{"id":24596,"date":"2022-10-26T16:12:03","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T14:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1728571"},"modified":"2022-10-26T16:35:14","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T14:35:14","slug":"gangs-of-london-season-2-ending-explained-how-finale-sets-up-potential-season-3","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/gangs-of-london-season-2-ending-explained-how-finale-sets-up-potential-season-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Gangs of London season 2 ending explained: How finale sets up potential season 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Michael Hogan\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 26 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Crime epic Gangs of London has become one of Sky Atlantic\u2019s biggest ever hits, winning a loyal fan following with its thrilling blend of underworld turf wars, cinematic ultra-violence and Shakespearean storytelling.<\/p>\n

The second season ratcheted up the action several notches \u2013 and it climaxed with a twist-packed, blood-soaked finale, directed by showrunner Corin Hardy. Here\u2019s everything that happened in the eighth and concluding episode\u2026<\/p>\n

Grievous bodily arm<\/b><\/h2>\n

\u201cYou were out, so we\u2019ve left your parcel containing a severed arm with a neighbour.\u201d Thankfully, the courier didn\u2019t need to leave this card because the threatening package was safely delivered.<\/p>\n

After his Paris assassination plan unravelled, renegade enforcer Elliot Finch (\u1e62\u1ecdp\u1eb9\u0301 D\u00ecr\u00eds\u00f9) took an axe to the tattooed left arm of Billy Wallace (Brian Vernel), before sending his lopped-off limb to brother Sean (Joe Cole) and matriarch Marian (Michelle Fairley) as grisly leverage.<\/p>\n

Sean realised his mother hadn\u2019t just colluded with Albanian mafia boss Luan (Orli Shuka) to intercept the shipment of heroin bound for Pakistani drug baron Asif Afridi (Asif Raza Mir), she\u2019d also let Elliot know how to find it \u2013 and with it poor Billy, who she\u2019d locked in the back of the van.<\/p>\n

When Marian coldly tried to stop him from rescuing his brother, Sean exploded in fury and half-strangled her. He\u2019d seen his mother\u2019s true colours at last. Elliot promptly called to give Sean his instructions. If he wanted to see Billy alive again, he\u2019d play ball.<\/p>\n

Algerians\u2019 kitchen nightmare<\/b><\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Fady El-Sayed as Faz and Jasmine Armando as Saba in Gangs of London.<\/span><\/figcaption> Sky UK \/ AMC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Ruthless Georgian mercenary Koba (Waleed Zuaiter) and his henchmen marched teenager Saba (Jahz Armando) into the Algerian caf\u00e9. To avenge the assassination of her uncle Basem (Salem Kali) at Billingsgate Fish Market, she\u2019d facilitated Elliot\u2019s Parisian plan. Now she\u2019d pay with her life.<\/p>\n

In the nick of time, Sean arrived to ask for Koba\u2019s help. Elliot had ordered him to surrender at a remote airfield in exchange for Billy. This was their chance to kill him. \u201cI need full comms and a sniper team,\u201d Koba told his right-hand man. \u201cLet\u2019s take this motherf**ker out.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he left, Koba warned the Algerians to deal with Saba. They marched her through the kitchen but before snaky Hakim (Aymen Hamdouchi) could do the deed, plucky Saba threw barbecue coals in his face, shot him and fled with cousin Faz (Fady Elsayed). Attagirl.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Marian arrived at the woodland hideout to find both Billy and 1.4 tonnes of heroin gone. Elliot had taken Billy but who\u2019d got the drugs? Consigliere Ed Dumani (Lucian Msamati) and his daughter Shannon (Pippa Bennett-Warner) were the only others who knew the location. Luckily, Luan had put a tracker inside the van as insurance. Marian told him to get their smack stash back, whatever it took.<\/p>\n

Dumanis make a power-grab<\/b><\/h2>\n

Honourable Ed didn\u2019t like stealing from Marian. The ambitious Shannon was having none of it. The Wallaces had used their family as bag-carriers, grave-diggers and money launderers for years. The heroin was a chance to build their own empire \u2013 a similar pep talk to the one she gave Elliot in the previous episode. Besides, she wanted to ensure her brother Alex (Paapa Essiedu) hadn\u2019t died in vain.<\/p>\n

