Television

The White Lotus: How the season 3 finale concluded the “incest brothers” storyline

By Sam Damshenas

7th April 2025

Social media is currently bombarded with memes, commentary on which diva deserves the Emmy and shock over the resort guests that perished on The White Lotus season three, but what of the “incest brothers“?

Major spoilers ahead!

The final episode of HBO’s salacious drama intensified the violence and devastation seen in the previous two finales, culminating in the deaths of three major characters: anarchic hitman Rick (Walton Goggins), his free-spirited, astrology-loving girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), and Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn), the man who was believed to have killed Rick’s father, only for Sritala (Patravadi Mejudhon) to reveal that Jim is (or was) Rick’s father.

Several other storylines also came to a close: the Ratliff family’s discovery of Timothy’s (Jason Isaacs) illegal business activity, along with their impending financial ruin; Piper’s (Sarah Catherine Hook) decision on whether to follow Buddhiiiism; Belinda’s (Natasha Rothwell) negotiations for a payout from Greg (Jon Gries); and the survival odds of Laurie (Carrie Coon), Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), and Kate’s (Leslie Bibb) four-decade-long friendship.

The episode also provided closure to Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan’s (Sam Nivola) controversial incest storyline.

For those who are not in the know, here’s a brief rundown: episode one saw Saxon undress in front of Lochlan, who then proceeded to look at his older brother’s bare buttocks with… fascination; episode five upped the ante when Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) pressured them to lock lips; and episode six featured a threesome between all of the above, with Lochlan bringing his inebriated sibling to completion.

Following the lack of interaction between the brothers in episode seven—Lochlan trailing Piper to the monastery and Saxon attempting to find mental equilibrium through meditation, thanks to Chelsea (RIP)—the finale featured one brief, yet notably awkward, conversation between them.

After Lochlan politely asks Saxon to make him a protein smoothie (this is not a metaphor; it’s exactly what it sounds like), his disgruntled brother shuts him down, telling him, “No one’s gonna make you a man.” Saxon then declines Lochlan’s invitation to join him at the beach, prompting Lochlan to ask, “Are you mad or something?”

“Look, Loch, it’s okay for you to, like, worship me, but don’t… worship me,” says Saxon. “You know what I mean?” Confused, Lochlan responds, “Look, all you care about is getting off. I saw you lying there, and I thought you looked a little left out. And I’m, you know, a pleaser. I just want to give everyone what they want, and I’m in a family full of narcissists.”

Saxon cuts him off, imploring him to “drop this, like, forever, please”.

Their incestuous activities are never raised again. However, Saxon continues in his attempts to evolve spiritually, reading the self-help books provided him to Chelsea (again, RIP babe).

In an interview with Variety, Nivola offered his perspective on the duo’s final scene together, opining that Saxon is a “healthier character” than Lochlan. “It’s really tragic, because the way that Lochlan describes himself in that scene is just exactly right,” he explained.

“He’s just a “people pleaser,” and he just wants to make everyone happy, and if he feels like he’s not making people happy, he feels alone. He is alone. He obviously goes about that in the wrong way.

“But it’s tragic that no one can forgive him for that. Basically that conversation, I think, is what leads him to make a protein shake, because he’s trying to feel closer to his brother who just rejected him.”

In Nivola’s eyes, the relationship between the brothers is “irreparably damaged” and they will never “be as close” as they once were: “I don’t know if it’s like they’ll never talk again — I think they’ll probably suppress it and try to forget it never happened. But you can’t forget something like that happened. It’s too awful and traumatizing.”

Speaking with the same publication, Schwarzenegger reflected on the change in power dynamics between Saxon and Lochlan, saying his character is unable to “confront what happened between them” and “begs to have them live in denial forever”.

The season three finale of The White Lotus is streaming in the UK on Sky and NOW TV—check out what social media had to say about the culmination of the infamous “incest brothers” storyline below.