The Simpsons finally clears up major Homer mystery after 35 years

After nearly four decades, The Simpsons fans finally have an answer for one of the show’s greatest mysteries.

The legendary cartoon series has left fans baffled several times over the years with its eerily accurate predictions and mysteries like who actually shot Mr Burns.

But it’s now, one mystery has been solved after sparking confusion since the very first episode aired back in 1989 – how Homer kept his job at the Nuclear Power Plant after years of mishaps.

In new episode Shoddy Heat, viewers found out that Grandpa Abe Simpson and Mr Burns actually made a deal with Homer’s boss.

In the episode, Abe – who seemingly worked as a detective in the 1980s – is suspicious when his partner Billy O’Donnell goes missing while investigation Mr Burns, and he tries to find out the truth.

Burns suggested O’Donnell (voiced by Topher Grace) has taken a one way trip out of Springfield to ‘paradise’, and he promised to give Homer a job for life if Abe agreed to drop the whole matter.

Despite Grandpa being worried about how his son might react to the revelation decades later, Homer is happy to know he can never lose his job, and he’s glad his dad kept the secret for so long.

Showrunner and executive producer Al Jean has previously teased something big on X, as he wrote: ‘This Sunday a new @TheSimpsons will solve a mystery that has puzzled (me at least) since the beginning of the show…’

Accompanying his post, he shared a picture of two brunette characters holding shaved ice cups.

Fans shared their theories on what mystery they expected to be solved, with @JimCramptonWPG questioning: ‘Who started the tire fire?’

‘Who shot Mr Burns. Finally,’ @grahamscam wrote.

Others suggested the two people in the image could be a younger version of Grampa and Homer’s mum, while @DrRadium88 thought it could be a younger Agnes Skinner.

This comes after concern among fans that The Simpsons was coming to an end, when the first of the latest one kicked off with a ‘series finale’ as it returned to Fox last month.

It had previously been teased that the first episode would shake the foundation of the show with ‘the episode fans have waited for since 1989’.

It saw an animated version of former Simpsons writer Conan O’Brien host a screening for the ‘series finale’ and claim that ‘Fox has decided to end the Simpsons’.

Thankfully though, it was all a hoax, and The Simpsons doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.

Showrunner and executive producer Matt Selman later shared his hopes for the final ever episode when it does happen, saying: ‘I just hope it’s just a regular episode with no Winky Winky stuff at all.

‘Just a great family story, just like a classic story that’s just funny and involves the whole family and doesn’t feel like it needs to wrap up anything or change anything or tie anything up or be magic or talk to the audience directly.’

The Simpsons is available to stream on Disney Plus.

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