WMG / Hannibal

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Film

Margot existed in this continuity, but committed suicide or was killed by Mason

Season One

Francis Dolarhyde was the Angel Maker

The FBI identify the wrong man. The guy we see wasn't the Angel Maker, a we never see him do anything violent or criminal and his ex-wife claims he was't especially religious (near-death experience aside). The murders are also very well organised and require much effort, so its unlikely a man dying of a brain tumor could have pulled them off. His suicide, likewise, might not be impossible but it is pretty improbable.

Dolarhyde's grandma threatened to castrate him because he kept shitting himself as a kid (nice lady), and of course they found out that someone at least had just that happen to them. They found it in the spot where a homeless guy used to be sitting- did he just move on and miss the murder, or is he just an extra;, or, is he another victim, or even the killer?

Graham said that the Angel Maker was "transforming" or "elevating" the people he killed by making angels out of them; Dolarhyde did the same to his female victims, making them into people who would desire him and be desirable to him. The hallucination of the "angel maker" also mentions the majesty of himself and his work (something like "receive my majesty"), just like Dolarhyde forced Freddie Lounds to say in the movies and the book.

And Graham thinks the killer is religious and a Christian, though with an imperfect understanding which fits Dolarhyde because he was raised by a violently abusive but fanatically religious grandmother. And his pathology is more or less that he thinks he is becoming Satan.

Word of God was that we would see some "early work" of Francis Dolarhyde; I think this was it (EDIT: Okay, so apparently the break-in at the start of the pilot was Dolarhyde, but this could be him also).

Abigail's hallucination was prophetic

After drinking hallucinogenic tea, Abigail hallucinates that Hannibal Lecter is her father. This was not so much a reflection of her filial feelings toward Lecter as of her awareness on some level that Lecter is dangerous like her father. Abigail's hallucination might be a warning that Lecter will try to manipulate and even kill her in the future, just as her father did.

• Confirmed. Hannibal manipulates her throughout the first season and eventually murders her offscreen.
  • Well, appeared to, anyway.

Dr. du Maurier (Gillian Anderson) isn't real.

Or at least, not as she appears in the show. She was indeed Hannibal Lecter's colleague and psychiatrist until she was attacked by one of her patients — Hannibal himself, who murdered her. Now she appears as hallucinations to Hannibal, much like Garret Jacob Hobbes and the Ravenstag appear to Graham.

• It's deliberate that NO ONE else has ever been in the same scene with her, besides dear Dr. Lecter.
• This is Jossed in Relevés, where Jack meets and speaks with her.

Hannibal killed Dr. du Maurier's stalker.

It's obvious that Hannibal feels some degree of attachment, even affection, for du Maurier. It's entirely possible that when her former patient tried to kill her, Hannibal killed the patient to save her life. This would certainly make du Maurier feel more obligated to come out of retirement to be Hannibal's psychiatrist.

• Relevés lends credibility to this theory: it's revealed that du Maurier's patient was manipulated into swallowing his own tongue, and, aside of this method mirroring what Hannibal did to Miggs in The Silence of the Lambs, her choice of words and conversation with Hannibal heavily imply that it was him.
  • Jossed. She did it.

Will knows Hannibal is a killer...sort of.

Ever since Will started hallucinating, he's only had a few very specific images appear in multiple episodes. One is the deer covered in feathers. Can anyone say wolf in sheep's clothing? Will thinks it's from Garret Jacob Hobbs but really it's reminding him of the other person he met on that case: Hannibal. Ordinary and seemingly harmless at first, unless you look closer.

The only other case that has appeared in Will's hallucinations after the fact is the totem pole. As Will himself says, it's the killer showing off his opus. Who else is a big showoff? Chesapeake Ripper. Basically, Will's subconscious has made the connection even if his awake mind hasn't. He sees the totem pole and seconds later find himself at Hannibal's door.

And when he captures Gideon, who he earlier said would want to meet the Ripper he again winds up at Hannibal's door.It's almost like Will is putting a puzzle together upside down. He has all the pieces in the right place but still can't see the picture.

• I personally saw the totem as Will viewing all of the cases he's gone through thus far - seeing them as a summation of his work with the FBI, which are symbolically summoning the tsunami to wash over his mind and destroy it. Additionally, as I mentioned in the Fridge section, Will's behavior in Rôti reflects the fact that he's seeing the Ripper through a filter - just barely picking him up through the mind of a man who thinks he's the Ripper.

Lecter will use Dr. du Maurier as a scapegoat for his/Will's actions

• It's very heavily implied that Dr. du Maurier knows that something is very much wrong with Lecter. As speculated above, he could very well have killed one of her patients in the past, and their dialogue (especially in the last few episodes) is filled with subtext regarding Lecter's actions towards Will Graham. Now that he doesn't have Will to manipulate any more, Lecter will need somebody else to cover for his actions, and since he's become dangerously close to opening up to Dr. du Maurier, and the only other person he's close to, she's the natural choice. Also, since canon dictates Will was never convicted of murder (only institutionalized for a time) somebody will have to fit the bill for the crimes.
  • It's certainly plausible. Hannibal is getting close to Du Maurier using the same strategy that he used to get close to Will: slowly dissolving professional boundaries, implicating her in lies, and making food for her.

The veal that Hannibal and Dr. Du Marier ate at the end of Savoreaux was made from Abigail Hobbs.

• Veal comes from a young calf, after all.
  • Confirmed by Word of God.
    • No it's not. In the interview, Fuller is being deliberately evasive, saying that Hannibal and Bedelia eating Abigail is "the message" that is getting across, and perhaps what Hannibal wants Bedelia to think. See below.

Abigail Hobbs is alive and on the run

• Hannibal's statement "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you in this life refers to her public life as the daughter of Garett Jacob Hobbs, as compared to the new life where she will be going on the run with a false name, free of the media stigma and FBI suspicions. To catalyze this, he rips off her the instant after he says that (look at where his hand is at the end of that scene), and possibly some other skin from her face, so that she'll be too disfigured to be immediately recognizable. He then force-feeds that ear to Will Graham. Later on, when he presents Bedelia with a meal made of actual weal, he knows she'll think that it's Abigail and will tell this to authorities should he be caught - hence covering Abigail's tracks more thoroughly.

Bedelia Du Maurier is herself a serial killer

• Like Hannibal, she goes out of her way to create a spotless public persona so as to be above suspicion. She's seems intelligent enough to know that Hannibal is a serial killer, and counsels him to learn more about the mind of someone like herself.

Abigail will die before Hannibal's arrest.

While she was mentioned in Red Dragon it was only in passing and her role was nowhere near as significant as in the series. She also helped her father hunt and kill his victims and is seen by Will as some sort of tool for redemption after he killed her father. All points that could potentially lead to a very tragic end.

• As of Relevés, this is heavily implied but unclear. Though Hannibal appears to have killed her, we'll have to wait until the finale to know for sure.
  • In the season 1 finale, "Savoreux", Abigail's severed ear and the blood-spattered kitchen indicate that Hannibal murdered her.
    • And now that's back in play as of Season Two, with Miriam Lass turning out to be alive.
    • Confirmed by the season 2 finale.

Hannibal's affair will play a major role later on

• While it seemed to be a throwaway line in episode 7, it was mentioned that Hannibal was having an affair during first The Chesapeake Ripper investigation. With whoever it was will come to effect the story later on. Any guesses on who it could be?
  • Murasaki? Or perhaps a Clarice expy?
  • In the first episode, Hannibal mentions his former secretary who married and moved to Europe. Maybe she was in a love triangle with Hannibal and another suitor?
  • My money's on Murasaki. In the background of Hannibal's office, there's some Japanese artwork and second season's episode titles are all based on Japanese dishes. If this goes the way of Hannibal Rising, the two had a romantic sort of relationship. Though it could count as Villainous Incest, she's his aunt by marriage. Brian Fuller teased during a panel that Robert Lecter may still be alive in this timeline, so it's possible the two may come into play.

Season Two

The fight scene in the season 2 trailer is in the first episode.

If it was some kind of big secret, they wouldn't put it so clearly in the first trailer. It'll be a cold open. A sudden, violent, irresistible cold open. Who isn't going to watch the rest of the season after something like that?

• Confirmed, all of the above!

Molly would be introduced as a sort of a Genki Girl type who loves dogs much as he does.

• After all the shit he had seen, Will would finally have a balance in his life.
• Alana Bloom will replace the character of Molly. She does, after all, have Will's dogs, and is a potential love interest.
  • Alana now has a relationship with Hannibal. It would be pretty hard for either of them to be together after that.

Season 2 will have the FBI Consulting a Convicted Killer in prison.

Namely, Will Graham. The price for his insight into the case of the week is a chance to find evidence leading to his exoneration and Hannibal's arrest.

• Confirmed, except for the price part so far.

Dr Abel Gideon will return as a Big Bad /Arc Villain

• Since Francis Dolarhyde and Buffalo Bill are likely going to be used as these.
  • Is he not dead?
  • According to Bryan Fuller and The Hannibal TV Show website apparently not.
• Jossed, as of Yakimono.

Bedelia is really Mischa Lecter

• In this continuity, Mischa was not murdered as a child, but was forcibly separated or kidnapped from the Lecter family and adopted abroad. Raised as Bedelia Du Maurier, she has no knowledge of her heritage. However, she still partakes of the Lecter family temperament and mannerisms, as seen in therapy scenes between Bedelia and Hannibal. Hannibal somehow discovered the truth, but decided to keep it from her until the time is right. He insists that Bedelia act as his therapist so he will have an excuse to be close to his sister. Because of his sociopathic nature, however, he has no moral qualms about referring a dangerous patient to her or implicating her in lies.
  • Which, if true, could lend an uncomfortable incest subtext to the romantic tension between Bedelia and Hannibal.
    • Jossed by "Secondo."

Hannibal's calm, collected facade will eventually crack

• Hannibal is cool and reserved as long as he's in control of a situation. Eventually, law enforcement will discover that he's the Chesapeake Ripper and hunt him down. When he loses control of his situation and finds himself a wanted man, Hannibal will explode with narcissistic rage. And it won't be pretty.

There will be flashbacks to the events of Hannibal Rising.

Count Robert Lecter and Lady Murasaki might be appearing in season 2.

Season 2 will introduce characters from The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal.

• Lecter will have a therapy session with Klaus, who will relay the story of how Jame Gumb killed his lover Benjamin Raspail. Klaus will then be killed by Lecter. This will be Lecter's last murder before the whole FBI finds out that he is the Chesapeake Ripper.
• Lecter will visit Mason Verger, give him a drink, and encourage him to cut off his own face. Verger will do so and eat the pieces of his face. He will go on a respirator and keep Lecter's actions a secret because he wants to get revenge on him and it would be hard to do so if Lecter is locked up.
  • Michael Pitt is confirmed to portray Mason Verger in season 2.

