The Assassin ending explained: Who was after Julie and who was Edward's father?

The series comes from writers Harry and Jack Williams, and stars Keeley Hawes as a retired assassin, Julie, while Freddie Highmore plays her estranged son, Edward, who knows nothing of her former life and is desperate to know more about the father he never met.

In the first episode, the duo find themselves on the run as Julie's past catches up with her. But how does it all play out in the show's finale, what is revealed and where do we leave Julie, Edward and the rest of the central characters?

Read on for everything you need to know about the ending of The Assassin.

The Assassin ending explained: Who was Edward's father?

Edward's father was, in fact, Jean-Luc, a French arms-dealer and Marie's husband. At the start of the series, Edward had unexpectedly become the beneficiary of a trust fund that Jean-Luc had set up for him. This had sent him on his journey to find answers.

Once Edward found out Jean-Luc was his father, he assumed this meant that Marie was his mother, but she explained this wasn't the case. Instead, Jean-Luc had been the one who wanted children, so he had used a surrogate. Marie had never considered herself his mother.

Meanwhile, Aaron Cross and his wife Leila had borrowed money from Jean-Luc when they were setting up Cross Global Mining 29 years ago.

Once the company took off, Jean-Luc tried to extort more money from them than he was owed, so Aaron and Leila hired an assassin to kill him.

This assassin turned out to be none other than - you guessed it - Julie.

After the assassination was completed, Leila hadn't been able to live with herself, and thus ended her own life. The assassination had been known under the code name Chantaines, which was also the name of their dog.

Who was after Julie?

All season, Julie and Edward had been on the run from a hit put on their lives. It turned out, this was all orchestrated by Marie, who was looking for vengeance for what had happened to herself and Jean-Luc.

29 years prior, Julie was hired by Aaron and Leila to kill Jean-Luc. She had succeeded in this task, but was interrupted by Marie, so she shot her too. She assumed she was dead, but really Marie was left in a coma for several years.

As she was about to leave she had heard baby Edward, whose real name was Florent, crying in the next room. She had felt the need to protect him, so had taken him with her, and raised him as her own. She was guilt-stricken by what had happened, and this led to her eventually living in isolation on a Greek island - that was, until Marie finally caught up with her and Edward.

In the final episode, Marie had held Edward captive, until Julie came to rescue him. She revealed all to him in an emotional scene, but soon after he fell ill.

It turned out Marie had poisoned Edward using plant aconitum, also known as Monkshood. Marie said she would reveal where the antidote was if Edward, who was holding a gun, shot and killed Julie. Instead, he killed Marie - potentially sacrificing himself.

Thankfully, Kayla was nearby and had access to her father's helicopter. She called it in, and they managed to get Edward to a hospital in time to save him.

What happened to Aaron?

Following an argument with Ezra in his office, Aaron was found dead, having taken an overdose of Lorazepam and Oxycodone. Ezra suggested it was the stress, pressure and guilt surrounding what he and their mother had done all those years ago that had driven him to it.

However, it was heavily implied that Ezra had somehow got the drugs into his system, and that following the argument he had murdered his own father.

Ezra was left as acting head of his father's company.

Where did we leave Julie, Edward and Kayla?

In the final scene of the series, Edward, Julie and Kayla were seen on a boat, travelling to somewhere in Greece in an attempt to track down Edward's birth mother. He hoped that she would be a better person than either Jean-Luc or Marie.

We also found out that Edward and Kayla's engagement was back on, and he and Julie were on good terms. Julie was also seen to be texting Luka, with the two now in a relationship.

The Assassin is streaming on Prime Video – you can sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial.

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