Young Wallander ending explained: Who orchestrated Hugo’s death?

Young Wallander ending explained: Who orchestrated Hugo’s death?

The final pieces of the puzzle begin coming together in the Season 1 finale of Young Wallander. By the time you finish reading this, you should have the full Young Wallander ending explained.

With the new information from Von Rosen that Karl-Axel was the Munck brother who terrorized him and not Gustav as originally believed, Hemberg, Rask, and Kurt begin brainstorming his motives and ways to get proof he was likely involved with the Hugo Lundgren conspiracy.

They deduce that Gustav was suspended for his brother’s misdeeds and learn Karl-Axel was home-tutored for the rest of his time. The boys were kept within the Munck bubble for years. Camilla, the boys’ mother and Leopold’s estranged wife, likely left because she thought the fideikommiss was causing too much pressure on them.

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But why did Leopold suddenly decide to change the fideikommiss after all of this time? And it’s still unclear why Karl-Axel would think killing Hugo would be the right move to make to get his father’s attention.

Kurt remembers something from his birthday gala, Mona told him Leopold was dying due to his failing liver. That would be reason enough for him to reconsider things.

Kurt is told to surveil Karl-Axel, keep an eye on his movements so they know where he is. But while he’s sitting his car, bored of taking photographs, he sees an opportunity and seizes it.

Kurt visits Leopold himself and apologizes for his behavior at the gala. As a fan of Mona, Leopold grants him a few moments of his time. Kurt pretends as if his frustration that night came from Gustav not taking his death threat seriously enough. When Leopold asks what it is he thinks they’re missing, he brings up the fideikommiss.

If he could find out he changed it from one son to the other, they could find out and if Gustav has enemies, it might provoke them. He advises Leopold get out ahead of it by revealing it to the public. Though he wonders if they’ll buy the story.

“I didn’t know the fideikommiss was based on merit.”

“It is when I say it is,” Leopold responds in the most chilling manner possible.

In that moment, he comes across as a truly intimidating man.

Young Wallander ending explained: The Commissioner visits the precinct.

It doesn’t take long for Kurt’s actions to catch up with him. The Commissioner is waiting for him back at the precinct. Kurt and Rask are called into Hemberg’s office as he berates them for pissing off Leopold, who is now vaguely threatening to pull funding in their many outreach programs which would cause a lot of problems for them.

However, Kurt and Rask both argue that the acts could be tied to Karl-Axel as they seem to help paint Gustav as an untenable CEO. The bombs are making people increasingly anti-immigration and as Gustav is very progressive, he’s pissing a lot of people off.

Still, as Rask puts it, they’re “all icing and no cake.”

They need DNA tying Karl-Axel to the scene of Hugo’s murder or something similar to prove their theories. But it’s even more timely since Karl-Axel will need to act sooner rather than later and there’s still a C-4 bomb out there.

Hemberg and Kurt manage to get DNA with a little subterfuge and a planned meeting. Before they leave Kurt asks Karl-Axel how he feels about giving up the business and wealth when Gustav inherits everything. He claims that won’t happen, chalking it all up to something from the rumor mill — which means he’s not done yet and probably has plans for that C-4.

Young Wallander ending explained: Bash is working with Dodo.

Later, during his continued surveillance, Kurt is shocked to see Bash meeting with Dodo. He confronts him over this, realizing how he got Ibra’s gang to back off. No one wants to mess with one of Dodo’s boys.

Both Bash and Kurt realize their alliance is coming to a swift end. They’re both headed in opposing directions. Kurt proposes a deal, Bash tells him what was discussed during the meeting, and they’ll be done.

Thanks to Bash’s intel, Kurt learns Karl-Axel is planning something for that very day. After chatting with Mona, Kurt realizes the opening of a new shelter would be a prime target for Karl-Axel. He and Rask rush to evacuate the center, but the bomb squad doesn’t find anything on the premises.

Young Wallander ending explained: Kurt, Hemberg, and Rask rush to stop a bomb.

When Hemberg finally arrives, he’s not surprised by their lack of findings. Karl-Axel doesn’t need to mess with Gustav’s reputation anymore because the fideikommiss has already been granted and ratified. The only way Karl-Axel can become the heir now is if Gustav dies, and Mona just informed Kurt that Gustav was touring a new Munck shipping facility.

Hemberg and Kurt rush to the location, tracking Gustav’s sports car into the lot. Kurt follows him into a meeting with architects and demands he come with them so they can take him into protective custody.

As they exit, Kurt notices the drug dealer who roughed him up at The Cube, the same guy Isak identified from photographs. He realizes something is seriously amiss and spots Gustav heading to his car, pulling out his keys.

The next moment happens in slow-motion, Hemberg is next to Gustav’s car, yelling at people to evacuate, Gustav clicks his keys, he looks back at Kurt, and while Kurt sprints toward him to run away, he’s too late. The bomb the dealer activated while Gustav was in his meeting goes off. Hemberg dies and Kurt is helpless to watch someone else get blown up before he is unable to save them.

Young Wallander ending explained: How did Karl-Axel orchestrate Hugo’s murder and the conspiracy to get rid of Gustav?

In the aftermath of Hemberg’s death, Rask and Kurt call Karl-Axel in for questioning. He’s as smug as a snake, flanked by his attorneys. The detectives, who have become very in-tune with one another during their time working together, explain their theory for Karl-Axel’s wicked and meticulous conspiracy.

He hired Zemar to take Hugo from the club to the warehouse. When he arrived, the instructions changed. Karl-Axel wanted Zemar to paint the Swedish flag on Hugo’s forehead and kill him. Feeling as if he had no choice but to comply under threat of deportation, he triggered the grenade the killed Hugo.

Then Karl-Axel posed as user WhiteWash on the Norse Protection League forum to leak details of the refugee’s church location, inciting the violence at the protest. He was behind the death threats sent to his brother.

All of this was done to show his father that Gustav was unfit to become the company’s heir. But even when Gustav’s outspoken hatred of the far-right agenda and continued immigration support led to Munck stocks to nose-dive, Leopold still believed he was the better man.

The public shame of being second-best to his young brother is what Kurt believes led Kurt-Axel to put a bomb in his brother’s car.

Despite all of this, they know there is more C-4 out there. Karl-Axel bought a metric ton from Dodo. So where is the rest of it? Karl-Axel isn’t saying. And why should he? The detectives don’t have enough proof to charge him with anything. All they have is a small DNA connection linking him to the van where they found some of Hugo’s duct tape. Both Karl-Axel, Hugo, and Zemar’s DNA were found inside, but it’s not enough.

Young Wallander ending explained: Kurt quits the force.

If you were anticipating a clean ending with every plot thread tied up, you’ll be disappointed by how Young Wallander’s first season wrapped. Unable to deal with the emotional weight of Hemberg’s death and the guilt of feeling like he could have stopped it, Kurt quits the force. He and Rask share an emotional goodbye where he tells her she was right all along about him.

He can’t separate his emotions from the job. The finale closes out with Kurt bringing Mona to his apartment, they’re back together and seem happy. He also gets a nice moment with Ibra, who expresses gratitude to Kurt for talking to the club who originally offered his contract.

Knowing he truly is free and clear, they’ve given it to him again and he looks much happier than the last time we saw them. He and Kurt hug and outside of his door is a tin of Mariam’s special pancake bread.

What did you think of the Young Wallander season finale? Are you hoping the series is renewed for Season 2? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

The first season of Young Wallander is now streaming on Netflix.