Does Jughead die at the end of Riverdale?

What a peculiarly wild ride Riverdale has been, and it is set to return for one last season this March! In the latest S6, the show opened the veil and let the narrative be controlled by supernatural mediums. While it was a little offbeat, it definitely raised the stakes very high — putting the lives of many main characters in danger.

One such plotline included Jughead’s destiny to die at the end of the season. So does it come to fulfillment? Does Jughead really die in Riverdale?

Jughead is yet not dead in Riverdale as of S6. In S4, he was a victim of a murder attempt, while in S6, he dies of a curse but is later brought back to life. He will be alive for Riverdale’s final season 7, premiering in March 2023.

The show loves to tease us with the deaths of beloved characters to invoke shock and mystery. As stated above, Jughead has been depicted to be “dead” two times during the show. Let’s get into each of these incidents in more detail:

1. What happened to Jughead in Riverdale S6?

Jughead technically dies in S6, falling prey to Percival’s final plague, the biblical death of the firstborns. However, he was brought back to life by Sabrina in Episode 19.

If you thought Riverdale was going off the rails prior to S6, you have to hop onto the rollercoaster that was the latest season. Everything spooky and supernatural descended into Riverdale, even giving some key characters superpowers. This includes Jughead with his mind-reading abilities.

S6’s main antagonist, Percival Pickens, launches several attacks on Riverdale but the deadliest one that takes down many main characters is his plague of the firstborns.

Here, Jughead too dies and ascends to his version of heaven — endless hamburger supplies at Pop’s, while effortlessly working on his comics.

However, Sabrina Spellman appears to him, pleading him to return to his mortal body so he can help down Percival once and for all. Despite an early death, he’s happier in heaven and thus, vehemently refuses to be resurrected. Sadly, Sabrina is forced to resurrect him without his consent.

Although Jughead is not fully happy with this decision, the silver lining is that he has both his hearing and his mind-reading abilities back. In fact, he gains one more superpower: the ability to open portals. Using this, he travels to Rivervale with Tabitha, where he finds out just exactly how the team can defeat Percival.

2. Does Jughead die in Riverdale S4?

Jughead does not die in season 4. The Stonewell prep students try to kill him, but he is later saved by Archie, Betty, and Veronica.

After several scary scenes depicting Jughead’s death early in season 4, we first realize that Jughead is dead after seeing his body in the coroner’s office. His family and friends are also seen holding a wake for him in the scene.

But the last nail in the coffin was when we see his girlfriend Betty moving on with friend and former crush Archie Andrews. By that point, everyone was sure that Jugheads was no more.

The most apparent suspect in Jughead’s “murder” was his girlfriend Betty — especially since she was spotted standing next to the body with a heavy stone in her hand.

However, Charles hypnotizes Betty to help his half-sister remember what really happened, and it is found that Donna Sweet had blown Devil’s Breath in her face. This caused her to lose her short-term memory, thus ruling her out as a suspect.

Now, the real culprits were the rest of the Stonewall Prep students from Jughead’s creative writing class. It turned out that Jughead had won the contract to write the Baxter Brothers’ mystery.

But Mr. DuPont, author of the Baxter Brothers franchise, wanted him dead and stated that whoever could murder Jughead would get the contract in his place.

DuPont had actually killed all the members of his literary circle back when he was young. They all knew he had stolen the idea for the Baxter Brothers book series from Jughead’s grandfather Forsythe. Jughead was just bait to bring his off-the-grid grandpa out of hiding so DuPont could kill him too.

Meanwhile, his call for Jughead’s blood resulted in the students creating an elaborate plan to kill off Jughead. Acting in clockwork, Donna distracted Betty to set her up for Jughead’s murder while Bret lured Jughead into the woods. Meanwhile, Joan Berkeley crept up behind Jughead and hit him over the head with a rock.

They, however, made the blunder of leaving without checking his pulse. When Jughead is hit on the head with a stone, the impact gets cushioned by his iconic beanie. Lifesaver beanie, that one is! That is how he survived the attempt on his life.

Jughead was later saved by Archie, Betty, and Veronica, who arrive just in time.

3. About Riverdale