Legends ending explained: How Guy stops the drugs, one last-minute brutal twist & if there'll be a season 2
"This is permanent... our Legends never die"
Legends, Netflix’s thriller about a group of undercover Customs officers, culminates in a nail-biting ending – and this is a complete breakdown of what happens, and if there will be a season 2.
The stakes are very high going into the Legends finale. The penultimate episode closed with Guy (Tom Burke) on a boat carrying 200kg of heroin from Karachi, Pakistan, with Don (Steve Coogan) and Bailey (Aml Ameen) watching on as they “lost control”.
Meanwhile, Liverpool crime boss Carter (Tom Hughes) had clearly grown suspicious of his right-hand man, Eddie (Johnny Harris). Elsewhere, Kate (Hayley Squires) and Erin (Jasmine Blackborow) honed in on Carter’s crooked copper (Con O’Neill).
So, do they manage to stop the drugs, arrest the dealers, and return to their ordinary lives? Well, that’s what we’re here to get into.
How does Legends end?
Legends ends with the police seizing all 200kg of the heroin and arresting the dealers – but it’s a treacherous journey to get to that point.
First of all, Hakan (Numan Acar) and Aziz (Kem Hassan) take control of the drugs when Guy stops in Turkey, and they send him home. We know by this point that they ultimately plan to betray Guy, but they assure him that he’ll still be paid.
Back at home, nobody’s happy. Guy returns home, but his wife, Sophie (Charlotte Ritchie) quickly notices how much he’s struggling to let go of his Legend. She tells him to go back to work and not come back until he’s done.
So, after reuniting with Mylonas (Gerald Kyd) – who reveals that Customs director Blake (Douglas Hodge) saved his life – they come up with a plan to beat the dealers and seize the heroin.
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How do they stop the drugs in Legends?
With Margaret Thatcher’s days as Prime Minister dwindling, the Home Secretary orders Blake to halt the Customs investigations initiative.
However, he allows the team to “tie up loose ends” – aka, finish the job, as long as they don’t recruit anyone.
Their plan works… at first. Guy barges into a meeting between Hakan and Carter, demanding to be paid. With Carter’s transportation in Germany falling though (courtesy of Erin), Guy offers them a deal: if they pay him triple what he’s owed, he’ll ensure the safe passage of the drugs.
They agree, so Guy, Don, Bailey, and Kate get a fishing boat and load up the drugs. Unfortunately, they’re forced to disembark into a life raft (they save the drugs, don’t worry) because of the stormy conditions.
Back in the UK, they orchestrate a carefully planned, well-guarded meet-up with Hakan, Aziz, and Carter. Mylonas whispers to Guy that they’re going to kill them, so Don sends in armed police and catches them before it’s too late.
Officers manage to arrest Aziz and Carter, but Hakan gets away… but his ending may be even worse.
Legends ends with the perfect twist for Hakan
Hakan legs it from the roof to the flats in Green Lanes, where a woman lets him hide from the police.
“I need shelter,” he says, and she tells him to go into the living room.
“You do not remember me, Hakan,” she then says. “Do not worry. I know who you are.”
It’s all very ominous, but it becomes clear what’s happened when she tells him he’s “entrusted to God”.
Those were the exact words Hakan told Zeki (Joshua Samuels) when he ostensibly let him live, only to have him executed later. And… this is Zeki’s mum! So, it’s fair to assume things don’t go well for him off-screen.
What happens to Eddie?
Eddie is one of the best characters in Legends. He’s effectively the underboss of Carter’s mob, and instrumental to the distribution and catastrophic consequences of “smack” in Liverpool.
However, his perspective shifts with the death of his son, who dies as a result of his heroin addiction.
He grows resentful of Carter, whose pursuit of power effectively led to his son’s passing; if he hadn’t been so greedy, they’d have never started selling heroin, and he’d maybe still be alive.
So, he secretly contacts Bailey and reveals where several drug stashes are being held.
Carter discovers what he’s done and tries to have him killed, but it doesn’t work out. In his final face-to-face with Bailey, Eddie tells him he’s moving his family far away from Liverpool and pledges to return and kill Carter if they don’t catch him.
After Carter’s arrest, Bailey calls Eddie and tells him the good news. “Looks like I’m not coming back, then,” he says, and he goes to play with his daughter in the pool, wherever he is.
Legends ending explained: What happens to Guy and the rest of the team?
Remember, Legends is based on an untold true story. So, they don’t get a particularly heroic ending: they simply go back to their old civil service jobs.
“You won’t be in the shadows forever,” Blake tells them, as they watch the Home Secretary pose for photos with the drugs.
“An achievement like this, a story like this, it’ll work its way out one day. But, for now, I thank you. Britain thanks you, and I hope we meet again.”
Don delivers a formal spiel about submitting expenses, taking holidays, and how they’ll all be back at work on Monday.
Bailey, Erin, and Kate leave to go for a drink together, while Guy returns home to see Sophie and his daughter.
He’s happy to be back… but that night, as he tries to sleep, he believes he hears something outside. He rushes to the window, only to see a car pulling away. He’ll be haunted by his Legend for the rest of his life, just as Don warned; always looking over his shoulder, wondering if the past will come back to bite him.
Will there be a Legends season 2?
While Netflix hasn’t confirmed either way, it’s highly unlikely there’ll be a Legends season 2.
In short, this is because Neil Forsyth told the whole story in one season.
There is one possibility, however. In theory, it could take on an anthology format. The second season could revolve around a completely different real-life undercover operation.
This is pure speculation, though, and we know this story appealed to Forsyth on a personal level.
“I’ve written shows in the past that are about well-known events. You then tell the story behind it that isn’t so well known,” he told Netflix.
“This is unique, in that the work of the Legends is barely known at all. There was this core team of people that did all of this, and they did it almost without any public recognition.”
Don’t get your hopes up, is what we’re saying.
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