After more than two years, the third part of the French crime series Lupin has arrived, immediately shooting to the top of the Most Popular Non-English TV List on Netflix. The performance bodes well for a fourth part, and fans were left with a small hint in the finale that the creators may be hoping for a renewal. With that in mind, let’s recap what happened in the ending of Lupin Part 3 and discuss what it might mean.
What Happened At The End of Lupin Part 3
The show has featured two timelines running in parallel. The main story features Assane Diop in the 2020s trying to avenge his parents while maintaining his relationship with his own family. Alongside that is a story set in the late 1990s, showing what happened to his parents and how he began his life of thievery. We’ll start with the flashbacks and then jump to the present.
1998
The flashbacks in the finale of Lupin Part 3 take place during the 1998 FIFA World Cup Grand Final, which saw France facing off against Brazil. Taking advantage of the excitement, Assane’s mentor, fence-cum-boxing-instructor Jean Luc Keller, forces Assane and his friend Bruno to rob a jewelry store. While they succeed, Keller’s erratic getaway driving attracts police attention, and after a tense chase sequence, Keller forces Bruno to shoot and kill the pursuing officer, while Assane pleads with him not to.
However, in his distraction, Keller drives into a parked vehicle, flipping the car they’re in. All three occupants survive. Assane helping Bruno from the wreckage before placing the gun into Keller’s hand, framing him for the killing. Assane and Bruno escape, while Keller is arrested, with an officer stating that he will get 25 years in prison. This explains the lingering question of why Keller waited so long to take his revenge on Assane.
2021
In the present, Assane cons his way into an event to find evidence that he can use to blackmail the Minister of the Interior, which he then leverages to get Manon (Keller’s girlfriend) out of prison. He persuades her of Keller’s wrongdoing, leading her to help him set up Keller.
Later that night, Assane meets Keller at the Arc de Triomphe and persuades him hand over the Black Pearl (an artifact that Assane stole much earlier in the season) by telling Keller that he will let him go free. In typical Lupin fashion, it’s a double-cross, and Keller runs headlong into the waiting arms of Captain Sofia Belkacem. Assane then performs one more sleight-of-hand by getting the Black Pearl into the hands of one of friends using a fake rose handed to an innocent bystander. Then, as promised, he turns himself over to Detective Youssef Guédira to face justice for his crimes. Meanwhile, his family — wife Claire, son Raoul, mother Mariama, and friend Ben — meet on a train platform, preparing to leave Paris for a new life, unexpectedly without Assane.
Related: Lupin Part 3 Is About How Stories Never End
The Twist Ending of Lupin Part 3, Explained
That should be the end of things, but the show has one final twist. As Assane settles into life in prison, he receives a letter from someone in a neighboring cell. Opening it, he finds a picture of himself as a teenager holding a copy of the Arséne Lupin book The Revenge of the Countess of Cagliostro. The voiceover that accompanies this scene strongly suggests that Mariama isn’t actually Assane’s mother, and that he is, in fact, in the middle of a plot much larger than the one orchestrated by Keller.
Finally, it is revealed that the benefactor is none other than Hubert Pellegrini. While Pellegrini did not otherwise appear in Lupin Part 3, he has been a significant figure throughout the series. He once employed Assane’s father but later framed him for a theft and arranged for his murder in prison. The first two parts of the series focused on Assane’s attempts to uncover the truth and make Pellegrini pay for his crimes, which evidently succeeded.
Nevertheless, these final moments lay the groundwork for more convoluted plotting in further parts, with Assane possibly having to find a way to protect his family from the continuing machinations of Pellegrini and his accomplices. Whether that comes from Pellegrini himself, Mariama, or someone else entirely is a question that only another part in the saga will confirm, if and when it arrives. While we would have been satisfied with Lupin ending with Part 3, we’re now looking forward to confirmation of a Part 4 and will keep you updated if it comes to pass.
