Yellowjackets: Javi Is Alive, How Did He Manage to Survive?

Episode 4 of Season 2 of Yellowjackets brought us some shocking twists. Despite missing for 2 months in the dead of winter, Javi is alive, and Lottie was right all along. We can clearly see the group struggling with the lack of food in glacial conditions. So how on earth did a teen boy manage to survive for two months alone in the forest? Due to this, we’ve decided to bring forth some theories. Let’s see, how is Javi alive? 

Javi is alive due to the mysterious tree trunk that both Lottie and Travis saw in the vision, and this is all that we know officially. It’s possible that his survival is related to supernatural means or he managed to find a group of other people in the meantime, but no matter what it is, it’s related to that magical warmth-emanating tree trunk. Nothing was confirmed officially since it seems that Javi doesn’t remember anything. 

Now that we’ve tried to explain what happened, it’s time to dig into the theories. If you’re interested in more, stay with us and keep reading! 

Javi has been missing for two months 

Javi, Travis’ brother, disappeared during the Doomcoming episode. To sum everything up, the group got high on the hallucinogenic mushrooms and started tripping. The girls organized a manhunt for Travis attempting to violate him or, even worse, kill him in a ritualistic manner.

At one point, Shauna, who has gotten quite close to Travis, told him to run, presumably to save himself from what they are about to do. When everyone has gotten back to their senses, they figure out that Javi is missing. He was nowhere to be found, with no evidence that he is alive or dead, like he simply vanished into thin air. This is where the season ended, and the cliffhanger related to Javi remained unresolved. We’ve had several theories about what happened to him, with most of them ultimately proving to be wrong. 

At the beginning of season 2, we’ve seen that the group is suffering in terrible conditions. Winter has descended upon the forest. The food is scarce, there’s barely enough shelter to keep the group adequately warm, and the in-fighting is at an all-time high. Despite everything, Travis and Nat regularly kept looking for Javi, with Natalie expecting the worst and Travis hoping for the best. At the beginning of the second season, Javi has been missing for two months. 

Lottie knew that Javi was alive all along 

One point of contempt between Nat, Lottie, and Travis was the fact that Lottie kept insisting that Travis was alive, and this went on Natalie’s nerves the most because she considered it cruel to give Travis false hope when it comes to a matter as serious as Javi. 

During a panic attack-induced vision, Travis had a bizarre vision of an evergreen tree trunk, seemingly emanating warmth since the snow around the trunk was meted while everything else was snow-bound. 

The vision gave Travis renewed hope, and he got closer to Lottie. Natalie couldn’t stand it, and eventually, she faked Javi’s death by cutting her leg, drawing blood, and wiping some of that blood on Javi’s old pants. Later she claimed she found it while she was searching for food. Travis was devastated but quickly accepted what had happened. 

Taissa’s visions were key in finding Javi 

In the last week’s episode, we saw that Taissa started regularly sleepwalking, and during one such incident, she claimed that The Man With No Eyes was giving her directions. Van, following her then, noticed that Taissa’s sleepwalking led them to a specific tree with a mysterious symbol etched into it. 

Van was freaked out, but still, the next day, she prepared a map with all known trees with symbols in the surrounding area. When all trees were connected with a piece of string, the map would form the giant version of the Yellowjacket symbol. Except, one tree wasn’t marked and was missing from the map.  

Van and Taissa decided to investigate the tree. Instead. They found a tree trunk around which the snow had melted despite everything else being frozen solid. Taissa noticed that the ground was melting, and at that moment, Javi appeared but started running away from them.  Van and Taissa subdued Javi quickly and brought him to safety. 

How did Javi manage to survive in the forest for two months? 

The mystery of Javi’s survival is connected to the tree trunk, to Lottie’s visions, and to blood sacrifice. The tree trunk is a recurring motif of the series along with the blood sacrifice. 

We’ve already seen that Travis had the vision of a “warm tree trunk,” although the meaning of this vision remained unclear. Likewise, Lottie attempted to sacrifice her own blood to a similar but frozen tree trunk right before she started hallucinating from hypothermia. 

Once again, Lottie sacrificed her blood in the present day after she started hallucinating about bloody hives and Queen of Hearts. 

It’s possible that Taissa and Van stumbled upon Javi because Lottie sacrificed her own blood to a tree trunk before she passed out during one of her many hallucinations. Lottie, by sacrificing her blood to an unknown entity, who might be The Man With No Eyes, ensured that Javi will be found. 

It’s also possible that Javi managed to survive by finding another group of survivors or local people who simply don’t want to have anything to do with the Yellowjackets and are hiding in plain sight.

Whatever the reason for Javi’s survival, it’s definitely connected to that tree trunk and to Lottie. 

Why can’t Javi remember anything? 

When Javi returned to the cabin, and Travis stood up to greet him and reunite with him, it appeared like he was suffering from amnesia since he couldn’t recognize either Travis, Van, or Taissa. 

It’s possible that Javi doesn’t remember anything due to the severe trauma that he experienced, but most likely, he doesn’t remember anything because of the means through which he survived the whole ordeal. It’s most likely that his amnesia is used as a plot device to keep us wondering longer what actually happened to him while he was away, and since he can’t remember, he can’t spill the beans. 

In any case, we will have at least some answers next Thursday when Yellowjackets’ fifth episode airs.