One of Lecter's victims will be put in a private mental hospital in Denver.

• In Red Dragon, Will says that Lecter's only two surviving victims (Graham not included) included someone on a respirator in Baltimore and someone in a mental hospital in Denver: “One is on a respirator at a hospital in Baltimore. The other is in a private mental hospital in Denver.” While the one on a respirator is Mason Verger, we are never told in the books who was put in the mental hospital. The show could explore this. The victim could survive Lecter during season 2 and then be visited by Graham in the asylum for questioning during season 3.
  • I am beginning to wonder whether Alana Bloom or Miriam Lass will have fates such as this one. One slept with a serial killer, the other one was held captive by Lecter for three years.

Will's father will debut in season 2.

Most likely during his trial. It doesn't seem like the two communicate anymore (or more Will cut off ties with him). Will mentioned in Coquilles that he keeps getting aftershave with a ship on the bottle for Christmas. And throughout his childhood they lived mostly on docks or boats.

• At least the trial appearance is Jossed.

NBC will cancel the show.

They are trying their hardest to take out Community and now they moved Hannibal, their other cult hit, into the Friday Slot of Death. We're counting on you, Netflix.

• Jossed...for now.

The flash forward takes place during the season 2 finale.

It says "12 weeks earlier" after the flash forward is shown. Season 2 episode 13 airs 12 weeks after season 2 episode 1.

• Confirmed.

The killer portrayed by Patrick Garrow is Jame Gumb.

In "Kaiseki," the killer is obsessed with skin and dumps bodies in rivers. Crediting Garrow simply as "Killer" may be Bryan Fuller's way of getting around using a character owned by MGM without naming the character. Fuller may have also changed Gumb's modus operandi a bit so that he does not seem exactly like the character owned by MGM.

Alternatively, the killer portrayed by Patrick Garrow is a Jame Gumb expy.

As stated above, the killer's modus operandi is different from the Jame Gumb with whom we are all familiar. For all we know, this killer may inspire Jame Gumb to commit his murders later on in the show. This expy may meet Lecter in a way similar to how Gumb meets Lecter prior to Lecter's incarceration.

• Expy part seems to be confirmed. His name is James Gray. His last name may have been chosen because of the shades of color in his murals.

Bedelia will help Will catch Hannibal.

In a sneak preview, it shows her saying, "I believe you," to Will. Maybe she wants Hannibal to get caught.

Alternatively, Bedelia is helping Hannibal mess with Will.

She will make Will believe that she is trying to help him when she is really studying him for Hannibal, from whom Will does not want a visit.

Season 2 ending.

Crawford will survive the fight, possibly due to Graham coming to his aid. Nevertheless, Lecter will escape, thus setting in motion the manhunt for Lecter in season 3.

In Hassun, the killer is not Lecter, but is a copycat who is obsessed with the Ripper and believes Will is guilty.

First, the killer was friends with one of his victims. Hannibal is not shown to be social with anyone blue collar. Second, Lecter does not use a gun and them mutilate his victims, with rare exception he kills his victims by mutilating them. If he intended to exonerate Will by executing more Ripper murders, he wouldn't use a different M.O. Next, the Wendigo in Will's dream went into a cell, the opposite direction of Lecter. The killer is instead someone who thinks Will is guilty of the crimes, and, wants him to go free, and is obsessed. May not have inside knowledge of the investigation, though, because the mutilation is done after death instead of during, a detail probably not readily available to everyone. Money's on Dolarhyde (who might be following along as in the events of Red Dragon) or a somehow well and free Dr. Gideon (who can make good Ripper knockoffs thanks to Chilton, and might want to humiliate Chilton by freeing Will).

• Semi-Confirmed by the promo trailer for episode 5. The killer is not Hannibal, but instead one of the asylum staff (played by Johnathan Tucker). However, his motives have more to do with him believing Will's innocence than his guilt. If the trailer is anything to go by, we will see this killer actually go up against Hannibal himself.
• Semi-confirmed by the actual episode. The asylum staff member murdered the bailiff, but Hannibal killed the judge.

What Beverly saw in Hannibal's basement

...Was Abigail Hobbs, incapacitated but alive, sans one ear. The rest of her body was never found, and there are theories saying that Hannibal saw something of his dead younger sister in her, which would preclude him killing her.

• And/or Miriam Lass, mutilated but alive. Hannibal is keeping them in induced comas with special drugs.
• Confirmed by Wordof God.

Freddie's derringer will be a literal Chekhov's Gun

Hannibal's Armor is a Chekhov's Gun

As shown in Futamono, Hannibal apparently owns an elaborate set of samurai armor, complete with a katana. It is in his house. When it is first seen, the camera lingers on it for a little while. You can bet that in the Season 2 finale fight, someone (either Hannibal or Jack) is going for the samurai gear. And it will be awesome.

• The armor belonged to his aunt Lady Murasaki, it's referenced/shown in Hannibal Rising. It's possible this was a shout-out/hint that his history will be explored more thoroughly soon.

Alana Bloom will have a nervous breakdown.

Because she will realize that Will was innocent and that she slept with a cannibalistic serial killer.

On a related note, Hannibal is drugging Alana Bloom, probably with his "special reserve" beer

Int he first few episodes of Season 1, Alana actually gets quite mad at Hannibal when he consistently contradicts her opinions regarding what's best for Will and Abigail Hobbs, culminating when he withdraws Abigail from the mental hospital behind her back and drugs her into a stupor. However, they get along much better in the scene where Hannibal first pours her a beer; when she likes it, but can't identify one of its flavors, he tells her to consider it her own "private reserve." (Hannibal himself always drinks wine.)

This is also when Hannibal first brings up the idea of "an affair" with Alana. In the episodes after this one, Alana is noticeable flirtier with Will Graham and Hannibal even against her own better judgement and very far from her worries about hurting Will from the first episode. All of this may suggest that her eventually ending up in an affair with Hannibal and suddenly becoming his defender at a few key points later in S1 and in S2.

It's also worth noting that this is Lecter's standard MO when it comes to women: he also drugs Abigail Hobbs, as mentioned above, and in the books he uses drugs and brainwashing to seduce Clarice Starling to his side permanently. Given how often the show takes material from the books and puts a new spin on it or connects it to anew character, Hannibal may be doing to Alana in the show Hannibal what he did to Clarice in the book Hannibal.

Hannibal did not have sex with Alana

.He merely drugged her to the point where she was so intoxicated that she would not remember the night with him. He removed her clothes to provide the illusion that they had sex with each other.

• Why?
  • To have an alibi and make Alana believe that they are growing so close that she will trust him even more.
• Jossed according to "Su-zakana."

The person Alana points her gun to in the previews is Will

Because even if it's been finally shown that he didn't kill anyone, he still put a hit on Hannibal Lecter. And her distrust of him is the perfect fuel Hannibal needs to get her further under his influence.

• Jossed. It's Hannibal.

Miriam Lass

has amnesia Hannibal doesn't leave anything to chance. He took 'credit' for the murders Will was accused of, and left enough clues for the FBI to find Miriam three years after her disappearance. He wouldn't risk her being found unless she'd either been brainwashed or sufficiently traumatized to ensure that she could never identify him.

• Did he simply wear a mask every time he visited her to feed her?? Unless he did brainwash her to be loyal to him but then why would he keep her down there- oh... my head hurts.

Lounds will die before season 4.

If Chilton can die earlier than he should have, then nobody is safe. Fredricka Lounds will be killed and then replaced by an expy by season 4. Better yet, maybe she has a twin brother named Frederick Lounds, who is also a reporter.

Dr. Chilton

will survive being shot in the face.We see the bullet enter on or beneath his cheek, and exit through the side of his neck. His brain and spine could be completely unharmed.

• It's more likely than you'd think. There have been many recorded cases of people being shot in the cheek, the bullet passing along under the skin, and exiting below the ear. So long as it doesn't strike bone and the bleeding is stopped, survival is possible.
  • I sincerely hope that this is true, because he should still be alive for the events of Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs.
• Bryan Fuller retweeted this graphic outlining almost that exact scenario, compared to his unequivocal statements that Beverly Katz was dead.
• Confirmed by Word of God: [1]
• Also confirmed within the show by "Aperitivo."

Jack Crawford never believed for a second that the Ripper was Frederick Chilton.

• Jack's apparent belief in Chilton as the Ripper is all a feint to make Hannibal Lecter think the Frame-Up of Chilton was successful. If he really believed Chilton was the evil mastermind behind all of the Ripper killings, he would have had FBI agents swarming Will Graham's house to arrest him. Instead he showed up alone, indicating exactly how little of a threat he actually considered Chilton (and possibly to ensure no other agents would take it upon themselves to shoot "the Ripper" on sight).

Jack won't die before Bella dies.

Jack is Bella's link to the plot of the show. If Jack dies, then we have no reason to see Bella again.

• Confirmed.

Matthew Brown is a bit of a Barney Matthews expy.

Both of them are orderlies at Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. If one says Matthew Brown's last name and then first name, it sounds very similar to Barney Matthews. Fuller himself stated that there was a Barney-like character and that they could not have Barney on the show since he first appears in Silence, which is owned by MGM.

Chilton and Lounds are hanging out in witness protection somewhere

• And Freddie, to spite Will and Jack, will write a Crime Tattler story about how Chilton is the real hero for agreeing to be the decoy Chesapeake Ripper and getting shot for his trouble. That's how Chilton's public image will be redeemed and he'll be able to get his job back at the hospital for the criminally insane in time to be Lecter's warden.
• It's been confirmed that Lounds is still alive.

If Fredricka Lounds is dead, her family will hold a grudge against Will.

She has a brother, possibly a twin named Freddie Lounds, who will take over her duties as writer of The Tattler and harass Will to get more stories.

Will is the last man with whom Margot will have sex.

She will come out as a lesbian, which she claims to be in the Hannibal novel.

• She IS a lesbian and has come out as such on multiple occasions. She is simply using Will to get pregnant, and gain an heir. All of this so she can kill her brother and claim the Verger legacy.

Mason is training the pigs to eat Margot.

That is why he put her suit on the meat.

Mason's disfigurement will leave him unable to pronounce certain sounds that require the use of his lips.

This would include sounds made by the letters b, f, m, p, v, and w.

Will Graham is playing his own Long Game against Hannibal.

This WMG takes into account several that have come before it, namely a variation of the whole 'Witness Protection' one. After he was released from the asylum, Will went to Jack and told him again about his suspicions about Hannibal, citing that it had to be one of the two of them who killed Abigail Hobbs (it almost certainly wasn't Chilton), and it couldn't have been him. Jack would have been willing to wait for Will to prove that Hannibal really was the Ripper, and when Chilton was framed he didn't believe it for very long.

