The Night Manager season 2 airs major death of [spoiler] in shocking twist ahead of the finale

The Night Manager season 2's death toll just ticked up, as a noble ally to Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) met their sudden and unjust demise in tonight's episode.

The latest chapter picked up the pieces from last week's bombshell ending, which exposed Pine as a mole inside the operation of father-son duo Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) and Teddy Dos Santos (Diego Calva)

Alarmed by his enemy's reemergence and eager to avoid a repeat of last time, Roper quickly got on the phone to MI6 boss Mayra Cavendish (Indira Varma), telling her to root out Pine's supporters while he dealt with the man himself.

That command proved to be a death sentence for Basil Karapetian (Paul Chahidi), a senior MI6 official and one of the few characters in this season that we could unquestionably trust.

Following the retirement of Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) and the mysterious death of Rex Mayhew (Douglas Hodge), it was Basil who stepped in to set up Pine's latest undercover operation.

Basil also covered for Pine in several icy exchanges with boss Mayra, who he knew to be in cahoots with Roper on a secret plot to spark regime change in Colombia. Alas, he'd overplayed his hand by approaching her associate, Adam Holywell (Kerr Logan).

Mayra's net eventually closed around him at London Bridge station, where he was intercepted by her thuggish agents – but not before he stashed away his laptop full of evidence in a nearby shop, for Angela to collect later.

Basil was taken to an unassuming residential property, where his captors attempted to extract information by savagely beating him. Later in the episode, he gives Mayra a partial account of what he knows, but it isn't enough to save his skin.

"Thank you for your hard work, Basil, and your sacrifice," she said in a chilling final remark to him. "But as I said, sometimes we have to stand on some heads. Game over."

When Mayra leaves and her henchman re-enters, a gunshot rings out as the scene changes – and while The Night Manager season 2 has previously tricked viewers with a faux death, this particular case seems tragically genuine.

It's a major blow for Team Pine as we brace for the season finale, with the apparent defection of Roxana Bolaños (Camila Morrone) in the episode's final moments being yet another grave threat to their work.

At this rate, it certainly feels like this Basil won't be our last painful goodbye.

The Night Manager season 2 is airing Sundays on BBC One and iPlayer.

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