Emmerdale’s John and Aaron feared dead in early ITVX release as Robert screams in terror

The following article contains spoilers from an episode of Emmerdale that hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.

The latest instalment of Emmerdale picked up seconds after the end of Friday’s. Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) had just discovered Mackenzie Boyd’s (Lawrence Robb) phone among John Sugden’s (Oliver Farnworth) belongings, and was now in huge danger.

Anyone else been on the edge of their seats since Thursday?!

Aaron raced to the van to try and escape the cottage and hopefully find his friend, but John had realised what was going on and quickly encouraged him back inside.

John explained to Aaron that he needed to rest, and he decided to play along. John handed Aaron some more water and he forced himself to drink it, fearing there was something else in the liquid.

As soon as John headed out to run his ‘errand’, Aaron leapt from the bed, threw the water back up and went on a search for Mackenzie.

John’s errand was seeing Mackenzie in the bunker. He told him that they wouldn’t see each other again, but made it clear he wasn’t about to commit murder.

Instead, he handed Mack a syringe and said to put himself out of his misery, he could inject the drug and drift off into a deep sleep. This was horrifying for Mackenzie. He would either be trapped under the impression he may not ever be found, or he could end the ordeal sooner.

John told Mack that he’s in a really great place with Aaron now, and believes he’s made the right choice.

He climbed up the ladder, leaving Mackenzie utterly terrified.

John wandered through the woods and came across Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley), who had got the address to the cottage from Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell), who knew John’s mum before she died.

The Sugden siblings endured a showdown which ended when John knocked Robert out. He couldn’t spend time checking the condition his brother was in though, as John had received a notification that confirmed Aaron was near the trap camera hidden by the bunker.

Poor Aaron was so determined to find the door but wasn’t able to, and couldn’t even hear Mack shouting this time.

Aaron became lost in the woods and ended up on the edge of the gorge. He was spotted by John, who confirmed Aaron’s fears that he had done something to Mack.

What came next was a very intense conversation. Aaron became aware quite quickly that now was not the time to reel in shock over his husband’s actions. He had to get inside his head to 1), get John to confirm Mack’s location and 2), get John to call the police.

Aaron’s efforts were working for a while. John confessed that he was holding Mack hostage in a bunker near the house, and also revealed many of his other crimes including killing Nate and drugging Aaron’s mum Chas (Lucy Pargeter).

Aaron continued to convince John that they could get through everything together – he knew this was exactly what John wanted and used it to his advantage. Aaron was incredibly on edge throughout though (literally and metaphorically) as he knew one wrong move, one tiny reaction taken the other way, could change everything.

And it did.

Robert burst onto the scene and startled John, just as he was about to call the police. To John, it looked as though Aaron and Robert had conspired against him – everything that John had just said no longer mattered.

Aaron hoped that he could still help, but even his words weren’t enough. John pulled out his phone, called the police, but told the person on the other end that his husband’s ex had just turned up and was threatening to kill them.

He then grabbed Aaron and jumped off the gorge, leaving Robert screaming Aaron’s name.

While this was going on, Mackenzie was laying in the bunker, helpless.

He picked the syringe up, wondering what to do.

The instalment ended with Aaron and John laying lifeless at the bottom of the gorge. The police will arrive because John called them, but Robert faces questioning due to the move that was pulled at the last second.

If Aaron survives, he has more than likely sustained a severe head injury – will he even remember the horrific events?

And who will find Mackenzie?

So many questions, but we’re now going to have to wait until Wednesday to find out what happens next.