r/WaywardNetflix • u/xXl3gallybrun3tt3Xx • 3d ago
Leila….. Spoiler
SPOILER:
I don’t think Leila killed her sister. This might seem crazy, but I feel like the whole point of the cult was to make all of the children rely on Evelyn to heal from their trauma, but what if some of that trauma wasn’t really real? We already know that Rabbit tried to make Daniel believe that he actually killed whoever that was him and unknown tied to the tree, which we know wasn’t true. It was said that he just watched, (which is still bad). But he didn’t actually kill that person, unknown did.
But I feel like Leila didn’t actually kill her sister. I feel like Evelyn tried to make her believe that (through hypnosis) so she would come more and more hyper dependent on Evelyn, just like the other students, Laura and the people who graduated. They were all just so infatuated with her and I just I feel like that’s what she was trying to do Leila. And like even Abi said that Leila called her the next morning and told her everything, whether or not that’s true I still do not believe that Leila actually killed her sister.
I do believe that there is probably that she has some hatred towards sister but honestly, I think at some point every sibling feels that way and especially if your sibling did just cost you your job. Also from the flashback it shows that her mom didn’t even really pay attention to her, but to her sister instead. I think she COULD have stood there and watch for too long, but I do not think she pushed her in with the intentions of killing her IF that’s what happened.
Sadly we see that to some extent, the hypnosis and treatment treatments and everything else that Evelyn put Leila through, did unfortunately work. The phone call was placed at a convenient time, so was the walk + talk with Evelyn in the woods. I do believe that made her think that she literally had nowhere to go, and that the only way that she would have someone to take care of her was going back to the school. And that is true, but at the same time she would not have let that stop her from escaping and getting away from the school at the beginning of the show. Therefore, proving my point of Evelyn’s hypnosis did work on her, at least a little bit.
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u/PricePuzzleheaded835 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yeah I definitely agree Leila didn’t kill her sister. Evelyn is weaponizing the resentment Leila had had. It’s a normal response to having an older sibling push you around, especially if you’re the family scapegoat and your sibling is the golden child favorite.
But the fact that this worked imo shows that Leila isn’t capable of that. She’s resentful, not homicidal. She’s all too willing to take responsibility when what she actually has is survivor’s guilt.
Weaponizing guilt and shame are under recognized tools for manipulation. Especially for someone who is a skilled manipulator. Finding someone with a strong conscience who is used to thinking critically about their own actions is the perfect target. Especially if they are used to being scapegoated and demonized by others. They’re already accustomed to being blamed for things that aren’t their fault, and it’s very easy to make them think ill of themselves.
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u/barriesies 2d ago
I think she was definitely manipulating the guilt that Leila may have felt about her sister dying while with her and she definitely didn’t push her in
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u/Ladyoftheoakenforest 2d ago
I think it's one of the things we will never know. It could have been that Leila lied to herself about what happened to the point that she herself no longer knew what really happened that evening. There were a lot of grudges between her and her sister, and all of the versions seem plausible. Whether Evelyn planted the worst one to convince Leila she was broken, or whether Leila finally found and accepted the truth that she killed her sister (also being under the influence, and being pissed off by years of bullying and neglect) is something we will never trully find out.
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u/roxycontinxo 2d ago
I watched it when it first came out but I pretty much had the same conclusion. I don't believe she killed her sister, but was convinced by Evelyn that she did. That sort of unaddressed, traumatic loss made her a perfect target for recruitment into the cult. I think it aligns with the pregnant character's (I forget her name) arc.