Black Doves season 2 ending explained: Who dies in the explosive final episode?

As season 2 of Black Doves approached after a long, two-year wait, we were frantically searching for a season 1 recap to make sure we remembered all the key juicy details.

No sooner had we refreshed our memories on everything that happened, we've now binge watched season 2 - and it was time well spent.

This time around, undercover spy Helen Webb (Keira Knightley) had more on her plate than ever, with balancing her cover story as doting Prime Minister's wife with uncovering a dangerous conspiracy.

Sam (Ben Whishaw) has been having an equally challenging time, finding himself involved with Kestrel, another covert, powerful organisation set on getting rid of the Black Doves.

There's a lot going on, and the finale was as explosive and action-packed as we'd hoped it would be. Let's break down everything that happened and look at who didn't make it out of episode 6 alive.

Black Doves season 2 ending explained

The Black Doves season 2 finale opens with Sam handing Reed (Sarah Lancashire) over to Kestrel in a bid to clear his debt.

Years earlier while working in East Berlin in 1988, Reed (operating under the codename Wildflower at the time,) manufactured a terrorist threat that ended with the Black Doves massacring the original Kestrel organisation.

Fleeing to save herself, Reed had left her toddler daughter, Vita, behind. There was a red herring moment where it looked like Vita grew up to become Helen's nanny Marie (Molly Chesworth).

However, viewers find out they've been deliberately misled with this theory during the finale, when the rebuilt Kestrel arrive to get revenge on Reed.

When Helen and Wallace are on their way to the peace summit, armed agents intercept the travelling vehicles involved in the convoy. The US defence envoy Cecile Mason (Neve Campbell) along with Katia Chernov (Sylvia Hoeks) are abducted.

Katia is the widow of diplomat Alexi Chernov, who was poisoned earlier in the season. Cecile and Katia are taken to the Black Doves headquarters, and when Kestrel arrive to begin their revenge, Reed is among the Black Doves held at gunpoint.

At this point, Vita's true identity is revealed, and it's not Marie at all - it's actually Katia who was abandoned by Reed as a small child, and she is really Vita.

After growing up in a Soviet orphanage, she had lived a life of despair until being tracked down by her real father, Franz. United by their loathing of Reed, the pair formed a revenge plot against Reed and the Black Doves.

Katia/Vita shoots Cecile before moving to the next stage of her plan which is to get Helen to kill her husband.

With Helen and Wallace remaining in their captive vehicle, Vita tells Helen using an earpiece that must make a choice. Either Wallace dies, or her children do.

Helen's twins, Ollie and Jax, have been kidnapped by Marie. Although Marie turned out not to be Vita, she is still dangerous as she used to be a Black Dove, but defected to Kestrel.

Vita's ultimate plan is to expose the Black Doves to the world, which would see the organisation disbanded for good. Hearing a gunshot, Vita believes Helen has made her choice, and Wallace is dead.

However, Vita made a rookie mistake there. She really should've had someone on the ground to provide immediate proof that Wallace was deceased, because Helen hadn't killed him at all, but had merely made a random shot that didn't hurt anyone, to buy herself time.

Meanwhile, Laila (Ambika Mod,) Williams (Ella Lily Hyland) and Eleanor (Gabrielle Creevy) arrive to storm the Black Doves HQ to save Reed. After multiple shots are fired, Vita is left injured and makes a run for it, while Williams and Eleanor take on the traitorous Dani (Agnes O'Casey.)

Reed finds Vita and explains that by abandoning her, she thought she was saving her. She didn't know how awful her daughter's childhood would really turn out to be. This is the estranged mother and daughter's final encounter, as Vita succumbs to her injuries and passes away.

Elsewhere, Helen and Sam head off to save the twins. Tracking them down to the zoo, Marie is the next person to unsurprisingly bite the dust - Helen shoots her in the head for retaliation for daring to put her children in danger.

By the time the credits are about to roll for a final time, the Black Doves and Kestrel have both taken massive hits, but both organisations are still operational.

It's back to business for Reed, who is ready to reassume her usual role within the Black Doves.

Sam decides he needs to leave the assassination game behind for good. He and Helen share an emotional goodbye at Trafalgar Square, acknowledging how deeply they love each other but accepting life is dangerous and toxic when they're together.

Sam heads off to work at a bar in Italy, hoping for a life of peace away from spying and death - although he does tell Helen she can call on him in the future.

Helen is also ready to resume the usual trading of secrets under the guise of pretending to be the perfect Prime Minister's wife and mother of his children, although Wallace has had growing suspicions about his spouse that have now understandably reached fever pitch after he's seen her wielding a gun.

As the finale comes to a close, Wallace is gearing up for what is sure to be a very difficult conversation with Helen. However, it's not one that audiences get to see unfold. We'll have to wait and see whether there's a season 3 to find out how this challenging chat turns out.

Seasons 1 and 2 of Black Doves are available to stream on Netflix.