This story contains spoilers for season 3, episode 8 of Euphoria.There has been a lot of speculation as to whether viewers have been watching the final season of Euphoria.With the season finale done and dusted, surely, we have our answer.It's RIP to Rue Bennett (Zendaya) and given how neatly the loose ends have been tied up, let's hazard an educated guess that it's also RIP to the series.HBO is yet to officially declare an end to the series, which has been running since June 2019.Fans didn't think Rue, the principal character in the hit TV show, would survive episode 8, titled In God We Trust, and she didn't.But the person most privy to her struggles with addiction, her sponsor Ali (Colman Domingo), figures out that the former drug addict's death wasn't from a fentanyl overdose as her boss Alamo Brown (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje) would have you believe.But we're getting ahead of ourselves.Let's cycle back to the opening scenes of the season finale where Rue, in serious trouble, is seen running for her life from Laurie's (Martha Kelly) henchmen after Faye (Chloe Cherry) betrays her.Rue manages to escape gunfire only to be caught in a lasso until G (Marshawn Lynch) fires a shot at the lassoist, who is riding a horse and dragging Rue, who has fallen to the ground.Maddy (Alexa Demie) and Cassie were united in their grief. (Supplied: HBO)Rue, who is serving as an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), appears to be out of harm's way, for now. But viewers know that Alamo is aware of her duplicity, thanks to a naïve Maddy (Alexa Demie), so we're expecting Rue will come up stumps again during the episode. It's just not immediately clear how.Cut to Maddy and Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) united in their grief over the death of Cassie's husband and Maddy's high school ex Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi). Cassie highlights her sorrow by pouring way too much syrup on her breakfast at the diner.Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) met his demise in the penultimate season 3 episode of Euphoria. (Supplied: HBO)We sit in this shared grief briefly before the 93-minute episode moves on to Alamo offering Rue a pill.He tells her it's Percocet — the highly addictive prescription medication combining the opioid painkiller oxycodone and the over-the-counter pain reliever acetaminophen (Tylenol).Rue comments that she used to "love" this stuff.Alamo takes a similar-looking pill in front of her, giving her a false sense of security, leaving a bottle of the drug on the table, in few view, and within proximity of the former addict.Rue sees the pills and of course steals them.We then see Rue back at the beginning of the audio bible she's been listening to.Religion has been a major theme throughout the season."We've always featured recovery organisations like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous in the series, and religious undertones as well as hints to the world of the mystical," creator, executive producer, writer and director Sam Levinson has previously said."This season we're dealing with all of it a little more head-on, which is very true to the life of an addict."A rat serves also as a metaphorRather than be caught by the DEA, Laurie takes her own life.But when the DEA swoops in on an Alamo-sanctioned van suspected of transporting narcotics, there are no drugs in the back of the vehicle, just a dead rat, signifying Alamo's knowledge of Rue being a snitch.We then witness what we're led to believe is Rue trying to reunite with drug dealer Fezco "Fez" O'Neil (the late Angus Cloud) after he's escaped from prison where he was serving a lengthy prison sentence for murder after a chaotic drug raid in the season two finale.Cloud died in 2023 from an accidental drug overdose and Levinson has previously said it was his intention to honour Cloud in season three.The fate of RueThere are flashbacks where Fez is seen on screen, as is a young Rue.The series creator has said he wanted to honour the late Angus Cloud in season 3. (Supplied: HBO)Then Rue spots her mother Leslie (Nika King) reading Psalm 115 in the bible which begins: "Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness."It's then that it's revealed that Rue is dead, found by her sponsor Ali.But Ali isn't buying the fact that she overdosed. While not completely clean and fully sober, smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol in the season three premiere, she has sworn off harder drugs.Ali attends his last narcotics meeting as leader, delivering a monologue in which he breaks down the complexities of the drug trade."If you can empathise with an addict, you can also empathise with a dealer," he says."They're selling drugs to feed their children."He says the number one cause of death for people under the age of 50 is fentanyl, telling the group there are so many people complicit in the drug trade from the corrupt cops, to the politicians, to the cooks, to the shipping companies and the cartels.He's then seen sawing his shotgun.Jules reduced to cameo-like statusJules (Hunter Schafer) is seen ever so briefly in this episode. Also overcome by grief, she paints a picture of Rue and smiles through her tears.The relationship between Jules (Hunter Schafer) and Rue has been complicated. (Supplied: HBO)Her sugar daddy kisses her on top of her head.Maddy meets with Alamo, who talks about wanting the American dream — with her."It'll be easier if you pretend to like him," Cassie tells her in the previous scene as she goes to drop off money to him.Bishop (Darrell Britt-Gibson) drives her there. There's a brief moment of levity when we learn he has a poodle named Snowflake. Maddy comments that she thought of him as more of the Doberman type.Elordi played a meaty role in Euphoria. (Supplied: HBO)When Cassie and her sister Lexi (Maude Apatow) discuss Nate's "disappearance" we learn that that's what Cassie and Maddy, who discovered his body last episode, are passing his brutal death off as."Do you think Nate will come back?" Lexi asks.A touch of lightIt's here we get a touch of light in what is an extremely dark episode, when the dialogue turns to a discussion of the bible which Lexi reads Rue's version of.Much of Sweeney's season 3 storyline followed Cassie's OnlyFans journey. (Supplied: HBO)"It's kind of incredible, actually. You'd think it would be boring, but there's a lot of violence and sex," Lexi says.Cassie: "There's a new bible?"Lexi: "No, it's the same bible."Cassie: "So, the old one?"Lexi: "Yeah."Cassie: "Was it any good?"Lexi declines Cassie's offer to work with her as a storyteller. Cassie has spent much of season three bolstering her OnlyFans account.But Lexi, who has been working for showrunner Patty (Sharon Stone) says she has some stuff to work out first.When Lexi leaves, Cassie stares at a picture of her and Nate together, shedding tears.Deadly gunfightAli arrives at Alamo's strip club dressed in full military clothing and in a confrontation with G, he kills him, after pushing a gun up against his manhood.Alamo Brown (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) in Euphoria season 3. (Supplied: HBO)Ali and Alamo go up against each other in a pistol challenge. Alamo fully intends to cheat, but there are no bullets in his gun. Bishop has made sure of that, with Ali shooting Alamo dead.He fires a final fatal bullet into Alamo "just in case"."May God have mercy," says Bishop, as he reveals the bullets he'd held onto.He offers to give Maddy, who collects the money she had given to Alamo, a ride home.The episode ends with Ali saying the words "May God bless us all" as he sits at a table, cycling back to the first episode when Rue finds piece and Christianity at a Texas ranch.A smiling apparition of Rue at the table is one of the final shots in the season finale.Euphoria streams on HBO Max.