We Were Liars Episode 3 revealed what truly happened to Rosemary Sinclair, and it's quite tragic. While Cadence Sinclair Eastman (Emily Alyn Lind) is at the center of We Were Liars' story, the Amazon Prime Video series also highlights the ups and downs of the Sinclair family as they navigate their own struggles and hidden secrets. The complex Sinclair family tree is led by its patriarch, Harris Sinclair, alongside his wife, Tipper Sinclair. They have four daughters: Penny, Carrie, Bess, and Rosemary (the one forgotten sibling of the Sinclairs who is not much talked about in the family).
Who Is Rosemary Sinclair In We Were Liars, and What Happened to Her?
We Were Liars established that the wealthy and perfect Sinclair family has a dark secret that has been haunting them for a while (even if they choose to ignore it), and it revolves around Rosemary Sinclair.
Rosemary is the youngest daughter of Harris and Tipper Sinclair and the sister of Carrie, Penny, and Bess. In We Were Liars Episode 2, Carrie (the eldest daughter of the Sinclairs) shared that none of them is Harris' favorite daughter because they grew up "messy" and their father "hates mess." The favorite daughter title goes to Rosemary, as Harris still watches his late daughter's 8th birthday celebration video.
We Were Liars Episode 3 revolves around Tipper's funeral after she died in Episode 2 due to her enlarged heart. During a conversation between Penny and Cadence while preparing for the funeral, Penny confirmed Rosemary's tragic fate and why the family chose to ignore it and move forward.
Penny told Cadence that Tipper gave them advice on how to "look to the future" and "erase the person you lost from the conversation" to show everyone that the Sinclairs are strong despite losing Rosemary.
Penny: "We are Sinclairs. We manage with our backs straight, like my mother said."
Cadence: "Once I fix my posture?"
Penny: "You know, I was younger than you are now when we lost Rosemary. And my mom had excellent advice then. You know, I was younger than you are now when we lost Rosemary. And my mom had excellent advice then. She said, 'Go back to your routine, and look to the future. You erase the person you lost from the conversation.' And if you must speak about them, do not show that you feel the loss. If you follow the rules, eventually, nothing can hurt you."
We Were Liars didn't divulge many details about Rosemary's death since information about her was only sprinkled throughout the series. A passing comment from Carrie revealed that Rosemary died when she was too young, potentially before or after turning 11 years old (Carrie mentioned that Bess has been trying to be their late mom or a dead 11-year-old girl so that Harris can become his favorite daughter).
This further proves how horrible the Sinclairs are when it comes to navigating grief. They chose not to honor or talk about Rosemary because they believed it would dampen their perfect image and reputation (read more about how Gat and Cadence's relationship helped her to see the truth about her family).
How Did Rosemary Die In We Were Liars?
While We Were Liars didn't exactly reveal details about Rosemary's death, the prequel novel, Family of Liars by E. Lockhart, provided much-needed information about the youngest Sinclair sibling's accident and eventual passing.
The book revealed that Rosemary died when she was 10 years old, when she drowned in August 1986. Rosemary went swimming while Agata, the Sinclair family's 20-year-old au pair (babysitter), went inside to get sweaters due to the incoming rain.
However, when she returned, Agata noticed that Rosemary was already in the open sea and struggling to swim due to the violent waves brought by the rain. Rosemary eventually died, and the Sinclair family chose to ignore their grief to protect the perfect life they deemed they had.
Harris and Tipper decided to overlook Rosemary's death and move forward. While Tipper appeared to be at ease, the We Were Liars series showed that Harris still hasn't gotten over his daughter's death, but he only showed signs of grief during his private time and not out in public, and even when he's around his family.
Making matters worse, there was no memorial service for Rosemary, and her three sisters went back to school as if nothing had happened. Prime Video's We Were Liars showed how flawed the Sinclairs are (and Cadence noticed this too, which is why she decided to leave them behind in the finale). Even though they did their best to ignore Rosemary's passing and erase it from their history, this tragedy will forever be etched in their legacy.
We Were Liars revolves around Cadence's attempt to piece together her memories of Summer 16 after suffering a traumatic brain injury. Emily Alyn Lind leads the cast alongside Esther McGregor, Joseph Zada, Shubham Maheshwari, Candice King, Caitlyn Fitzgerald, Rahul Kohli, and David Morse. We Were Liars premiered on Prime Video on June 18, 2025.
