Elliot's Song For Rue Highlights Their Complicated Relationship

The "Euphoria" season two finale was a roller coaster of emotions, intensity, drama, and cliffhangers. The eighth and final episode of the season touched on the season's messy relationships and the overall fate of the characters while still leaving some plot lines open. While the fallout of Lexi's play unfolds and Fezco and Ashtray deal with a sudden police raid, other characters, like Rue and Elliot, remain bystanders in the chaos.

Elliot (Dominic Fike) is mostly absent from "Euphoria" following his involvement in Rue's tumultuous intervention, but he makes an appearance in the finale in a tender scene alone with Rue. During the scene, Elliot sings Rue a song he wrote, which brings her to tears — but what does it mean?

Elliot and Rue's relationship is complicated. The two meet in the first episode of season two at the big New Year's Eve party and bond over their shared love of drugs. Throughout the season, Elliot enables Rue's worsening substance-use problem as he struggles with substance use himself. The relationship is unhealthy, with both of them fueling each other's worst inclinations. This takes a turn, however, when Elliot tells Jules that Rue has not been clean, and the two ultimately tell Rue's mom about her drug use and stage an intervention.

Feeling betrayed by Elliot, who helped enable her hard spiral into drug use again, Rue furiously cuts him out of her life. The intervention does have a positive outcome for Rue, however — after a grueling withdrawal process, she gets clean.

In the season finale, Rue spots Elliot in the audience of Lexi's play, which triggers a memory for her of when she went to visit Elliot. Rue reveals to him the impact the intervention had on her. She starts by telling him to "go f*ck himself" for snitching on her, but she ultimately reconciles with him, crediting him for playing a role in saving her life. Rue tells Elliot that she forgives him for how everything transpired, saying, "I have a lot of 'I'm sorry's' to do, but not a lot of 'I forgive you's.' So thank you for that." It's unclear, however, if she knows that Elliot and Jules hooked up and is counting that among the reasons she's forgiving him. In any case, Elliot asks Rue, "Can I play you something?" and proceeds to play Rue a song he wrote for her.

Elliot's song, which fans have dubbed "Little Star" and "I Hope It Was Worth It in the End," digs deep into his relationship with Rue. "You and my guitar, I think you may be my only friend. I gave it all, to see you shine again. I hope it was worth it in the end," he sings.

Through these lyrics, Elliot seemingly reveals his feelings toward Rue and his role in her life, which revolve heavily around their drug use. After seeing Rue fall deeper into her struggle with drugs, he essentially "gave her away" and "gave it all" in aiding her intervention, which he knew would end their friendship but ultimately save her.

Elliot also sings, "Us against the world, just a couple sinners makin' fun of hell. If I keep you here, I'll only be doing it for myself." Elliot could have been selfish and held on to his relationship with Rue by continuing to enable her drug problem, but that would have hurt her. In the end, Elliot snitches on Rue in hopes that she'll get clean, knowing that whether she does or not, he'll be losing a friend. But, as he sings in the song, he hopes it's worth it in the end.

After he finishes his song, Elliot asks Rue if they can still be friends. She responds, "You know you're the one who said we weren't any good for each other," and he ultimately agrees.

Elliot's song was actually written by none other than Labrinth, the show's composer, and Zendaya. Labrinth talked about collaborating with Zendaya and Fike in a behind-the-scenes featurette for the finale, saying, "Me and Zendaya were actually sitting in each other's kind of spiritual energy and space, and we're getting to inspire each other to make something fresh . . . Dominic came in and jumped in on the score pieces we were working on and played some guitar, 'cause he's a great guitarist. . . . The cast are not just acting — they are a part of the music now, and I think that makes it even more special."

The song's lyrics in their entirety:

The official audio for "Elliot's Song," now featuring vocals from Zendaya, dropped via the "Euphoria" YouTube channel on Friday, March 4. Listen below.

You can also stream "Elliot's Song" on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Tidal, and other major streaming platforms.

The status of Rue and Elliot's relationship seems pretty clear: they care about one another, but they aren't healthy together and shouldn't be friends. Still, their eyes meeting across the auditorium during Lexi's play might signal that their story isn't quite over. Their relationship could be one of several plot lines explored in season three — we'll just have to wait to see where their paths lead.