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[This story contains MAJOR spoilers from the season three finale of Euphoria.]

“Moments like these are rare. This season we lost Angus. Many of you loved him the way I did. He deserved more time, a longer, fuller life, ” Sam Levinson said while speaking about Angus Cloud, who played drug dealer Fezco and died in real life from an accidental overdose, at a screening of Euphoria’s season three finale Sunday night that The Hollywood Reporter attended. “But he was taken, like far too many people in this country, by fentanyl.”

After the season three premiere of Euphoria opened with a tribute to Eric Dane, who played Nate’s father, Cal, and died in February after battling ALS, some fans wondered why Cloud wasn’t given a tribute as well.

The answer is that, in the series, Fezco lived on. In a tearful post-show segment following the premiere, Levinson explained that “Angus didn’t make it in real life, so at least in the made-up world of Euphoria, he’s still alive.” It was revealed in the episode that Fez was serving a 30-year prison sentence following the season two raid on his house.

Throughout season three, Fez remained a presence despite never appearing on screen. Rue (Zendaya) spoke with him on the phone, while Lexi (Maude Apatow), whose relationship with Fez had been teased in season two, also mentioned him in conversations with Rue.

However, audiences didn’t actually see Fez until Sunday night’s finale. During a dream sequence before Rue fatally overdoses on Percocet laced with fentanyl, she sees a news report claiming that Fez has escaped prison and sets out to find him. She arrives at the gas station where he once sold drugs, and an unseen clip of Fez and Rue standing together in a field appears on screen, smiling as they look out toward the horizon. According to Esquire, the footage had never previously been used in the series.

Cloud died in 2023 at age 25 from acute intoxication following an accidental overdose, just one year after season two aired. Fentanyl was among the substances found in his system, making Rue’s fate in the finale even more tragic.

At the season three premiere in Los Angeles last month, Levinson reflected on how Cloud’s death affected both him and the direction of the series.

“I loved Angus very deeply and I fought very hard to keep him clean while he was here. I think when he passed away, it made me sort of step back and go, what is the story I want to tell, what is it I want to say? What matters in life?” Levinson told THR. “And if I was going to do another season, I wanted to make sure that it spoke to a larger idea about meaning and purpose and who we are. It made me want to tackle the idea of faith and belief in something greater than ourselves.”

Shortly after the finale was released, Levinson and HBO confirmed that season three would be the series’ last.

Jackie Strause contributed to this report.

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Euphoria season three is streaming on HBO Max. Check out all of The Hollywood Reporter’s coverage here.