13 Reasons Why: Top 10 Most Plausible Fan Theories

At first, I assumed the show would just be a one season miniseries since writer Jay Asher only wrote one book with these characters. However, it just hit me that Netflix never pitched the show as such. For all we know, there could be a Season 2, given there are so many things left hanging after the finale. Will it carry on with the same characters but the focus will be now on another issue apart from teen suicide? Could it be an anthology series like American Crime where every season deals with a different story but with a similar cast? Who knows. Let's wait and watch. For now, let's check out these ten fan theories that have been making their rounds throughout the net. Spoiler Alert! If you have not watched the show, I suggest you go watch it first and then come back here once you are emotionally screwed up. Okay? Ready? Here we go:

1) Tyler is planning a mass shooting 

This could be the main story line for the next season. After all, we do see Tyler purchasing something illegally in Episode 12. In the finale, we see him hiding away some guns in his room. Later, we see Tyler browsing a string of hung-up photos of Bryce, Courtney, Montgomery, Sheri, Alex, Marcus, and Clay. Is this is hit list? He pauses at of a photo of Alex, and recalls the time when Alex stood up for him when Montgomery was bullying him. Tyler then pulls the photo down, indicating he is probably not going to harm Alex since he was one of the few at school who was a bit kind to him.

2) Tyler shot Alex and made it to look like a suicide.

Or maybe Tyler has not singled out Alex of his list. Perhaps he might actually be planning to shoot all those who constantly tormented him and Hannah. By taking down Alex's photo, this could probably indicate he has taken one down. So, that would mean Alex did not try to commit suicide but was shot by Tyler. After all, Tyler was constantly left out of his classmates' plans as if he was some kind of outcast while everyone was just as guilty as he is. This could have scared him even more.

3) Alex did try to kill himself

Apart from that, earlier in the series, when a student says, "Whatever happens to us, happens to you!" To this, Alex responds, "So if I kill myself, you die too?" Could this be a foreshadowing of his suicide? It does seem plausible that Alex did try to take his own life. Unlike most of the people on Hannah's tapes, he was one of the few who actually felt guilty for what he did. We did see him spiral out of control throughout the series. Also, while he was at Bryce's house, he threw himself into the pool. Although, he did get out, it did seem like he was trying to take his own life.

4) Alex is planning something big, and Zach is helping him

In the finale, Zach is shown trying to contact Alex over and over again and he eventually replies with a short "Please call." Zach does call but we don't get to listen to their actual conversation. Of all the horrid people on Hannah's tapes, these two make up the few who show some form of remorse for what they have done. In fact, some might argue that Zach, like Clay, is hardly guilty at all. Earlier, the manipulative Marcus decide that they could throw Bryce under the bus and escape with their reputations untouched. Unlike the spineless Courtney, Zach and Alex do not show much interest in this. Could it be they are hatching up a plan to get justice for Hannah the right way? Could it be that Alex's merely faked his suicide attempt as part of this plan?

5) The scene with the gunshot victim in the ambulance is a flash forward

And the victim is none other than Justin. If you look closely at the ambulance scene, you can see the victim having dark hair, which means it cannot be the blonde Alex.  If it is indeed Justin, that should come as no surprise since the former high school star had lost everything within a short period of time; his home, his girlfriend, his friends. Besides, as he was packing up to leave his mother's place, we did see him having a gun. Also, he told Bryce he probably will not be seeing him again. At first, this seem to mean he is merely ending their friendship once and for all. But it could also mean that he will not be visiting Bryce once the rapist ends up in jail, or he plans to end his life like Hannah.

6) The victim in the flash forward ambulance scene is Bryce

Notice how in the finale, the principal informs Mr. Potter that Alex tried to kill himself. However, in the ambulance, the paramedic makes no mention of a suicide, just a victim of a gunshot wound to the head. At one point when Jessica had grown tired of Justin making excuses for Bryce, Justin, desperate to please Jessica, tells her he will kill Bryce if she wants him to. He might not have actually meant it, but what if he did? What if he walked away after Bryce bought him the beer and at some point later, went back and killed the serial rapist? After all, Bryce has brown hair too.

7) There is more to the librarian guy then meets the eye

Hannah experience at the career fair is disappointing to say the least. However, things seem a little optimistic when she meets a young librarian who is a member of a very low key, local poetry group. She eventually stops going there after what happened with Ryan Shaver. However, in the finale, she is shown bumping into the librarian as she visits the post office. It is almost hard to believe why Hannah would point this out in her tapes. After all, the librarian is just a minor character in her story. Perhaps he will have a much bigger role in the next season, if there is one.

8) Mr. Porter will cover things up

Throughout the series, Mr. Porter appears to be a caring school counselor who is putting together the pieces on why Hannah killed herself. Then in the finale, it turns out that Hannah actually came to him for help but he did not show much concern, even telling her to move on. He is the last person in her tapes since he was too preoccupied with someone who keeps calling his office that fateful day. While Mr. Porter is not exactly the worst school counselor, he failed to take Hannah's allegations seriously. Throughout the series, he could have spoken up about how Hannah came and met him before she took her own life, but he didn't. This does suggest he is the type who cares more about protecting himself than the truth. We do see him briefly with his wife and child, and they appear to be a struggling young family. There is no way Mr. Porter could survive without his job. He quickly hides the tapes when the Principal barges into his office, suggesting he might not be interesting in exposing the tapes, including the one with Bryce's confession.

9) For real, who is Tony?

Hannah hardly mentions Tony in her tapes. We only see them once in a flashback in the finale when she borrows his tape recorder. It does not seem like the two were close. So, why would Hannah trust him with something as big as her tapes? In the book, Tony is only revealed to be the one knowing about the tapes towards the end. But in the TV show, we quickly learn about this at the end of the very first episode. With this change, it was fair to presume that Tony might be another person on the tapes, but that never happened. Some fan theories have suggested that he is a ghost, or at least a part of Clay's imagination. Neither makes sense because Tony interacts with many other characters apart from Clay. Also, there is another theory that Tony follows Clay so closely almost in a stalker kind of way because he fears Clay might at end up like Hannah when he eventually listens to his own tape. So, for real, who is Tony and how is it that he knows so much about so many people?

9) Clay's scar is more than to differentiate present day from flashbacks

The show shift constantly between present day and flashbacks. To help viewers tell the two time settings apart, they used a warm sunny tone for the flashbacks when Hannah was alive, and a colder, grayish tone for the present day scenes. So, why the need for Clay to have that band-aid on his forehead? When we first meet present day Clay, his forehead. But soon after he starts listening to the first tape, he falls off his bike and hurts his forehead, symbolizing the sudden turn of events. Clay's recovery is slow, indicating he is scared for life now. These scars get worse when Clay confronts Bryce, where the rapist beats him up black and blue. Clay's entire face is now messed up, telling us things have just gotten worse for him. 

10) Hannah Baker is not dead... yet

This is a big one. Notice the time stamps on the deposition tapes. The present day series are not actually present day, but the future. This could mean that the flashbacks are actually set in present day, meaning Hannah is still alive. What if all this is just going on in Clay and the other characters' minds as they recollect how badly they have treated Hannah. Is there still a chance she could be saved? Or could the time stamp have a more profound reason. Maybe it is the people behind the TV series reaching out to potential suicide victims out there; telling them to reach out for help and not do anything too extreme. 

So what do you think of these fan theories? Did we miss anything? Or did we stretch some of them a little too far? Let us know in the comment section below. =)