• The past couple of episodes have shown Hannibal trying to mold Will to become a monster just like him. Will has realized this, and is willing to play along while quietly building evidence against Hannibal so that Jack can come and 'sink' him. He is playing to Hannibal's predatory nature in order to lure him - Will is always the fisherman.
• Chilton might unfortunately be dead, but Freddie Lounds likely isn't. Will has been keeping his strategy quiet, for fear of it getting back to Hannibal. It's why he doesn't confide anything in Alana after realizing she has started a relationship with Lecter. So he cut up Randall Tier and fed it to Hannibal instead of killing Freddie (who is probably tucked away somewhere because she found out what Will was up to).
• The fact that Will referred to Chilton in the present tense in his conversation with Freddie in Naka-Choko, as well as Bryan Fuller not only tweeting this, but also stating that Chilton very well could show up again "looking like Ed Harris in A History of Violence" definitely supports this.
• Ko No Mono makes this theory look a lot more credible, considering that Freddie Lounds is actually alive and Jack Crawford is well aware of this fact.

Will is using Hannibal to set up a trap for Mason.

Will was furious about Mason taking away his and Margot's child. He was on the verge of feeding Mason to the pigs, but he decided that Hannibal would give Mason a suitable fate, either because Will cannot bring himself to kill Mason or because he knows that Hannibal could give Mason a far worse fate than Will could ever imagine himself giving him. Hannibal may or may not already be in on the plan.

• Confirmed.

Alana will die in the season finale.

Word of God says three major characters are going to die in this season. So far we have Beverly and Gideon, and assuming Chilton is alive (which is likely), this leaves one spot open. Alana seems likely to be the third. There has been pretty heavy Foreshadowing and hints that she is going to die, such as the line "Who does he have to kill before your open your eyes?" being directly followed by a cut to her, and the previews for the last episode imply she's going to be in pretty big danger.

• Abigail pushed her out of a window and she could be breathing her last breaths. If she's not dead already, Alana may be shown dying at the beginning of the season 3 premiere. On the other hand, she could survive, and the other main character who will die could be Abigail Hobbs.
• Given how the Season 3 trailer shows Bedelia prominently, I'm thinking Gillian Anderson will be promoted in the opening titles, which means a slot's likely opened. The slot formerly held by Caroline Dhavernas, perhaps? It'd either be her or Laurence Fishburne.
• Jossed. She is alive in season 3.

Hannibal cannot tell the difference between human meat and animal meat.

He seemed to really believe that the meat that Will had brought was that of Freddie Lounds.

• I was under the impression that the meat Will gave him was Randall Tier. After all, his remains were in a freezer in his shed. Why would he risk tipping Hannibal of by giving him animal meat and claiming it to be Lounds, when he already had a dead guy in storage (likely for exactly that reason)?

Kade Prurnell hoped that Will and Jack would kill Hannibal

Because otherwise her actions in the season 2 finale are completely unjustifiable, except with a colossal Idiot Ball. She knows that Jack intended to arrest (or kill, he is not that fussy) Hannibal that evening. Yet when Jack and Will both slip away before she can arrest them, she does not bother in the slightest to send a police team to Hannibal's home (if she didn't want to reveal this to Hannibal, she could just let them wait in cover nearby), even if the chances of them showing up there (and doing what she ostensibly doesn't want them to do) are incredibly high. So the only explanation is that she wanted it that way. She has realized that while Jack and Will made it easy to catch Hannibal, they also made his prosecution a nightmare. It would come to light that Will had been running around mutilating and displaying corpses, with the consent of one of the FBI's top officers, and that he had urged Hannibal on to kill Jack just so that they could catch him in the act. With a good lawyer and no evidence uncovered to link him to his earlier crimes (after all, the case against Chilton as the Ripper is still strong), the whole case might be thrown out, and that would make heads roll at the FBI, possibly including hers. But when Jack and Will, AFTER they've been dismissed, just straight up kill Hannibal (which is a lot likelier than an arrest now, since Jake doesn't have a police force at his back), it's still going to be bad press, but not nearly as much as if it had been a FBI operation. Hannibal (who she clearly considers guilty, but feels unable to prove it) is dead, and the quarrelsome Jack goes to jail himself.

Season Three

The meeting between Will and Molly takes places between seasons 2 and 3.

Not sure if they will be married, but Molly has to be an established character in season 3.

Season 3

• Bryan Fuller has explained how he has a seven season arc for the show but hasn't explained what his plans for Season 3 are. It's probable that, at the end of Season 2, Will will have convinced everyone that Hannibal framed him and that Season 3 will consist of the FBI's manhunt (pun slightly intentional) for Hannibal.
  • Not only do we know that the fight scene between Will and Jack probably takes place in the last or second to last episode, at the point of time this is written (season 2, episode 7), Hannibal is already under Jack's suspicion and Will's planning on getting him exposed by resuming their sessions. All in all, the build-up and hints are strongly pointing towards the season ending with Hannibal's exposure. There is an entire-season gap between this and the Red Dragon season. Season 3 focusing on the search for him, and perhaps including his actual capture, arrest, trial and official incarceration, would be the most interesting and logical way to fill that gap.

Will Graham will visit Shiloh at some point.

At the end of Red Dragon, it is mentioned that Will Graham visited Shiloh in spring the year after he killed Garrett Jacob Hobbs and the year before he arrested Hannibal Lecter. Maybe he will travel to Shiloh in his search for Lecter in season 3.

Season 3 or 4 will be Will's last in the main character role.

• The events of Red Dragon require that Will calls it quits. Enter Clarice Starling expy. Her appearance has already been possibly/probably foreshadowed via Crawford's grief over Miriam Lass. 3 seasons of Will and 3 seasons of Clarice seems like a fair fit.
  • Season 4 will be Red Dragon, so Graham will still be the main character then. Clarice Starling or an expy like Miriam Lass could be the main character after that.
  • UPDATE: The second half of Season 3 will be Red Dragon. Clarice will come after that. http://www.indiewire.com/article/hannibal-to-begin-red-dragon-story-in-season-3-with-silence-of-the-lambs-to-follow-20140724

Assuming he is alive, Chilton will sue the FBI upon Hannibal being proven guilty

Chilton's childish and petty personality would demand recompense for his false accusation and imprisonment.

• He would have a good case regarding the whole shot-in-the-face thing, at least.

Abigail Hobbs

will die from the cuts that Hannibal gave her in the season 2 finale.Word of God. Just look at this link:

[2]

Fuller says, "'Oh, gosh, we brought Miriam back and we're brining Dr. Chilton back — does that seem like too much?' So we just thought, 'Well, let's just bring her back and kill her on-screen!'"

Although later in the same interview he also says, "One of the wonders of this season is: Will Alana survive and will Jack Crawford survive? Will Abigail Hobbs survive? Those are things that are going to be revealed very slowly at the beginning of Season 3."

• Confirmed.

Will Graham will survive from the wound that Hannibal gave him.

Fuller says that they are sticking to the basic outcome, which I believe means Will staying alive and catching Hannibal.

• Confirmed.

Jack Crawford will survive his wounds, but his fate will not be revealed until much later into season 3.

The show has already done stuff like this with Miriam Lass and Abigail Hobbs, as well as Frederick Chilton, apparently.

• Seems to be Jossed by Word of God: [3]

Bryan Fuller says, "I think the fun in frustration is, oh my god, basically the main cast, except for the title character, is lying dying, and you won't know until episode 2 of Season 3 who survived. You won't even know in the first episode who survived."

Hannibal's memory palace will take us to a variation of Hannibal Rising in season 3.

The memory palace was mentioned in the season 2 finale. Hannibal is going to France, where Hannibal Rising takes place. Word of God says that we will see Lady Murasaki.

Francis Dolarhyde will appear in season 3.

Word of God. "My hope is that not only do we have a completely different Hannibal Lecter story in Season 3, but we will meet some of those great characters like Francis Dolarhyde and Lady Murasaki and weave them into the world in a unique way." - Bryan Fuller.

There will be a time skip between season 3 and season 4.

Will needs time to meet Molly Foster and her son Billy, marry Molly, and then move to Florida. It could be a three-year time skip since that's how long Lecter has been incarcerated by the time of Red Dragon.

Season 3 will introduce an original major Serial Killer.

Along with the chase for Hannibal this will be another way to fill in time for some episodes. Creating two advesaries for Will to deal with. Though the actual capture of Hannibal may take place in a two-part finale. Which gives Hannibal the oppurtunity to...

• Perhaps the Monster of Florence? Season 3 is taking a bit from the Hannibal novel.

Satisfy his appetite

Season 3 will show Hannibal at his worst now that he's been exposed. We will see a more violent and blood hungry Hannibal and with Bedelia as a hostage he may try and turn her over to his side and groom her to be a protege. Not that he'll give her any choice and with his already established penchanct for attempting to transfrom already tettering over the edge individuals (Will Graham, Margot Verger and Randall Tier), this wouldn't seem out of character for him.

The season 3 finale will leave Hannibal's fate ambiguous.

Hannibal will be bleeding fatally from gunshot wounds inflicted on him by Will. Whether or not he survives will not be revealed until Will visits his cell in the middle of season 4.

Abigail is dead.

SOMEONE has to have died after the season 2 finale. Confirmed

Alana is dead.

Will and Jack can't be dead because then Red Dragon can't happen without drastic alterations,and it seems both wasteful and redundant to bring back Abigail just to kill her off again.

• Jossed.

Bedelia will die in season 3.

Probably within the first seven episodes.

• [[Spoiler: Jossed. She survived the first seven episodes.]]

Mason Verger will die in season 3.

Again, it seems like Fuller might be worried about the show getting cancelled, so he probably wants closure for Mason Verger. It already looks like the first seven episodes of season 3 will cover bits of Hannibal and Hannibal Rising.

• [[Spoiler: Confirmed.]]

Kade Prurnell will die in season 3.

And it may be in a fashion similar to that of Paul Krendler in Hannibal since her name is nearly an anagram of his.

Hannibal will eat Bedelia.

He seems to be set on this based on what he is having her eat.

Hannibal will have sex with Bedelia.

She seems like she could become the version of Clarice Starling we see at the end of the Hannibal novel.

Molson Verger will be shown feeling Mason's face in a flashback.

In the novel Hannibal, it is written, "Often, affectionately, Molson Verger liked to take his son's head in his hands and just feel it, as though he were confirming the son's paternity through physiognomy." A flashback in the show could depict this happening to a younger Mason before cutting to his now disfigured face.

• Jossed.

In "Primavera," Lounds will publish a picture of Will's wound.

After sneaking into the hospital while he is asleep, that is.

• Jossed.

Will has not really forgiven Hannibal.

