Nearly two years after our last trip to Purgatory, Wynonna Earp is back. The show’s road to Season 4 has been a tumultuous one, after production was first delayed due to funding issues with production company IDW in 2019 and again suspended this March due to the coronavirus. But Earpers’ support and patience will pay off this month when Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano), Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley), Doc (Tim Rozon), Nicole (Kat Barrell), and Jeremy (Varun Saranga) return to our screens on Sunday, July 26.
Given the extended hiatus, it’s understandable if even the most dedicated Earper needs a refresher on where we left off with our heroes — especially since Season 3 was the Syfy drama’s wildest season yet, introducing angels, vampires, and even the Garden of Eden! So here are the 13 biggest things to remember about Wynonna Earp Season 3 before diving into Season 4.
1. Bulshar returned and was looking for the Garden. In Season 2, Bobo (Michael Eklund) worked with the Widows to break the three seals around Purgatory and free their demon husband Bulshar Clootie (Jean Marchand), who was the town’s sheriff when Wyatt Earp was alive. After Wyatt killed Bulshar’s two sons in the 1800s, Bulshar cursed the entire Earp family, which is why Wynonna has been forced to dedicate her life to sending the revenants Wyatt killed back to hell.
Despite Mercedes’ (Dani Kind) last-minute betrayal when she chopped off Bulshar’s arm, the demon was freed. In Season 3, Bulshar gathered his forces to search for the Garden of Eden, which the Ghost River Triangle was created in part to protect. The Garden is also Bulshar’s true home, as before he was a demon sheriff, Bulshar was the infamous snake who tempted Eve.
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2. We met Mama Earp. Wynonna went to visit Mama Earp, aka Michelle Gibson (Megan Follows), at the end of Season 2, but we didn’t officially meet her until the beginning of Season 3, when Wynonna visited her in prison seeking information about Bulshar and how she was connected to him. Over the course of the season, we learned more and more about Mama Earp, including that Wynonna had always known where she was and that she lied to Waverly for years about it, at their father’s behest. We also learned why she was locked up; she was arrested for burning down the Earp barn while Waverly was inside it. It was more complicated than that, though, as Mama Earp was actually trying to kill a demon, Jolene, who was born at the same time as Waverly and had wanted to kill her. Mama Earp broke out of prison in Episode 4, but she didn’t stick around Purgatory after Jolene was dispatched, leaving in search of finding Julian, Waverly’s birth father. Which brings us to…
3. Waverly’s dad is an angel… who dated Wynonna. When Wynonna and Doc were on the outs last season, Wynonna took up with a hot firefighter named Charlie (Sebastian Pigott). Only it turns out Charlie wasn’t actually Charlie — he was an angel AND Waverly’s father, Julian.
Way back in the day, Julian and Juan Carlo (Shaun Johnston) had been assigned to guard the Garden of Eden. When Juan Carlo left his post when Bulshar went to the Ghost River Triangle, Juan Carlo named Wyatt Earp as the angels’ chosen champion, even giving Wyatt a flaming sword. Over a 100 years after that, Julian also left his post, which is when he fell in love with Mama Earp. Together, they had a daughter, Waverly. However, Julian wasn’t able to be there for her as a father because Ward forced Julian out of the Ghost River Triangle, which led to him getting amnesia.
When Waverly stepped outside of the Triangle to get Alice to safety in Season 2, Julian, now living as Charlie, regained some of his senses (although none of his memories) and returned to Purgatory. It was only after Waverly touched him in the Gibson Greenhouse that Charlie regained his memories and recalled his true identity as Julian, Waverly’s dad. Julian fought alongside the Earps in the Season 3 finale, but was killed by Bobo when he stabbed him in the back with a sword.
Shamier Anderson and Dominique Provost-Chalkley, Wynonna Earp
4. Dolls died. Dolls (Shamier Anderson) was the first major character death of the show. He died near the end of the second episode of Season 3, after Wynonna saved Waverly from a revenant who was camped out in the woods. It came as quite a shock, as it seemed the danger of the episode had already passed, but when you look back, there were clues something wasn’t right: The serum he was taking was no longer working, he went to town on a cheeseburger when he didn’t normally eat dairy, and an eye-opening chat with Doc about Hell were all signs Dolls knew he was dying. He chose not to tell the people he loved, though, and he went out a hero, taking out one of Bulshar’s henchmen in a blaze of glory that ultimately saved Wynonna, Waverly, Nicole, and Doc and allowed them to fight another day. It was the only time we’d ever seen Dolls’ true strength and powers as a result of what Black Badge did to him, and he was properly mourned in the following episode.