They stashed the drugs in their motel bathroom and waited, knowing Luan\u2019s men would be coming. When two carloads of Albanians turned up, balaclava-clad and heavily armed, Ed warned Shannon: \u201cIf we do this, there\u2019s no turning back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Albanians burst in to find an empty suite, with heroin piled high in the bathroom. Too easy. It was a trap. Ed and Shannon opened fire from the room next door, their machine guns pumping bullets through the adjoining wall. Pillow feathers flew. Blood spattered. Six Albanians lay dead.<\/p>\n

Ed called Luan, who was waiting across the car park, and cautioned against giving Marian all the power. \u201cThere\u2019s a reckoning elsewhere tonight,\u201d he added. \u201cLet\u2019s wait and see what tomorrow brings.\u201d The two seasoned campaigners shared a mutual respect, especially since Ed helped Luan find his kidnapped wife, so Luan drove off. Cut to that reckoning\u2026<\/p>\n

Burger and chips, hold the poison<\/b><\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Joe Cole as Sean Wallace in Gangs of London.<\/span><\/figcaption> Sky UK \/ AMC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

When Sean vowed to get rid of his mother, having already betrayed his lover Lale (Narges Rashidi), lone wolf Koba was impressed: \u201cI thought I\u2019d have to kill you because a weak partner is a liability. But we might be on the same page.\u201d En route to the rendezvous with Elliot, the pair stopped at a service station for a comfort break.<\/p>\n

Sean bought them both burgers and watched as Koba greedily tucked in. Soon he got a nosebleed. Then he bled from the eyes and vomited blood, which splashed over his chips like ketchup. \u201cIt\u2019s a compound poison,\u201d Sean calmly told him. \u201cYou\u2019re paralysed.\u201d Koba died and Sean crammed his body in the car boot. A flashback showed him poisoning the burger and slitting the throat of Koba\u2019s driver in the garage toilets.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d complied with the first phase of his instructions. Elliot now sent him the real location, a disused scrapyard. The airfield had been a decoy, sending Koba\u2019s sniper to the wrong place. Now it would just be Sean vs Elliot, with Billy along for the ride. He was in Elliot\u2019s passenger seat, severed arm strapped up, high on morphine. What Elliot didn\u2019t realise is that Billy had managed to conceal a screwdriver up his sleeve.<\/p>\n

Fistfight at the OK Corral<\/b><\/h2>\n

Sean arrived at the mist-shrouded junkyard for a cowboy-style showdown, complete with western-tinged soundtrack. Elliot made him toss away his concealed weapon and produce Koba\u2019s corpse. He then got both Wallace brothers on their knees. Time to avenge his father, who Sean had ordered killed.<\/p>\n

Elliot was about to pull the trigger when Billy lunged with the screwdriver, stabbing Elliot in the stomach and through the hand. Sean pounced and as Billy looked on, the pair grunted their way through a bone-crunching fight. Sean threw engine oil in Elliot\u2019s face, momentarily blinding him.<\/p>\n

Sean was about to finish him with a fence spike when Elliot throttled him with Billy\u2019s strapping and strung up Sean from a crane. As he clawed at his throat, Billy pleaded with Elliot to let him down but Sean croaked: \u201cYour dad would be proud.\u201d Elliot and Billy drove away. The screen faded to black. Was Sean dead for real this time?<\/p>\n

The pawn became a king<\/b><\/h2>\n
\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Brian Vernel as Billy Wallace in Gangs of London.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The first twist came in flashback, with Elliot deciding that killing Sean wasn\u2019t enough: \u201cI\u2019m going to make you watch as I take everything you ever built. Your power, your people, your city. I\u2019m going to replace you.\u201d He stood Sean on a tyre and left him for the police to find. We later glimpsed one-armed Billy visiting Sean in prison.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Elliot was suited, booted and swaggering into a gangland summit, where he took his seat at the table between Ed and Shannon. As Marian arrived to sit opposite, she and Elliot smiled darkly. They\u2019d once been on the same side. Now they were deadly rivals.<\/p>\n

Still time for a tantalising postscript. Over in Pakistan, we saw Asif in exile, plotting his return to London. For that, he needed a partner who also wanted to reclaim what was hers: Lale. Yes, the kickass Kurdish freedom fighter was alive after all. Wallaces vs Dumanis vs the Asif\/Lale alliance looks set to be the next battle for London\u2019s soul. Roll credits \u2013 and bring on a season 3 confirmation please.<\/p>

Loose ends & case notes<\/b><\/h2>\n