Emmerdale airs major exit as fan favourite commits the ultimate sacrifice to save Bear Wolf in early ITVX release
Warning: Contains spoilers for Thursday's episode of Emmerdale, which airs at 8pm on ITV1 or can be streamed now on ITVX.
An unexpected character has confessed to Ray Walters's (Joe Absolom) murder in Emmerdale, desperate to save Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) from spending the rest of his days behind bars.
They then ran off into the night, attempting to avoid the consequences themselves.
After Bear throttled Ray at the beginning of January, his family have been on a turbulent journey to prove that he acted in self-defence. Unfortunately, earlier this week, Bear told fearsome DS Walsh (Amanda Ryan) that he intentionally committed the murder.
The detective had concluded that he couldn't have acted alone, as he was unable to tie the same knot used to wrap up the body. With the evidence stacked against him, he felt that there was nowhere left to turn.
He also felt that it would help Paddy Dingle (Dominic Brunt) and Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle), who were apprehended for perverting the course of justice.
Earlier this week, Aaron (Danny Miller) and Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) formed a plan that they hoped would help end the madness. They wanted Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) to say that Ray was planning to kill Dylan, and that Bear had lashed out to protect him.
She was fearful that she could be caught, and would also face similar charges. Her son Archie (Alfie Clarke) stepped in, saying that he was prepared to lie to the police, as he actually was one of the last people to see him alive.
In today's episode, Paddy and Dylan were bailed, but were confused by Mandy's absence. Laurel was also trying to locate Arthur, and after using a tracking app on her phone, she realised that he was at Hotten Police Station.
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The group raced over to stop them, and were relieved to see that Arthur had suffered second thoughts about speaking to the police.
Although Mandy still wanted him to complete the deed, Paddy and Dylan urged them to allow the course of justice to play out. They would have to face the consequences, whatever that may be.
A huge argument broke out, and Dylan - who comes from a broken home - felt that he was responsible for the anguish that the family were facing. As the one who introduced Ray to the other villagers, he couldn't help but feel that none of these incidents would've happened if he'd spoken up sooner.
That night, after slipping a letter into the postbox, Dylan packed his belongings and prepared to leave. He dropped a call to girlfriend April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan), saying that he'd written a confession, and that he was making a quick escape before the law caught up with him.
April begged him to stay, but he insisted that he had already been too much of a burden and had to go.
Is this the end of Dylan's time in Emmerdale?
Read more:
- 4 Emmerdale spoilers next week: Distraught Cain Dingle makes a move on Charity in two-hander episode
- Emmerdale's Joe Tate left furious by surprising Kim discovery in early ITVX release
- Emmerdale airs Paddy Dingle twist as incriminating new evidence found in early ITVX release
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1. Stream on ITVX.
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Authors
Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
