We Finally Know Who Killed Bryce Walker on 13 Reasons Why

[Warning: The following article has deep spoilers for 13 Reasons Why Season 3. Read at your own risk!]

13 Reasons Why returned to its mystery format in Season 3, this time to answer the question: Who killed Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice)? The new episodes kicked off with the information that Bryce had gone missing after the homecoming game between Liberty High and Bryce's new school, Hillside Prep. By Episode 3, Bryce's body is found and the police begin the investigation to find out who killed him. Of course, after Bryce raped both Hannah (Katherine Langford) and Jessica (Alisha Boe) in Season 1, and was revealed to be a serial rapist in Season 2, the list of people that wanted to see him dead was not a short one.

In the end, multiple factors lead to Bryce's death and who was blamed for the crime in the end. Here's what you need to know.

Short answer: Alex (Miles Heizer), in a steroid-induced rage, pushed Bryce into the water where he drowned. Jessica watched the whole thing happen.

The brief answer: Bryce was waiting on the pier after the homecoming game to talk to Jessica, allegedly to give her something he couldn't when he saw her before the game. However, Zach (Ross Butler) showed up first. He severely beat Bryce after the latter boy tackled him during the homecoming game riot and shredded Zach's knee, destroying his senior year football season. Zach, in revenge, repeatedly punched Bryce and broke both of the boy's legs. He then destroyed Bryce's phone so he couldn't call for help.

Discover your new favorite show: Watch This Now!

Jessica showed up shortly after, with Alex in tow for safety reasons. Jessica initially voted to leave Bryce there, but Alex felt sorry for him and tried to help Bryce get up. Alex was already unsteady on one side as an after effect of shooting himself in Season 1, plus Bryce's weight made it difficult to get him up and supported. The process was excruciating for Bryce, who began yelling how he was going to destroy Zach when he recovered. Alex, realizing that Bryce might actually follow through on that, became enraged and instead of helping Bryce found help, pushed him into the water. Bryce, unable to swim due to his injuries, drowned in the water.

The fallout: Clay (Dylan Minnette), thanks to threatening Bryce with a gun in Season 2 and having no alibi after the homecoming game, became the police's prime suspect. His friends teamed up together to try and help him. Tyler (Devin Druid) turned Monty (Timothy Granaderos) into the authorities for sexually assaulting him with a broomstick before the Spring Fling at the end of Season 2, knowing that when Monty was questioned that his alibi for homecoming would also come into question. However, it was revealed in the season finale that Monty was killed while in lock up before the police could interrogate him.

When the group deduced that Alex and Jessica were the ones that actually killed Bryce, they concocted a story for the police, blaming the murder on Monty since he was already dead. Zach confessed to beating Bryce, but faced no jail time as the actual murder was pinned on Monty.

However, Monty's true alibi, a boy from Hillside he was having sex with, confronted the new girl, Ani (Grace Saif), who gave the statement to the police, that he knew Monty didn't kill Bryce. That's a loose thread the group will have to contend with as the show moves into the fourth and final season.

13 Reasons Why is now streaming on Netflix.