Is he or isn’t he? Emmerdale fans have been excitedly speculating over the fate of Mackenzie Boyd after he was seemingly killed by John Sugden last week.

Mack’s outcome seemed cut-and-dried after John ruthlessly pursued him through the woods with a crossbow and arrows, caused a life-threatening injury and finished off the job by attacking him with a heavy rock. Ouch.

But this is Soapland after all, and viewers are increasingly sceptical over any death scene these days, after so many sneaky fake-outs from producers in recent years.

So, has Mack really been murdered? Here, we examine the evidence for and against…

1. DEAD? Advance warning

News that John would strike again first broke earlier this month. Leaks from the set revealed that Emmerdale had filmed another grisly murder scene, which would see Mack become the sly villain’s next victim.

Since then, the scenes have played out exactly as fans had been warned they would – and there was never any suggestion in print that Mack would return after the twist.

2. NOT DEAD? Twists and turns to come

While the papers have never reported on a Lazarus moment for Mack, we’ve always been told to expect some further shocking moments as this story plays out.

“There are huge twists and turns coming throughout this storyline and it’s going to run for months and months,” a soap insider told The Sun a few weeks ago.

“Nothing can be ruled out – bosses are really going for it and doing everything they can to keep the audience on their toes.”

These sneaky whispers do appear to leave the door open for further jaw-dropping moments later on in the storyline.

Fans also noted that many of the most surprising moments in the Mack vs John showdown were given away in an official ITV trailer shortly before the episode aired. Were bosses nonplussed about spoilers as they had a bigger surprise to come?

3. DEAD? A sense of finality

Recent episodes of Emmerdale haven’t really offered much indication that Mack is still alive. His arrow injury looked alarmingly severe in those final tragic moments in the woods, while the scene showing John attack Mack with a rock also looked pretty definitive.

John has also since been cleaning up blood, destroying evidence, struggling with a guilty conscience and dumping a body in the woods. None of it looks too great for Mack, does it?

4. NOT DEAD? John the medical man

Let’s face it – if there’s any soap killer well-placed to have a last-minute change of heart, it’s John. His expert medical knowledge allows some slim possibility that he could have miraculously brought Mack back from the brink after his terrible injuries.

John also isn’t your classic soap killer – we know that he gains his satisfaction from saving innocent victims rather than slaughtering them. Is this another chance for John to smugly play the hero? We doubt he’ll be boasting about this particular incident to his bosses at work, though!

5. DEAD? Lawrence’s five years in the Dales

Lawrence Robb made his first appearance on Emmerdale in October 2020. Recent on-screen events are playing out just as the actor is nearing his milestone five-year mark in the show, so perhaps it’d be no surprise if he or producers (or both jointly) had decided that Mack’s journey should reach its end.

In a recent interview on ITV’s Loose Women, Lawrence insisted that there’d be no hard feelings if his time in the Dales reached a conclusion.

“Ultimately, if and when the time for Mack to leave comes, whether that might be my choice of the choice of the writers/producers, I’ll be thankful for the time that I’ve had,” Lawrence explained.

“Ultimately, no one is safe in the show, certainly not in Emmerdale. It’s the most dangerous village in the country.”

In retrospect, was Lawrence giving the game away after privately coming to terms with the idea of a shock soap departure?

6. NOT DEAD? Unresolved storylines

Emmerdale has only just kicked off a huge surrogacy storyline involving Mack’s on-screen family. Mack’s wife Charity is currently pregnant after agreeing to carry a child for her granddaughter Sarah, but she doesn’t know if the father could be Ross Barton after a recent one-night stand complicated matters.

Soaps are plotted intricately by the teams behind the scenes, so it’d be a big surprise and wasted opportunity if bosses had decided to write out Mack before he ever uncovered Charity’s secret. Could there be more drama to come here? Or were those in charge of mapping out stories having a rare off day?

7. DEAD? Vanity revisited

Over the past few months, Emmerdale has been reminding viewers of the history between Mack’s wife Charity and her ex-fiancée Vanessa Woodfield.

Vanessa has supported Sarah through some of her problems – reminding us of the vet’s former place in the wider family – and we also recently saw Charity give into temptation with her ex.

Prior to this, Emmerdale bosses had appeared stubborn in avoiding too much Vanity action over the past few years, preferring to concentrate on Charity and Mack instead.

So, did the recent change in tack come as producers knew they’d be losing Mack from the show? It’s always good to plan ahead…

8. NOT DEAD? No exit statements

When Mack’s dramatic death scene aired last week, show bosses acknowledged the ambiguity by stating that the story would “[leave] viewers wondering about Mackenzie’s fate”.

Lawrence Robb, who plays Mack, hasn’t taken centre stage in a goodbye video on Emmerdale‘s social media pages – a surprise given that he’s seemingly just been killed off in such a massive twist.

9. DEAD? Exit interviews aren’t a given…

On the flip side, not every cast member who leaves Emmerdale gets a goodbye message on the show’s socials.

Last year, Dean Andrews’ character Will Taylor was killed off in the big Christmas storyline, but still didn’t get a farewell video. When fans asked why, Dean admitted that he “wasn’t asked” to record anything for social media.

As for the lack of confirmation from Emmerdale, we also saw similar tactics with Jurell Carter’s departure as Nate Robinson last year. Although viewers knew he was leaving, fans were confused by his ambiguous exit and lack of proper goodbye scene, but Nate’s death was only confirmed months later when the limo crash aired and his body was spotted.

10. DEAD / NOT DEAD? Oliver Farnworth’s soap history

Could Emmerdale bosses be sneakily taking inspiration from Oliver Farnworth’s last big soap storyline?

Back in 2016, Oliver’s Coronation Street character Andy Carver was seemingly killed off by Pat Phelan. However, he made a miraculous return seven months later, when it was revealed that Phelan was holding Andy captive in the basement of an abandoned house.

The shoe is now on the other foot, with Oliver playing a killer… but is John doing a Pat Phelan? If so, Mack still wouldn’t be safe, as let’s not forget that Phelan later cruelly killed Andy for real!