Did Ladybug Survive the Assassin Onslaught? Bullet Train's Ending, Explained

In Bullet Train, Brad Pitt's Ladybug was given a seemingly innocuous task on a Japanese train to steal a briefcase containing ransom money. Unfortunately, things got out of hand when a bunch of assassins converged, trying to kill each other and claim the prize. It led to Ladybug questioning his luck repeatedly over the course of the movie, wondering who was the mastermind behind the debacle. This paved the way for an explosive ending, which pushed Ladybug and the allies he made to the limit.

Who Was the Catalyst Aboard Bullet Train?

Joey King's Prince blackmailed Andrew Koji's Yuichi into trying to kill the person the briefcase was supposed to go to: the White Death. It led to the White Death's son being poisoned aboard the train and her duping Ladybug into shooting Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) dead. Given she had luck on her side and was a brilliant actor, she played everyone.

It led to the White Death descending on the train in Kyoto, which made it seem like he was coming for his money and to gut whoever killed his boy. But when he arrived, Prince squared off, revealing the man was her neglectful father. This was her way of getting him to notice her; however, when she gave White Death a gun to kill her, he refused, laughing off the incident. It broke her because she rigged the gun to backfire and kill him, leaving her wondering what else she could have done.

What Happened to the Bullet Train?

Luckily, Yuichi's dad, the Elder, had arrived, changing the landscape dramatically. He had the assassin who was watching over Yuichi's son, Wataru, killed, so they didn't have to worry about Prince's control anymore. However, he confessed he, Yuichi, Ladybug and Lemon (who survived Prince's gunshots due to a bulletproof vest) needed to put aside their differences and take White Death out.

The Elder was part of the Japanese gang that White Death took over due to a coup decades ago, so this would grant him revenge. Not to mention White Death had Yuichi's mother killed, so the Elder wanted to use all these tools at his disposal. It culminated in him and Yuichi slaughtering many of the White Death's henchmen, as well as the Elder and White Death slicing each other up. However, Ladybug and Lemon, while under duress from the yakuza hitmen, botched driving the train and crashed it into a rural village.

Who Lived in Bullet Train's Finale?

Unfortunately, Lemon got flung out of the train into a river while saving Ladybug. However, when the train careened, all the goons were killed, bar White Death. He confronted a damaged Ladybug, admitting he was the mastermind who contracted everyone because they all had a hand in his wife's death. In the past, he holed up in Japan but went out to clean up a mess Lemon and Tangerine made by killing his men in Bolivia.

It led to his wife being killed by Carver, the agent Ladybug replaced on the train and who White Death marked in a case of mistaken identity. It's why he had Hornet poison his son, as he hated the boy for being jailed, which caused the mother to try to bail him out that night. He also rigged things to increase Hornet's chances of being killed, which Ladybug did, because she actually murdered the surgeon who could have saved his wife after Carver crashed a car into hers. With almost everyone dead, White Death set out to gun down Ladybug, thinking he was Carver, but he used Prince's gun, which shot back and blew his head open.

Ladybug was then helped up by Yuichi and the Elder, only to be confronted by a wounded Prince with a machine gun. She was ecstatic because now she could take over her dad's empire. Luckily, a tangerine truck ran her over in the streets, proving to Ladybug he had luck on his side, after all. Yuichi and his dad departed, with Ladybug getting picked up by his handler, Maria (Sandra Bullock). The mid-credits would later reveal Lemon was behind the wheel of the truck that crushed Prince, garnering revenge for Tangerine's death.

See how Ladybug and his peers survive in Bullet Train, now in theaters.