Viewers have worked out that Nate Robinson’s death was never meant to happen
Emmerdale fans are convinced that Nate Robinson’s death was accidental after John Sugden’s true colours have started to show.
Oliver Farnworth joined the ITV soap in 2024 to take on the role of Sugden. While not much has been known about the mysterious character, apart from his military past and being half-brother to Victoria, his quiet composure has often left fans feeling suspicious.
Recently, the cracks in his character have started to show since the death of Anthony Fox. After Anthony arrived in the village it was soon revealed that he had sexually abused Ruby repeatedly when she was a teenager, and even fathered Steph.
Aaron caught up with him at the depot and demanded justice for Ruby after his own experience of abuse at the hands of his biological father, Gordon Livesy.
In a fit of rage after Anthony’s comments wound him up, Aaron threw several deadly punches towards him which left Anthony bleeding out on the floor. Although later revealed that it was Ruby who had killed him, John was quick to spring into action.
He cleaned the crime scene of any evidence and even removed his body, promising to dispose of it. He informed Aaron, Ruby, Steph, Caleb, Cain and Chas that he was buried in the woods. However, in upcoming episodes Emmerdale have teased that the body isn’t there.
Not only did this behaviour perturb fans, but John was seemingly the last villager to see Nate Robinson before he “left the village” last year. As viewers now know, Nate’s body is at the bottom of the lake and yet to be discovered.
In recent episodes, John’s cool composure has been put to the test after he misdiagnosed Kerry and received a formal warning from Liam.
Acting out in a fit of rage, he took a sledgehammer to a scrapyard car and repeatedly hit it. During Wednesday’s (9th April) episode, viewers watched as he argued with Liam and John was trying to express his concern for Kerry not looking after herself properly – perhaps too much concern.
At the end of the episode, John walked into a hospital room and came face to face with an unidentified man hooked up to various machines. As he leaned over him he said: “You and me. What are we gonna do?” before he sat down and said: “But what am I gonna have to do?”
Now, fans think that John has a “hero complex” and is desperate to prove he can save people – Chas being spiked, Kerry’s diabetes, and in upcoming episodes Jacob suffering from an allergic reaction.
Taking to a Reddit thread, some viewers think Nate’s death was an accident and John attempted to save him for this exact reason. U/No-Fly-2240 wrote: “I’m still sticking with John did kill Nate but he was trying to be a ‘hero’. Maybe Nate was in pain from being beat up by Cain and John gave him some painkillers or something and he had a bad reaction or he intentionally made him OD somehow so he could save him but then the fire happened and he got distracted”.
u/Lost_Revenue8614 replied: “I think he’s a malignant hero. I don’t think he necessarily sets out to kill people but that he’s addicted to creating situations through which he can save them. Probably in part due to the trauma of not being able to save someone in the past. I think he’ll probably veer towards being a tragic villain rather than a ‘dancing to the Spice Girls post-murder’ villain.”
Another viewer, u/AffectionateWord7761 suggested: “It looks like he wants to be the hero, so maybe someone else killed Nate and he failed to save him (possibly due to being preoccupied with the fire and saving Ruby). Having John in the ITVX logo may be too much of a giveaway as the murderer, so it must be someone else.”
Emmerdale airs on weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
