What Does The 'PLL' Finale Episode Title Mean?

If you're anything like this writer, there may be a bleak, existential hole in your life at the moment. I'm not referring to the emotional hangover that comes part and package of being a human in the world, but a certain bleakness pertaining to a very special TV series: Pretty Little Liars. Ever since I. Marlene King decided to haunt our nightmares with one action-packed cliffhanger, we've been residing in a sad Pretty Little Liars-free existence. Luckily, King has mercifully granted us the Pretty Little Liars finale episode title by publishing it on her Instagram account, and so we are now empowered to speculate furiously and ceaselessly about what this infers about the last ever episode of Pretty Little Liars (gulp).

The episode title is "'Till Death Do Us Part," and, if that isn't an incredibly ominous title, then you clearly haven't been checking in with Rosewood's most tormented residents on the regular. Because, as we all know, Pretty Little Liars is all about the five main characters being brought tantalizingly close to exiting this world. And, if it's the last ever episode, that could mean higher stakes. Which could mean one of our main characters dying, right?

Alternatively, given the context, it could just as easily refer to one of our couples getting hitched. So let's explore all the possible endings this title could leave us with.

It Could Refer To One Of Our Four Original Liars Being Killed

As much as we’d all be shocked if Spencer or Hanna or Emily or Aria were killed off, it wouldn’t be that surprising. This is, after all, the traditional route a show follows when it’s been on the air for a seriously long time, and they want to convey to fans that they mean business by killing off one of the leads. Without spoilering too hard, think, for example, of the shocking death of one of the leads during Roseanne’s final episode, or one of the main characters during Six Feet Under in its last few episodes. It means no do-overs and no return to the screen (without some serious maneuvering of the other characters). I’d argue this — paired with a wedding, for that all-important Pretty Little Liars double entendre — is the most likely ending for the entire show.

It Could Refer To Alison Being Killed

Sure, Alison’s one of the main characters, but the show has always handled her with a certain coolness. It’s been rare in the show’s history that she’s been portrayed as unambiguously positive for a few episodes in a row; we’ve been trained to mistrust her. Perhaps this is the show’s way of preparing us for her eventual demise. Besides that, it would create a nice symmetry for the action, both beginning the show on her “death” and ending the show on her actual death.

It Could Refer To Toby Being Killed

Let's be real: out of all the PLL boyfriends, there's one clear candidate to be bumped off. Assuming that what looked like Toby being in real danger at the end of the last episode is used as a setup to make us think that the show isn't killing off Toby — because why put him in danger twice? — then this might be the ultimate double-bluff.

We've been given limited Spencer/Toby screen time in comparison to our other couples. We've been more or less coaxed into disengaging with Toby as a romantic competitor, because his fiancee's so damn lovely, and we don't want them to split up. Spencer's been given a new romantic paramour, police detective Marco Furey. In short, I feel like the show has set us on a path, and the end of that path is Toby being six feet under. We'll miss him, it'll give the ending emotional heft, but we can also imagine Spencer doing A-OK without him.

It Could Refer To Aria's Wedding

While the episode could theoretically refer to any of the Liars' weddings, since none of them are married yet (and even Alison's husband is conveniently deceased, meaning she could tie the knot again), I'd argue this would most likely refer to Aria's wedding. Why? She's already been proposed to, so that's already been set in motion, but Ezra's assumed-dead-girlfriend has been found again, which should prove tricky enough to entangle that we'll need the full second half of Season 7 to reunite our star-crossed lovers.

It Could Refer To Pam's Wedding

OK, admittedly, this isn't so much the thing that's probably going to happen as the thing I want to happen. Pam was tragically widowed when her husband passed away in combat in Iraq. She's spent most of her adult life being overly focused on her troubled, athletic daughter. That one episode where Pam got to let loose with a youthful hen party? It was everything. Please, please, please, can we let Pam have some happiness and romantic fulfillment in her personal life? Please?

Ultimately though, we all know Pretty Little Liars loves two things: bad puns and lots of gore. As such, I'd argue the title has to have a double meaning, and, as such, the finale will include both matrimony and murder. The only question is, who will be getting hitched and who will be getting killed? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Images: Warner Bros. Television (3); Giphy (3)