believes she’s going insane. It has to be someone who looks exactly like Charlotte without being her twin… I believe Courtney is alive and well, and we’re going to meet her… Very, very soon.
(P.S. Melissa is still the one trying to figure out who the killer is, and Dr. Rollins is still the one who killed Charlotte… None of that has changed!)
I have a lot more physical proof that she exists, but I’ve been writing this theory going on about 10 hours total so… If you have any questions, shoot me a message!
I LOVE this theory but one thing. Bethany was 2 years older than Alison. Which makes her also 2 years older than the liars too and 4 years younger than Charlotte. The note that Hanna found that Bethany supposedly wrote to Alison was planted by “A” (Charlotte) it’s assumed she planted that to make Alison look guilty. Charlotte was afraid of losing Alison again that’s why she was doing all of this like attacking her in the living room. She said that in the finale. Ian killed himself which was confirmed after the finale in an interview. I think Alison will be A and she was the red coat that was in the grave because like you said CeCe was seeing this Red Coat all the time which was Alison so the Red Coat from 3x01/3x18 is not Charlotte it has to be Alison. Who else would know about the red coat disguise? Only Alison. Charlotte started using the red coat way after to somehow distract Alison and that’s when she made Sara Harvey the other Red Coat as the decoy.
Marlene said that Courtney will not exist on the show but we may see a double of someone. But it’s possible she will use another name. Now, bringing back the blonde Melissa was talking to the story is unrealistic. I think they will just say it was Bethany. After they found out CeCe was A, they would’ve question Melissa who she was talking to. It would be unrealistic if they would question her that 5 years later. Great theory!
@pllvarjak The age has nothing to do with it really, I just said the ages to show that Charlotte couldn’t be the one with the twin- and I named the imaginary twin Courtney so it wouldn’t confuse people to which person I was talking about. And the red coat that was at the cemetery in 3x01 couldn’t have been Alison because the person who dug the grave up was the same person who was sending them body parts- and it was the same person who held the body hostage until the night of the Halloween train. Personally I would LOVE for Alison to turn around and be the one behind it all- I’m kinda sick of the whole “nice Alison” thing. It would also mean she was the one who murdered her sister, so if she did- she’s one hell of an actress and hates her friends probably more than anyone else. I need bitch Alison back, guys.
What about this whole “He’s Coming” thing from the previews before the second half of the season started? When Alison as in her classroom and the girls came in? Who is “he”?
Part of me is excited to see this happen, you’ve been right before! But also, I would like for the twin to be someone so far out there that we’d have to sit there and go “we never really did KNOW this character”.
My issue with all of this show is that Marlene is so…I don’t know the right word for it, annoying? When it comes to ‘clues’. Her twitter is full of ‘clues’ that really are meaningless.
As far as ‘Courtney’ being the made up twin of Bethany and the doppelganger of CeCe, how would they make that work? Would we chalk it up to them being too lazy to find an actress?
I’m slightly obsessed with this theory, I just want more!
The “he” could possibly be referred to Dr. Rollins, I think people have put too much weight on the scene- it really gives nothing away. The “he” could really be anybody, most likely a new suspect that they think killed Charlotte- Hell, it could be Jason for all we know. Those scenes that they hand out are built for everyone to think it’s a huge deal when it really could be nothing more than a slight of hand- like the 3x24 cliffhanger with the trunk, we had to wait until 4x01 to find out it was a pig lmao.
The doppelgänger/Bethany’s twin could easily work- because we know they’ve been mixed up before. There has to be a specific reason that up until this point nearly 7 seasons in, the only thing we’ve seen of Bethany was the flashback in the finale… There are SO many things “Cece” did that Charlotte never brought up or admitted to, that were HUGE parts of the story, and the fact that Melissa was freaking out about the disc of her admitting to killing Bethany means the story is still relevant to what’s going on. It would also make sense that if Rollins did kill Charlotte, and he’s marrying Alison for an alibi, and Alison is soon going to be seeing visions of Charlotte that makes her go insane… Someone out there looks like Charlotte enough to scare the living crap out of her, and Rollins will probably be the one to “encourage” these visions, that is- if he is in fact working with her. P.S. They had to film the ending 2 episodes ahead of time to shoot Vanessa, so we know for a fact she’ll be heavily used in the upcoming ones. It could be flashbacks, visions, or both.
If my theory doesn’t happen, I won’t be a bit mad- because as I said it is VERY complicated, but I do hope we see Vanessa in some form. It’s so not fair Charlotte was introduced then murdered literally the next episode 😂