He is visibly upset that Abigail is gone. It is difficult to believe that he does not hold a grudge against Hannibal for what he did to her. His image of her vanishes when he realizes how foolish it is to wish that they had gone with Hannibal to Europe, so he may not be blaming himself for what happened with Abigail. The blame is on Hannibal.

• Seems Confirmed by "Dolce." Hannibal even says "You dropped your forgiveness" when he sees the knife Will was going to use to cut him.

Jack Crawford and/or Alana Bloom will not be shown alive until Lecter is incarcerated.

"Digestivo" at the earliest, "The Great Red Dragon" at the latest.

• Jossed. Jack is shown alive in "Secondo" and Alana is shown alive in "Aperitivo."

Jack and Bella will be shown in Italy during season 3 prior to the Red Dragon arc, and Bella will die.

Jack said in season 2 episode "Hassun" that he was thinking of bringing Bella to Italy, where they met, so that she could die there. While they are there, Jack may become distracted by the hunt for Hannibal, who is also in Italy. Bella will die during the Italian portion of season 3.

• Jossed, though Jack spreads her ashes there.

Clarice Starling will appear in the final scene of season 3.

The season finale is titled "The Wrath of the Lamb." Though this sounds like a reference to Revelation 6:16, which brings to mind William Blake painting The Number of the Beast is 666, it could also be a reference to setup for The Silence of the Lambs.

The Soviet OMON assaults on Lithuanian border posts will tie into Hannibal's backstory.

He and Chiyoh seem too young to have been around during the time in which Nazis were in power, as seen in Hannibal Rising. The timeline has shifted forward, and the historical aspects of Hannibal's past will have to conform to it.

Alternatively, we will not be given concrete details about Hannibal's past.

All that we will know is that Hannibal ate his daughter Mischa and that Chiyoh imprisoned the man Hannibal deemed responsible for the whole matter. Hannibal Rising will only be alluded to, not illustrated.

It will be revealed that it was Hannibal's own choice to eat Mischa.

Though he was forced to do so in Hannibal Rising, the show's version of his origin could suggest that he was not forced at all and decided to do so for himself. As Lecter puts it, "Nothing happened to me. I happened."

Hannibal will let himself be caught and sent to Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

Perhaps he has his own master plan in mind, which is anyone's guess.

• Partially [[Spoiler: confirmed since he wants Will to know exactly where he can find him, but partially Jossed since it seems that Chiyoh threatened him with her rifle to turn himself in. It is possible that he wanted her to do so so that she could feel freed.]]

In "Contorno," Jack will have a flashback to when he met Bella in Italy.

That's where they met and where this season is taking place.

• Jossed.

Alana and Margot will become a couple.

People have noted that the two of them seem to have some sort of chemistry.

• Confirmed by "Dolce."

Alana will take the role of Judy from the Hannibal novel.

In the novel, Margot has a girlfriend named Judy, whom she wants to impregnate with Mason's sperm so that she may gain the family inheritance. In the show, Alana may agree to be impregnated with Mason's sperm to help Margot. Mason already seems infatuated with her.

• Seems Confirmed by "Dolce."

The plot thread of Margot trying to obtain Mason's sperm will not appear on the show.

It may be considered too inappropriate for NBC.

• Jossed by "Dolce."

Mrs. Pazzi will avenge her husband.

She deserves to get a swing at Hannibal for what he did to Rinaldo. Maybe she will help Jack and Will catch Hannibal.

• [[Spoiler: Jossed.]]

Hannibal will be smuggled to the US on Will's boat.

Hannibal has killed on Italian soil, so the Italian authorities would not allow him to be incarcerated on American soil. Will may have been planning far ahead.

• Seems Jossed by the end of "Dolce." If anything, Mason arranged for Hannibal to be smuggled.

Bloom is secretly helping Chilton as she deals with Mason Verger.

Mason has his own resources for capturing Hannibal and intends to torture him. Chilton, on the other hand, wants Hannibal incarcerated at Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Verger refused to help Chilton, so maybe Chilton sent Bloom to work with Verger so that they may intercept Hannibal after he is captured but before he can be tortured so that he can be incarcerated.

Bedelia is leaving a trail so that Hannibal will be caught.

She shopped for Hannibal at the same store, and Alana has found out about the routine. Bedelia could have gone to different stores, but she chose not to. She even looked into a security camera at a train station so that she could be noticed. She is leaving bread crumbs, just like in a fairy tale.

Alana will cannibalize Mason.

Mason said, "Spitters are quitters, and you don't strike me as a quitter, Dr. Bloom." Alana may end up eating Mason without spitting out his cooked meat.

• [[Spoiler: Jossed.]]

Jack died from a heart attack when Hannibal was trying to saw through Will's head.

He dies from a heart attack in the books, and this could have been too much for him.

• [[Spoiler: Jossed.]]

Hannibal (and possibly Will) ate Jack's brain.

It seemed like Hannibal was about to eat Will's brain just as he and Clarice did to Paul Krendler in the Hannibal novel. Jack is absent when Mason "welcomes" Will and Hannibal at Muskrat Farm. It is possible that Hannibal obeyed Jack's command to stop, deciding to eat Jack's brain instead and possibly feeding some of it to Will.

• [[Spoiler: Jossed.]]

"Digestivo" will begin with a scene revealing what took place between Jack saying "Stop!" and the arrival at Muskrat Farm.

Perhaps it will show who interrupted Hannibal's sawing.

• Confirmed.

Chiyoh interrupted the dinner in "Dolce."

She was in the same building and could have attempted to capture Hannibal.

• Jossed, but she intervenes shortly after the police arrive.

The inspector who appeared in "Dolce" intervened.

Jack told him about the price on Hannibal's head. The inspector could have successfully captured Hannibal and sold him to Mason.

• Confirmed.

Mason will eat at least one of Hannibal's fingers.

It would reflect Hannibal removing a finger between The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal.

• Jossed.

Alana will kill Cordell.

In the Hannibal novel, Margot kills both Cordell and Mason. In "Digestivo," she will probably kill Mason, but Alana could help her by killing Cordell.

• [[Spoiler: Jossed. Hannibal kills him.]]

Cordell will by killed with a hammer near a bar fridge.

This would match his fate in the Hannibal novel.

• [[Spoiler: Though we do not see this happen, we can confirm that Hannibal killed Cordell with a hammer.]]

Dr. Chilton will arrive at Muskrat Farm.

Perhaps he will try to stop Mason from killing Hannibal since he wants him institutionalized.

• Jossed.

Will is the father

of the [[spoiler: baby in the pig.]]Eight months passed between the "red dinner" and Will arriving at the Norman Chapel. Add the time between Margot getting pregnant and the red dinner as well as the time that it took for Will to go to Castle Lecter and then to Florence and it could be nine months. Mason said that he merely put Margot's egg into a surrogate, so it must be Will, not Mason, who is the father.

Red Dragon (originally meant to be in season 4, now part of season 3)

Will will be disfigured at the end of season 4.

To match the ending of Red Dragon.

• Confirmed. Francis stabs him in the face.

The events of Red Dragon will have Adaptation Expansion.

The events that appear in the novel do not seem like they can cover thirteen whole episode if everything that is written is covered. Hannibal will probably appear more often than he does in the novel. The show is, after all, named after him.

• Confirmed.

We will see flashbacks to the childhood of Francis Dolarhyde.

In the novel Red Dragon, Dolarhyde's Tragic Backstory is described in-depth for a few chapters. In the show, the flashbacks will probably be spread out throughout season 4.

• Confirmed by a brief scene in "And the Woman Clothed with the Sun."

The Great Red Dragon will be visible to the audience.

In the novel, Dolarhyde hears a voice in his head compelling him to kill and identifies it as the Great Red Dragon. We will not only hear the voice, but also see an actor playing him onscreen, similar to what Defiant Theater did for their play of Red Dragon. If they can show us the Wendigo seen by Graham, then they can show us the Dragon seen by Dolarhyde.

• Confirmed in "And the Beast from the Sea."

Matthew Brown will appear during the Red Dragon arc.

Look at this tweet: [4]◊ Looks like Hannibal Lecter won't be the only killer whom Will consults to catch Francis Dolarhyde, which is refreshing in my opinion. Maybe Brown is similar to Dolarhyde in that they both have experience installing cameras.

• Jossed according to Fuller.

Freddie Lounds will not be set on fire in a wheelchair.

We already saw that happen with the fake corpse that was used to make people think that it was her. Her death may be done differently.

• Seems confirmed.

Alternatively, Francis Dolarhyde will be inspired by the incident with the fire and the wheelchair.

He could tell her something like, "This is how you should have died. This is how you will die.

• Semi-Jossed. Dolarhyde seems inspired by the firey wheelchair but does it for real with Dr. Chilton.

Francis Dolarhyde will be an internet stalker.

The Red Dragon novel, Manhunter, and the Red Dragon film took place in 1980, 1986, and 1989 respectively, so having Dolarhyde work in a film lab and select victims in home videos worked for those years. In modern times, however, he would select his victims from photos and videos on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. He probably masturbates to women in photos and videos posted on the internet.

• Lecter suggests it in "...And the Beast from the Sea."
  • Confirmed by Word of God. In this interview, [5], Fuller says, "Social media. Hannibal answered the question to Will. Just check your Facebook privacy settings."

Francis Dolarhyde will be working for a real estate company.

Thus explaining how he finds the families that he kills. He could be a real estate photographer.

• Jossed, see above.

Francis Dolarhyde installs home security systems.

Including the one in the opening scene of the very first episode.

Red Dragon will be the last six episodes of season 3.

It has been reported on tvline.com that "Armitage’s gig is slated to last six episodes." Maybe Fuller is worried that the show will get cancelled after season 3, hence why it will now have bits of Hannibal Rising, Hannibal, and Red Dragon. If the show gets cancelled after season 3, then at least Will's arc will have somewhat of a conclusion with the end of Red Dragon. If it gets renewed, then they can continue his thread as well as Hannibal's.

• Confirmed, including the cancellation.

Structure of season 3 episodes about Red Dragon.

