Grey’s Anatomy is returning for Season 22 this fall on ABC, thus continuing its streak as the longest-running primetime medical drama on television. However, questions about how much longer the series will run have been continuing to surface in recent years, especially after it was scooted to the 10/9c timeslot starting in Season 21. So, naturally, some fans are already starting to envision where the show might be heading for its eventual grand finale.

On Reddit, one Grey’s watcher offered up a theory about the ultimate ending of the show that is based on recent events — chiefly, the fact that Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) has devoted her professional life to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s, the disease that claimed her mother’s life.

“If it ever does end I think it’s pretty obvious Meredith will get Alzheimer’s while working on the cure and use it to cure herself. I think that’s where it’s headed personally,” the original thread poster predicted.

Another user responded with a bit of disagreement, predicting, “Meredith gets Alzheimer’s just short of the cure or finishes it right as Alzheimer’s hits hard.”

Yet another user concured with the prediction that Meredith would become afflicted by the disease she’s feared so well all season long and even conjured a specific scene in which that may play out, writing, “I am imagining Meredith talking with someone and they mention how Derek would love to see how far she’s come as a surgeon after doing x , y , z, legendary, groundbreaking, never before seen work. Then she says ‘who is Derek?’”

Another who agreed that Meredith getting Alzheimer’s is the obvious direction the show is heading for had a similarly gulp-inducing vision for how that will look, writing, “It is my thinknig that in the last episode, the Alzheimer’s causes Meredith to go back before she had Ellis and she is searching for Derek, which breaks Nick’s heart.”

At least one poster had a different theory about where the long-running Alzheimer’s thread may be sewn up, turning to Ellis Grey’s (Kate Burton) other daughter Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary), instead. The poster wrote, “I do think Maggie is gonna get Alzheimer’s and Meredith will discover a cure, maybe too late for Maggie but before Maggie dies, she gets the first dose. It will be unexpected since she most likely has the gene, too, from Ellis but the focus is so much on Meredith with Alzheimer’s, it’s gonna sneak attack.” (It’s worth noting, of course, that Maggie is no longer a regular character on Grey’s Anatomy at this time, but she has popped back into the show on occasion.)

Meredith’s fate wasn’t the only subject of the thread, of course. Other predictions about the future of Grey’s included a theory that Amelia Shepherd might eventually become chief of surgery, Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) could ultimately succumb to her cancer, and Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) and Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) might perish in an accident.

One commenter had a much brighter vision of the future of Grey’s, however, writing, “Bold of you to think this show is ever going to end. I swear Shonda [Rhimes’] children are going to inherit the show after she dies.”

We’ll have to wait to find out what’s ahead for Grey’s Anatomy when the show returns for Season 22 on October 9. Until then, what are your thoughts about how Grey’s might end? Hit the comments below to weigh in on these theories and/or offer your own!

Grey’s Anatomy, Season 22 Premiere, Thursday, October 9, 10/9c, ABC