That Baby Shower Gift Could Answer One Of Yellowjackets Season 2's Biggest Mysteries

This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of "Yellowjackets" season 2.

Since its earliest episodes, a mysterious symbol has followed the women of "Yellowjackets" wherever they go. We've seen it carved into trees, worn on necklaces, and drawn on a foggy window in the early morning darkness. The symbol is ominous yet vague; a triangle base attaches on one side to a small circle, and on the other to a hook. A line slashes across the triangle, with smaller lines on either side, and depending on the angle at which the symbol is drawn, it either looks like a person holding spears — or being impaled by them.

Theories about the nature of the symbol have abounded for as long as it's been present in "Yellowjackets," but this week's episode clarified Lottie's (Courtney Eaton) connection to the motif and made one of the most unbelievable theories suddenly seem plausible. At a baby shower for Shauna (Sophie Nelisse), Lottie presented her with a warm blanket, but Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) immediately took notice of the symbol drawn in its corner. "Is this supposed to be funny or something?" she asked Lottie, but the girl seemed confused.

"Why would you put that symbol on a baby blanket?" Natalie asked, growing agitated. "Don't you remember how we found it, around a dead guy's f***ing corpse?!" This in itself is a demystifying moment; while the symbol has shown up so much by now that it's easy to forget its origin, it actually first appeared near the long-dead hunter who previously stayed at the cabin the girls are in now. The symbol has become sinister thanks to its ubiquitous appearance in the forest, the hunter's seemingly unquiet spirit (remember that season 1 seance?), and Lottie's co-opting of it as her own. Here, though, we see exactly how the two schools of thought differ. Natalie thinks it's creepy, but Lottie thinks it was used as a form of protection for the man, like a potentially neo-pagan version of a cross.

It makes sense, then, that Lottie would bring that symbol into her own life in the months and years to come, as she continues to survive the unimaginable against the odds. What's the harm in a little bit of insurance, even if you don't entirely understand its origins? This is the approach Travis (Kevin Alves) seems to take when he accepts Lottie's bloody drink in the season 2 premiere. That's a trickier question than it initially seems to be, though, as Lottie appears to be performing miracles (see also: the bear), and a voice whispering in her own head tells her that something in the woods is hungry for blood.

The baby shower scene also makes the connection between blood and the forest's will more obvious, as Shauna drips a spontaneous nosebleed onto the enchanted blanket. Within seconds of the blood hitting a spot near the symbol, a thudding noise begins outside: it's dozens of birds flying into the cabin and dying immediately. "Il veut du sang," Lottie (Simone Kessell) hears in the present day at episode's end, and it's the same phrase that she screamed in the first season after the seance.

Is it the forest that wants blood, or the hunter's spirit, or something else entirely? Or is it the geometric image itself, imbued with symbolic power simply because the girls believe in it? While the "it" in question remains a mysterious presence, it's clear that the girls' time in the forest has involved more than a little sacrifice. When Lottie kills the bear, she presents its heart to a hollowed out tree trunk, an offering in exchange for the girls' continued survival.

Since then, they've all stayed alive, but they've also taken the body of Jackie (Ella Purnell) as a sacrifice of sorts, insisting she would want to be used as food. The appearance of the birds presents a clever wrinkle, as it seems at once ominous and timely. If it turns out that the girls can eat the birds, it once again seems as if Lottie's vague belief system has brought them good fortune. Yet black birds are often seen as a bad omen, a portend of doom, and their sudden mass suicide isn't exactly comforting.

Personally, I think it's possible that much — but maybe not all — of what happens in "Yellowjackets" is explainable, and the girls' conversation here makes Lottie's reliance on the symbol sound less scary and more practical. Lottie has a history of delusions that she's been medicated for before, and the hunter's symbol could just as easily be a coded map or message as an occult symbol. The girls try to explain away the birds immediately, with Misty (Samantha Hanratty) wondering aloud whether iron deposits in the ground might have "messed with the birds' navigation." It's a thin explanation, but it's probably as likely as "Shauna's nosebleed drove the spirit of the forest to send us an offering."

Still, if you're inclined to believe in the horror story "Yellowjackets" is weaving, the birds' arrival feels a bit like a smoking gun in the case of mysticism versus science. And while Lottie may not have everyone convinced that the forest needs blood, the season's trailer hints that a more rational survivor will also buy into her theory by season's end. "Once upon a time, there was a place called the wilderness," Van (Liv Hewson) tells the girls by firelight in the clip. "It was beautiful, but it was also violent and misunderstood, and it waited and waited to befriend whoever arrived."

Granted, Van isn't saying the forest was out for blood here, but she is personifying it with a sort of eerie reverence. Whether it actually demands blood sacrifice might turn out to be less important than the actual power of nature over the girls, which could drive them to desperate and bizarre measures just as easily as some evil spirit might. Regardless of the symbol's literal power, the team's belief in it could make them desperate for more blood to give, which may not bode well for the most vulnerable, like pregnant Shauna and injured, depressed Coach Ben (Steven Krueger).

We may not know exactly what the wilderness truly wants from these girls yet, but as its second season unfolds, it's clear that "Yellowjackets" is more delightfully bloodthirsty than ever. You can watch "Yellowjackets" each Friday on the Showtime app and Paramount+, as well as Sundays on the Showtime channel.