Season 2 of Euphoria introduced Dominic Fike's Elliot during the first episode's New Year's Eve party, where he meets (and does drugs with) a faux-sober Rue. Soon after, the two are spending a ton of time together, listening to music (Elliot sells music stems on the internet, I barely know what that means) and, unfortunately for everyone rooting for Rue, doing drugs. It's no surprise that Jules initially professes not to like Elliot — she can sense that something is up between him and her girlfriend. However, it's clear that Elliot's charm seems to finally won Jules over by the end of the second season's third episode — which likely will only make it harder if the fan theory of his demise comes true.
Why do fans think that Elliot might die in the second season of Euphoria? There are a few reasons, but the first is — simple foreshadowing. Fans may recall Zendaya's Rue having a vision of dancing with her father, who passed away, while on drugs. Well, as Reddit users pointed out, that moment is replicated again in Season 2, only with Elliot instead of Rue's dad. That, coupled with the fact that Rue and Elliot talked explicitly about her father's death — and how nothing "killed" him, he just died of cancer — might imply that Rue will have to face another major death this season...the death of Elliot.
Then there's a potential clue that Zendaya teased in an interview with Variety about Elliot's arrival.
"In retrospect, and also as someone who understands where the show needs to go and what needs to happen for these characters, it’s crucial that Elliot exist and that he be the person that is honestly the catalyst for a lot of things that just have to happen," the actor noted.
Obviously, Zendaya couldn't give away all the spoilers for Season 2 — but Elliot's arrival must be important to not just Euphoria's story, but Rue's, specifically. Sure, Elliot could come between her and Jules, but I'm not sensing much romantic tension between Elliot and Rue — even if Elliot did profess to have a crush on her. What could happen, however, is Rue seeing something play out with Elliot that could very well have happened to her — like, say, Elliot overdosing on drugs and dying, or even him getting killed after he's caught up in the violence associated with Rue's new drug dealing venture.
Something bad happening to Elliot, rather than Rue herself, might be what she needs to see in order to get help to stop using. She's already overdosed before, and the fear of it happening again didn't keep her from going back to drugs. Rue has always cared more for others than she does her own wellbeing, and if she gets close to Elliot and something bad happens to him, it may make her reevaluate her own life.
There's also the flip side: Theoretically, Elliot's death could also be the thing that sends Rue into a true downward spiral, where she isn't even trying to hide her drug use any more. Elliot's death could be Rue's rock bottom that she wasn't expecting to hit.
Of course, if the Nate-Cassie "romance" is any indication, we won't know what twists Euphoria will have for us until they play out onscreen. Elliot may live well into Season 5 and beyond...but, ya know, maybe we shouldn't get overly attached, just in case.