White Lotus Star Speculates What Happened Between Daphne & Ethan

Following the wild White Lotus finale, actor Meghann Fahy shares her thoughts about Daphne and Ethan’s perceived sexual encounter. The HBO series returned for season 2 after a successful debut run from creator Mike White. Now observing a primarily new cast of characters, except for Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya and Jon Gries’ Greg, The White Lotus season 2 consists of themes regarding sexuality, infidelity, and manipulation. One story involves Ethan’s (Will Sharpe) concerns about his wife, Harper, cheating on him with his former college roommate, Cameron, who joins them in Italy with his wife, Daphne (Fahy).

The White Lotus season 2 star Fahy speculates about what happened between Daphne and Ethan in one of the final episode’s most ambiguous scenes. In episode 7, after Ethan divulges to Daphne that he thinks Harper and Cameron had sex, Daphne leads him to an unpopulated island before the scene cuts away. Fahy tells Variety that she feels something sexual happened between the characters, but that Daphne did it to empower Ethan in a moment of vulnerability, not to act against her husband and Harper. Check out the full quote below:

I definitely think something happened. I don’t know what exactly happened, but I do know that it was something. Honestly, in that moment, I think Daphne just saw this broken man and wanted to do something to make him feel more empowered in her own strange way. I really don’t think that she led him there to get back at Cameron or Harper. Someone said something really interesting the other day, which was like, do you think that part of Daphne’s sadness comes from her betrayal from Harper? I was like, totally. I think she’s been through this with Cameron who knows how many times, but I think she really thought that Harper was maybe her friend, or wanted her to be. She has that vulnerable moment in Episode 3 where they’re in Noto, and she talks about how she has a hard time keeping female friends and stuff. So, I do think that was part of the experience of it but yeah, I don’t know that I can say exactly what happened, but I think definitely something sexual for sure.

Related: What Really Happened With Ethan & Daphne In The White Lotus S2 Finale?

What Led To The White Lotus Season 2 Finale’s Infidelity

Considering the events leading up to The White Lotus season 2, episode 7, it is not surprising that Fahy believes Daphne and Ethan had a sexual encounter on the isolated Isola Bella. Initially, Cameron reveals to Ethan early on in the season that he cheats on Daphne with random women before doing so with prostitutes Lucia and Mia. Throughout the season, he subtly flirts with Harper behind Ethan’s back, while the latter suggests that Cameron does so because of his jealousy toward Ethan’s success. Meanwhile, during a girl’s night out with Harper, Daphne hints at an affair with her trainer.

During the vacation in Sicily, Cameron and Daphne normalize their infidelity to their friends, implying that being ignorant of their partner’s actions is not necessarily bad if a person does what they need to do to stay happy in their marriage. Unfortunately, this behavior and their superficial friendships with Ethan and Harper negatively influence the otherwise honest White Lotus couple, forcing them to seek comfort elsewhere when their marriage hits a rocky point. In many ways, The White Lotus‘ intersection of infidelity might’ve been inevitable from the moment the two couples came together.

Despite Daphne’s manipulation and secrecy, her desire to empower Ethan and overcome Harper’s apparent betrayal must lead to something substantial happening in the White Lotus season 2 finale. If it doesn’t, Ethan and Harper’s sex scene afterward makes little logical sense, given his confessed lack of attraction to her throughout the season. Therefore, his dalliance with Daphne helps overcome his jealousy of Cameron and Harper, which leads the husband and wife back to each other. Of course, The White Lotus fans may never know what really happened between Daphne and Ethan. Still, if Fahy’s speculation is correct, the duplicitous couples may have had their happy endings at the expense of one another.

Read Next: The White Lotus Season 2’s Biggest Unanswered Questions

Source: Variety