After a bloodbath of a sixth season, you know Slow Horses wasn’t going out without many bangs, a rising body count, and at least one more fan-favorite character “biting the dust,” as Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) would say.
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Ho → know → dust
The death toll on the hit Apple TV series has been steadily climbing since Season 1, and in staying true to Mick Herron’s book series, Slow Horses has never shied away from killing core characters — no matter how painful.
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Horses → climb → characters
We thought we lost Sid Baker (Olivia Cooke) in Season 1.
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we → think → Season
We actually lost Min Harper (Dustin Demri-Burns) in Season 2.
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We → lose → Season
We said goodbye to Marcus Longridge (Kadiff Kirwan) in Season 4.
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We → say → Season
Season 6’s premiere revealed that David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce) passed away.
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Cartwright → reveal → ?
And Season 6, Episode 4 ended with the devastating death of J.K. Coe (Tom Brooke).
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Season → end → Coe
Kyle Soller’s Russian assassin Jim met his demise in Episode 5.
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Jim → meet → Episode
And the hits just kept coming…
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hits → keep → ?
During an action-packed shootout, Slow Horses Season 6, Episode 6, “Judgment Day,” took the life of another beloved character.
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Season → pack → character
Even fans who read the books and thought this loss may have been coming were heartbroken to see the show go through with it — and also surprised, because the on-screen death featured a crucial change from the book!
uncertain
death → read → book
So which fan-favorite character dies in Slow Horses Season 6, Episode 6?
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character → die → Season
Who Dies In Slow Horses Season 6, Episode 6?
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Who → die → Season
If you’re looking for a detailed Slow Horses Season 6 finale recap, Decider has you covered, but for the purposes of this piece, we’ll cut right to the chase.
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we → look → chase
Shortly after River arrives at the safe house in the finale, one of the glass walls shatters and Harkness and his men attack.
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Harkness → arrive → walls
Smoke fills the house, Molotov cocktails fly, and an all-out war commences.
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war → fill → house
After temporarily taking down the mercenaries, an armed Flyte and Louisa cover the crew as they race through the tall grass down to a nearby beach.
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they → take → beach
Roddy carries Reece to safety, and they take cover with Flyte and Shirley, while Moira, River, Standish, and Louisa hold up in a separate location.
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Moira → carry → location
As River wisely deduces, the group is “very very fucked,” as their only escape is back by the house.
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escape → deduce → house
While the less experienced players in the strange, strange game hide out, Flyte, Shirley, and River head back in hopes of getting the car and taking out the hitmen.
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Flyte → hide → hitmen
And though Flyte gets a badass beach sprinting scene and successfully kills one of the hitmen, Harkness shoots her in the back.
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Harkness → get → back
She falls to the sand, managing to shoot River’s dad in the leg, but she runs out of bullets as he approaches, and she has no choice but to admit defeat.
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she → fall → defeat
Before Harkness fatally shoots Flyte on the beach, she throws her gun at him to ensure she did everything she could to fight back.
uncertain
she → shoot → everything
And before (and even after) he pulls the trigger, he even looks a little regretful, a true testament to her brilliance and strength.
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he → pull → brilliance
Since Ruth Bradley was introduced in Season 4, Flyte has become a crucial member of the Slow Horses team, and dare I say, Season 6 was her best yet!
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Season → introduce → team
We got to follow her home and see her spread her wings, find her voice, and step her game up with a meatier role.
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her → get → role
We saw more of her humor, sass, and smarts.
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We → see → humor
We saw more of her delightfully dysfunctional dynamic with Ho, which will be missed!
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which → see → Ho
(It’s also incredibly moving that he’s the one who found her and got a solitary moment to process his grief.)
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who → ’ → grief
And never forget that Flyte saved all of the other Slough House faves who survived the season, since she’s the one who stood up against Taverner to warn Lamb that Slow Horses were being targeted.
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Horses → forget → Lamb
Without the heads-up, who knows how Season 6 could have played out.
uncertain
Season → know → up
In the words of Ho: “What a legend. Bird takes flight.”
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Bird → take → flight
Flyte was an agent with true honor who risked her career and a job at The Park with First Desk to do what she felt was right.
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she → risk → Desk
But it’s worth noting that Flyte’s on-screen death differed from the book…
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death → ’ → book
Did Emma Flyte Die In Slow Horses Books?
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Flyte → do → Books
Ruth Bradley And Season 6 Writer/EP Unpack Flight’s Death
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Bradley → unpack → Death
“Because we were melding, as you know, we were adapting two books and trying to weave them together to make one book, there are some things that we did have to change, and it felt like the most satisfying and conclusive thing that it would be Frank who killed her,” Chiappe told TV Insider.
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Chiappe → meld → Insider
“She loses her life in the same way that she does in the original, in that she’s protecting other people.
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she → lose → people
So the heroism of that moment isn’t lost and it feels more weighty where everybody was on the chessboard at the end.
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everybody → lose → end
It felt the most weighty thing would be Frank to kill her.
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thing → feel → her
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
