The Stolen Girl ending explained: Why did Nina take Lucia?

The five-part series stars Denise Gough and Holliday Grainger, and focuses on the abduction of a young girl, Lucia, from a playdate with her new friend.

Across the series, we learn more about the woman who abducted Lucia, Nina, as well as about the backstory of Lucia's mother Elisa - and how all of this has led to the events which unfold across the five episodes.

But what did we learn? Why did Nina abduct Lucia? And what happened to the central characters at the end of the series?

Read on for everything you need to know about the ending of The Stolen Girl.

Was Nina really Lucia's mother?

At one point in the series, it seemed Nina was actually Lucia's mother, and that she had at some point been taken from her and ended up with Elisa and Fred.

Nina even showed Lucia photographs with her as a baby, where she had her recognisable birthmark.

However, it turned out this wasn't the truth. Nina was actually photoshopping old photos of herself with her other daughter, who had died some years before.

She was putting the birthmark on in order to make it seem as though Lucia really was her daughter all along.

Who did Nina kill?

In the third episode of The Stolen Girl, people trafficker Milan Matkovic, the man Nina hired to help her abduct Lucia and get her out of the country, came to her house looking for money.

He had been told the job was to take back Nina's own child, not to steal someone else's. He had felt the net closing in on him due to the police investigation, as he had had his safe houses raided.

Needing more money to get away, he had decided to steal it from Nina. She protested, but he tackled her to the ground and tried to choke her to death, saying he would kill her, search the house and take the money.

As her breath slipped away, Nina managed to grab hold of a sewing needle and plunge it in to Milan's neck multiple times, killing him. She had then cleaned up the blood and buried his body nearby.

Why did Nina take Lucia?

In the end, it turned out Nina took Lucia primarily because her own daughter, Josie's sister Rose, had been killed. Not only that, but she had been killed by none other than Elisa.

Elisa had been having an affair with one of her clients, Marcus, who she served on his private plane. She had become pregnant with his child, meaning Elisa and Fred's son George was actually his son.

Before George was born, the two of them visited Elisa's family, as her father was dying. While there, Elisa and her father had an argument, and it was revealed he had sexually abused her as a child. Her mother had known about this, and protected him.

In a heated moment, she pushed him away from her and he tumbled down the stairs, hitting his head and dying.

As she drove away frantically, Nina, her husband Nicholas and their two daughters Rose and Josie had been in the car themselves. They had stopped on the side of the road as Josie felt sick, and Nina had taken her over on to a grassy verge to help her.

At that moment, Elisa's car ploughed into Nina's, killing Nicholas and Rose immediately. Marcus had told Elisa to drive on and she had. He had then taken the rap for the crash and gone to prison, while Elisa stayed free to have George and return to Fred and Lucia.

Explaining her decision to steal Lucia, Nina later told Elisa that she had viewed her life as perfect and been bitter about her ability to return to it after what she did.

What happened to Elisa, Nina and Lucia at the end?

With help from Selma, Elisa managed to catch up with Nina in France. She got Lucia back, but had agreed to tell all to Selma once she had done so.

Back in the UK, Elisa was arrested for her crimes - killing Nicholas and Rose in the car crash and perverting the cause of justice. She was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, a sentence which took into account the mitigating factors surrounding her father's abuse and the distress she was in at the time of the crash.

She spoke with Fred, who now knew everything about George's parentage. It was unclear whether they would survive as a couple after everything that has happened.

Fred took Lucia and George out, and they spoke about returning to the same place once Elisa was out of prison.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that Nina had gone on the run with Josie in France, and still had not been found.

The Stolen Girl is available to stream on Disney+ now.

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