'Hostage' Ending, Explained: Breaking Down the Netflix Thriller Finale

Suranne Jones and Julie Delpy’s political thriller Hostage, about two heads of state who are forced to work together during a hostage crisis involving the former’s husband, ends in a satisfying conclusion. By the end of the Netflix miniseries, it answers the who, what, and, most importantly, why behind the kidnapping. The U.K. Prime Minister Abigail Dalton (Jones) battles both public perception and her immediate family’s needs, while Delpy’s French President Vivienne Toussaint is blackmailed into inaction with a compromising sex tape between her and her stepson Matheo (Corey Mylchreest). Ahead, we break down the end of Hostage and how the five-episode British Netflix series answers those key questions.

Who is the kidnapper in 'Hostage' and what was their motivation?

The main kidnapper, who is seen but not named for the first half of the series, is a former military man named John Michael Shagan (Martin McCann). He orchestrates the kidnapping as well as a few other destructive events. He sewed chaos amongst citizens at a vigil, as well as bombed Downing Street via a laptop planted by one of his co-conspirators, Saskia (Sophie Robertson), who was posing as Matheo’s girlfriend to ingratiate herself into the political inner circle.

But Shagan wasn’t the main mastermind of the kidnapping plot. After identifying Shagan’s involvement via CCTV footage, Dalton goes up the ladder and pinpoints his boss—the U.K. army’s commanding officer, Livingston (Mark Lewis Jones)—as the brains behind the operation. When she and her closest employees descend upon the army base, Livingston initially denies the accusations. But when he slips up and accidentally refers to the laptop bomb (the details of which had not been made public yet), he confesses and is led out of the room and presumably straight to jail.

Before he’s carted off, he lays his motivations bare: A lifelong army employee, he’s pissed about the cuts that Dalton’s administration had made to the military budget. Coupled with a years-long grudge about an order Dalton made about pulling troops out of Belize, Livingston believes her leadership has left the country vulnerable to present and future threats. “You have no idea what it takes to keep a nation safe,” he snarls at Dalton before he exits.

Belize is why Shagan was brought into the crisis, as well—though his reasons are more personal. While stationed in the Central American country, Shagan fell in love with a local translator who was pregnant with his child. Dalton’s orders to pull the troops resulted in the death of both his fiancée and his unborn child—a heartbreak he has been hoping to avenge by killing Dalton herself.

Does anyone die in at the end of 'Hostage?'

While the laptop bomb at Downing Street was intended for Dalton, it instead found another target: French President Toussaint. Additionally, midway through the season, Dalton’s ailing father’s death was sped up by a lethal injection administered by Saskia.

The bulk of the finale features a long-awaited showdown between Alex (Ashley Thomas), Shagan, and, eventually, Abigail Dalton herself. Taking Alex hostage for a second time—this time, at a safehouse—Shagan lures Dalton to the house to face his wrath, while Saskia holds Matheo and Sylvie, Alex and Abigail’s daughter (Isobel Akuwudike), at gunpoint in the kitchen. Matheo appeals to Saskia’s conscience, telling her he still loves her while secretly calling the police for backup. As the police descend, Matheo tells Saskia to run, while Sylvie picks up the gun.

She heads to the room where her parents are being threatened and points the gun at Shagan. He calmly mentions his hand in her grandfather’s death and invites her to pull the trigger, which she does just as the police burst into the room. Sylvie is handcuffed and taken away as Shagan bleeds out.

What happens to Sylvie in at the end of 'Hostage?'

The final moments of the series flash forward three months. Dalton initially sits in her daughter’s room, seemingly contemplating what her position has done to her family. But the scene is a fake-out: Sylvie is not in jail, but rather in the kitchen with Alex.

Still, the day is not insignificant. Dalton heads downstairs to give a speech, calling for a general election. The events of the series have affected her deeply, and she promises to be an honest candidate who is always straight with the public, even when the answers are hard.