The Gone ending explained: Yes, [spoiler] really was the killer

The plot revolves around the disappearance of an Irish couple, Ronan Garvey (Simon Mead) and Sinead Martin (Rachel Morgan), from a remote town in New Zealand.

But how did everything wrap up in the end?

Read on to have the ending of The Gone explained, but be warned for there are spoilers ahead.

The Gone ending explained: What happened in episode 6?

To investigate the case, Dublin detective Theo Richer (Richard Flood), who is fighting his own personal demons, flies out to New Zealand after a call from Sinead's worried mum, Hannah (Michelle Fairley), despite the fact he has resigned from his job at the Garda after two decades of service.

Hannah is a judge in Ireland who has recently imprisoned the head of an Irish drug operation run by the Fallon Family. The Fallons are notorious for their violent retaliation, and Hannah herself had recently survived a revenge attack from the family.

However, we later discover that Ronan himself was a drug dealer, dealing steroids and had a violent temper. Could he have been the intended target?

Theo joins the newly promoted Māori cop Diana Huia (Acushla-Tara Kupe). The couple happened to have disappeared from Diana's home town, and she is reluctant to return there after years away because of the memories it holds for her; it's obvious she is carrying a lot of sadness around.

Then, to add fuel to the fire, Irish investigative journalist Aileen Ryan (Carolyn Bracken), who has been following the Fallon family for years, starts digging around, putting herself in grave danger, as a Fallon has also flown over to New Zealand.

Sinead and Ronan's disappearance has the same hallmarks as a mountain murder in the town that was committed seventeen years earlier, so could the murderer have returned? Or has a copycat killer struck?

Sinead worked at a new giant recycling and fertilising plant in the town, striving to acquire sacred Māori land for its development. However, the Māori community responded with protests led by Diana's estranged Auntie and Uncle Wiki (Vanessa Rare) and Buster Huia (Wayne Hapi).

In the first episode, we meet Mayor Ken Armstrong (Matt Whelan) and his sister Valerie, who are town natives and know the mountain landscape like the back of their hands. They lead the search for the missing couple. While Sinead is found alive, Ronan has been stabbed to death.

Who killed Ronan?

In episode 6, Sinead visits Valerie, holding her clay pigeon shooting rifle, and asks to go inside the house. During a chat between the two women, Sinead accuses Valerie of murdering Ronan. In the meantime, the police have discovered video evidence of her brother, Mayor Ken Armstrong, driving the car that was used in the murder.

In pursuit of Mayor Ken, who is opening the town's new cycle trail, the police arrive, and Mayor Ken runs for cover at Valerie's house only for the police detectives, Julia and Theo, to turn up, and a shoot-out begins.

Mayor Ken admits to Ronan's murder, and Valerie was the one who cleaned up the evidence and made it look like the copycat killing from years earlier.

He had visited Ronan's home to give him a warning because Ronan was blackmailing him. Ronan grabbed a knife to defend himself and the pair wrestled on the veranda before Ken stabbed him to death.

Ken shoots Valerie, then turns the gun on Julia and Theo and then on himself, because he doesn't want to go to jail, but his bullet misses him when Sinead hits him from behind with a spade, so he survives to face justice and he is arrested. Valerie survives the shooting and is taken to hospital.

Theo and Julia have faced their own demons after the case is solved. They share a drink in a bar and let each other know they're okay.

What happens to Aileen?

Alieen visits the mountain shack and stumbles across bones, only to turn around and look puzzled when she recognises a mysterious character behind her – but who is it?

The scene then flips to Theo calling her from the airport to board their flight back to Ireland; with the final scene showing her mobile phone ringing with blood on it, hinting that she has been murdered – but who by?

We'll have to wait until season 2 for some answers!

The Gone is available to watch on iPlayer. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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