• Episode 308: Jack convinces Will to solve the murders of the Jacobi and Leeds families. Will goes to the Leeds house in Atlanta. At some point, he hears the voicemail on the phone. Eileen apologizes to Francis Dolarhyde for what a drunken Bob says to him.
  • Jack convincing Will is confirmed, but the parts about Atlanta, the voicemail, and Eileen are Jossed.
• Episode 309: Will visits Hannibal at Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, asking for help. Lounds photographs Will outside of the building. Hannibal obtains Will's home address. Will goes to the Jacobi house in Birmingham and talks to community college student Niles Jacobi. Francis reads Lounds' article about Hannibal and Will. His message to Hannibal is found. Hannibal's response is intercepted and decoded. Molly and Willy leave Florida to stay at Jack's brother's house.
  • The first two sentences are confirmed, but the rest is either completely Jossed or happens in later episodes.
• Episode 310: Will takes Molly to the sheriff's range. Lounds interviews Will and takes a picture with him for The Tattler. Dolarhyde reads the article and kidnaps her. He shows pictures of his victims, records a message, bites off the lips, and kills causes Lounds' death.
  • Mostly Jossed. The interview happens later and the kidnapping happens to Chilton later.
• Episode 311: Lounds' funeral takes place. Francis meets Reba McClane. He takes her to pet a Bengal tiger. Francis has sex with Reba and is tempted by his inner voice in the form of The Great Red Dragon to kill her.
  • Jossed. Lounds survives and the stuff with Reba happens in the preceding two episodes.
• Episode 312: Francis eats the William Blake painting. Will figures out that Francis is the killer. Francis shoots Ralph Mandy after seeing him with Reba.
  • Jossed. Francis eats the painting two episodes before and Ralph Mandy is absent from this adaptation. Will finds out the killer is Francis in the next episode.
• Episode 313: Francis sets his house on fire with Arnold Lang's corpse and Reba inside. Francis arrives at Will's home and cuts his face. Molly shoots Francis to death. Jack intercepts a message from Hannibal and gets rid of it so that Will does not read it.
  • The first sentence is confirmed, but the rest is Jossed, though Francis does cut Will's face.

Francis' flashbacks of growing up will be spread out across episodes featuring him.

In the novel, the flashbacks are described all at once. In the show, they may be spread out so that the flashbacks do not take up too much of an episode.

• Jossed. There is only one very brief flashback.

Francis Dolarhyde is the reincarnation of Thorin Oakenshield.

In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Thorin suffered from dragon sickness. In this new life, he still hears a voice in his head. Which means...

Smaug is The Great Red Dragon.

After all these years, Smaug's voice is still haunting the mind of Thorin/Francis. The voice was awoken once again when Francis beheld the beauty of the William Blake painting.

The Great Red Dragon will be portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Again, it is Smaug's voice in Francis' head. Cumberbatch will do the voice and perhaps even portray him physically if they can make the Great Red Dragon appear to Francis in a manner similar to how the Wendigo has appeared to Will.

• Jossed, unfortunately.

There will be a Time Skip between Hannibal's incarceration and the manhunt for Francis Dolarhyde.

Will needs some downtime between capturing Hannibal and coming out of retirement.

• Confirmed. Three years pass.

"Strong As I Am" will be played during the Red Dragon storyline.

It would be a nice homage to Manhunter.

• Jossed.

Graham will mentally call Dolarhyde a son of a bitch in Season 3

Because the window jump scene in Season 2 has opened the dam for Manhunter references.

• He actually refers to Lecter and Dolarhyde as "sons of bitches" out loud in "...And the Beast from the Sea."

Molly will die in episode 311, "...And the Beast from the Sea."

According to this article [6] Nina Arianda's role will span four episodes. She may fall victim to Death by Adaptation.

• Though she could simply not appear in some of the middle episodes which mainly focus on Will off investigating with the FBI and Dolarhyde's plotline.
  • Jossed.

There will be a Time Skip between "Digestivo" and "The Great Red Dragon."

Maybe three years since that is how long Hannibal has been incarcerated by the time of the novel. It would also give Will enough time to meet and marry Molly Foster.

• Confirmed.

The title of either episode 312 or 313 will be "The Number of the Beast is 666."

This is the title of another one of The Great Red Dragon paintings.

• Might be 312 since 313 is titled "The Wrath of the Lamb."
  • Confirmed as the title for episode 312.

Freddie Lounds will be Spared by the Adaptation

Or at the very least, her death will be heavily altered. Since the show's already used the character's iconic death scene, and the kidnapping/tongue biting scene might resemble the sexual violence Fuller is trying to avoid a little too much with a female Lounds.

• Confirmed. Chilton gets her original fate.

Bedelia will survive into the Red Dragon arc.

Since Bryan Fuller has confirmed Zachary Quinto, who plays the patient she killed, will reappear in episode 10, three episodes after the Italy-set first half of the season.

• Confirmed.

Jack's brother will appear during the Red Dragon arc.

He is mentioned as the owner of the house at which Molly and her son Willy stay in the novel.

• Jossed. Jack's brother never appears.

Jack's brother will be portrayed by Frankie Faison.

He has appeared in every Hannibal film except Hannibal Rising. He may be too old to play Barney, but he could play Jack's brother, who would be older according to the series.

• Jossed.

There will be a flashback to the first scene of the show, but with Francis committing the murder.

The first scene of the show has been confirmed to be an early murder scene by Francis Dolarhyde.

• Jossed.

We will see Will burning a card from Hannibal.

In the Red Dragon novel, it is mentioned that Graham had received a Christmas card from Lecter and burned it in his backyard. We could see this take place.

• Confirmed. He burns a letter from him in the fireplace in the first episode.

A Bengal tiger will appear in visions like the stag.

In Red Dragon, Francis takes Reba to feel a Bengal tiger. This animal can become yet another symbol.

• Jossed, though the actual tiger does appear in "...And the Woman Clothed in Sun."

There will be a vision of Francis eating the Great Red Dragon.

This would represent Francis eating the William Blake painting. It would also tie into the cannibalism theme.

• Jossed. He just eats the painting.

The FBI will try to sweat out Lecter.

In the novel Red Dragon, this is described as having taken place in the time between Lecter's incarceration and Red Dragon. In the show, this could happen during the Tooth Fairy investigation and still result in Lecter providing a recipe for potato chip dip.

• Jossed.

Will Graham will go back to calling Hannibal "Dr. Lecter."

This is how he addresses Hannibal in Red Dragon. It would reinforce the fact that he is trying not to be close to Lecter anymore.

• Confirmed.

Francis Dolarhyde will be Spared By Adaptation

He will survive the Red Dragon adaptation and appear in season four.

• Jossed.

At the end, Will will dream about the Battle of Shiloh.

He dreams about it at the end of the novel.

• Jossed, unfortunately.

Lecter will meet Dolarhyde in person.

They never meet each other in person in the novel, but perhaps the show will have Lecter face his fan.

• Confirmed in "The Wrath of the Lamb."

Lecter will say to Graham, "I have given much thought to eating your wife."

In the Hannibal novel, Lecter says this to Rinaldo Pazzi. He does not say this to Pazzi in season 3, so the line may be reused against Graham.

• Jossed, unfortunately.

Francis Dolarhyde will kill Alana Bloom.

In the novel, Francis kills women who each have a bloom on them. Perhaps Alana Bloom will be included as one of his victims.

• Jossed.

Dolarhyde's occupation will involve transferring home movie footage from VHS tapes to discs.

It would be a modern interpretation of his occupation.

The murders of the Jacobi family in Birmingham and the Leeds family in Atlanta will not take place until after Graham consults Lecter.

In the trailer, Graham mentions murders in Chicago and Buffalo to Lecter. The show could be adding additional murder scenes to Dolarhyde's story. Even the opening scene of "Apertif" was an extra scene added to Dolarhyde's story.

• Jossed. The Jacobi and Leeds families are killed in Chicago and Buffalo respectively.

Lecter has his nice cell as a result of bargaining with Chilton.

Lecter offered information for Chilton's study on him in exchange for the furnished cell.

We will see Hannibal imagining Mischa in his cell.

The trailer shows an obscured woman behind Hannibal in the cell. This could be him seeing his sister in his memory palace.

• Seems Jossed. The obscured woman is actually Alana outside of the cell.

We will see red dragon wings grow out of Francis' back.

It would take place in Francis' imagination.

• Confirmed by "...And the Beast from the Sea."

Graham and Dolarhyde will have a conversation with each other.

It would probably be Graham trying to persuade Dolarhyde to end his crimes before things get worse.

• Confirmed in "The Wrath of the Lamb."

We will see the child that results from Mason's sperm

.It would be about two years old and raised by Margot.

• Confirmed in "The Wrath of the Lamb."

We will find out that Alana impregnated herself with Mason's sperm

.She seemed very into Margot and may have gone the extra mile.

• Confirmed.

Alternatively, Judy does exist in the show and will be revealed as the one who impregnates herself with Mason's sperm

.She was Margot's girlfriend in the Hannibal novel.

• Jossed.

Willy Foster will have a different first name.

His name has not been mentioned in interviews. It may be changed so that it is not too confusing having both Will and Willy in the show. His name was Kevin in Manhunter and Josh in the Red Dragon film.

• Confirmed. His name is Walter, or Wally.

Francis will attempt to kill Bedelia.

When Hannibal tells him, "Kill them all," he may be referring to more than just Will's family.

• Jossed.

Hannibal will send Francis to kill Alana.

Hannibal reiterated that he would keep his promise to kill Alana. He could use Francis to fulfill this promise.

• Jossed.

Afterward, Chilton will be promoted to Bloom's position.

He needs to be the one in charge of Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

• Jossed for now. Bryan Fuller has said that he would want a scarred Chilton reinstated for The Silence of the Lambs.

Graham will be wearing glasses and then take them off right before or as he is facing Lecter.

The glasses represent the good side of Will whereas Will without glasses is more associated with his time encountering Hannibal.

• Jossed.

Jimmy Price and Brian Zeller will become a couple.

Fuller has said that Price is gay, and he and Zeller seem to have some sort of chemistry.

• Seems Jossed.

In Episode 309, Graham will return to the Leeds house and hear Valerie Leeds' voice mailbox.

This happens in the novel.

• Jossed.

Lecter got Graham's address through Lounds.

Lounds never minds her own business. She was bound to look for Graham to study how he has been coping in the aftermath of Lecter's arrest. She probably gave Lecter his address in exchange for sensational information that she could publish. This would explain how the letter from Lecter got to Graham's house.

• Jossed. It is clear that Lecter does not know Graham's address at that point. The letter is implied to have been forwarded by the FBI.

Crawford willingly got interviewed by Lounds.

Lounds tells Graham that her article will say that a high ranking official said "it takes one to catch one." In the novel, this is clearly made up. In the show, however, it might have come directly from Crawford to motivate Graham and bring him back to the mindset that allowed him to think like a killer. He even tells Lecter, "It takes one to catch one."

Crawford has a new girlfriend.

Lecter seemed to imply this.

• There is nothing onscreen to confirm this, so possibly Jossed.

Crawford's new girlfriend is someone familiar.

Possibilities include Miriam Lass, Kade Prurnell, Chiyoh, and Allegra Pazzi.

• Could be Denise the orderly.

Dolarhyde will eat Lounds.

