Euphoria Season 3 Episode 5 “This Little Piggy” on HBO ends with Rue Bennet (Zendaya) once again at the twisted mercy of Alamo Brown (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). This time, it looks bad. Did Rue die in Euphoria?

**Spoilers for Euphoria Season 3 Episode 5 “This Little Piggy,” now streaming on HBO Max**

Let’s break it down: After Magick (Rosalía) and Bishop (Darrell Britt-Gibson) raise their concerns about Rue’s loyalty, the HBO hit’s narrator is driven to the middle of Alamo’s ranch and told to dig a hole, only for her to be buried up to her head in it. The episode ends with Alamo riding in on his horse with a polo club, ready to pulverize Rue’s skull. But does he?

When DECIDER spoke with Euphoria star Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje back at the Season 3 junket, we’d only seen the first three episodes, but the actor teased an important twist we saw tonight.

“Now what’s interesting is when he meets Rue and her, let’s say, entourage, they are into this social media kind of new digital era,” Akinnuoye-Agbaje said. “Always being ahead of the curve, Alamo is trying to see how we can utilize that to broaden his empire. So, you know, as opposed to just selling sex in a strip club, he’s now been introduced to OnlyFans and this and that.”

Alamo only learns about this lucrative career opportunity because when he corners Rue at a diner, she is catching up with friend and OnlyFans manager Maddy Perez (Alexa Demie). Much of this week’s episode details how Maddy is successful in propelling Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) to major heights. After Rue leaves with G (Marshawn Lynch) and Bishop, Alamo keeps Maddy company. The two find common ground in their parallel businesses, brokering sex.

Maddy agrees to go into business with Alamo, choosing Magick and Kitty (Anna Van Patten) as her two new girls. So why could this latest development be what saves Rue? Here’s what you need to know about the end of Euphoria Season 3 Episode 5 “This Little Piggy”…

Euphoria Season 3 Episode 5 Ending Explained: Does Rue Die? Does Maddy Save Rue From Alamo’s Wrath?

Euphoria Season 3 Episode 5 “This Little Piggy” ends with Alamo swinging his polo stick, Rue flinching in fear, and the screen cutting to black. Rue is not in the teaser for next week’s episode, but we’re fairly certain that she’ll pull through. Part of it is because Zendaya is the star and executive producer of the show, so it stands to reason she’s safe until at least the series finale, and part of it is what Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje told us back at the junket.

We can tell from scenes in this week’s episode that Alamo is impressed with Maddy. “It’s a new era for him as someone from the older generation. So they’re both teaching each other, you know, traits from their generation,” Akinnuoye-Agbaje said. “He’s teaching her traditions and the old school and they’re teaching him this new frontier through social media and how that can really propel his empire.”

“So he’s really intrigued by that, and to be quite honest, is probably the main reason Rue survives,” he said, with a chuckle. “Yeah, because she’s useful.”

“So he’s really intrigued by that, and to be quite honest, is probably the main reason Rue survives… Yeah, because she’s useful.”

Euphoria star Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

It’s also worth noting that during their drive to the Silver Slipper, Alamo asks Maddy about Rue. When he point blank asks Maddy if she trusts Rue, she says she does. “She’s a little crazy, but she’s got a good heart,” Maddy says.

This alone could be the vote of confidence that Alamo needs in Rue — for now. Meaning, we can expect Alamo’s chance meeting with Maddy to be the miracle that saves Rue this time, but not in the end.

That said, maybe she does die this week! And all of the clips featuring Zendaya we saw in trailers, but haven’t seen yet on the show, are a dream. Who knows? We’ll have to tune in next week to find out.

New episodes of Euphoria come out on Sunday nights at 9 PM ET on HBO and HBO Max.