On the heels of the most recent PLL episode and the shocking events that went down, we’re recapping the life of Mona Vanderwaal…and how things all went awry.

Mona is arguably one of the most complicated characters of the series. She’s both vulnerable and manipulative, delicate and ice cold, meek and utterly ruthless…all at the same time. This comes out of her self -consciousness at being bullied and rejected while Allison was around. We’ve seen Mona as early as the pilot…however only briefly and in flashback. She was first shown very differently from the Mona we’ve come to know; she’s portrayed as someone who is shy, awkward, ill dressed and unaware how to act. In later seasons this meek shyness will be replaced for icy domination and ill dressing will be the furthest image from the Mona we know.

One of the most complicated things about Mona is we’re never truly able to know whose side she is on. One of the biggest reveals was when Mona was revealed to be “A” as we all know. This was the culmination of a seasons long mystery arc…and yet had us asking more questions than getting answers. Mona is many things, namely complicated as her stint at the mental hospital proved on many levels.

We’re not worried about a lack of Mona, however. Janel Parrish was recently quoted saying “Basically, as Alison was the flashback girl for the past three seasons, it will now be [Mona…I think it’s great! Even though Alison was ‘dead’ for the first three seasons, you found out everything about her through flashbacks, and now that’ll be happening through Mona.”

The biggest mystery on deck with Mona is now who killed her. While we’re going to have to wait until the winter premiere to find out anything leading to that answer…we have our suspicions that even if Alison didn’t deliver the killing blow that she was intimately involved.