Is Zay really dead in The Chi season 7? Or could he still return somehow? Character fate explored

Lena Waithe's The Chi season 7 returned to Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers on May 16, 2025. The first episode quickly follows where the previous season left off, with Douda dead and Rob murdered. However, despite the two casualties, someone else is bound to be dead as well, as Alicia finds out who killed her son, Rob.

The premiere episode didn't waste time in bringing another casualty to the list as the Chi-town clamors for new leadership. At the end of The Chi season 7 episode 1, Black Friday, Nuck tells Bakari that Zay is dead. He's one of the few people who know Nuck's secret. As Nuck always says, he doesn't kill family, and while he didn't pull the trigger on Zay, he's the reason why his cousin is now dead.

Disclaimer: This article may contain spoilers for The Chi season 7. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Zay is dead in The Chi season 7, no thanks to Nuck's schemes

A debut role for Aaron Guy, Zay's character was first introduced in The Chi cast in season 6 episode 9, and he's been a recurring character ever since. He's Nuck's cousin from the down south, who quickly became involved in the 63rd Street mob during Douda's leadership. Zay and Nuck have always been subtle rivals in the gang, with both of them wanting to be the top dog.

However, with Nuck being Douda's right-hand man, Zay is forced to take a backseat. The same hierarchy continues even after Douda's death. After Nuck killed Duoda in season 6, he became the new boss of the 63rd Street. In The Chi season 7 episode 1, Zay approaches his cousin wanting to become partners.

He doesn't want to work under Nuck, but according to Nuck, he could either work for him or leave. He stayed, but not for long. When Alicia came to Nuck, with a gun trained on his head, seeking revenge for Rob's death, Nuck tricked her. He tells Alicia that he didn't kill Rob, that he didn't have any reason to kill Rob. Nuck then blames his cousin, telling Alicia that Zay was the one who killed her son.

At the end of episode 1, Alicia has Zay tied to a chair. Before he could defend himself and reveal the real murderer, Alicia shoots Zay multiple times, ultimately killing him in front of Shaad and Bianca. Nuck tells Bakari the news later on. It means that only he and Bakari are the ones who know that Nuck killed Rob, at least to his knowledge.

However, early in the episode, Zay reveals to his girlfriend, Kenya, that Nuck was the one who murdered Rob. Nuck killed him because he doesn't want to be extorted by Nuck anymore.

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Could Aaron Guy still return as Zay in The Chi season 7?

After his character died at the end of the season 7 premiere, Aaron Guy is not likely to return to the series. Characters who were killed off in the show's storyline are rarely resurrected. So, unless The Chi season 7 decides to give Zay's character more significance and shift its storytelling to add flashback sequences, he's not likely to reappear in the show.

However, it's still possible to see him in snippets and short flashback clips like the new season did for Douda and Rob, who were killed in the previous episode. A flashback of Zay's moments throughout his tenure in the series could play out in Kenya's memory once she hears about his death, the same way pictures of Rob played out after Alicia told Tiff that Rob is dead.

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Catch the first episode of The Chi season 7 streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime. New episodes will arrive weekly on the streamer every Friday.