Men's Health May 26, 2026 0 Comments

How Nate’s Shocking Death in Euphoria Redefines Fearlessness and Leaves Viewers Breathless

Ever wonder what it feels like to hit rock bottom and then get bitten—literally—by fate? Nate Jacobs’ journey in Euphoria season 3 isn’t just a tale of bruises and bad choices; it’s a brutal masterclass in how the universe puts you in a coffin and sends in a rattlesnake for the final curtain call. If you thought intense TV moments were just hype, wait till you see how Jake Elordi’s portrayal of a desperate, crumbling Nate turns from a pitiful plea to a venomous end that’s as unexpected as it is unavoidable. This isn’t your average “bad guy gets what’s coming” story—it’s chaotic, horrific, and kind of poetic. Ready to dive into what makes Nate’s downfall both unforgettable and haunting? Let’s get into it. LEARN MORE

4 min read

The following story contains spoilers—obviously!—through Euphoria season 3, episode 7, “Rain or Shine.”

THERE’S A SCENE in the fourth episode of Euphoria season 3, titled “Kitty Likes to Dance,” that seems like the closest to rock bottom we’ll ever see Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) get. What starts as him simply pleading for additional resources to get his dream construction project off the ground culminates with him bellowing to his local government, falling to his knees as he hopelessly begs for help and forgiveness.

While the moment—like most of what Elordi does in Euphoria season 3, likely due to the now-Academy Award-nominated actor’s very busy schedule—plays out separately from just about everything else going on, it’s actually all about those other characters. The slow descent into desperation makes for Elordi’s finest moment of acting in the entire season. And while at this point we know what’s at stake (his loan shark had removed his pinky toe as a wedding gift in the previous episode), it’s actually so much more.

It may not have been evident up front, but Nate’s season 3 journey was all about a hunt for redemption. In moving to the suburbs, marrying Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), and hoping to become a pillar of the community by developing real estate, Nate thought he had a chance to move past his past misdeeds (which, in seasons 1 and 2 of Euphoria, include extreme violence and general psychopathy). But he quickly learned that, in the real world, these kinds of things catch up to you. In his moment of begging—alone, with no one we recognize around him—Nate was met with a denial. That wasn’t just the local government denying his requests, but the universe sending a message: You’re on your own, bud.

Jacob Elordi posing in a natural setting

HBO

And so he was. After several episodes of Nate having appendages brutally removed, hoping Cassie’s OnlyFans endeavors could help dig them out of the financial hole he got them into, and getting the shit beat out of him over and over and over again, he was finally buried alive in episode 7, “Rain or Shine.” And somehow, that wasn’t even what does him in! What ends Nate Jacobs isn’t any of these violent means brought upon him by another man, but rather a rattlesnake that made its way into the coffin where Nate had no choice but to lie. Ultimately, there was nothing Nate Jacobs could do.

It’s a brutal, fitting end for perhaps the most evil character on a show set in a diabolical mirror image of the world. But, in a way, because we’ve spent so much time watching this new, potentially re-invented version of Nate, we’re deprived a bit of the catharsis that should come from seeing such a character’s demise. Yes, Nate terrorized our main characters. But we haven’t seen Nate as a true monster in more than four real-life years. So, because we’ve watched this pathetic version of him all season long, it winds up just feeling like a punching bag finally having all of its air let out.

Death via rattlesnake bites/venom is a brutal one—for a character who many might need a reminder does deserve it. To kill off someone played by one of the biggest stars in the world at the moment marks a feather in the cap for Euphoria to prove it’s still one of the most fearless and daring shows on TV.

Watch Euphoria Here

Did Nate really die on Euphoria?

Screenshot of a digital interface or application captured on May 26, 2026, at 12:53 PM

HBO

Yeah, he sure did! Jacob Elordi’s Nate meets his end in Euphoria season 3, episode 7, titled “Rain or Shine,” via several venomous bites from a rattlesnake. This was not loan shark Naz’s intention; his plan was to use Nate as bait once again in order for Cassie to pay up the money Nate owed. But nature works in (not all that) mysterious ways, and nothing could stop that rattlesnake, or its deadly venom.

“Tucked in this box, with dust falling on me, and a snake coming down the pipe…That’s a cool way to go,” Elordi said of Nate’s demise in HBO’s post-episode featurette. “Nate is someone who made so many mistakes, and he made so many dark choices. It’s cool to see it come to what it’s come to.”

The featurette also revealed that Elordi really shot his scene in a coffin, with an actual snake (though for safety reasons it was a boa constrictor and not a rattlesnake).

Euphoria creator Sam Levinson is well aware of just how much his show’s audience wanted to see Nate get what he deserved. And, as a result, he worked that into the brutal way he ultimately wrote the character off the show.

“There’s this kind of funny thing where I know what the audience wants in terms of justice or karma, and with that in mind, I always think, ‘Well, how can I give it to them?’” he said in an interview with Esquire. “How can I give them what they want but make it so horrific and anxiety-inducing that by the time it happens, the audience isn’t so sure they wanted it?”

He’s not wrong. Nate was not a good person. But his dead, venom-filled body is the kind of striking image that just might fuel the nightmares of Euphoria viewers for years to come. And, for Levinson and Euphoria, that means mission accomplished.

Evan is the culture editor for Men’s Health, with bylines in The New York Times, MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine, and VICE. He loves weird movies, watches too much TV, and listens to music more often than he doesn’t.