Bodyguard Ending Explained: Who Killed [SPOILER]?

Summary

• Julia Montague’s fate in the Bodyguard Netflix series was sealed with her shocking death in episode 4, altering the show’s dynamic.
• A criminal gang leader, Luke Aitkens, was revealed as the mastermind behind the bomb that killed Julia in Bodyguard.
• Nadia’s true intentions were exposed as she played a vital role in building and planting bombs, including the ones that killed Julia and targeted David’s children.

The Bodyguard Netflix miniseries ended with a tense finale full of twists and turns. A smash TV hit when it aired over the summer in the UK on BBC, the series made its way to Netflix to give the entire world a chance to appreciate its story. Starring Richard Madden as protection officer David Budd, opposite Keeley Hawes as Home Secretary Julia Montague, Bodyguard was a story full of questions, twists, and turns that kept fans engrossed until the end.

Bodyguard follows a war veteran turned Specialist Protection Officer named David Budd, who is tasked with protecting a controversial Home Secretary in Julia Montague, whose politics stand for everything he is against. The show received major award nominations, with Madden winning a Golden Globe and the huge twist halfway through the season winning the British Academy Television Awards “Must-See Moment.” There were twists and turns in Bodyguard’s first season that shocked fans right up until the shocking finale.

Julia Montague Is Really Dead At The End of Bodyguard

She Was Killed In An Explosion

The biggest question from the Bodyguard Netflix series finale concerns Julia Montague and her fate. The fact is that she died as it would have been hard for anyone to survive a bomb blast like that, especially when they were standing right on top of it. However, it was also hard to believe that showrunner Jed Mercurio would kill off one of the main stars halfway through a season run. But he did exactly that, killing her off in episode 4 of Bodyguard.

Mercurio says he did it to alter the dynamic of Bodyguard (via Radio Times), which it certainly did. While it was fun to speculate whether she’d make a comeback, it’s actually better that dead means dead.

“I think there’s a certain expectation with series TV that it will always orbit around an equilibrium, in which nothing much changes for the main stars, and there are no drastic changes to the set-up, especially now things tend to run for several series. But, with my work, I like to try to do things that move the story on, and with Bodyguard I wanted to have this event mid-series that would completely alter the dynamic.”

Who Killed Julia In Bodyguard?

A Criminal Gang Leader Was Responsible

There were many possible suspects in Bodyguard concerning who planted the bomb that killed Julia, with the Secret Service being the prime suspect. As it turned out, though, it wasn’t the Secret Service or a Jihadist group but a criminal gang leader by the name of Luke Aitkens who arranged for the bombing to take place. Julia was working to pass a bill through Parliament called RIPA 18 that, had it gone through, would have seen more power transferred from the police to the Secret Service.

The BAFTAs awarded the death of Julie its “Virgin TV’s Must-See Moment” award.

It was revealed that Lorraine Craddock (Pippa Haywood), David’s boss in the police, had been Luke Aitkens’ inside informant for years, handing over information on police activity that could threaten his criminal plans. Neither party could afford Julia’s bill to pass, as the Secret Service would be much harder to penetrate, and Lorraine would no longer have access to such information.

Lorraine told Luke of the plans for Julia’s speech and the security arrangements, enabling him to have the device planted. Tahir Mahmood, whom many suspected of being involved, was entirely innocent; his only job was to deliver an alternative speech to Julia, which was full of errors. That was merely a political ploy to make her look incompetent, not to kill her. In her police interview, Lorraine explained that David Budd would make the perfect fall guy.

Nadia Was Not Innocent In Bodyguard

Nadia Was Instrumental In Many Deaths

In the Bodyguard Netflix series, everybody was fooled by Nadia (Anjli Mohindra), who played the terrified, submissive wife of a terrorist so well. When David carefully approached her on the train and talked her out of detonating her bomb, it appeared that Nadia was genuinely full of remorse and wanted to help the police with their inquiries. However, that was all an elaborate act, and Nadia was, in fact, a skilled engineer who not only built the bomb she was wearing on the train.

