Mr. Wilford doesn’t look to be anywhere aboard the train at the end of the Snowpiercer series premiere. What’s happened to him?

Earlier this week at Channel Watchers, we asked our “Who, What, Where, When, Why” questions. One of those was all about Mr. Wilford. One thing the post didn’t allow us to do was delve too much into the Snowpiercer theories.

Caution: There are spoilers for the Snowpiercer series premiere. If you’re not caught up, I’d suggest watching the episode or holding off reading this until you’ve seen it if you don’t want any spoilers. However, I will say that this is just a theory post as we’re like Game of Thrones‘s Jon Snow right now and know nothing.

The end of the premiere made one thing clear. Melanie Cavill is more than just a conduit to Mr. Wilford. It looks like she is Mr. Wilford. She’s not just the Hospitality head but she’s an engineer. Nobody else gets to walk through the train so easily. So, what happened to Mr. Wilford? Here are some top theories.

Mr. Wilford doesn’t exist

We’ll start with the possibility that Mr. Wilford doesn’t exist. Of course, some people have said they’ve seen him, so that wouldn’t make sense. But have they actually met the man? They could have met someone who said he was Mr. Wilford, but that doesn’t mean he is the real guy who designed the train.

Think of it a little like The Wizard of Oz. Is it possible that the Great Wizard is just a man behind the curtain with a loudspeaker and some parlor tricks? Melanie and her engineer team created him to get people on the train? After all, there are likely a lot of people in this world like now who will trust an old white guy more than anyone else.

Snowpiercer 1-3 Boxed Set

He’s somewhere in a drawer on Snowpiercer

If you’ve watched the Snowpiercer movie, you know that Mr. Wilford does exist. Of course, the show may not be connected to the series. We were told from the beginning that this was a standalone. But does that really mean there isn’t a Mr. Wilford?

Is it possible that there was a mutiny as soon as the doors closed? Did Melanie and others subdue Mr. Wilford and put him in a drawer? Maybe he started to go a little mad stuck on the train and Melanie arranged for him to be put in a drawer to protect the train from him—and to protect himself.

Mr. Wilford is dead

Finally, there is the option that he’s dead. This is the most likely explanation. He may have been real but never made it onto the train. How would anyone aboard know if Mr. Wilford was literally left out in the cold? There was a lot of havoc with the Tailies getting on the train and most people would have just been happy to have been on there and stood a chance of survival.

Or Mr. Wilford may have got on board but died while on the train. Knowing that it could cause fear and anxiety for the passengers, Melanie may have decided it better to keep the illusion of Mr. Wilford alive.

We just haven’t seen him yet

Of course, what’s to say that Mr. Wilford isn’t alive and well on the train? Just because Melanie takes the train doesn’t mean there isn’t a Mr. Wilford at all. I’m grasping here, but he could be aboard somewhere but we haven’t had the need to see him yet. Maybe he’ll come out to calm the ruckus down as Layton continues his search for the murderer.

What do you think happened to Mr. Wilford? Is he still on the train? Is he dead? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Snowpiercer continues on Sundays at 9/8c on TNT.