WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for season 2 of The Diplomate.
The end of The Diplomat season 2 reveals who was behind the attack on HMS Courageous. Keri Russell leads the cast of The Diplomat Season 2 along with Rufus Sewell as her husband Hal, David Gyasi as Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison, Ali Ahn as CIA agent Eidra Park and Rory Kinnear as Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge. The Diplomat The second season begins after the events of The Diplomat season 1 finale, revealing that Hal’s Stuart and Ato Essandoh survived, but Jess Chanliau’s Ronnie was killed in the explosion along with Member of Parliament Merritt Grove. As The Diplomat season two ends, Kate and Hal are closer to the truth about Roman Lenkov and the government officials behind the false flag operation.
The most shocking twist The Diplomat The ending of Season 2 is that US Vice President Grace Penn was behind the attack on the HMS Courageous. Hal initially learns this information from Margaret Roylin, who is also involved in the elaborate false flag operation. Roylin was the one who, along with British Members of Parliament Merritt Grove and Lenny Stendig, hired Russian mercenary Roman Lenkov to attack HMS Courageous. The attack was intended to inflict minor damage and was not expected to result in British casualties. Due to supply problems, the Lenkov Group used more powerful explosives in the form of an underwater missile.
President Rayburn is dead, Grace Penn is now president
The president died after hearing the truth about the vice president
Kate discovers the vice president’s plan at the end of The Diplomat season 2. She and Hal can’t keep quiet knowing that Penn bypassed the president to authorize the attack on the HMS Courageous. Hal says he will talk to Secretary of State Miguel Ganon, with whom he has a difficult relationship and who holds the Cabinet position that Hal secretly wants. Instead, Hal speaks directly to President Rayburn over a secure line at the London Embassy, telling him the truth about the vice president, Margaret Roylin, and Roman Lenkov. This so upsets President Rayburn, who was known to have heart problems, that it kills him..
Kate finally decides she wants to become vice president by the end of The Diplomat Season 2, only to realize that the spot she thought would be vacant may no longer be available. Because of President Rayburn’s sudden death, Vice President Penn became President Pennwhich is why dozens of Secret Service members are shown running up to her at the end of the episode. Penn’s final words to Kate as Vice President are to keep the truth hidden for both their sakes. Penn takes a rather stern tone with Kate, revealing a side that has yet to be seen.
Will Katherine Wyler become vice president?
The seat is now open following the death of President Rayburn
According to Section 2 of the 25th Amendment, the President must nominate someone for Vice President if the position is vacant, which will now occur because President Rayburn is dead. There is a real chance that newly appointed President Penn will make Wyler his Vice President, as it would be better for his close enemy, especially when she tends to become a whistleblower. In addition to the strategic benefit of Penn making Kate his vice president, Penn was actually growing to like Kate before he suspected that Kate would blow his cover on HMS Courageous. With the news of the President’s death, however, the issue of HMS Courageous can easily be swept under the rug.
Who was responsible for HMS’s courageous attack
Vice President Grace Penn ordered the attack to prevent Scottish independence
A far-right Member of Parliament named Lenny Stendig was the one who set up the Merritt Grove car bomb. Stendig intended only to eliminate his fellow deputy Grove, not Ronnie or any other member of the American diplomatic team, in order to silence Grove once and for all. Margaret Roylin and Stendig feared that Grove would tell Hal and the Americans all about Roman Lenkov’s plot, which mainly involved Roylin pulling strings behind Prime Minister Trowbridge’s back. Ultimately, it was Vice President Grace Penn, who orchestrated the false flag operation to prevent Scottish independence.
Nicol Trowbridge is innocent, he didn’t hire Roman Lenkov
Prime Minister Trowbridge was the prime suspect behind Lenkov and the attack on HMS Copuragoues for most of the The Diplomat season 2. Kate and Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison suspected that Trowbirdge secretly hired Lenkov for political gain. In reality, Roylin enlisted Grove and Stendig to hire Lenkov at Grace Penn’s request. Roylin saw the benefits to Prime Minister Trowbirdge’s political reputation, while Penn was concerned with ensuring the longevity of the nuclear base at Creagan in Scotland.
HMS’s courageous attack was intended to prevent Scottish independence
Both Roylin and Penn had nationalist interests in the false flag operation
As Roylin noted in The Diplomat Season 1 and Penn described it to Kate in The Diplomat In season 2, the attack on HMS Courageous aimed to unify the United Kingdom and prevent Scotland from passing a referendum to seek independence. Roylin and Penn had different reasons for orchestrating the false flag operation, but both were of the utmost importance to their respective nations and governments. For Roylin, unifying Scotland with England against a common enemy like Russia or Iran would repair the prime minister’s reputation. For Penn, thwarting Scottish independence was a vital step towards ensure protection against Russian nuclear submarines attacking the east coast of the United States.
Grace Penn, Creagan and Russian Nuclear Submarines Explained
Creagan is a vital nuclear base for the United States
Vice President Penn wanted to make sure that the Creagan nuclear base in Scotland could not close due to the threat of Scottish independence. The Creagan nuclear base is the last geographic point that the United States could use to detect a nuclear threat from a Russian subversive in the Arctic region. Without the Creagon nuclear base, the United States would become much more vulnerable to a nuclear threat via Russian submarines. As a result, Vice President Peen organized an event that would unify Scotland and England to eliminate the threat of Scotland becoming an independent nation and closing the base as such.
Diplomat Season 3 Story Setup: What We Know So Far
President Penn will be sworn in at the White House
Now that Penn will be President of the United States at the beginning of the The Diplomat In season three, she could have aimed to end Kate’s career and silence her like she and Roylin did with Merritt Grove. He would be it would certainly be dangerous for Kate to continue exposing the truth about HMS Courageousespecially since President Rayburn’s death will be a much bigger story than the geopolitical information that was leaked. Kate would end up betraying her own country to reveal the truth, which Hal would probably advise against.
Kate will likely work closely with President Penn on The Diplomat 3rd season as vice president. She will have to learn to live with the harsh reality of her new role, which was a rude awakening for her in season two, and understand the difficult decision Penn had to make, a decision Kate confirmed she would have made herself. Kate’s relationship with Dennison is likely to be strained, especially if the truth comes out to him or Prime Minister Trowbridge, which would be disastrous. The Diplomat creator Debora Cahn said Netflix Tudum“The third season turns the chessboard around. In season 3, Kate lives the specific nightmare of getting what she wants.” This implies that Kate ends up getting vice president in season 3.