How Black Knight's finale twist sets up season 2 revenge arc
Black Knight finale spoilers follow.
Societal outcast and refugee Sa-wol (Kang You-Seok) has finally achieved his dream of becoming a 'knight', or deliveryman. That means a lot in a post-apocalyptic world where clean air is manufactured and most citizens live in dire conditions.
He thought his new position would give him the chance to help others by delivering clean air to them. He also envisaged a better life for himself.
Well, that lasted all of a day before he learnt the truth about 5-8 (Kim Woo-bin) and his group of deliverymen, who are hellbent on stopping the evil Ryu Seok in his attempts to stamp out all refugees for good.
As Black Knight rounds off its six-episode arc on Netflix, Ryu Seok's mounting influence means his takedown won't be easy. Are the rebel deliverymen up to the task?
Here's a breakdown of the Black Knight finale.
Black Knight ending explained
After five episodes of underhandedness, Ryu Seok (Song Seung-heon) has finally been rumbled.
Major Seol Ah (Esom) has set up a meeting with the Chairman of Cheonmyeong company, Ryu (Nam Kyung-eup), to inform him of all of Ryu Seok's crimes.
His ghastly deeds include the kidnapping of mutant children (or those who could potentially be mutants) and the slow poisoning of the refugees by pumping the air in their districts full of pollutants.
Clearly that wasn't working fast enough, because Ryu Seok also committed mass murder when he set off explosions at the refugee districts.
Chairman Ryu is shocked to find out that his son has not only committed such crimes but has involved the Cheonmyeong Group in things.
Chairman Ryu is quick to put things right and informs the president of his son's actions.
He then transfers the handling of Cheonmyeong to the government, who will now have control of the oxygen supply as well as the delivery and relocation plans of the refugees.
Fresh off a failed assassination attempt on his life by 5-8 and the other deliverymen, Ryu Seok goes to address his father and is informed of the new changes which have undone his plans.
Father and son have a frank and honest heart-to-cold-stone-heart in which the chairman tells Ryu Seok that he must face up to his crimes.
Two soldiers backed by the ministry of defence arrive to arrest Ryu Seok, but something seems a little off.
Ryu Seok makes a big show of the situation and then, without hesitation, he guns down the soldiers before forcing the gun into his father's hand and pointing it to his own head.
Clearly fond of the theatrics, he urges his father to shoot him and after a tense moment of indecision on his father's part, a gun goes off. Only it is chairman Ryu who has been killed by the minister of defence, who's revealed to have been in cahoots with Ryu Seok.
They swiftly move forward with enacting the last stage of their plan, which is to form a coup to capture the president.
Ryu Seok's dastardly acts don’t end there; he goes on to publicly pin the blame for the recent deaths on the rebel deliverymen, calling them terrorists, and a manhunt for the 12 disgraced deliverymen is on.
Meanwhile, Sa-wol's friend, Useless, has discovered that the vaccines the refugees were being urged to take are actually intended to kill them. Of course. The whole thing was orchestrated by the refugee-hater Ryu Seok.
He discovers this after the Dummies have just headed out to get their own physical examinations which include having the vaccine.
Useless runs down to the physical examination centre to warn them, while an alert is put out by one of the rogue deliverymen. Useless tries to warn those queuing up to get vaccinated – including the Dummies – but his shouts go unheard.
5-8 and Sa-wol have come out of hiding to rally in support by creating a distraction with gunshots and explosions, and it works. The crowds disperse.
Sa-wol makes an attempt to get to Useless, but it's too late. He's shot down by the soldiers working for Ryu Seok. In his grief, Sa-wol rushes to his friend's side but he is knocked unconscious and taken away to Cheonmyeong.
In an ironic twist of fate Sa-wol, a refugee, is the key to healing Ryu Seok from his fatal mysterious illness. His mutant blood will cure his illness and is the reason he isn't killed on the spot.
Major Seol Ah and the deliverymen head to Cheonmyeong to put a stop to Ryu Seok's slow poisoning and overall massacre of the refugees.
They blow their way through the Core district, which is underground, and shoot their way through as they hunt for Ryu Seok.
However, Ryu Seok is far too busy draining the literal life from Sa-wol as he receives a direct transfusion of his blood.
When he is alerted to the intrusion, Ryu Seok has the unconscious Sa-wol wheeled out of the operating room as he and his men head to observe the action.
In the ambush, the deliverymen catch up with Ryu Seok's right-hand man Mr Oh and shoot him dead while the minister holds the president hostage.
The major is able to rescue the president and arrests the minister for treason before making an announcement over the tannoy, instructing Ryu Seok's defence team to drop their weapons.
Knowing that he has been defeated, Ryu Seok reacts how all petty sinister villains do and does not concede.
Instead, he retaliates by overcharging the Air Core energy machinery which will lead to a mass explosion wiping out the whole of the core district.
As he puts it to 5-8 who has now caught up with him: "I'm not letting the refugee vermin scum have this," and by "this", he means a safe place to inhabit with clean air.
His actions cause mass panic and the citizens begin scarpering to safety.
During Ryu Seok's brief villain speech, Sa-wol twitches ever so slightly in his comatose state and the QR code on the back of his hand activates the wheelchair he sits on. This small, coincidental, act is enough to distract Ryu Seok, and he is shot by 5-8. Knowing he is dying, he decides to do it on his own terms and shoots himself in the head.
As the residents continue to scramble to the freedom of the surface where the refugees live, 5-8 carries Sa-wol to safety while the other deliverymen save the other mutant kid hostages.
They manage to make it out but in an unexpected twist Ryu Seok twitches. The camera lingers long enough on his face to reveal the silver beneath his wounds. Why is that important? Well because mutant's bones are made of metal.
It seems Sa-wol mutant blood has done the trick, meaning Ryu Seok should be able to heal faster and is possibly saved from his illness.
Before we can get any real answers, the energy core explodes and he goes up in flames along with the core district.
Not much is known about mutant blood, and it's highly possible that their rapid healing and ability to withstand what would be fatal for many could extend to explosions… Who knows?
For now, all is right with the world once more. The president announces that they will begin the relocation of refugees to a safe and better place.
She also states that the classification system which separated the citizens by refugees, general, special and core will be abolished. She then stomped on Ryu Seok's evil legacy further by promising to reform the residential and oxygen supply system so the citizens would be able to live equally, without discrimination.
We know Ryu Seok is turning in his grave, or writhing in the rubble of the core district.
A time jump reveals that the president has made good on her promises, as a much more settled and calmer 5-8 and Sa-wol comment on the cleaner air and the clear sky on their oxygen delivery run.
However, if Ryu Seok is in fact alive and kicking, we wouldn't count on that last long. We're sure he'll cook up some form of revenge in a possible season two of Black Knight.
All episodes of Black Knight season one are available to stream now on Netflix.
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