The burning wheelchair has already been done. As a fan of Lecter, he may try something new. In the novel, he just bites off Lounds' lips and spits them out. Here, he may actually eat Lounds. There might even be imagery of the Great Red Dragon devouring Lounds. The hashtag for "And the Woman Clothed in the Sun" is "swallowedwhole," so it may be referring to this.

• Jossed.

Alana gave Lecter a nice cell so that he would keep quiet about what really happened at Muskrat Farm.

She does not want him to reveal that she freed him so that he could kill Cordell and allow her and Margot to do what they did to Mason.

Bloom bugged Lecter's cell and/or the phone.

She does not really believe that it is Lecter's lawyer on the phone.

• Jossed.

Dolarhyde called from a payphone far from St. Louis.

He does not want to give away his location.

• Jossed. He called from Lecter's old office.

The "Do you see?" scene will appear in "And the Woman Clothed in the Sun."

The episode title is the title of the painting tattooed on Dolarhyde's back, and he shows it to Lounds in this scene from the book.

• Jossed. It appears in "The Number of the Beast is 666."

Chilton will be abducted for the "Do you see?" scene.

Freddie Lounds will be in a position in which viewers expect her to be abducted by Dolarhyde, but this will be a Red Herring. Instead, he will abduct Chilton for calling him "The Tooth Fairy" in his book. Dolarhyde may let Chilton survive if he hides his identity and Chilton agrees to publish information that Dolarhyde would prefer to have published. Of course, this will not happen without Chilton suffering some sort of wound. Hopefully it is not a fatal wound.

• [[Spoiler: Confirmed.]]

In "...And the Beast from the Sea," Francis will see Stuart Gilbert's portrait of George Washington.

It will happen while he is trying to get out of the museum. Since it reminds him of his grandmother in the novel, it may trigger a flashback to his childhood, during which his grandmother called him a "beast." This would reflect the episode title.

• Jossed.

In "...And the Beast from the Sea," Francis will receive Will's address from Hannibal.

He will call Dr. Lecter and tell him about how afraid he is now that Graham has seen him. Lecter's proposed solution will be to kill Graham and his family. Dolarhyde will then resolve to go to Graham's home, where he may find Molly and Walter.

• Confirmed.

In "...And the Beast from the Sea," Graham will not describe Dolarhyde's face to the FBI.

He wants to speak to Dolarhyde personally and see if he can save him from further corruption.

• Possibly confirmed since we do not see him describe his face onscreen.
  • Jossed. An artist sketch appears in "The Number of the Beast is 666."

Francis will be shown sitting on a toilet defecating the painting.

It would reflect how his grandmother traumatized him into always sitting on the toilet. And it may even be suggested that the Great Red Dragon has survived digestion and is coming out of Francis' ass.

• Jossed, thankfully.

Reba will remember a lama and a puma.

She saw these before she lost her vision.

• Jossed.

The season will end with Hannibal no longer wanting anything to do with Will.

Fuller has said that season four would rely on the altered dynamic at the end of season three. Maybe Hannibal dealing with Francis will make Hannibal finally get over Will. If Francis is Spared By Adaptation, he could take Will's place in the next season if we get it.

• Jossed. The altered dynamic would most likely be their mutual romantic feelings for one another.

"...And the Beast with the Sea" will end with a funeral.

Viewers will be shown a funeral in present day without being told which character had died. The next episode would reveal whom Francis killed and whose funeral Will is attending. The funeral scene may also be transitioned from a shot of Grandma Dolarhyde's funeral.

• Jossed.

Freddie Lounds will die in "The Number of the Beast is 666."

Check out the phone number on the following photo that was tweeted: [7]◊ It contains the numbers "666." Just like the episode title. Perhaps this is when Lounds will finally die.

• Jossed.

Reba will actually kiss Ralph Mandy.

Now that she has broken up with Francis, she will have no qualms kissing other men. This will be sure to spark jealousy in Francis, thus awakening the Great Red Dragon.

• Jossed. Ralph Mandy is absent from this adaptation.

Hannibal wanted Francis to kill Molly and Wally to push Will over the edge and turn him into a killer.

Hannibal said, "You could toss the dragon to someone else." At face value, it may sound like he is saying that he can offer someone else to the Great Red Dragon in Reba's stead. But the choice of words sounds weird. He could actually be suggesting that Francis toss the Great Red Dragon onto someone else it can latch onto. He believes that Francis killing Molly and Wally would turn Will into a killer, possibly driven to kill Francis and then become a full-fledged serial killer or even the new Great Red Dragon.

"The Wrath of the Lamb" will begin with Francis seeing Ralph Mandy at Reba's house.

This happens in the novel and other adaptations and ends with him killing Ralph and kidnapping Reba. There may have been a scene skipped at the end of "The Number of the Beast is 666" just like the end of "Dolce."

• Jossed.

[[Spoiler: Chilton

is dead and the funeral will be shown in "The Wrath of the Lamb."]]Unless Bryan Fuller decides to keep the character's status ambiguous.

• Jossed. He is shown alive in "The Wrath of the Lamb."

The magazine Chilton threw into Lecter's cell is a Chekhov's Gun that Lecter will use to escape.

It would be a nice nod to Chilton being the reason that he escapes in The Silence of the Lambs film. The magazine may have staples that Lecter can use. There is a reason that we saw a shot of the magazine landing on the floor. Lecter even has a smug expression when he sees it come in.

• Jossed, surprisingly.

The ending will be like Twin Peaks.

Here is how it goes down: Will Graham goes into his memory palace, where he and Hannibal are sitting in chairs for a therapy session. Hannibal says, "Would you like some tea? Some of your friends are here." Abigail Hobbs appears and says, "Hello, Agent Graham. I'll see you again in twenty-five years. Meanwhile." A cup of tea is given to Will, and he notices the change in the tea's density. He may drops the tea cup, breaking it. Hannibal says, "This is my design," and then there is a firey explosion. Strobe lights flicker. Will follows the raven-feathered stag. To his left, he sees the Wendigo. Exploration through the memory palace reveals Mr. and Mrs. Leeds dead in bed. Mrs. Leeds turns into Molly. Will relives the memory of Hannibal stabbing him in the abdomen with a linoleum knife. The motion is reversed, and The Great Red Dragon (computer generated) appears and breathes fire upon Hannibal, scaring Will enough to make him run away. Francis Dolarhyde appears beside the dragon, and they both laugh maniacally. Will is chased by Francis Dolarhyde. Will sees Garrett Jacob Hobbs, who says, "I didn't kill anybody." Francis chases Will, and the two struggle, and Will ends up with a disfigured face. We then see the memory palace disappear as Will lies unconscious next to Francis, whom he has killed. Will wakes up in a hospital, asking Jack, "How's Molly?" Jack says that she is still in the hospital. Hannibal sends a note saying that he hopes that Will does not look very ugly. Will goes to The Shining referencing bathroom from "Aperitif" to brush his teeth. He moves his teeth in a fashion similar to that of Francis. He examines his disfigured face and then bashes his head into the mirror, breaking the glass. In the mirror is the computer generated projection of The Great Red Dragon. He picks up a shard of glass and sees the Wendigo. As Will grows the wings and the tail, he repeats "How's Molly?" over and over, laughing maniacally. The end credits will be accompanied by a shot of a cup of tea with Abigail Hobbs' face in it.

• Jossed completely.

Will and Hannibal did not really fall off of the cliff

.It was a metaphorical vision symbolizing Will's descent into darkness with Hannibal.

Additional guests at the dinner teased in the post-credit scene want to eat Bedelia willingly.

They want to partake in cannibalism with Hannibal.

Alternatively, the guests are there against their own will.

Hannibal could be force-feeding them.

Lady Murasaki and Robertus Lecter are the additional dinner guests in the post-credit scene.

Bryan Fuller has teased them, as well as Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham, as possibilities. Whether or not they are attending the dinner to eat Bedelia willingly is unknown.

Will and Hannibal survive because Jack arrives with a helicopter.

This speculation comes from Janice Poon's blog.

The reason that there are two extra chairs at the table but three extra place settings is that Hannibal is in a wheelchair.

This speculation comes from Janice Poon herself, who also believes that Will is following Hannibal's dinner preparation instructions in the kitchen.

Season Four (Cancelled)

Evelda Drumgo will make a minor/supporting appearance in the beginning of Season 4

During the Time Skip between Hannibal's arrest and Red Dragon, Will will remain with the FBI and assist in the capture of Drug Lord Evelda Drumgo, a minor character with a large impact from the Hannibal novel.

• Though Red Dragon will be in season 3 now, this could still take place in season 4 prior to The Silence of the Lambs.

Season 4 episode titles will relate to American cuisine

For Season 1, French. Season 2, Japanese. Word of God says Season 3 will be Italian. Season 4 will have episode titles such as "Big Mac and Fries," "Deep-Fried Twinkie," "9-Egg Omelet" and "12-Topping Meat Lover's Pizza with Extra Cheese in the Crust."

Season 4 will be both Red Dragon and a composite of The Silence of the Lambs.

Fuller has said that he does not want to spread Red Dragon too thin and that he was considering making it 6 episodes. The remainder of the season could be a story similar to The Silence of the Lambs.

• Jossed. "Red Dragon" is the latter half of the third and final season.

After Hannibal has been incarcerated for some time, Mason will try to break him out.

Maybe not by himself. Perhaps he will hire help to break him out. It would be hard for Mason to get his revenge when Hannibal is monitored in a guarded cell.

• Jossed. Mason dies just before Hannibal's incarceration.

David Tennant will play a Big Bad for several episodes.

Better yet, there could be some Actor Allusion and he could be a serial killer known as "The Big Bad Wolf." This would also be an allusion to The Silence of the Lambs due to the expression "a wolf in sheep's clothing." After all, lambs become sheep and Buffalo Bill tailored suits out of human skin. David Tennant is a really big name, and Bryan Fuller was really impressed with him when he auditioned for the role of Hannibal Lecter. Richard Armitage is playing Francis Dolarhyde, and Fuller wants Lee Pace to play Jame Gumb, so Tennant could end up playing a serial killer who lasts several episodes as Dolarhyde and Gumb are expected.

During this season, Molly will have psychological problems as a result of killing Francis

.She does this to that character in the Red Dragon novel, though that story does not show how doing so affects her mental state. Fuller could add and explore this.

• Jossed since Will and Hannibal are the ones to kill Francis, not Molly.

Graham will move to Florida.

He is there in the Red Dragon novel, but he is not there in season 3. It would make sense for him to try getting further away from Lecter.

• Jossed. It is not until Reba reports Dolarhyde as dead that Will begins to step away from this life again, but after a visit from the Dragon himself, very much alive, and some coaxing by Bedelia, he re-enters the world of Hannibal.

