The Gentlemen season 2 ending explained: Who killed Bella and why?

There's absolutely no doubt that The Gentlemen season 2 was definitely worth the wait.

After two and a half years, Guy Ritchie's gangster dramedy had a lot of time to either lose the interest of audiences or build so much anticipation that new episodes wouldn't have been worth the hype.

Neither happened and millions have tuned in to watch a second outing that's even better than the first. But, viewers have been left with questions about the fates of some characters after the credits finished rolling on the final episode of the second outing.

Let's break down that ending and make sure all your burning leftover questions from The Gentlemen season 2 are answered.

The Gentlemen season 2 ending explained

Season 2 saw Eddie firmly make the move from a grieving son, reluctantly trying to sort out the mess made by his older brother Freddie and tie up loose ends left by his dead father, to a full blown mob boss ready to scale up a drugs empire.

But, it looks like things have gone too far. At the opening of the season 1 finale, Eddie is desperately on the hunt for whoever ordered the plain crash that killed his new wife Bella during episode 6.

She had been killed instantly when a bomb detonated on a seaplane she was travelling in, instantly killing the new bride during her honeymoon.

This would also be the same person who orchestrated the attack on Halstead Manor in an attempt to wipe out the rest of Eddie's family and kidnap his infant nephew, Tarquin during episode 7.

While interrogating Bravo One, a surviving mercenary from the raid on Halstead Manor, Eddie can't get any true information from the soldier because he only has one confession he wants to torture out of him: Bobby Glass was definitely the person behind it all.

Not willing to hear any other explanation than this wrong assumption, the mercenary eventually gives in and confirms this theory. This leads to Eddie arranging a hit on Bobby in prison.

When Eddie later finds out that Stanley Johnston (with a T) sold Eddie’s debt to Bobby on when he married Bella, Eddie makes the shocking realisation that he's about to take out the wrong man for the crime, and Bobby wasn't behind the Halstead Manor hit and death of his wife after all.

By making a mad dash with Susie to the prison, Eddie manages to halt the hit on Bobby when he finds out he had the wrong person.

Who killed Bella and why?

But who did order the attacks on Bella and the Manor? Eddie eventually finds out it was Gospel John who was behind the plot - and he was helped by none other than Freddy (gasp.)

While staying in a religious rehab during season 2, Freddy came under the influence of rival gang leader Gospel John. Freddy was fuelled by the resentment of losing his inheritance to his older brother and Gospel John wanted revenge on Eddie's family for killing his brother during season 1.

Gospel John then presented himself as something of a spiritual brother who understood Freddy and what he'd lost.

Building that resentment and giving it a religious twist, John won Freddy over and gained his trust. By the time Freddy truly realised what was happening, Bella had been killed and his family attacked.

Bella was killed as part of the plan simply to try and break Eddie and cause him maximum pain.

Series writer and executive producer, Matthew Read, tells Netflix Tudum, "We thought it was really useful to see Eddie as somebody who could be broken, who was vulnerable."

He adds, "To see the journey of how Eddie would respond to such a terrible thing happening to him." Read says that Bella "awakened this possibility of a good life outside of death and destruction" in Eddie, explaining, "so when she's quickly wiped off the face of the planet, his whole sense of self and life is completely deconstructed."

When Eddie finds out the truth, he severely beats his brother and later has Gospel John captured.

Eddie doesn't kill Freddy, instead forcing his brother to kill John as a punishment. Freddy then chops off John's head with a chainsaw for a gruesomely creatively flourish to end his life with before lighting a cigar.

That's where season 2 draws to a close. Bobby has high hopes that his empire can expand even further while Susie is quietly building her own relationships in a possible move to have her own business away from her dad.

Freddy and Eddie's relationship is the most precarious its ever been, and nobody can predict what version of volatile Freddy we'll se in season 3.

As for Eddie, he is hardened to the core, and might've lost all sense of humanity. Theo James disputes this, arguing that he believes Eddie has "saved himself because he hasn’t had to murder his own brother, and he’ll be able to still remain a semblance of himself."

In conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor doesn't give much away about which path his character will take in the next season.

He says, "Ultimately, he’s on a path to surpass Bobby [as a drug lord], but also get complete vengeance from his brother. How that enacts itself is still in the process [of being determined.]"

All episodes of The Gentlemen are currently airing on Netflix.