David’s leading questions proved to be counterproductive to the investigation since Nadia could tell him all he wanted to hear

She also built the bomb that was driven into David’s kids’ school, as well as the one that killed Julia. Though she despised Luke Aitkens, she was happy to supply him with a bomb if it meant more money to help her cause and the murder of innocent Westerners. David’s leading questions proved to be counterproductive to the investigation since Nadia could tell him all he wanted to hear, including making up the story of her husband meeting Richard Longcross to collect a suicide vest.

As for the attack on the school where David’s kids were pupils, that was Nadia’s personal doing and, it seems, her act of revenge on David for thinking she was a weak woman. When he showed her pictures of his kids to talk her out of the train bombing, she remembered the logo on their school uniforms and then tracked them down.

What Was The Big Deal Over Bodyguard’s Kompromat?

The Letters Are An Amalgamation

The word kompromat was used a lot in Bodyguard. But, as fancy as it sounds, it’s just an amalgamation of the words compromising material; documents, videos, or recordings that could compromise someone’s position. In this instance, the kompromat was information on the Prime Minister, including drug abuse, a sexual assault scandal, and financial wrongdoings.

Julia had made a deal with the Secret Service; she promised them greater powers under the RIPA 18 act if they gave her access to the kompromat, allowing her to effectively bring down the Prime Minister and launch a leadership bid. After Julia’s death, the Secret Service needed to get the kompromat back because its existence would implicate them in the attempted coup. Richard Longcross realized that David must have it. David knew he’d go looking and tell the police of its whereabouts, knowing Longcross would be listening in.

Richard Madden won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series.

That led Longcross to David’s apartment, where he got a face full of pepper spray but no kompromat. Though it was never properly shown or explained, at some point, David moved the kompromat from its hiding place in his apartment and buried it in the yard. While trapped in a suicide vest, David led the police and his wife, Vicky, to the site, where she dug it up and handed it over. The police leaked the kompromat information, resulting in resignations of the Prime Minister and the head of the Secret Service.

Who Changed The Bullets in David’s Gun?

Luke Aitkens Had The Blanks Put In The Gun

David’s battle with PTSD was highlighted repeatedly throughout Bodyguard, and it was great to see him finally accessing the help he needed. Before he got that, though, he tried to take his own life after Julia’s death, only for the bullet in his gun to be a blank. It was eventually revealed that his bullets were swapped out by people working for Luke Aitkens; knowing they’d want David around to be their fall guy, they couldn’t risk him taking such drastic action.

It’s a bit of a lame explanation, in all honesty. How did Aitkens know David had suicidal tendencies? How did he know he’d use his gun when Julia died? One suggestion is that Aitkens wasn’t trying to prevent a suicide attempt; he was more concerned that David would try to use the gun on him. After all, David ensured he was armed for his and Chanel’s “date,” and Aitkens asked him what the gun was loaded with, knowing it was blank.

What Next For Bodyguard In Season 2?

The Second Season Is In Development

Bodyguard gave David a happy ending of sorts. He finally received psychiatric help for his PTSD. He also seemed to be on track to get back together with Vicky and saw his kids regularly. Lorraine Craddock and Luke Aitkens were charged and presumably imprisoned. The Prime Minister and head of the Secret Service both resigned, and Anne Sampson remained as the head of the Metropolitan Police.

At the time of writing, Bodyguard season 2 is in development, although Mercurio has said he’s in discussions with the BBC for more of the show, which, he hopes, could lead to 3 or 4 seasons. Madden would hopefully be back as David Budd; Mercurio has suggested we might see him on duty protecting a member of the Royal Family or a foreign dignitary.

The Real Meaning Of The Bodyguard Ending

This Was Always David’s Story

When the Bodyguard Netflix series started, it seemed the focus would be on David and Julia. They were incompatible and shared almost nothing in common. It almost seemed like it could turn into a romantic drama like The Bodyguard movie with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. However, when Julia died, the show ensured that viewers knew this was not a fake-out, and it turned into something very different. The series wasn’t about a romance at all.

Bodyguard was about a broken and troubled man who needed to find a way to save himself. He attempted suicide earlier but couldn’t do it, and by the end of the season, he realized he had one last chance to do something great. The real meaning behind the Bodyguard ending is that David finally stepped up and proved he was the hero some people always thought he could be. David risked his life, saved his country, accepted help, and might have saved his family. This is a story about the rehabilitation of a character, and that character is David.