Wayward Pines finale
Ethan Burke and David Pilcher in Wayward Pines Fox

The residents of Wayward Pines will be put to the ultimate test in the season 1 finale of Fox's twisted drama.

The final episode is titled Cycle which airs on 23 July at 9pm EST on Fox, which will reveal the fate of the town and its residents.

Click here to watch the episode online on Fox's website.

In the penultimate episode, Ethan pretends to call for a reckoning for Kate, but he uses the opportunity to reveal the truth to the town people. David Pilcher responds to Ethan's betrayal by shutting down all of the power, including that which electrifies the perimeter fence thereby giving the abbies a chance to get inside the town.

Here are a few plot speculations on season 1's ultimate episode.

1. Ethan and Kate will take charge: After Pilcher decides to turn off the electricity in Wayward Pines, with deadly repercussions, Ethan and Kate take the initiative to make sure everyone is out of harm's way. This means the duo will come out with blazing guns to protect the people from the abbies.

Wayward Pines finale
Nurse Pam and Theresa Burke in Wayward Pines Fox

2. Nurse Pam's loyalties: Nurse Pam has gone through a major character transformation from the premiere episode, where we saw her as the villain. Her loyalties have slowly switched from blindly supporting her brother to giving Theresa the encouragement and means to continue investigating Plot 33, which later makes Kate and Theresa believe Ethan's story about the town's history.

But whose side will Pam be on? Her brother's or the people's in the finale? Going by the synopsis, she will support Ethan's team as the description says, "Nurse Pam confronts Pilcher on his decision and tries to convince him to reconsider."

3. First Generation leaders' role in the finale: The leaders of the first generation will take matters into their own hands, as the deadly threat looms large over the town people. In the penultimate episode, the first three members of the First Generation decide to take the law into their own hands, and execute all the rebels, except Kate, as Ethan's arrival saves her.

As the synopsis says, "first generation tries to protect the future of Wayward Pines by taking matters into their own hands". It remains to be seen what their course of action will be.

4. Cast previews a bloody finale: A new promo for the episode shows savage abbies entering the town and killing the residents as the show's cast previews a bloody finale.

Charlie Tahan, who plays Ben, says in the promo video, "The electric fence is what keeps the people of Wayward Pines in and keeps the abbies out. When the power goes out, the fence goes down, and the abbies are free to come in as they please."

"[There's] a lot of gunfire, a lot of abbies, not too many survivors," Tahan teased.

Shannyn Sossamon, who plays Theresa, previews, "Pilcher basically decides to murder all the town people because the experiment went wrong and he wants to try again."

"The show initially started with a great sense of mystery and tension written under the surface, now in the finale episode everything has come to the surface big time," says Carla Gugino who plays Kate.

"Its all out war, Kate loads up and she has got a machine gun, she has got a pistol and she also got bombs in her bag. She is ready," Gugino teased of her character.

5. David Pilcher's fate: Showrunner Chad Hodge warns that the theme of the season 1 finale will be "You get what you pay for", hinting at the fate of David Pilcher who was last seen cutting off power supplies thereby letting the abbies into the town.

"David Pilcher saved the last of humanity and brought them 2,000 years into the future," Hodge explained to Entertainment Weekly. "He gave his life for this. It was a massively costly endeavor. When you rise to those highest of heights there is often nowhere to go but down."

Will the group survive the attack from the abbies? We will have to wait and watch the highly anticipated finale episode of Wayward Pines.