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5. Doc turned into a vampire. Doc struggled with his newfound mortality for the first half of Season 3 for a myriad of reasons: He was afraid of going back to Hell, he feared not being there for Wynonna in her fight to defeat Bulshar, and he felt rejected by her after she turned down his affections. So in a moment of weakness, he allowed himself to be turned into a vampire by his wife, Kate (Chantel Riley), who arrived in town at the beginning of Season 3 with the rest of the vampires. This decision caused a rift between Doc and Wynonna, who was so upset when she found out that she banished him from the Homestead altogether. Their relationship was rocky for the rest of the season as Wynonna struggled with Doc’s decision, even though he claimed it was all for her.
6. Jeremy got a boyfriend. Season 3 was pretty hard on everyone, but things got slightly better for Jeremy when he started dating Robin Jett (Justin Kelly), a high school friend of Waverly’s who moved back home to Purgatory to take care of his sick dad. The two met when Robin, who took a job as a ranger despite knowing absolutely nothing about the woods, discovered a tree in the woods of the Ghost River Triangle that was bleeding human blood. Nedley sent him to Jeremy because where else would you send someone when they’re talking about bleeding trees? Unfortunately, Robin was briefly kidnapped, and Jeremy thought he’d been ghosted by the cute new guy. However, after Robin was saved, the two kissed and soon began an adorable relationship.
Dominique Provost-Chalkley, Wynonna Earp
7. Waverly may have to sacrifice herself to save humanity. Wynonna isn’t the only heir in the family anymore. After Waverly proved she could wield the power of Julian’s ring, Kevin (Anna Silk) told Waves that not only was she half-angel, she also had her own destiny: to be humanity’s champion. Kevin explained that to seal the Garden, all Waverly had to do was take her rightful place on Julian’s throne. The catch — and there always is a catch — is that to do so would kill Waverly, turning her to stone. Wynonna, of course, shut this option down, but we know it will ultimately be up to Waverly whether or not she accepts her deadly birthright.
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8. Bobo died. After three seasons of vacillating between terrorizing the Earps and occasionally teaming up with them, Bobo was seemingly killed for good in Season 3. At the end of the season, Bulshar recruited Bobo to bring Wynonna to him. Before Bobo completed his mission, he visited Waverly and asked her to kill him when the time came. Bobo then kidnapped Wynonna and was preparing to execute her when Julian and Waverly arrived. In the ensuing fight, Bobo killed Julian before Waverly used her father’s ring to end Bobo’s life, fulfilling one last favor to the demon who loved her.
9. Waverly proposed to Nicole. In the wake of nearly losing Nicole, who had been gravely injured in a fight with Bulshar’s beekeepers before Julian used his powers to save her, and then actually losing Julian right after meeting him, Waverly was shaken and taking stock of what mattered most to her. In an emotional scene at the Homestead, she told Nicole she really loved her and then used Julian’s ring to propose. Unfortunately, Nicole never actually got a chance to say yes because Wynonna called them both inside to regroup before attempting to stop Bulshar from entering the Garden.
Melanie Scrofano, Wynonna Earp
10. The Earp Curse was broken and Wynonna lost Peacemaker. In order to open the Garden, Bulshar performed a ritual that disconnected him from Wynonna and broke the Earp Curse once and for all. As a result, the revenants disappeared and Wynonna and Doc’s daughter, Alice, will seemingly have a chance to live a normal life, free of demon slaying. But in addition to the curse being broken, Wynonna also lost her trusted magical gun, Peacemaker. However, she later gained a new weapon, a flaming sword, when Waverly named Wynonna as the new guardian of the Garden. Using the sword, Wynonna was able to defeat Bulshar, but not before he poisoned her. Had it not been for Doc, who sucked out Bulshar’s venom, Wynonna would have died too.
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11. Waverly and Doc are in the Garden. Wynonna’s victory over Bulshar was short-lived, because almost as soon as the battle ended, a twisting vine from the Garden emerged and grabbed Waverly, dragging her inside. Despite the fact that Doc was a vampire and the Garden had a strict “only mortals allowed” rule, Doc was able to walk into the Garden, promising Wynonna he would protect Waverly and be her weapon. (As the Guardian, Wynonna wasn’t able to follow them through the door.) Does this mean Doc is no longer fully a vampire? He had consumed angel blood after killing Julian, and Waverly’s tears also landed on his face at one point. It’s possible this may have been enough to cure Doc of his vampirism, or at least make him mortal enough to enter the Garden and return to the Doc we love.
12. The Valdez clue. When Wynonna returned to the Homestead after Waverly and Doc went into the Garden, the word Valdez was carved into the staircase, and Jeremy, Robin, and Nicole were all missing.
13. In fact, everyone in Purgatory has gone missing except Nedley. After Wynonna returned to Purgatory following the events at the Garden’s entrance, she was stunned to see that the entire town is deserted. Not a single person seems to remain in Purgatory. That is, except Nedley (Greg Lawson), who is ready to come out of retirement to help Wynonna find their friends and save the day once again.
Wynonna Earp returns Sunday, July 26 at 10/9c on Syfy.