‘White Lotus’ Season 2 Finale: Did Daphne and Ethan Have Sex?

The White Lotus Season 2 finale gave us a ton of answers to questions that have been plaguing us all season. Who was the body that Daphne (Meghann Fahy) discovered way back in Episode 1? SPOILERS, but it was Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge). Did Cameron (Theo James) and Harper (Aubrey Plaza) have sex last week? According to Harper, they drunkenly went up to the room with the intentions of having sex. Cameron bolted the door and kissed her, but that’s all. Though Ethan (Will Sharpe) is unconvinced. But The White Lotus Season 2 didn’t end without presenting the audience with one last mystery: did Ethan and Daphne have sex on Isola Bella?

Sure, The White Lotus‘s creator/writer/director gave both couples seemingly happy endings. Cameron and Daphne get to return home to their lives with a promise to visit The White Lotus Maldives next year. More importantly, Ethan and Harper finally have sex and seem once again content in their marriage. But could it be that the thing that gives Ethan his groove back is a tryst with Daphne on that gorgeous little islet?

Here’s what we know about the last unresolved mystery of The White Lotus Season 2… Besides Tanya’s final question to would-be killer Quentin (Tom Hollander): “Is Greg (Jon Gries) having an affair?”

The White Lotus Season 2 Ending Explained: Did Ethan and Daphne Have Sex?

We know that Cameron and Daphne have had sex. We know that Cameron and Lucia (Simona Tabasco) had sex. We know that Ethan and Mia (Beatrice Grannó) did not have sex. We know that Cameron and Harper intended to have sex and almost did, but probably didn’t, but maybe still did. And we know that finally Ethan and Harper had sex. What we don’t know for sure is if Ethan and Daphne had sex. But there are a lot of clues that suggest, yes, they did.

After violently confronting Cameron about trying to sleep with Harper, Ethan walks along the beach. He runs into Daphne who invites him to sit down. She comments that he hasn’t seemed like himself lately, asking, “What is it?”

“You want to know?” Ethan replies.

“Yeah.”

Ethan shares that he believes something happened between Cameron and Harper. Daphne looks devastated for a moment and then collects herself. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” she says. She goes on to say how you can never really know anyone. She even says she surprises herself all the time. Daphne also suggests that the not knowing in and of itself can be sexy. She finishes by saying something surprisingly akin to what she’s shared with Harper all week: “I think you do whatever you have to do not to feel like a victim of life.”

Daphne then gestures to a beautiful inlet not far from the beach. It looks secluded and lush. “Have you been there? Isola Bella?” she asks. “Come on. Walk with me.”

Ethan follows Daphne to Isola Bella. While they walk, they say nothing, but Daphne looks over her shoulder and makes rather seductive eye contact with Ethan. We do not follow them on their Isola Bella excursion, but given Daphne’s speech to Ethan, it seems that they had sex so they would not be the victims.

It also should be noted that Daphne is extremely happy during the last dinner. Cameron, being Cameron, gives an insane toast to their collective friendship. Harper has to hold back tears. It is then when Harper asks Ethan in their room what’s going to happen to them that Ethan finally has sex with her. He seems to have some newfound alpha energy that could be thanks to punching his terrible college roommate, sleeping with Daphne (?), and realizing he was jealous of Harper’s fling with Cameron.

Of course, maybe Ethan and Daphne kept things platonic on Isola Bella. We won’t know. But isn’t that kind of secret sexy?

Even the show’s creator, Mike White, isn’t saying definitively. On the official White Lotus aftershow Unpacking, White said this:

“Did [Ethan and Daphne] have some kind of little dalliance on the island? Whatever happened, it allows him to let go of the jealousy that has been brewing with him. And it kind of brings back that first kind of sexual charge that happens in the beginning of relationships and sometimes fades away over time. By the end, you’re maybe like ‘Well, maybe what Ethan and Harper need was just a small dash of what Cameron and Daphne have’.”