Before we try to get to the heart of what’s really going on with Lottie’s bizarre gamble, let’s have some fun with her. While Lottie doesn’t say what the “it” in question is, she seems to be talking about the wilderness in general or some dark embodiment of her – like the Antler Queen – in particular. It makes sense for him to see the wilderness like this some kind of godand in the ’90s, other survivors were convinced of it. After all, Lottie’s rituals, including the Yellow Jackets killing a bear, returning safely to the cabin during a blizzard, bringing Javi (Luciano Leroux) back in one piece after she’s been missing for weeks, and holding him, it directly led to good fortune. Shauna (Sophie Nelisse), who survived a traumatic birth.
As viewers, we know that at least one of these miracles is actually easily explained, as the latest episode shows Coach Ben (Steven Krueger) finding a hot spot under a log that serves as a shelter for Javi. Lottie (Courtney Eaton) was half-dead in the attic when this discovery was made, and she probably doesn’t know that Javi’s eventual death was more due to the team’s decision than the wilderness’s “choice.” Letting him drown so they don’t have to kill Nat (Sophie Thatcher). Without this context, Lottie’s belief in the neo-Pagan system is still firm, and there is plenty of (subjective) evidence that it has worked in the past.