Netflix’s ‘Hostage’ Ending Explained—Breaking Down Every Twist, Betrayal And Death

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Hostage on Netflix.

From the very first seconds, Netflix’s new political thriller Hostage will keep you on your toes. Who lives, who dies and who are the masterminds behind the Prime Minister’s hostage crisis and military coup? Here’s a full breakdown of Hostage’s action-packed ending.

The five-episode series follows British Prime Minister Abigail Dalton as she faces an unthinkable crisis. Her husband, Dr. Alex, has been taken hostage while working with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) in French Guiana. The devastating news arrives just as French President Vivienne Toussaint is visiting for a summit addressing Britain’s health crisis and limited access to life-saving medicines.

Dalton’s relationship with Toussaint doesn’t start on a positive note, with both politicians using each other for their own gain. After the French President agrees to help Abigail and sends a rescue mission, she aborts it at the last minute after receiving a blackmail video showing her affair with her stepson, Matteo. She is forced to call off the mission.

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Ultimately, Abigail and Vivienne become a team, and they are forced to identify moles within their ranks. Alex is eventually rescued, but the Prime Minister’s problems are far from over. It turns out Matteo’s girlfriend, Saskia, is a traitor working across enemy lines. She receives orders to kill the Prime Minister’s father, who is sick in the hospital.

Protests and chaos erupt in London, and with order falling apart around the Prime Minister, the cabinet makes sure she understands that she doesn’t have control over her country. The cabinet advises that she step down, but Dalton doubles down: someone is orchestrating all of this to force her out of office, and she won’t let the terrorists win.

Dalton believes the person who abducted her husband and is trying to force her resignation is British and possibly ex-military. Meanwhile, Dan Ogilvy, Britain’s Secretary of Defence, is positioning himself to become interim Prime Minister, hinting that there could be a connection there.

President Vivienne Toussaint’s blackmail video is finally made public. She visits a building to interrogate her former chief of staff, Pelletier, who has been arrested on suspicion of blackmail and extortion. During their confrontation, Pelletier tells Toussaint that she once believed in her but now considers her a fraud. As Toussaint exits the building, Saskia positions herself across the street with a sniper rifle. She fires at Pelletier but misses. Shaken by almost being killed, Pelletier reveals her leader’s name: Shagan.

Toussaint and Dalton make a deal to get vital cancer-saving drugs back into British hospitals within 24 hours. After their press conference, the results of the cabinet’s confidence motion are revealed. The Prime Minister lost by 22 votes, meaning she’ll have just a few hours left in office. Matteo arrives with Saskia’s laptop, which he found in his apartment, containing footage of the affair and other incriminating messages.

It turns out Saskia was a member of the 3rd Battalion of the Highland Guards, which was shut down in the most recent MOD budget cuts. She and the rest of her unit were discharged. As they’re all processing this information, the computer goes static, and Toussaint pushes Matteo out of the way before it explodes in 10 Downing Street. Toussaint is killed in the blast.

Hostage Ending Explained

Prime Minister Dalton and her family are reunited in a safe place, while the media blasts the news of Toussaint’s death. Matteo blames himself for his stepmother’s death, but Dalton assures him that it was a setup and that she was the intended target, not Toussaint.

Dan Ogilvy, who is now the interim Prime Minister following the no-confidence vote, addresses the nation, informing them that the British military will be deployed to the streets to help manage civil unrest. The officers take away the media’s phones and laptops, making it clear that a military coup is taking place. Dalton sends her husband and daughter to safety while she meets up with the rest of her team to determine next steps.

Who Is the Mastermind Behind The Attacks In Hostage?

In Episode 5 of Hostage, the mysterious man who orchestrated the kidnapping and the bombing (who is later identified as Captain John Michael Shagan) receives a call from General Livingstone, the true mastermind behind the coup.

Livingstone is upset with Shagan for detonating the device within Downing Street without his permission. The British General also informs him that his mission of killing the prime minister has failed — Dalton was unharmed in the blast and exited with her family. He orders him to get on a plane and leave the country, but Shagan does the opposite.

What Happened In Belize, And How Is Shagan Connected?

In 2018, Captain Shagan was one of the troops deployed to Belize. Dalton, who was a junior minister in the Foreign Office at the time, recalls the incident clearly. When the Guatemalan army invaded, she ordered the troops to extract, saving their lives but resulting in civilian casualties. Dalton and her team now realize that someone with greater authority must have helped organize the current coup. It turns out, General Livingstone was the one who commanded Shagan’s deployment in Belize.

How Does Abigail Take Down Livingston?

Dalton marches into the military headquarters, where Livingston and the interim prime minister are, and she asks Livingston if he recognizes Shagan’s name. She reminds him that he was his commanding officer in Belize. Dalton says out loud in front of everyone that it was Livingston who orchestrated the entire thing. Dalton accuses him of staging the coup to increase military spending. While they are yelling at each other, Livingston slips up — mentioning the bomb in the laptop at Downing Street, which no one but Dalton knew about. Livingston is taken away, but the danger is far from over.

At the safe house where Matteo, Alex, and Sylvie are hiding out, Saskia breaks in and attacks the security guard on Shagan’s orders. Shagan finds Alex and demands to know where Dalton is, thinking that she was there with them. Alex calls Dalton, but it’s Shagan on the line, telling her that he has her husband and daughter. He asks her to join them, alone. “This has always been about you, Abigail,” he tells her.

Meanwhile, Matteo tries to convince Saskia to put an end to all of this. He tells her that he loved her, but she responds that there’s no way back now.

How Does Hostage On Netflix End?

Abigail arrives at the house where Alex, Matteo, and Sylvie are being held hostage. Matteo manages to dial emergency services behind his back before Saskia finds out and puts him in a chokehold. Sylvie grabs Saskia’s gun and runs. But Saskia has a change of heart; she lets Matteo go and hands him back the phone once she realizes that a police unit has been dispatched. Matteo tells her to run.

Shagan forces both Abigail and Alex into the same room. With a knife held to her neck, Abigail apologizes for what happened in Belize. Shagan explains that they had promised protection to local people who risked their lives to help them. His fiancée was a local translator — one of those they abandoned — and she was six months pregnant when she was shot and killed.

Alex lunges at Shagan, who slashes him in the stomach. Sylvie bursts into the room and points her gun directly at him. Dalton pleads with her daughter not to shoot, but Shagan tries to manipulate her by revealing that he ordered her grandfather’s murder. That was the final straw, and Sylvie shot him in the chest. Moments later, the police stormed in and took Sylvie away.

Does Abigail Resign From Office?

In the final scene, Dalton resumes her role as Prime Minister, with Alex and Sylvie safely reunited at 10 Downing Street. She steps outside to deliver a press conference, quoting Toussaint’s inspirational speech.

Dalton announces a general election, aiming to restore public trust through a radical new mandate. She pledges to work directly with citizens to repair the country, signaling the start of a more transparent era for her administration and the people she serves.

All five episodes of Hostage are streaming on Netflix. Watch the official trailer below.