This 'PLL' Theory About Hanna & Mary Is Bonkers

It's official: With its Season 7A finale, Pretty Little Liars has finally made my head spin. I can't say I'm surprised it finally happened, considering finales in the Pretty Little Liars universe always end with fans asking more questions than were before it aired, but still — I guess this is some sort of milestone, or something. When it comes to Season 7A's finale, my questions are plentiful: Who is A.D. is the biggest, of course, followed by the slightly smaller but no less important question: What is Mary Drake's game? In the finale (spoiler alert!), she seemed to randomly show up at that creepy school for the blind when Noel and Jenna were looking to kill the liars — and she was just in time to see Spencer get shot in the chest by a mysterious shooter. As she held a wounded Spencer in her arms, she dropped the bombshell to end all bombshells: She's Spencer's real mother, not Veronica Hastings. As the Liars, including Spencer, stared at Mary in shock, she began to sing Spencer a lullaby — weirdly, the same lullaby that Hanna dreamt Spencer herself was singing to her earlier in the season when A.D. abducted her and held her hostage. Of course, this could be a coincidence, but it's pretty clear at this point that there aren't many of those in Rosewood, or Pretty Little Liars as a whole: So, I gotta ask, could Hanna have actually seen Mary when she was abducted, and just hallucinated that she was dreaming of Spencer?

OK, OK — I know it sounds crazy. But bear with me here, because this wacky theory is also pretty believable. In posts on their respective social media platforms, Pretty Little Liars fans like Tumblr user Pretty Little Sessions and Reddit user SammiBetz suggested the theory that, perhaps, Hanna saw Mary when she was being held captive, and just imagined it to be Spencer because she was sleep-deprived, and therefore not completely lucid. Think about it: In the Season 7A premiere, we see Hanna "waking up" in horror when she finds herself locked up in a cell-type room. She then sees Spencer (who doesn't have bangs like the real Spencer does at this time — this is important) standing over her. "Spencer" encourages Hanna to not give up, but Hanna tells Spencer that she's "not real" and that she can't really help her. Then, "Spencer" comforts Hanna with the lullaby until Hanna falls asleep again. If you, like many others, felt that the scene seemed strange, that could be because there's an extremely easy explanation: Mary was actually pretending to be Spencer.

I told you it sounded crazy! But take a look at Pretty Little Sessions' theory and SammiBetz's theory and think about it: there's actually a lot of evidence to back up that it was Mary (in the flesh) who visited Hanna that night. From Pretty Little Sessions:

...look at Spencer/Mary’s expression. She has just found out that they have kidnapped and are torturing an innocent girl.

Troian is 100% channeling Mary Drake’s body language. The reason she is being maternal as fuck is because she is actually a mother.

She gives Hanna a spectacular pep talk about escaping, and tells her she’ll need her strength. Then she cradled her, and sings her a lullaby.

Then, Sammibetz's:

Get the vibe that Hannas dream of Spencer was really Mary? When Hanna talks about not knowing Charlottes killer, Spencer says: "You were telling the truth, though, right?" Why would Hanna dream Spencer saying that? The only way that makes sense is if it was Mary in a Spencer mask (sigh) We already know AD has a Hanna mask, who's to say they don't have every Rosewood resident under the sun??

There are a few other possible hints too, if you read into the scene deeply enough:

1. It's All In The Hair

Sometime during the five-year time jump, Spencer got a new set of bangs. The bangs are a very big deal, as they're actually a hairpiece that actress Troian Bellisario wears to play Spencer — not a haircut that Bellisario happened to get during hiatus. Since the bangs are signature Spencer in real life, it seems odd that Hanna would dream up a Spencer who doesn't have them. Without the bangs, Spencer's hair and Mary's hair look pretty similar.

2. "Spencer" Mentions A.D.

At this point, Hanna only knows A.D. as "A-Moji," or Uber A. She only discovers that the Liars got a text with the moniker A.D. after she escaped her torture chamber. "Spencer," however, tells Hanna "If A.D. can get in and out of this place, you can, too." Hanna wouldn't know what an "A.D. is," but Mary — who was in cahoots with Archer/Dr. Rollins — might know the acronym.

3. "Spencer" Is Confused About Whether Or Not Hanna Killed Charlotte

The real Spencer obviously knows that Hanna didn't kill Charlotte — it was part of their plan to smoke out A — but as Charlotte's mother, Mary has many reasons to ask Hanna if she was the killer. After Hanna tells "Spencer" that she'd "tell" if she knew who really killed Charlotte, "Spencer" encourages her to look for a way out of her cell.

4. Mary Happens To Be In The Middle Of Nowhere When Hanna Escapes

How would Mary know what area Hanna was in if she didn't have anything to do with her abduction? Mary may not have been the person torturing Hanna from the beginning, but perhaps she knew where Hanna was, and drove into the area to make herself available when Hanna eventually escaped.

5. Mary's Comment About "Tenderness" Could Refer To Hanna

During a conversation with Emily in the second episode of Season 7A, Mary mentions that she was able to find "tenderness," even within Radley. She then goes on to say: "That's all anyone needs to survive, a little tenderness in the right moment." That could refer to what "Spencer" was doing with Hanna in the cell: offering tenderness meant to help Hanna survive being kidnapped.

6. Mary's Lullaby Is Suspicious

In the Season 7A finale, Mary sings a lullaby, "Hush Little Baby," to Spencer after the 23 year old is shot. During the Season 7A premiere, "Spencer" sang the exact same lullaby Hanna in her cell. Weirdly, Mona also sang that lullaby when she was trapped in the hole in the dollhouse during Season 6. Could that song have played in Charlotte's dollhouse to honor Mary?

Was it really Mary who visited Hanna that night? We won't know for sure until Pretty Little Liars answers every burning question during its final 10 episodes.

Images: Freeform (3); Giphy (2); dilaurnts/Tumblr