EastEnders fans are convinced the big Christmas storyline is paving the way for the return of Max Branning.
It's been confirmed a mystery male character will be killed off on Christmas Day, with six suspects in the frame.
In a special flashforward clip shown this week, Linda Carter, Sharon Watts, Stacey Slater, Denise Fox, Suki Panesar and Kathy Beale were seen standing in shock, as a dead body laid on the floor.
Some of them were injured and others were covered in blood or had their clothes ripped, while Denise was holding a broken champagne bottle.
It's not yet known who the victim is and why he has been killed, while the killer is also not yet confirmed.
It's thought one of the six women are the killer, but fans are speculating someone else could carry out the crime.
Amidst the murder, it's been teased Linda will have a "knight in shining armour" amid her plans to sell The Vic.
While boss Chris Clenshaw said this in reference to someone helping her with the pub, it seems there's another thing to consider.
The flashforward clip saw a knight figure in the background behind Kathy and Stacey, as they reeled over the murder that had just taken place.
It seems there is some relevance to the knight being in this scene given Chris' comments, but also the fact Kathy had told Linda in the episode that her friends would protect her.
Linda was worried her rapist Dean Wicks was going to return to Walford, so Kathy said her and the girls would build a wall around her if he tried to go near her.
With so much reference to this knight in shining armour, and boss Chris hinting it was an unexpected person, some viewers are questioning if it could be Max.
Max fled Walford in 2021 after his romance with Linda broke down, while he remains unaware that she welcomed his daughter Annie months later.
So could Max make a big return and be the one to save Linda during the dramatic Christmas episode?
Another theory is that he could in fact be the victim who has just been killed, given he has links to the other females too.
Will Max return and attack Linda in a bid to steal daughter Annie, resulting in him being killed?
Taking to Twitter, one fan said: "Is max branning the killer? Linda 's unexpected knight in shining armour, and a knight stands behind stacey in the flashforward."
Another said: "may take a bet on the dead fella being Max Branning, for reasons unknown. But the Knight in armour behind Stacey would normally be him, so maybe the blood on her hands is roping poor old @mrjakedwood back to E20 only for his demise."
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