Clarice Starling would be introduced in the second half of season four and would end up killing a corrupted Will Graham

In the season Will Graham would be lead down the path of evil by Hannibal until it was all he knew. Then Clarice would be assigned to try to arrest Hannibal and Will because she has investigative instincts on par with Will Graham. After successfully tracking the two down Will Graham would force her to kill him and Hannibal would once again give himself up in order to torment Clarice for having killed Will

• Presumably Jossed, if Will and Hannibal died in the third season finale.

Reba will return.

Bryan Fuller has stated that he would love to work with Rutina Wesley on the show again.

Will Graham will learn more about Francis Dolarhyde's childhood.

As he helps Hannibal, he will discover the past of the man whom he killed and feel sorry about killing him, thus reconsidering his decision to follow Hannibal's way of life.

If there is a fourth season, it will begin with Hannibal already incarcerated again and no explanation of what happened to Will.

Clarice would be meeting with Hannibal, possibly prior to the Buffalo Bill case, and she would meet scarred Chilton reinstated at Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane. There will be flashbacks depicting Hannibal's dinner with Bedelia and possibly Robertus and Murasaki, as well as flashbacks depicting the fates of Alana Bloom, Margot Verger, and the Verger baby.

Officer Stewart will become an Ascended Extra.

In the novel Red Dragon, it is mentioned that Officer Stewart manages a hotel and suffers emotional problems as a result of discovering what is in Hannibal's basement. In the show, he may discover a macabre basement of a house in which Hannibal and possibly Will hide out and become a The Woobie kinda like Will when he had encephalitus in season one.

Robertas Lecter would appear as a tea kettle.

Bryan Fuller wanted David Bowie to portray Hannibal's uncle. Unfortunately, Bowie is deceased. David Bowie also portrayed Phillip Jeffries in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. The character returned for Twin Peaks: The Return, but since Bowie couldn't make it due to his declining health, his character was turned into a machine voiced by another actor. Fans say that the machine looks like a tea kettle, much to creator David Lynch's annoyance. In Hannibal, it would fit thematically for Robertas to be an actual tea kettle. ("Tea kettle" was the home security password in the first episode, and tea cups have been mentioned time and time again.)

The Silence of the Lambs (Season 5, Presumably Cancelled)

There will be seven episodes prior to The Silence of the Lambs that will show Clarice Starling excelling at assignments prior to her working on the Buffalo Bill case.

Whether they be training assignments or straight up serial killer crime scene analyses, Jack Crawford (or Will Graham if he replaces Crawford) is gonna wanna make sure that he has chosen the right person after everything that has happened with Miriam Lass and Will Graham.

Will, not Jack, will be Clarice Starling's mentor

• He'll also be the one to choose Clarice to consult with Hannibal about Buffalo Bill. Which is why Hannibal would be more interested in helping Clarice. He'll see it as one more opportunity to mess with Will.

Season 5 will deal with Will's alcoholism.

In The Silence of the Lambs, it is mentioned that Will has become an alcoholic. This could be a subplot while the manhunt for Jame Gumb or a Jame Gumb Expy is going on.

Bella Crawford will die from her illness in season 5.

This would match the fate of the character in The Silence of the Lambs.

• Jossed: she dies early in the third season.

The Silence of the Lambs visions

Similar to how Will Graham has visions of the raven-feathered stag and the Wendigo, Clarice Starling (or an expy) will have visions of lambs, her horse, buffalo, and moths as she gets closer to catching Jame Gumb (or an expy). When she meets him and figures out who he is, she will imagine him as Mothman.

Season 5 will not adapt The Silence of the Lambs.

Chilton had a major role in Silence. His death could be Fuller's way of saying that he does not believe that he can ever get the rights to that story from MGM.

• As of season 3, it turns out that Chilton is alive. And Fuller has said that The Silence of the Lambs, or the equivalent of it, is still a possibility for season 5, if it even gets made.

The Jame Gumb equivalent of this show will be a woman.

She will be names Jane or something and skin fat men.

Possible names for Clarice Starling expy.

Alice Darling, Alice Skylark, Alice Sterling, Alice Sterns, Christine Darling, Christine Skylark, Christine Sterling, Christine Sterns, Clara Darling, Clara Skylark, Clara Sterling, Clara Sterns, Claire Darling, Claire Skylark, Claire Sterling, Claire Sterns, Crystal Darling, Crystal Skylark, Crystal Sterling, Crystal Sterns, Marline Clarke, Marline Crystal, Schmarice Schmarling, Stella Clarke, Stella Crystal

Matthew Brown's replacement will be Barney Matthews.

That is, if the rights for Silence characters are acquired. I could also see him appearing earlier than Silence events of season 5, just like how Barney was included in the 2002 Red Dragon film. We could see the early stages of his civil relationship with Hannibal Lecter.

Peter Bernardone will reappear.

Clarice (or her equivalent), will consult him on the moths related to the Buffalo Bill case.

"Goodbye Horses" will be played at some point.

Even if they cannot get the rights to use characters from The Silence of the Lambs movie, they can still try getting the rights to use the song as an homage.

Assuming that MGM cooperates, The Silence of the Lambs will be the last six episodes of season 5.

Since they're doing something like this with Red Dragon in the last six episodes of season 3, season 5 could follow suit.

Sammie will be introduced prior to The Silence of the Lambs case.

Maybe we will get to see Sammie put his mother's head in the church collection basket. This would either be season 4 or season 5 episodes preceding The Silence of the Lambs.

I.J. "Multiple" Miggs will be introduced prior to The Silence of the Lambs case.

Maybe we will see his reason for being incarcerated in season 4 or the first half of season 5.

The episodes leading up to The Silence of the Lambs will show Hannibal acquiring the pen and wire on Barney's days off.

This is mentioned in the novel as taking place during Lecter's incarceration, so we may see this in season 4 or the first half of season 5.

Structure of The Silence of the Lambs episodes.

• In the first episode of the miniseries, Clarice Starling will be called in by Jack Crawford to speak to Hannibal Lecter, who will cause Miggs to swallow his tongue and die after his misconduct in front of Starling. Clarice will also find Klaus' head in the car within a storage unit in this episode.
• In the second episode, Starling will have fight with a cameraman, and WPIK will threaten the FBI with a lawsuit. Crawford will give Starling information about Buffalo Bill's first five victims and show her the sixth victim. The episode will end with Jame Gumb abducting Catherine Baker Martin after she watches a late night movie with her boyfriend.
• In the third episode, Catherine's disappearance will be reported on the news. Catherine will be shown in the well within Jame Gumb's basement. Clarice will try making a deal with Hannibal in exchange for information on Buffalo Bill.
• In the fourth episode, Chilton will tell Lecter that Crawford is upset about him "cutting up his protege" and that the deal will not come to fruition. A flashback will show Hannibal's last meeting with Benjamin Raspail, whom he ate after hearing about Jame Gumb killing Klaus. Hannibal will tell Senator Martin that Buffalo Bill's name is Billy Ruben, as well as the "love your suit" line.
• In the fifth episode, Lecter will use a pen with a wire to kill Officers Pembry and Boyle. Sergeant Tate will hear the elevator moving. Hannibal will be wearing Pembry's face as the ambulance takes him away. Clarice will learn about the Death Skull Moth. Jack will find out from Jerry Burroughs that biliruben is a pigment found in human bile.
• In the sixth episode, Lecter will check into Marcus Hotel in St. Louis under the name of Lloyd Wyman, whom he has killed. Bella will die from her terminal illness. By this time, Paul Krendler is on the Buffalo Bill case. Catherine will threaten to hurt Gumb's dog. Clarice will show up at Gumb's house, notice a moth, and shoot him to death. Bella's funeral service will take place Lecter will send Clarice a message somehow as he trails after Dr. Chilton. Clarice will spend the weekend at Dr. Pilcher's house.

After The Silence of the Lambs, there will be an episode or story arc focused on Lecter going after Chilton.

This is alluded to at the end of The Silence of the Lambs, and it is heavily implied that Lecter killed him in the novel Hannibal.

The Silence of the Lambs episodes will be named after lamb-based dishes.

List any that you can think of.

Episodes covering The Silence of the Lambs will be named after types of moths.

After all, the '"Red Dragon'' episodes are being named after the William Blake paintings.

"The Silence of the Lambs" will be the title of the last episode covering the novel.

It is the last sentence in the novel, which occurs when Clarice is sleeping silently without thinking about screaming lambs.

Billy Ruben will become an actual character.

In The Silence of the Lambs novel, Lecter lies to Dr. Chilton and Senator Martin by saying that Buffalo Bill's real name is Billy Ruben. This turns out to be a reference to biliruben, a pigment found in bile. In the show, William Ruben could be the name of an actual character. Or maybe the name would be Ruben Williams so that it is not so on-the-nose or in case the lack of rights from MGM does not allow them to use the names Billy Ruben or William Ruben. In either case, this could be a serial killer whom Lecter turns into a...Reuben sandwich.

Louis Friend will become an actual character.

In The Silence of the Lambs film, the false name that Lecter says is the identity of Buffalo Bill is Louis Friend, an anagram of "iron sulfide" (also known as "fool's gold") instead of Billy Ruben. Regardless of whether or not Lecter uses Billy Ruben as the false name, Louis Friend could be a character in his own right. Perhaps a serial killer somehow related to iron sulfide and/or gold.

Lecter will provide a new false name for Buffalo Bill or his expy.

It will be neither Billy Ruben nor Louis Friend.

Clarice Starling will be portrayed by Ellen Page.

Her name came up when Fuller answered whom he would like to cast.

Clarice Starling will not be white.

She will be another race because it is something that Fuller would like to explore.

Freddie will take the place of Fredricka Bimmel.

It makes sense for someone who already has the name to assume the role. In this case, if she becomes Buffalo Bill's victim, since she isn't "roomy" it'll be her striking red curls that catches his attention, since Bill has been known to scalp at least one of his victims.

Other

If he comes to the show, David Tennant will play...

Since Bryan Fuller mention that David's audition as Hannibal left him made him amazed and wanted him to play another character, but more psychotic and crazy. Thus he will play:

• Francis Dolarhyde.
  • My money's on Dolarhyde, given that he has the lanky, wiry frame and the tendency to speak his lines in a deranged fashion.
    • Weeellll, in the book, at least, Dolarhyde is really strong physically, to quote Will on the phone. I don't know if Tennant is that much stronger than he looks, or if he could get that kind of muscle on him... though when you describe him that way... Miggs?
  • Jossed. Dolarhyde is going to be portrayed by Richard Armitage.
• A re-imagined Paul Krendler, where he had become a Vigilante Serial Killer of sorts.
• Buffalo Bill
  • My money's on Buffalo Bill. I'd loooove to see David Tennant being a creepy Jame Gumb. He's way closer to the book AND the movie version of Buffalo Bill than he is of Dolarhyde. Plus, we could see him in early seasons (before season 5's Silence) when Raspail and him visit Lecter. Oh, this is exciting!!!
• Mason Verger
  • Mason Verger has been cast and David Tennant is a busy, busy guy. I think he was originally slated to play Dr. Verger, but Boardwalk Empire's Michael Pitt got the part because of scheduling conflicts. An A-lister like Tennant isn't going to sit around and wait to play a villain on a TV series that can get cancelled anytime.
    • Not that it can get cancelled any time, but it's funny you say that...
  • Jossed. Michael Pitt potrayed Mason Verger throughout Season 2 and Joe Anderson is taking over the role for Season 3.
• An original character who is an Expy of either Dolarhyde or Buffalo Bill.

