A Thousand Blows ending explained: What happens to Sugar, Hezekiah and Mary?

Mary made the decision to tell the police about Mr Lao's (Jason Tobin) whereabouts in a bid to stop her own gang being framed for the murder of the Chinese Embassy official and the stolen silverware.

Mary and Hezekiah's slow burn will they/won't they romance also progressed, with the pair sleeping together, which only added fuel to Sugar's jealousy.

The penultimate episode revealed that Sugar wanted to marry Mary, an offer which she awkwardly turned down, and things only went from bad to worse for Sugar.

With Treacle (James Nelson-Joyce) having taken Sugar's spot at the West End boxing club, Sugar not only barred his own brother from the pub but also, in shocking scenes, beat him up so severely that Treacle appeared to be dead.

But that wasn't the only jaw-dropping moment to unpack in the finale, with Alec (Francis Lovehall) sadly being killed by a masked man – an Elephant Boy getting revenge against Mary – who mistook him for Hezekiah.

Chatting to RadioTimes.com exclusively about the way things end, Lovehall said: "Everyone’s fighting to survive. This is about people who are dreaming and constantly dreaming, are, like, unapologetic about the dreams that they want to achieve, and some people get them, some people don’t."

So, what actually happened in the A Thousand Blows finale? Read on for a full breakdown.

A Thousand Blows ending explained: What happens to Hezekiah and Mary?

The episode starts with Hezekiah having to go through the Jamaican funerary tradition of the Nine Night after the loss of Alec. Although he's surrounded by the Forty Elephants and Mary, it's clear he feels alone without his best friend.

But after observing the period of nine nights, they have a funeral for Alec. It's there that Mary is paid a surprise visit from head of the Elephant Boys, Indigo Jeremy (Robert Glenister), who proceeds to issue a veiled threat later on at the wake.

With Mary having made some contentious decisions around the Forty Elephants, her loyal group disbands under Eliza's instruction because she's fearful of what Mary has driven them into. They tell Mary that they're going back to Jane's (Susan Lynch) and they leave Mary on her own.

With Alice (Darci Shaw) as the only person left in the group, Mary tells her that she's giving up and planning on going to New York to visit her father there. But before she goes, she wants to set some things straight and needs Alice's help in finding a "body".

We then see Hezekiah visit Mr Lao in prison, informing him of Alec's murder, and Lao tells him that he's set to be handed over to the Chinese government to be killed for his crime.

Lao tells Hezekiah that he should channel his anger and emotion into preparing for his big fight against Buster Williams, which he does as he goes back to training.

In the West End boxing club, it's the run-up to Hezekiah's big day, and when in the changing room, he's approached by one of Buster's men who proposes fixing the match.

We later find out that Mary has a wider plan to break Lao out of prison, with Alice pretending to be a nun visiting prisoners. She asks to see Lao and, promising to be quick, she starts chucking what appears to be holy water (but is actually petrol) at Lao and in his cell. She sets everything alight, and while it doesn't immediately look good for Lao, we then see him in a carriage sitting across from Alice and Mary.

Mary tells him that he's technically a dead man now and that the body that Alice had sourced earlier was to appear as Lao so as not to attract suspicion. They inform Lao that he's to go to Liverpool and start a new life, never to come back to the East End.

But Lao isn't particularly happy about the plan, explaining his worry about Hezekiah and the fact that he needs him. Mary says she's done this for Hezekiah and isn't up for negotiating. That night, Mary tells Hezekiah that Lao is safe because she freed him – but also has to admit to giving him over to the police in the first place.

Mary tells Hezekiah that she has a bigger plan for them. After his fight, Hezekiah will make a name of himself in America and have his winnings, meaning that they'll be able to relocate to America with no problem. In Mary's eyes, both of them can level up their careers in the US, but it all hinges on Hezekiah winning his fight against Buster.

On the day of the fight, Eliza and the rest of the Forty Elephants devise a plan for the day in order to do some stealing in the crowds, with Mary and Alice watching them from the other side of the room.

When in the ring and about to start, Hezekiah receives a letter from Victoria Davies (Aliyah Odoffin), who tells him that she believes he can win.

Hezekiah is clearly brimming with emotion as the match starts, appearing strong at the start but soon meeting his match with Buster. The next round sees Hezekiah unable to recover, and he seems unable to react as Buster completely knocks him out.

Once he's down, we see Hezekiah have a flashback to his years in Jamaica, and that seems to drive him to get back up and properly take part in the match once again. He knocks Buster out with one final punch, but it appears to be fatal as Buster is unable to get up.

With it looking as though the match is finished, Hezekiah demands that Buster come out and shake his hand. Outside the hall, Victoria chats to Mary, revealing she knows she's simply in disguise. Pre-empting the negative reaction, Victoria tells Mary that Hezekiah isn't set to be celebrated like a winner and that they should meet her in her carriage outside.

As Victoria says, the mood in the hall starts to shift once it's revealed that Buster has actually died and that, in light of his death, the match has been considered void. Immediately, things start to turn nasty as Mary and Hezekiah struggle to get out, but the Forty Elephants help them forge a path out of the madness.

They manage to escape into Victoria's carriage and drive away, later managing to find solace in The Blue Coat Boy with the Forty Elephants. Mary tells Hezekiah that he is the rightful winner, despite the bleak outcome of the match. Because of that, though, Mary says they need to leave London now more than ever, and that everything's already sorted for their departure.

Mary leaves, saying they'll meet later that night, but left alone, Hezekiah is soon paid a visit by Sugar, who offers him a drink.

What happens to Sugar?

In the finale, we see Sugar reckoning with the guilt of attacking his brother and getting a flashback to the night in question. Sugar walked out of the pub to a crowd of people (including Treacle's family) waiting, and eventually they're all disgusted at Sugar for possibly killing Treacle.

But then, in the present, Sugar is surprised to find his nephew in front of him, telling him that Treacle is in fact awake and not dead.

Sugar goes to visit Treacle in the hospital, and although Treacle's wife protests, Treacle says to let Sugar through. Treacle tells Sugar to stay away from him and his family, especially his eldest son. Despite this, Sugar tells Treacle that he can take over The Blue Coat Boy.

Later on, Sugar meets with Punch (Daniel Mays), who doesn't know if Sugar has put enough thought into the decision to give up the pub, especially seeing as Treacle is alive. But just as Sugar is about to sign the papers, Jane pays him a visit, saying they need to discuss her daughter Mary and Hezekiah.

While we don't know exactly what is said in that conversation, Sugar proceeds to tell Hezekiah in the episode's last moments that he has important information for Hezekiah. Sugar drops the bombshell that Mary actually knows who killed Alec.

Do Hezekiah and Mary leave London?

At their meeting point that night, Hezekiah is upset as Mary approaches and tells her to get back from him. Mary seems to immediately know what this is about, but Hezekiah presses her, asking her how she can even look at him.

Mary pleads with him to let her explain, saying that she tried to stop it from happening, but Hezekiah says it's all a lie. Although Mary does admit to lying all the time, she confesses that her feelings for Hezekiah are true, the only thing in her life that has been true.

But Hezekiah tells Mary that she's dead to him, eventually picking up her bag and walking tearfully away. Hezekiah is left alone, standing in the middle of the road, clearly still trying to process what's happened.

Thankfully, we know there's a second season of A Thousand Blows on the horizon, with a sneak peek of the new episodes given at the end of season 1.

A Thousand Blows is availble to stream on Disney Plus now. You can sign up to Disney Plus from £4.99 a month now.

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