After Rewatching Yellowjackets, I Know the Exact Moment Shauna Became the Antler Queen

Yellowjackets ended its third season with a big reveal: the identity of the Antler Queen as Shauna. But in looking back at the series’ run-up to that point, it was evident long before that she was the leader to whom all the ladies, reluctant or otherwise, were following in this position of dominance.

The series, which centers around a group of high school women stranded on an island following a plane crash, has been renewed for a fourth season. So, there will be more stories to tell in both the present day and the past, looking back at the events leading up to their eventual rescue. But revisiting the series provides clear clues to Shauna being the Antler Queen long before this was officially revealed.

Shauna Wasn’t Always the Antler Queen

The Antler Queen was introduced in the very first episode of Yellowjackets, one of the best teen mystery shows. She is in an opening scene showing the girls feasting on human flesh in a cannibalistic ritual. The events are being overseen by one of the women who is wearing a white dress and a headdress covering her face. It’s clear she’s a leader, perhaps some type of supernatural entity. But her identity is never shown, and fans are the ones who give her the name Antler Queen.

There are hints initially that suggest the Antler Queen is someone else, like Lottie, especially when she is seen wearing an antler crown that looks similar to the one worn by the Antler Queen. When Lottie bestows the crown to Natalie in season two after “the wilderness” seemingly chooses Javi to die instead of her, it’s assumed she might now be the Antler Queen.

Once Natalie is discovered to have been hiding Coach Ben’s location following his disappearance after the fire, Lottie takes the crown from her and decides to give it to Shauna instead. It’s in this moment that Shauna is truly identified as being the Antler Queen, even if it isn’t explicitly shown until the season three finale. But upon further examination, there were many other subtle hints that Shauna was the Antler Queen from long before this reveal as well. Or rather, reveals that she was slowly ascending into being named the leader and overseer within the wilderness.

The Clues That Shauna Was The Antler Queen

Once Shauna becomes the clear leader of the group, she takes on the position with vigor and an iron fist. She is the one who decides that they will feast on Coach Ben following his death. She rules with a sense of ruthlessness and cruelty. The women appear to fear her rather than respect her as Shauna becomes more malicious and hungry for power. These were traits that were teased from the very beginning, even before the crash, starting with her cruel desire to quietly exert power over her best friend by secretly sleeping with her boyfriend.

In the pilot scene, the Antler Queen is seen gesturing everyone to feast. From the very beginning when they first begin cannibalistic rituals, Shauna’s job is to butcher the meat and ration the food. This suggests that she is the same person who oversees the feasts as the one who plays a crucial role in preparing it and advising on how it should be cooked and served.

Keen-eyed viewers will notice that the Antler Queen’s dress also includes human hair. Shauna showed many signs of being fascinated with hair, including demanding Mari’s hair after her death, and earlier playing with Hannah’s hair. Speaking of Mari, given that many theories correctly pointed to Mari being Pit Girl, the moment that she and Shauna began their bitter rivalry was another moment that solidified that Shauna was the Antler Queen overseeing the ritual of consuming Mari’s body.

When the ladies first find the abandoned cabin that becomes their home for many months until it burns down, Shauna is seen stroking the deer antlers on the wall, as though she feels some kinship to them. She later cuts a deer’s throat in that same episode, both subtle clues that she has a deeper connection to this animal.

Shauna’s pregnancy also pointed to her potentially being the Antler Queen, since tribes like theirs would be known for protecting the mother, and especially the baby. While her baby sadly didn’t survive, the pregnancy and carrying the baby to term may have solidified Shauna’s maturity and level of leadership among the group. Many of the ladies hadn’t even had sex yet, and thus they may have viewed Shauna’s pregnancy as a sign of her being the most mature one, and the person best to lead.

Later, after finding and capturing Hannah and Kodiak, the group packs up to take the trek to where Hannah and Kodiak advise they could be rescued. But Shauna puts her cruel foot down, insisting that leaving was not a good idea. Despite their reluctance, the ladies have no choice but to obey, the look in Shauna’s eyes and the looks in theirs suggesting that no one has such a power over them than her.

What’s most telling is that despite the chance that they could be rescued, Shauna refuses to go with Hannah and Kodiak on the chance that they could help them get rescued. It’s as though she wants to stay in the wilderness; she is craving the power she has there that she never had in her life back at home. When members of the group try to set Hannah and Kodiak free in the middle of the night in hopes of being led to safety, Shauna foils the plan because she is always a step ahead. In a panic, Hannah kills Kodiak to save herself and pledges her allegiance. She would not have done so had she not clearly seen Shauna as a threat and a leader.

To be a leader like the Antler Queen, the person would need to be able to make difficult decisions without letting emotions get in the way. Shauna did this on more than one occasion. She once threatened to hurt Melissa and almost killed her, frightening the young woman into submission. This was yet another moment that pointed to Shauna being the only logical person to don the leadership dress.

Thauna’s Heartlessness and Paranoia in Present Day Fits

In the present day, after Lottie is reunited with the ladies at her compound, she hallucinates, seeing the Antler Queen. She indicates that a hunt with no violence doesn’t feed anyone, mimicking similar words that Shauna had often implied in the wilderness. This was another hint that Shauna was the Antler Queen, her presence on the compound conjuring up these visions once again for Lottie.

Lottie’s obsession and fascination with Callie also point to Shauna being the Antler Queen. Lottie was insistent that Callie was a chosen one, and she’d have no other reason to think so if they didn’t view Shauna in the same way back in the wilderness. A clue to the grip she had on the girls comes in season three when they come face-to-face with Melissa in present day, learning that she survived a supposed death by suicide years after they were rescued.

Melissa reveals to Shauna that she wasn’t actually in love with her, despite their brief romance in the wilderness. She was simply acting on self-preservation, believing that if she was close to Shauna in that way, she might be spared from the horrors Shauna was inflicting on others. It’s impossible for Shauna to have had such power while someone else was deemed a queen on the island.

The Signs Were Always There

As noted, Shauna wasn’t always the Antler Queen. It was first Natalie. But the woman seen in the headdress in the pilot scene was indeed Shauna, the human flesh they were feasting on having belonged to Mari.

Simone Kessell, who played the adult Lottie, noted in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the Antler Queen was really just a part of all of them. “She really was something that kind of kept these women going to survive in the wilderness.” Now, following the record-breaking Season 3 finale, fans know that she was, in simpler terms, at least by the end, Shauna.

Shauna did indeed keep the women going in the wilderness. But she also seemingly kept them trapped there longer than they possibly had to be. As adult Shauna noted in the finale while writing in her journal, she thrived on the power, loved it. She still craves it to this day. And looking back on adult Shauna’s interactions with the surviving ladies, they knew it all along.

No one hesitated to believe that Shauna could do heinous things. She was always the first suspect when something went wrong or someone died. Her innocent, bored housewife persona proved to be just that, a persona. These ladies knew who she really was, and they feared her because of it. They knew what she was capable of then and didn’t doubt she was still capable of it today.

It’s not confirmed that Shauna will continue to be the Antler Queen through to the time the ladies are rescued. They let the wilderness dictate that. If there’s another clear sign that the power dynamics have shifted, someone else could very well become the Antler Queen before rescue. But for now, Shauna holds that title and has no plans of relinquishing it to anyone.