*Warning – contains full spoilers for all six episodes of The Undeclared War season 2.*
All six episodes of The Undeclared War season 2 are now available to stream on Channel 4, bringing to an end a twisting, turning tale surrounding a mole whose actions precipitated the cyber attack seen in season 1.
It was actually revealed just who the mole was early in the season, as the second episode concluded with a shocking revelation.
But who was the individual responsible, how did things play out for the rest of the season, and where did we leave central characters like Danny, Barbara, Saara and Vadim at the end of the final episode?
Read on for everything you need to know about the ending of The Undeclared War season 2.
The Undeclared War season 2 ending explained: Who was the mole?
It was revealed at the end of The Undeclared War season 2 episode 2 that Barbara Patrick, the wife of Danny and a former MI6 operative, was in fact, the mole!
Danny and GCHQ’s head of security Charlie had thought Phil was their prime suspect, but it turned out that Barbara had used his computer to steal the MAC address.
It turned out that, back in 2014, when Barbara was an MI6 agent, she crossed paths with an ex-boyfriend, Nicky Chan, who was now a human rights lawyer and activist. She saw him arrested at an anti-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) protest, and later quit her job, encouraging Danny to take a promotion as Deputy Head of Operations, while accepting a position at GCHQ in the linguistics department herself.
In 2022, after meeting Nicky once more, Barbara found that he was logged in the UK system as a CCP agent. She deleted the file, believing it to be a mistake, but Nicky later told her it was correct and he had been converted.
Now, he had something over her, and used her to steal the MAC address of a sandbox computer in malware. If she didn’t do this, Nicky would reveal what she did, and Danny would lose his job due to association.
Did Danny find out?
He did. Danny first started to suspect something was wrong in episode 3, when he tracked and followed her, to find her meeting Nicky. He wrongly assumed she was having an affair with him.
When Charlie became suspicious of her, he didn’t initially tell Danny. She managed to put him off the scent by blaming her Chinese colleague, Calvin. Calvin was arrested, and later found dead in his cell.
Eventually, after noticing all of her strange behaviour, Danny found out that she had deleted Nicky’s file in 2022. That night, he confronted her, and she tearfully admitted the truth.
What happened to Vadim?
After being captured at the end of season 1, Vadim was taken to Shenzhen in China. This was how it was revealed that the Russians had been working with the Chinese on the cyber attack all along.
Vadim continued to smuggle information to Saara, but was found out and had to be helped out of the building by Liu, a Chinese coder who was working against the CCP.
He was taken to the flat of Hai, who helped to hide him. Eventually, the two of them, who had formed a relationship, had to flee together, but Hai went back because she couldn’t abandon her family.
Vadim was heartbroken to leave her, but was helped out of his predicament by Saara, Danny and the British intelligence services.
What happened to Danny and Barbara?
After confessing the truth to Danny, Barbara planned to hand herself in and bring Nicky down. However, he also wanted to bring down Prime Minister Andrew Makinde and foreign secretary Richard Marston.
They had purposefully tried to throw him off China’s scent and left them open to attack, because of a trade deal they were desperate to get through. Part of the deal included British citizens’ biometric data, which would now be in the hands of the CCP.
To prove his theory, Danny had to access a recording of negotiations on the Chinese nuclear deal. He used David’s login to access it, and covertly sent it to Roz.
Barbara then gave herself up, and Danny was arrested by Charlie. Surprised not to have been arrested sooner, Barbara was then visited by her old MI6 boss, Alex Sheldon, who gave her an ultimatum – either, she could go to prison and Danny’s career would be ruined, or she could work for him again, as a double agent.
Want to see this content?
This page contains content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose ‘Accept and continue’ to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.
Meanwhile, Saara managed to stop the ongoing malware attack, which was targeting US nuclear codes. Roz advised the team in the US to change these immediately, but the imminent threat was neutralised.
Roz then told Marston what she had – the recording of Makinde, which also implicated him. She released this soon afterwards, and the story spread across the media. It was later reported that it had “brought down the government”.
Danny was released without charge and, due to Barbara’s deal, suffered no professional fallout. However, as they looked at each other across a school football pitch in the final scene, it was clear that things between them would never be the same.
The Undeclared War season 2 is available to stream in full now on Channel 4.
Add The Undeclared War to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
