Who is the Antler Queen on 'Yellowjackets'?

Teen soccer star one minute, cannibalistic Antler Queen the next?

The very first episode of Yellowjackets introduced viewers to the so-called Antler Queen, a mysterious masked figure sitting in the middle of a group of teen girls stranded in the remote Canadian wilderness after surviving a horrific plane crash. The figure is shrouded in animal hides and wearing deer antlers like a crown, seemingly the leader of the clan. But which Yellowjackets character could be behind the sinister individual? 

That season one Yellowjackets ending pointed to one member of the former girls' soccer team being the true identity of the chilling royal, who will no doubt be causing even more macabre mayhem when Yellowjackets season 2 premieres (on Friday, March 24 on Paramount+ and on Sunday, March 26 on Showtime). 

Before we delve into the new sophomore season, let's take a moment to bow down to the Antler Queen. 

Who is the Antler Queen on 'Yellowjackets'?

By the end of Yellowjackets season one, all signs point to Lottie Matthews (played by Courtney Eaton) being the Antler Queen. Lottie starts out as a timid background character but grows in prominence throughout the first season's ten episodes, especially when it's revealed that she's run out of her antipsychotic medication. Whether it's this that leads to her "possession" or if occult forces really are at play in the woods remains to be seen, but by the season's end, she's deeply entrenched in mysticism. 

Eaton herself revealed Lottie as the Antler Queen in an interview with Vulture: "It was crazy because no one knew up until that episode who was going to be the 'Antler Queen,' as everyone’s calling it...We kind of knew it was Lottie to begin with because Sam had done some things in the pilot and she had put some things together. But it was kind of insane."

However, just because Lottie's the queen now doesn't mean she'll be queen forever. Eaton also said: "Obviously I don’t know what happens in season two, but [the crown] seems like something that could be passed on. But also, I don’t know if it would make sense for a lot of other people the way it makes sense for Lottie. No one else has that way of thinking that surrounds the Antler Queen. But I’m not sure. I troll Reddit and it’s interesting to see other people’s picks for who it is."

And given that Eaton has been promoted to a series regular and we now have an adult Lottie entering the Yellowjackets cast next season—New Zealand actress Simone Kessell, joining Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis, Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress and fellow newcomer Lauren Ambrose as the adult Yellowjackets characters in the present-day—we can surely expect even more mystical Antler Queen drama from Lottie Matthews.

As the show's co-creator and showrunner Bart Nickerson told Deadline: "It’s safe to say that Lottie is still alive. I don’t think it’s really a spoiler to say that she will kind of figure prominently into season two."

Catch Yellowjackets season 2 on Paramount+ starting Friday, March 24, or on Showtime starting Sunday, March 26.