Hannibal Lecter is an avatar of Nyarlathotep

• Like Nyarlathotep, Hannibal is a tall, regal man with a brilliant mind who delights in murder, deception, and manipulation. To boot, he pushes Will into madness, another calling card of Lovecraftian gods. Clearly, he's a 21st century avatar of the Outer Gods' messenger.

Will retires from active duty once a season finale.

Only for Jack to bring him back, which will bring a fallout between the two of them before leading into the events of Red Dragon where he would actual retire from the FBI, though would likely still teach as a professor for the FBI.

• Partially Jossed: Will does retire from the FBI after Hannibal's incarceration, but he does not continue teaching.

Abel Gideon is Tony P from Mystery Men

• Obviously they're both played by Eddie Izzard but beyond that look at the facts:
  • Tony P was obviously unstable and in denial at the death of disco
  • He had time after the film to flee and begin a new vocation, namely surgery.
    • From this we can guess the trigger that pushed him over the edge into killing his family was one of them made a nasty comment about Boney M and that brings us to where we join him in the series.

Why Freddie Lounds is always wearing gloves

• Beyond fashion sense of course, in a series so focused on the little details a character who is near always keeping her hands covered regardless of situation will be significant for her character.
  • Or she just doesn't want to leave evidence at crime scenes. She can't stop hair follicles falling out, but she can at least keep her fingerprints from contaminating the places she visits.

Hannibal Lecter is a Nephandus

• Hannibal is an Infernalist (or possibly Malfean) Nephandus who serves the evil Ravenstag spirit. He quietly uses Qlippothic magic to deceive and madden those around him. For instance, it was his Qlippothic magic that induced encephalitis in Will so as to drive him into madness. Will, himself a mage, slowly retraces Hannibal's actions by using the Mind sphere while in Abigail's house, and he receives visions of Ravenstag by using the Spirit sphere.

The Chesapeake Ripper will be the Myth Arc of Hannibal

At least until Hannibal's possible arrest.

• Confirmed.

Hannibal is somehow connected to the Slender Man

• They're both fundamentally alien creatures who see human beings as prey or entertainment. Their victims either disappear off the face of the earth or are slowly corrupted and driven insane while their friends look on. They can travel great distances while unobserved (Hannibal can kill someone in another state and transport her lungs home without anyone noticing his absence), and they're both constantly dressed in impeccable suits.

Jack Crawford will die from a heart attack in season 6 or 7.

This would match the character's fate in Hannibal. Maybe Graham will visit him before he dies.

Season 7 will deal with Will Graham looking for Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling or a Clarice Starling Main/Expy in Buenos Aires.

If season 6 is based on the book Hannibal, then season 7 may pick up from the epilogue that takes place three years after the rest of the book.

The show will end with Will Graham killing Hannibal Lecter.

This will happen in season 7.

• Partially Jossed. There is no seventh season, but Will may have killed Hannibal along with himself.

It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.

• Jossed.

Kade Purnell will suffer the same fate as Paul Krendler.

It was announced that Cynthia Nixon would play Kade Purnell, whose name is almost an anagram of Paul Krendler. She is described as an employee at the Office of the Inspector General of the FBI. In the book Hannibal, Paul Krendler's brain is eaten by Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling. Since she may be a Paul Krendler [[Expy]], something similar may happen to her.

We will see Hannibal's memory palace.

The show is all about imagination, after all.

• Confirmed; almost every scene with people visiting the incarcerated Hannibal shows shots of his memory palace.

Hannibal will relive flashbacks of Hannibal Rising...

...in his memory palace.

• Jossed.

An expy will take Chilton's place for future seasons.

That is, assuming that Chilton has, in fact, been killed.

• Jossed: Chilton survives the gunshot and Dolarhyde's burning, and on the low chance that the show continues, Fuller has stated that he wants to bring the scarred Chilton back.

Jimmy Price will be killed and then be replaced by his twin.

In Su-zakana, Price says that his twin is still alive. Perhaps he has a twin brother with the same profession. If Jimmy Price dies, then his twin brother will take over is role in the show and be portrayed by the same actor.

Will Graham will be a protagonist for all future seasons.

If they are really going to adapt all of the Hannibal canon close to the books, it would mean that Will would fade pretty much in the background during the events of Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, which would be at least two full seasons. For a series that's rather precariously balancing on the cliffs of cancellation, it seems unlikely that they would drop who has arguably been the main character, and who seems to be very well liked by the fans. Also, a greater focus on Will would make it easier to write around copyrights when it comes to Silence of the Lambs. Clarice Starling (or someone like her) will probably still show up, but at the most she will get equal screentime with Will and Hannibal.

The show will only have six seasons, and the story of the novel Hannibal will be season 3 instead of season 6.

Look at this link: [8] Bryan Fuller mentions something about collapsing a couple of seasons into one season. He also says that season 3 will have elements of Hannibal and Hannibal Rising, and that he would love to bring the Vergers back for season 3. Mason would probably be trying to catch Hannibal, who will be a wanted criminal pursued by someone like Chief Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi. I could see Hannibal going to France for part of the season and then going to Italy. The season could end with Kade Purnell dying in the same fashion that Paul Krendler dies. Hannibal would, of course, get incarcerated in the season finale. It would be rather repetitive to have him escape yet again.

• Partially confirmed, partially Jossed. The storylines of "Hannibal", "Hannibal Rising", and "Red Dragon" are meshed together for the third season, with the Italy / Mason events going on in the first half and Francis Dolarhyde coming into focus in the second. However, Hannibal is only in France for part of the first episode, Kade Purnell is not killed ( Hannibal attempts to give Will the famous Krendler death, but Mason's men interrupt him), and Hannibal's incarceration happens midseason.

If Barney Matthews or this show's equivalent of him ever appears, he will be shown eating a cooked bird.

In the novel Hannibal, Barney picks up a dead dove and tells Clarice that he will pluck it and eat it.

The Clarice Starling of this show will only PRETEND to fall in love with Hannibal.

Only to reveal later on that she played him so that she could defeat him once and for all.

• Jossed, as long as the third season is the final one.

Hannibal Lecter used to have six digits on his left hand.

It is first mentioned in The Silence of the Lambs that Hannibal Lecter has six digits on his left hand. In the next novel, Hannibal, it is mentioned that he removed the extra digit. In the show, we may be shown a flashback of young Hannibal Lecter during season 3, and he will have the extra digit before going to medical school and removing it.

• Jossed.

Miriam Lass is in a mental institution in Denver.

Because she is the show's version of the survivor in Red Dragon who ends up there and this is why she has not been seen.

Will's retirement will be death

In this day and age of television you've got to kill off a main character. Will Graham will die at some point, probably at the end of season 3 or the beginning of 4.

• Confirmed. He appears to die at the end of season 3 in a Taking You with Me moment with Hannibal.

Jimmy Price lost his spleen in the Gulf War.

In Red Dragon, Jack says that Price left his spleen in Burma in 1941, presumably during World War II. Since the timeline has shifted, they could say that Price left his spleen Iraq, Saudi Arabia, or Israel.

Alternatively, Hannibal will eat Price's spleen.

Assuming that Price currently has his spleen.

At some point, there will be a murder scene reminiscent of Salvador Dali's In Voluptas Mors.

That artwork required seven female bodies and is used to represent the death skull moth in The Silence of the Lambs. There already seems to be a Dali influenced scene in the form of the stag made of Anthony Dimmond's corpse, which seems reminiscent of Dali's The Tempation of St. Anthony.

There will be a reference to William Blake poem "Spring."

Blake made the Great Red Dragon paintings, and "Spring" contains the line "Little lamb here I am."

There will be a tableau referencing an artwork by Pablo Picasso.

It would reflect how Will's facial disfigurement at the end of Red Dragon leaves him looking like something painted by Picasso, as Jack puts it in The Silence of the Lambs.

Hannibal will kill Matthew Brown.

He would find it rather rude of Matthew to try to kill him. This would probably happen while Lecter is incarcerated, perhaps even during an escape attempt.

• Jossed; Matthew does not appear again after his episode.

NBC will revive the show a few years down the line.

And it will be called Hannibal Reborn.

The show will end with Will eating Hannibal.

It is the only way that he can forgive him.

• Possibly Jossed if this is the true ending; Will instead pulls Hannibal over the edge of a cliff with him.

There will be a spinoff titled The Price of Sarcasm.

It will feature Jimmy Price and Brian Zeller as part-time killers of sarcastic people.

There will be a film similar to Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me.

Rather than follow on from what is bound to be an awesome cliffhanger to season 3, the film will be a prequel about the final days of Abagail Hobbs before the events of "Apéritif." The first half hour is about some random FBI agent (whose initials are G.W., which are Will Graham's initials in reverse) being sent by Jack Crawford to investigate one of The Chesapeake Ripper's early victims before having him disappear without explanation. Afterward, based on a date seen in a dream, Will Graham stands in front of a camera a couple of times and checks the live security footage. He notices himself onscreen when he is not walking in front of the camera, as well as Count Robertus Lecter (David Bowie) walking by. Robertus goes to Crawford's office and tells him where he has been. We then see a transmission of Hannibal's memory palace. Robertus disappears. Then we jump ahead a year and the rest of the film focuses on Abigail suffering under her crazy murderous father Garrett Jacob Hobbs. Fan favorite characters are either not be featured or reduced to brief cameos and the film infuriates fans by raising more questions than it was supposed to answer. Abigail is visited by future Will Graham in a dream, who warns her not to take the ringing phone, alluding to the event in which Hannibal Lecter calls her house and she hands the phone to her father, setting her fate in motion. When she realizes that this is all a timeline that cannot be changed and the future is set in stone, she says, “If everything that happens happens, you can never do the wrong thing.” The final scene is a coda showing Abigail in an afterlife version of Hannibal Lecter's office. Will's spirit is there, and he puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her guardian angel, revealed to be Elliot Buddish "The Angel Maker," appears. The film will flop, Bryan Fuller will say he's done with Hannibal and the series will remain dormant until Showtime decide to bring it back in 25 years time.

This is my design.

I have written many wild mass guesses on here.