After two long years, popular YouTuber Sam O'Nella randomly uploaded a video in October 2022. So, what happened to him? Here's what we know.

This is not a drill — Sam O'Nella is back on YouTube! After two incredibly long years, the edutainment YouTuber made his highly anticipated return to the social media platform on Oct. 3, 2022, with a captivating video about the scientific names of animals and what they actually mean.

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As expected, Sam's fans were thrilled to see him back; however, many are curious to know what happened. So, why did Sam O'Nella mysteriously disappear for nearly three years? Keep reading for all the known details.

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What happened to Sam O'Nella?

Prior to his October 2022 video, Sam O'Nella last uploaded something to YouTube on Jan. 29, 2020.

Of course, his fans became concerned; however, in May 2020, he addressed his hiatus and explained that he vanished "for months on end" due to school. We can also safely assume that the COVID-19 pandemic affected his work, as well.

During his break from YouTube, fans thought he might have decided to step back for a bit to focus on other things. On the other hand, others joked that Sam was a victim of Thanos' snap or simply died. Luckily, those outcomes were officially proven false, because on Oct. 3, 2022, he merely tweeted, "K I'm back."

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At the start of the video, Sam explains that he "just woke up from a nap [he] took in January 2020." His stick-figure self eventually heads to his computer to check out what he's missed during his slumber; Sam notes the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the crisis in Ukraine, and the most shocking event of all (according to Sam), the 2020 movie Scoob!

He also mentions the unprecedented COVID-19 global pandemic, Space Jam 2, and "some popular guy named Brandon." The latter seemingly refers to the right-wing slogan, "Let's go Brandon," that stemmed from the profane chant, "F--k Joe Biden!"

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The fans cannot contain their excitement over Sam's return to YouTube.

Once fans of the beloved YouTuber were notified that he uploaded a new video, they lost all self-control — and can we really blame them? He's been gone for so long! One person on Twitter admitted that the notification almost made them cry, while another said Sam's return made this the "best week of [their] life."

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However, fans are worried that Sam's return is short-lived. A fan tweeted, "Got done watching the new Sam O'Nella video and realized we're going to have to wait another three years for the next one." In the creator's subreddit, several Redditors also commented that fans probably won't see a new Sam O'Nella video until at least 2025.

Ugh — hopefully that's not the case, because we are desperate for more content!

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