Warning: SPOILERS ahead for A Series of Unfortunate Events season 3

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A Series of Unfortunate Events season 2 is full of mysteries, but perhaps the two biggest questions relate to the nature of the secret organization called V.F.D., and the importance of a certain sugar bowl. This season sees the Baudelaires once again shuffled from one guardian to the next, with Count Olaf always close behind, but after the mid-season two-parter “The Vile Village” things go off the rails, as the orphans are falsely accused of murder and have to go on the lam.

Fleeing from the law (well, from an angry mob that wants them burned at the stake) brings the orphans to Heimlich Hospital’s Library of Records, where they discover a film reel with a shocking revelation. They learn more about V.F.D. at their next stop, the Caligari Carnival, where Olivia Caliban finally clues them in to what the letters stand for - though tragedy forces the Baudelaires away again before they can learn all of V.F.D.’s secrets. If you have burning questions, and you don’t want to wait another year for the answers, then here’s a breakdown of what V.F.D. is, how Count Olaf is connected to it, and everything that’s revealed about the sugar bowl in the books.

We’re going to get into spoilers from the books in this article, which means revealing plotlines from the next and final season of A Series of Unfortunate Events. If you’d rather not know how things play out, and instead prefer to speculate based on what happens in season 2, stop reading now.

This Page: What is V.F.D.?

V.F.D.

The Baudelaire siblings don’t say the full name of the organization their parents belong to until the season finale, but by that point you may have already figured out that V.F.D. stands for Volunteer Fire Department. The original goal of V.F.D. was to bring together a group of like-minded people who were dedicated to fighting fires, both literal and figurative. Their symbol - which can be seen in the above series, and is also tattooed on the ankles of all V.F.D. members - looks like an eye, but is actually a stylized depiction of the letters V.F.D.

At some point in the past, there was a schism within V.F.D., with some members deciding that they preferred starting fires (both literal and figurative) to putting them out. Count Olaf, obviously, sides with the starting-fires faction, while volunteers like Jacques Snicket, Jacquelyn and Larry Your-Waiter remain doggedly devoted to putting out fires. The parents of the Baudelaire and Quagmire orphans were also members of V.F.D., which is why they were targeted and had their houses burned down. Other members that we’ve seen so far in the series include Uncle Monty, Josephine Anwhistle, Dr. Georgina Orwell and - of course - Lemony Snicket himself.

Beyond fighting fires, V.F.D.’s main goal is to gather information and knowledge, which is why libraries crop up so often in the series. Most V.F.D. members, in addition to being firefighters and intrepid explorers, have some kind of academic speciality - like Uncle Monty’s enthusiasm for herpetology, or Aunt Josephine’s love of grammar. Those on the fire-starting side of the schism, conversely, are often fiercely anti-intellectual (Count Olaf is a prime example of this), which is why they’d rather burn books than read them. However, both factions have one thing in common: they want to get their hands on that sugar bowl.

Sugar Bowl

If you’re looking for an answer to why the sugar bowl is so important, or what’s inside it, there’s some bad news: the books never reveal answer those questions. By the end of the series, many questions have been answered, but there are also some mysteries that remain - and the sugar bowl is the biggest one.

We know that the sugar bowl was taken from Esmé Squalor’s tea set, and that she is determined to get it back at all costs. Esmé says that Beatrice stole it from her, but Lemony Snicket also says that he stole the sugar bowl, so it’s uncertain whether Esmé is incorrect or whether Lemony and Beatrice were complicit in its theft. While there’s no official word on what the sugar bowl contains, there are some solid fan theories.

In the eleventh book of the series, The Grim Grotto, the Baudelaires go on a search for the sugar bowl that brings them to the Gorgonian Grotto - a hidden underwater cave where many different objects wash up. Due to the tides, things can wash up into the grotto, but they cannot escape, which allows it to act as the perfect quarantine for an extremely dangerous species of fungus called the Medusoid Mycelium. This mushroom spreads extremely quickly, and is so deadly that a single spore can kill a person within an hour in the most horrible way - by growing mushrooms inside their mouth, throat and lungs until they choke to death. If someone were to get their hands on a sample of it, the Medusoid Mycelium could effectively be used as a biological weapon.

One fan theory, therefore, is that the sugar bowl contains an antidote to the effects of the Medusoid Mycelium. It’s possible to cure someone of the mushroom’s effects using common horseradish or wasabi (if you look closely at V.F.D.’s underground tunnels in season 2, you’ll see a sign pointing in the direction of the Horseradish Factory), which dilutes the fungus. Another extremely effective cure is the fruit of a special hybrid tree, created by cross-breeding horseradish and apples. Some believe that the Sugar Bowl contains fruit from this tree, or seeds from the apples, so that new trees could be planted.

Another fan theory is that the sugar bowl contains evidence that could exonerate Lemony Snicket, who is on the lam because people believe he is guilty of the arsons committed by Count Olaf. The possibility of the sugar bowl containing some kind of information would certainly fit, given how much members of V.F.D. value information. Yet another theory is that the sugar bowl is dangerous, and contains some kind of weapon - perhaps even a sealed sample of the Medusoid Mycelium.

Speaking in an interview with The Observer last year, A Series of Unfortunate Events author Daniel Handler said that about one fan every year writes to him, having solved the mystery of the sugar bowl. “The whole answer of the Sugar Bowl is solvable,” Handler said, though naturally he didn’t give away the solution. Perhaps season 3 will offer some fresh clues about what exactly is so important about the Vessel For Disaccharides, so that readers of the books can finally find a clear answer.

More: A Series of Unfortunate Events Season 2’s Ending Leaves Some Big Questions

A Series of Unfortunate Events season 2 is now available on Netflix.